Artigo no TennisWeek.com, sobre Michelle Larcher de Brito, " descoberto " pelo Feliciano, verdadeiro expert de Michelle ( http://michellelarcherdebrito.blogs.sapo.pt ) . Obrigado.
"Standing 5-foot-5 in her adidas sneakers, Michelle Larcher de Brito can't see eye-to-eye with any of the current players residing in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's top 20, but when it comes to competitive maturation process the 14-year-old Portugal-born, Bradenton-bred Larcher de Brito has hit a sizeable growth spurt.
Larcher de Brito, who celebrates her 15th birthday on January 29, debuted on the WTA Tour rankings at No. 364 on Monday to become the youngest player in the top 500 by one and a half years. Relying on her clean groundstrokes and creative combinations of shots, Larcher de Brito advanced to the semifinals of last week's $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger where she lost to eventual-champion Rossa De Los Rios to break through on the WTA Tour rankings for the first time.
Larcher de Brito, who celebrates her 15th birthday on January 29, debuted on the WTA Tour rankings at No. 364 on Monday to become the youngest player in the top 500 by one and a half years. Relying on her clean groundstrokes and creative combinations of shots, Larcher de Brito advanced to the semifinals of last week's $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger where she lost to eventual-champion Rossa De Los Rios to break through on the WTA Tour rankings for the first time.
Her rankings debut is within range of the spots where several well-known names landed in their first foray into the Tour rankings all at age 14:
Martina Hingis debuted at No.199 in October 1994
Nicole Vaidisova debuted at No.264 in March 2004
Anna Kournikova debuted at No. 294 in September 1995
Maria Sharapova debuted at No.532 in March 2002
Justine Henin debuted at No.529 in May 1998
Martina Hingis debuted at No.199 in October 1994
Nicole Vaidisova debuted at No.264 in March 2004
Anna Kournikova debuted at No. 294 in September 1995
Maria Sharapova debuted at No.532 in March 2002
Justine Henin debuted at No.529 in May 1998
Landing in the rankings for the first time, Larcher de Brito is eager to continue her ascent.
"I am very excited to officially have a WTA ranking," Larcher de Brito told Tennis Week. "I have been working very hard for this and I guess I feel like a real pro now! I still have a lot of improving to do though and I am looking forward to work my way up the rankings."
A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Larcher de Brito has showcased an immense upside since she started playing tennis at age 3. Initially, she was a retriever, following her older twin brothers around the court to pick up balls, but quickly developed her own style.
Larcher de Brito earned a scholarship to the IMG Bollettieri Academy at age 9 and moved to Bradenton with her brothers, father Antonio and mom Caroline.
She's faced Monica Seles, Vaidisova and Sharapova on the practice court and Larcher de Brito's 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over veteran Meghann Shaughnessy at the Sony Ericsson Open in March made her the youngest player to win a WTA Tour main-draw match since the introduction of the age-eligibility rule in 1995.
She is the seventh youngest player of all time to win a main draw WTA Tour match.
Larcher de Brito was the youngest top 100-ranked junior player in the world and grew up admiring another precocious player: five-time Grand Slam champion Hingis, who became the youngest player to reach No. 1 in the world at the age of 16 years, 6 months and 1 day.
"I like the way she develops points and opens up the court so well," Larcher de Brito said of Hingis. "She is very smart. She also seems like a very nice person off the court. She is always smiling."
Larcher de Brito is scheduled to play three more $25,000 Challenger tournaments this year as well as the Girls' 18s of the Orange Bowl and the Eddie Herr, where she became the youngest player to ever win the Girls' 16s Eddie Herr Championship at the age of 12.
Her game is still a work in progress: Larcher de Brito has been working to improve her serve and must get physically stronger to contend with the power merchants on the Tour, but she's already off to a strong start."
Larcher de Brito was the youngest top 100-ranked junior player in the world and grew up admiring another precocious player: five-time Grand Slam champion Hingis, who became the youngest player to reach No. 1 in the world at the age of 16 years, 6 months and 1 day.
"I like the way she develops points and opens up the court so well," Larcher de Brito said of Hingis. "She is very smart. She also seems like a very nice person off the court. She is always smiling."
Larcher de Brito is scheduled to play three more $25,000 Challenger tournaments this year as well as the Girls' 18s of the Orange Bowl and the Eddie Herr, where she became the youngest player to ever win the Girls' 16s Eddie Herr Championship at the age of 12.
Her game is still a work in progress: Larcher de Brito has been working to improve her serve and must get physically stronger to contend with the power merchants on the Tour, but she's already off to a strong start."
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