Michelle Larcher de Brito: Getting to the top one tournament at a time
By Elisabeth Deffner
Last year Michelle Larcher de Brito became the seventh-youngest player to win a Women’s Tennis Association tour main-draw match. She was 14 years, one month, and three weeks old, and she had just turned pro.
“It’s really nice to be pro; every-one just treats you completely different,” says Michelle, who lives near Tampa, Florida. “As soon as you enter the pros, everyone treats you with a lot of respect.”
Everyone except her older brothers, that is.
“They push me around sometimes, like they always did,” she jokes. “They still think they’re better than me—but if you ask me, the answer’s no!”
Michelle grew up watching her twin brothers, Sergio and Sebastian—four years older than she is—play tennis. She wanted to play, too—and at about 3 years old she began learning how.
When the boys started playing competitively, and advanced to the final round of a tournament, eventually winning a trophy, Michelle could hardly wait for the opportunity to win a trophy of her own. “My mom told me, ‘You’ve got to play better, practice more, so you can get a trophy too,’” recalls Michelle, now 15.
So she did. When she was about 8 years old, Michelle started competing in tournaments organized by some of the many tennis clubs in Portugal, where she was born. Her first tournament she won.
But her first match on the pro circuit she lost.
“To tell you the truth, I was crying,” Michelle admits ruefully. “It was really tough. But that just made me stronger. It made me want to be a really great pro one day. “Sometimes losing is better than winning because you learn so much, and it makes you so determined that the next time . . . you’re going to win.”
A Healthy Attitude
 Michelle and her family moved to the United States when she was 9 years old so she could focus on tennis. Her days are filled with practice, fitness training, and schoolwork almost from the minute she gets up at 6:00 a.m.
Michelle hits the gym at 7:30 a.m., warming up, running, doing weight training, and—of course—playing tennis. Later in the morning, at 11:30, she heads to the private school she attends. After school she changes and hits the courts again for more practice. Then it’s back home for homework, dinner, and an early night.
“I get up early in the mornings and I make sure I go to bed early to get good rest; without rest, you don’t practice too good,” she explains. “It takes a lot of discipline, and for sure a lot of hard work.”
Tennis may be work—but it’s a lot of fun, too. Michelle has a passion for the sport and a drive to improve at it—and she appreciates the perks of playing competitively, such as getting to see new places (in January she competed in Hong Kong) and earning her own money (which she likes to spend on clothes and shoes).
Her discipline and athletic drive also make it easy for her to turn away from substances such as alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
“I want to be healthy; I want to live a long, happy life,” she explains. “I’m quite fortunate not to have been offered any [substances, but if you are,] you’ve got to say no and just walk away—even if it’s tempting. You have to think about your health and future.”
Taking Her Time
Though Michelle looks forward to advancing in the pro rankings; to turning 18, so that she will not be restricted in the number of tournaments in which she can compete; and to playing Maria Sharapova, one of the top female tennis players in the world, she doesn’t spend a lot of time speculating about her future.
“I try not to think too far in the future,” she says. “I just take it tournament by tournament, day by day. I’m going to keep practicing, keep playing tournaments, and see how it goes.”
Michelle likes to get dressed up on important occasions, and to hang out with her friends whenever she can (and to talk with them on her cell when she can’t). She’s a regular 15-year-old girl with a not-very-regular career—one she hopes will be part of her life for years to come.
As a child learning to play tennis, everything was a challenge: learning how to move her feet, adjusting to holding the racket, getting in enough practice time. But the longer she played, the more Michelle loved tennis; the more she improved; and the more she wanted to play.
Her patient and consistent effort has paid off. At 9 years old, she earned a scholarship to the IMG Bollettieri Academy (Nick Bollettieri is a prominent tennis coach who has worked with nine number one players—including Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Monica Seles, and Venus and Serena Williams). Michelle was the youngest person in the top 500 players on the WTA Tour rankings, breaking the top 300 before she turned 15. Earlier this year she played in the JB Group Classic exhibition competition that featured just seven other players, among them Sharapova and Venus Williams.
Michelle is aware how much she’s accomplished at such a young age, and that there are still many goals she wants to achieve. But she’s in no hurry. Steady work has built her an amazing career at a young age, and she hopes that steady work will continue to take her where she wants to go—like facing Sharapova across the net.
“When I actually see her, I see how aggressive she is, and I think, ‘Oh, yeah, I can wait a little while!’” Michelle says with a laugh. “If everything goes well, I’d definitely like to play Maria Sharapova—but I’ve still got a
little while to go.”
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