Specter of steroids lingers at Wimbledon.(Chicago Tribune)

WIMBLEDON, England _ Amelie Mauresmo overpowered Laura Granville in their fourth-round Wimbledon singles match on Monday, a fact the 21-year-old Granville readily acknowledged in assessing how far she must climb to catch up to the top players in the world.

But as the specter of steroid use in sports spreads to tennis _ Tatum O'Neal, ex-wife of John McEnroe, charged last week that McEnroe used performance-enhancing drugs when he played _ the question is whether the women Granville must compete against are going too far.

Shortly after her 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 9-seeded Mauresmo, Granville, of Chicago, was asked if she had heard rumors about Mauresmo using steroids. Women's Tennis Association tour officials say Mauresmo has taken and passed two drug screenings this year alone.

"I've heard those rumors, too, but she works really hard," Granville said. "I'm not sure how she can get that strong, but it's a sign of where women's tennis is going. It shows me what I have to do to compete with the top players."

Granville was talking about increasing her fitness level, not using steroids, as she later explained. But the rumblings about possible steroid use have become more frequent on the women's tour because of the increased strength and the chiseled physiques of many of the top players.

However, every top-10 women's player was drug-tested at least once last year, and most of the top players were tested a number of times, a WTA official said. Players are tested randomly both at regular tour stops and at Grand Slam events, and after the quarterfinal round of Grand Slams, all participants are tested.

Samantha Reeves, an American ranked in the 100s, was the first and only known woman player to have tested positive when an over-the-counter dietary supplement containing nandrolone was detected in her system in December 1997.