So sweet, even if she is noisy, that Michelle Larcher de Brito. You know the one, the little Portguese girl famous for shrieking with the intensity of a jet fighter. Except for her first Wimbledon match yesterday where she was quiet as a church mouse. Well, not quiet but the shriek was modulated to a series of exhalations and gasps. (Watch her on youtube.com. Astonishing how 5ft 5in of girl can make such a noise.)

She insisted that it was just one of those things, that she shrieks because that was what her body does. I think we all beg to differ as she played really rather well without the racket - the noise-type racket that is.

Interestingly, had breakfast with the big hitters at IMG, the world's biggest sports marketing agency, who have Larcher De Brito on their books, along with Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and around 100 other top tennis players. It won't surprise you to discover that the shrieking has become something of an issue and they are actively advising the youngster to turn down the volume.

"She's a beautiful girl with a beautiful game and will be a great player," according to Fernando Soler, head of tennis at IMG. "She doesn't need to make headlines about the wrong things."

Larcher De Brito is adamant she won't shut up but we think good sense will prevail and that IMG are quite right. Nobody wants Larcher De Brito to be remembered in the sport for all the wrong reasons.

Perfect manners

The fragrant Laura Robson - more gliding Rolls-Royce than a model with one of those noisy exhaust pipes - has a definite opinion on the grunters and shriekers. "It's such an attractive sound, isn't it?", she said. "It's up to the individual whether they want to do it or not and whether they think it helps.

"But I don't think it helps that much if you are screaming 100 decibels. I don't mind a normal grunt when you hit it, but when you are grunting before and after you hit the shot, that's just taking it to a different level." Obviously a well brought up girl, our Laura.

A star in waiting

Actually, Laura is much coveted by IMG. They have the biggest stars on their roster but missed out on the two most likely Brits: Andy Murray and young Robson. Soler purred about them both, although IMG lost out to Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Group (the agency that looks after David Beckham) in the bidding recently to sign Murray. The Scot is already one of tennis's biggest draws, but Robson has all the agents drooling with her potential and looks.

"When Laura Robson makes the semi-finals of Wimbledon, she is going to make a huge impact," Soler told me. "She is absolutely terrific and will be a terrific tennis player." Yes, we know.

Living legend

Oooh, Maria Bueno. A vision from my past: exotic, glamorous and a three-time winner in my formative years watching Wimbledon on black-and-white telly. She was with those legendary figures that fill my head when I think of Wimbledon and who are rarely heard of now: Chuck McKinley, the 1963 winner here (and sadly no longer with us), Laver, Rosewall, Margaret Court, Yvonne Goolagong. Marvellous. Anyway, this is just to tell you she was at Wimbledon on Tuesday afternoon being treated to a day in the Royal Box on Centre Court.

The immensely likeable Trevor East was there on Monday. Trevor was director of sport for Setanta. Hope nobody mentioned the collapse of Setanta's Premier League deal over lunch and spoilt his day out.

Bit of an oversight

Ouch, ouch, ouch. we all get it wrong from time to time - but the page one headline of the Tennis Foundation magazine for Wimbledon is: "Judy Murray Say's ..." I will leave you all to wield the red pen.