Lesser known tennis stars

Michelle Caroline Larcher de Brito

Michelle Caroline Larcher de Brito, born Micaela Carolina Larcher de Brito, also known as Michelle Larcher de Brito or Michelle Brito (born 29 January 1993 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese tennis player. Larcher de Brito’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, António Larcher de Brito. She achieved a career-high ranking of 76 on July 6, 2009.

She 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.”

Barbara Schett

Barbara Schett Eagle (born 10 March 1976) is a former Austrian tennis player, who reached her highest singles ranking — World No. 7 — on 13 September 1999. She ended her career at the 2005 Australian Open. Between 1993 to 2004 she played in 48 games for the Austria Fed Cup team, winning 30. She also represented Austria at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in singles and doubles reaching the quarterfinals in the singles.

Personal life: Schett is married to former Australian tennis player Joshua Eagle.On April 28, 2009, Schett gave birth to a son named Noah.

Schett’s friends, among the tennis players, include Anke Huber, Janette Husárová, Anna Kournikova, Iva Majoli, Jennifer Capriati, Chanda Rubin and Patty Schnyder; admires Stefan Edberg’s playing style. She listed Schindler’s List her favorite film, and Harrison Ford and Gwyneth Paltrow her favorite actors; also admires the music of Whitney Houston and Bob Marley.

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