THE SCOOP: SATURDAY, AUGUST 5

Morariu has relapse, back in hospital

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Top-ranked doubles player Corina Morariu, who was stricken with acute promyelocytic leukemia in May, is back in the hospital again after incurring a fever and infection last week, her doubles partner Lindsay Davenport said.

After undergoing chemotherapy, Morariu went into remission from the cancer in late June. But Davenport said the 23-year-old Morariu caught a fever last week and went she went into a Florida hospital to treat it, she caught an infection and has been laid up ever since.

"She's having problems getting her blood cell count up," Davenport said.
"She's fighting. She'll be in there for foreseeable future." Morariu won the
1999 Wimbledon doubles title with Davenport and has won 12 WTA Tour doubles
titles in all. Her father, Albin, was the late Tim Gullikson's personal
neurologist.

THE RETURN OF THE GRUNT-O-METER
It's been more than nine years since the Grunt-o-Meter was brought out at 1992 Wimbledon when Nathalie Tauziat and Martina Navratilova complained about the decibel level of Monica Seles grunting.

After being run over by Seles 6-3 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $750,000 Acura Classic, Jennifer Capriati heavily criticized the loudness of Seles' grunting, saying it heavily distracted her.

"She was screaming at the top of her lungs," said Capriati. "This is the loudest that she's been in a long time that I've played her and it was extremely hard to concentrate and focus when I had this screaming going on. I'm not saying that's why I lost or take way from how she played, but it was difficult."

Seles has always been one of the tour's loudest sound emitters, yelling "Aay-eeh" just as she makes contact with the ball. Most players have learned to live with it, but her old rival Capriati became unhinged, even calling Sanex WTA Tour Supervisor Clare Wood to the court to monitor Monica.

"The balls are coming so fast and I'm hitting them so fast, it almost seems like [she's grunting] all the time," Capriati said. "It seems like while I'm hitting it, it carried on then, too. Some times its like interference. I don't know if something can be done outside the court, but she was really loud."

It was the 13th time the two have played in their 11 year-old rivalry, but Capriati said that Seles grunting was exceptional. "It seemed really extra loud," Capriati "Everyone grunts. I grunt. But I don't absolutely scream when I hit the ball. I don't think that's necessary."

Tour director Wood sat next to the court after being called out by Capriati but didn't determine that she was breaking the tour's Hindrance Rule. "Monica would have to be trying to distract her deliberately and she wasn't," Wood said. "While Monica does grunt loudly, it didn't seem to be abnormal. She was grunting at level that was acceptable. It's a really tough call but unless a lot of players come up and complain about it, I don't see any reason to act on it."

Capriati said that maybe she should have addressed the issue directly on court with Seles, who she has played doubles with in the past. "Maybe I should have something straight Monica but I didn't want to break up her concentration because I have a respect for her. I just feel the same should be for me, too. Maybe I should say something. Even my mom said that's what I should have done. I don't know why I didn't think about it. Usually when you play some one there's no interaction whatsoever. You expect the judge to be there."

Capriati said that the next time she plays Seles, she's may talk to the tour director before hand. "I'll see if there's any way to get the message across, I'll say something. I don't know if it bothers other players or not," Capriati said.

It doesn't bother Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams or Martina Hingis. Davenport said that its not a problem for her, saying that Serena Williams grunts louder than Monica. Lindsay did add, though, that it seems like both Seles' and Serena's grunting gets louder the closer the match is.

Venus says she doesn't get disturbed by such things (unlike in 1999, when she was hit with a point penalty after her beads continue to fall out of her hair during a loss to Lindsay Davenport at the Aussie Open and went beserk). "I think people should be able to breathe and exhale they way they want to," Venus said.

Hingis said that of course she isn't disturbed, since before her straight set loss to Monica on Saturday, she had beaten her 10 out of 12 times. Even with the presence of Wood on the court on Saturday, the focused Seles never considered toning it down. "When I came on the tour, I was one of the loudest grunters," Seles said. "Nowadays, there are girls who are much louder than I am. I learned my lesson at 1992 Wimbledon when I was affected and then played terrible in the final. But I was young. This time, I tried not let it affect me. I just play my game and not think whether I'm grunting or not grunting."