Navratilova blasts the tennis establishment

NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) Martina Navratilova criticised the tennis establishment today for not having enough regulations to deal with the size and strings of rackets.

''It takes less skill to hit great shots or to hit powerful shots because you just bang away,'' Navratilova told a news conference at the US Open. ''Tennis used to be more like squash, now it's more like racquetball.

''Hit the ball as hard as you can, it will still go in.'' The 49-year-old Navratilova, who won 18 grand slam singles titles during her illustrious career, is playing women's and mixed doubles at the Open in her final tournament.

She said the new rackets are too good for the game and have essentially eliminated the need to volley, changing the way both singles and doubles are played.

''You can be a great volleyer and still not be able to win on a slower court against great baseliners,'' she said.

''Two people on the baseline, two people at the net, you should win every time. It does not happen. The rackets help the groundstrokes so much more than they help the volley.'' Navratilova said ''the powers that be aren't regulating'' tennis enough.

''I'm disappointed that the racket manufacturers are dictating what kind of tennis we're watching,'' she said.

''They're saying, 'Oh, this is the rackets we need to be playing with.''' She praised the strict rules dictated by the Professional Golf Association (PGA).

''If golf regulated their game the same way tennis regulated our game, they'd be hitting 400 yard drives, hooking it left and right, any which way they want to, or keeping the ball straight even though you have a hook swing but the ball still goes straight.'' Navratilova has reached the second round of both doubles events in the swan song of her career. She suggested racket heads should be smaller and there needs to be ''some kind of restriction on the strings.'' ''I am disappointed with the direction the game is going, period,'' she said, noting that even world number one Roger Federer has essentially given up on serve-and-volley tennis.

''I'm the greatest volleyer that's ever played, and I would have a hard time serve-volleying in today's game, so something is wrong.

''The courts are too slow, the rackets are too powerful, so you're going to see much more one dimensional tennis. It takes a genius to play really well at the net.

''Even Federer, he used to serve and volley. Now he's staying back more because it's safer.'' REUTERS SRS PM0128