Outgoing WTA chief Larry Scott admitted on Thursday that Wimbledon's grunters, screamers and shriekers are being closely watched, as well as heard.

The ear-splitting decibel levels reached by the likes of 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, Portuguese teenager Michelle Larcher de Brito as well as Belarusian top tenner Victoria Azarenka have caused consternation in the genteel surroundings of the All England Club.

Now chief executive Scott has revealed that the issue is under investigation.

"Historically, I've heard that controversy this fortnight over 20 years. That hasn't changed. This year it's expanded. At Roland Garros, we started hearing and reading about it in a way we hadn't before outside Wimbledon," said Scott.

"Based on that we have started a process of looking at it more carefully. There are rules in place. Nothing needs to be reinvented if you wanted to start doing something.

"There are hindrance rules. Chair umpires are empowered to issue warnings, point penalties if there is a feeling that it's gamesmanship affecting play.

"It's just being monitored a little bit more closely right now, but I haven't had players come to me in my six years as head of the WTA to say this is a competition issue."

Scott, who was previously head of the ATP men's tour, is leaving the WTA Tour to become the commissioner of the PAC-10 American college sports system.

His final year at the helm has been a challenging one with fears over the effect of the ongoing financial crisis, as well as the fallout over the Shahar Peer affair where the Israeli player was banned from the United Arab Emirates.

But his successor will also have to deal with the perception that women's tennis is suffering a crisis of identity with no epic rivalries to match the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the men's circuit.

"We are certainly going through a period right now, since Justine Henin's retirement, where there is a jockeying for position," said Scott.

"There is a parity. But there's a depth in the women's game that doesn't come close to what it was six years ago.

"Six years ago people weren't really talking about the depth of women's tennis, and there's a tremendous depth of women's tennis today.

"If history is any guide for the future, I'm sure a year from now there will be a completely different story, and I believe we will have a player or players emerging at the top."

AFP

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