shriek-free tennis

I was flipping channels last night and started watching the women's final of the U.S. Open around the beginning of the second set. Because my father loved tennis so much, watching tennis is something I've enjoyed my entire life. It wasn't long before I started asking myself why I was enjoying watching this particular match so much, especially compared to the majority of matches lately - what was it about these two players that I found so appealing when I so often turn the channel nowadays? It wasn't long before the answer dawned on me: neither of them was shrieking!

It's so rare now to find a tennis match in which neither of the players shouts with nearly every single shot that they make. As with the martial arts, I can understand the argument that making a so-called "grunt" is helpful when properly executing a move, but the practice is more than I care for when watching tennis. For years, players just didn't grunt in the world of tennis, and now it is difficult to avoid. In this particular match, perhaps if one listens carefully, there can be a subtle "grunt" heard every now and again, but that would be an athletic breath, something voice-free that used to be defined as a grunt back in the day, not the out-and-out shrieking that is so common now.

And this grunting is either more prevalent in the women's game than the men's game or it's just that much more noticeable because they put more into it. Either way, if it gets really bad I usually end up watching something else. I wonder now if the people that more or less grew up with this vocal style of play are used to it, much like the sound effects that are currently so prevalent (like in Iron Chef America as mentioned in the previous entry Zing!).

So if I stumble upon a women's tennis match that reminds me of the good ol' days of quiet, classier players, I'm going to embrace it!