Grunting critics grow more vocal as Wimbledon begins

The debate is growing louder than the problem itself: should the grunters, shriekers and wailers of women's tennis be stopped? On the first day of Wimbledon, the Florida tennis coach Nick Bollettieri who has trained some of the game's biggest noise-makers – from the infamous grunter Monica Seles to the notorious shrieker Maria Sharapova - has stepped in to advocate penalties for players who go "beyond acceptable natural levels". He wants a graduated scale of punishment, from "loss of point, loss of game, [and even to] loss of match".

Writing in today's Independent, Bollettieri also acknowledges that it is one of his charges, the 16-year-old Portuguese player Michelle Larcher de Brito (above), who has "elevated this issue from a whisper to a roar". At last month's French Open, Larcher de Brito, a wild-card entry at Wimbledon, was booed by the Paris crowd for her long, piercing screams. Her opponent Aravane Rezaï, who won the match, complained to the umpire about the shrieks which at 109 decibels are as loud as a Formula One car.

Larcher de Brito was expected to make her Wimbledon debut on court 17 this afternoon. With Wimbledon officials promising to "monitor the situation", this is how players and ex-players line up in the great grunt debate:

AGAINST THE GRUNTERS:

Grand Slam veteran Martina Navratilova: "Roger Federer doesn't make a noise when he hits the ball - go and listen. The grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It is cheating, pure and simple. It is time for something to be done."

Former Wimbledon men's champion and BBC pundit Michael Stich: "Just play it back to the women. It sounds disgusting, ugly, unsexy!"

FOR GRUNTERS' RIGHTS:

Michelle Larcher de Brito: "I've always been loud but I'm not trying to distract opponents. When I don't grunt it feels weird because it's not me."

Serena Williams: "I just play my game and sometimes I grunt and sometimes I don't. I'm not conscious when I’m doing it. I'm just zoned out. It doesn't really affect me if my opponent is [grunting]."