The familiar debate over on-court decibel levels has resurfaced after the Belarusian player, Aryna Sabalenka, drew mockery from the Melbourne Park crowd on Tuesday night during her first-round Australian Open defeat to home hope Ashleigh Barty.

The 19-year-old from Minsk was her usual vocal self from the outset on Rod Laver Arena and the partisan crowd let their displeasure known by imitating her shrieks in between points.

At one stage, the umpire was forced to ask for quiet in the stands, although her choice of words – “Ladies and gentlemen please, during the rally, do not scream” – only seemed to make the crowd redouble their efforts and Sabalenka’s service preparation was interrupted by further impressions.

Barty appeared unimpressed by the crowd’s behaviour at the time and afterwards the Australian No1 said she had not been fazed by the noise from Sabalenka.

“We knew it was coming,” she said. “I hadn’t seen a lot of her matches but my coach had watched vision. He was aware it was coming. A lot of players grunt. A lot of players don’t grunt. It’s just the way they are, the way they play. For me, it wasn’t a distraction. It wasn’t anything like that. It was just part and parcel. I knew it was coming.”

Rod Laver Arena's crowd starts to imitate Sabalenka's grunt. Barty not pleased at all. pic.twitter.com/H42RJxe5rq — BreakPointBR (@BreakPointBR) January 16, 2018

Asked if the noise from across the net was a distraction, Barty, who did not complain to the umpire during the game, replied: “Not at all. I think if something that small can irritate you, that’s a bigger issue in itself. I knew it was coming. I was prepared for it. I mean, obviously in the first couple of games, you get used to it. Everyone has a bit of a different grunt. But, no, you get used to it.”

While Barty said she was not unduly affected, plenty viewing from afar were. Todd Woodbridge, the former doubles champion, tweeted: “Nice player Sabalenka but something needs to be done about her noise and grunting on court.”

Pam Shriver, the former US player and now commentator, tweeted: “Sabalenka has 347 different sounding grunts. What a talent”, while Tennys Sandgren, who plays Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Melbourne Park, posted: “I don’t know how many times this girl has grunted into Barty’s swing, but man it’s really getting to me. It’s clearly affecting her play.”

I do love everything else about Sabalenka's game, and hate that the grunting is going to overshadow it for so many. Wildly bold, heavy metal tennis. #AusOpen — Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 16, 2018

It's totally unacceptable the amount of 'noise' coming out of Aryna Sabalenka's mouth as she hits most of her shots. It must be a distraction to Ash Barty. It's ruining the match. #AusOpen — Adam White (@White_Adam) January 16, 2018

Sabalenka is not alone in practising in-play grunting and the likes of Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and the Willams sisters, Serena and Venus, are among the most high-profile players to make noise when playing shots.

Nor is the practice limited to the women’s game, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also well-known for their on-court vocalisations. Public criticism is, however, more often than not reserved for female players.



The debate over grunting centres on whether the noise is loud enough to the point of distraction for an opponent and if so, whether that constitutes a form of gamesmanship.

There was support for Sabalenka in the face of the fierce backlash, with some decrying the “bullying” nature of the crowd’s taunts and questions asked over the role of the official MC on the court, who himself impersonated the player’s grunts into the microphone.