Michelle Larcher de Brito (b.1993) is a Portuguese tennis player. Michelle’s family moved to the United States when she was nine years old so she could attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. She was coached by Nick Bollettieri until the end of 2007. Currently she is training full-time with her father, Antonio Larcher de Brito. She achieved a career-high ranking of 76 in July 2009.
Michelle is the first Portuguese female player to enter the main draw of a grand slam, which occurred at the 2009 French Open. Her impressive results at such a young age have prompted Nick Bollettieri to tip her as a possible Top 10 player. She is known for her loud grunts while executing shots, being noted for surpassing in decibels the likes of Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles, Victoria Azarenka and Venus and Serena Williams, other famous "grunters". In response to criticism from fellow players about this, she defended herself by saying, "I could [stop grunting], but, you know, it won't feel natural, because it feels like something is missing in my game if I just stop."
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