Chris Evert was renowned for her concentration but admits she'd have trouble playing with the "louder, shriller" grunting emitted by some leading women tennis players.
Former champion Maria Sharapova, Portuguese teenager Michelle Larcher de Brito and Belarussia's Victoria Azarenka have been a focus of debate at Wimbledon about the noiseand distraction created by grunting during rallies.
All-time great Evert, winner of 18 grand slam singles titles in the 1970s and 80s, says it's of particular concern that the noise from grunters often seems to rise on key shots.
"Grunting is one thing but the shrill sound that you hear with players nowadays and especially they get louder when they hit a winner, that's the thing that I observe as a player," said Evert, in Sydney with husband Greg Norman yesterday.
"It comes before they hit the shot. That's the first thing you hear and you are kind of like thrown off guard as a player and then before you know the ball gets past you.
"Really the next time you watch say Maria Sharapova, the grunting is consistent but all of a sudden when she has a set-up, she has a winner, the grunting gets louder.
"That's a distraction to me because you are hearing a loud grunt before you see the shot. Is it distracting for a player? Yes, it is."
Evert, 54, says the sport went through a similar problem with Monica Seles in the 1990s but now it's more widespread.
"But because Monica Seles is such a lovely girl, we didn't want to rub it in too much," Evert said. "But it is distracting when you are hearing this and I think the grunts are getting louder and more shrill now with the current players.
"I was known for my concentration and it is distracting. I don't understand, they say you've got to blow air out when you hit the ball.
"Steffi Graf hit the ball a tonne and she didn't grunt. There were a lot of players, hard-hitting players and you never heard a peep out of them."
Sharapova's grunts have been measured at 101 decibels, almost as loud as a lion's roar (110).
