Needing all the yelp they can get

The men’s tournament has grown so loud around here that to siphon off any attention the women might have to get really, really loud.

Oddly, they might just do that even long before another potential all-Williams final.

For while Venus Williams seeks a sixth Wimbledon title and Serena Williams seeks a third, and while they operate from opposite halves of the draw while trying to meet in a second straight Wimbledon final and fourth overall, the forecast calls for noise from elsewhere -- from Portugal, actually.

Among the eight wild-card entries Wimbledon doled out per custom, one went to 16-year-old Michelle Larcher De Brito, delighting British tabloids, threatening human eardrums and promising that moral-ethical discussions could mar sips of champagne at the All England Club.

While ranked only No. 91, and born in -- don’t spit your coffee -- 1993, Larcher De Brito has gained infamy this spring for her decibels while striking tennis balls, earning descriptions such as “abhorrent” and “cheating” from Martina Navratilova, plus “tennis banshee” from the tabloid the Mirror.

During her third-round loss to Aravane Rezai at the French Open, her screams upon contact grew so loud that even those who worked in distant offices at Court Philippe Chatrier had heard her and envisioned a crime scene or an ambitious rooster butchering an aria.

Rezai complained, Larcher De Brito complained that Rezai complained and the crowd really complained, raining posh French boos after the teen barely shook the victorious Rezai’s hand.

As prospective Wimbledon TV viewers around the globe double-checked the locations of their mute buttons, the British tabloids portended a fuss.

“Experts say it is unsafe to be exposed to 110 decibels for more than half an hour, so Larcher De Brito, whose shriek has been measured at 109, should have a health warning,” warned the Mirror in sober public service.

Larcher De Brito chimed in from an event in Liverpool, claiming she cannot change, that nobody cared before and that the fury in France related to Rezai’s French nationality. Larcher De Brito’s resoluteness has presented particular consternation when considering Wimbledon’s addition of a retractable roof at Centre Court, a harrowing detail that could trap thousands should the teen ever play there.

Commandeering a shrill story, the Mirror (again) unspooled a top-10 grunters list, in which Larcher De Brito dominated No. 2 Maria Sharapova and No. 3 Monica Seles.

As co-No. 4 Serena Williams said on Saturday, “I always give 100%, but sometimes I’m so zoned I don’t grunt. Sometimes I’m so zoned I do grunt. Whatever way it is, I just don’t know when it’s coming.”

The debate over the din, and the tournament officials’ role in policing it, might rock the women’s tournament until the second week when it figures to find the familiar and remarkable dual-Williams theme.

Dinara Safina might rank among the quietest top-seeded players after she freaked out over her French Open final and played as if she’d forgotten how. That leaves as headliners Serena Williams, seeded No. 2, and Venus Williams, seeded No. 3 and champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

“Clearly with her past results, I definitely think she’s the favorite,” said Sharapova, the 2004 champion who received a No. 24 seeding even with her No. 59 post-surgery ranking.

Clearly Venus Williams finds Wimbledon a personal paradise, a matter she reiterated this week, a matter even apart from not being within earshot of Larcher De Brito.

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chuck.culpepper@yahoo.com