London, June 23 : The race for being the loudest grunter at Wimbledon is hotting up, with Maria Sharapova for the moment reclaiming the title from the loudest offender, Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Maria Sharapova, the reigning Queen of Squealers, answered the challenge with a rallying cry of her own. And her volley of grunts and groans was enough to retain her title as the loudest woman in tennis for now, at least.

"If matches get tougher, I am going to start grunting. If people don't like it, they can leave," Sharapova said.

Portuguese Michelle's blasts while playing a stroke have been measured at 109 decibels, the same as an F1 car. But the 16-year-old was unusually quiet on Court 17 as she eased through to a 6-2 7-5 win over Czech Klara Zakopalova, The Sun reports.

The Williams sisters - Venus and Serena -- have had their grunts recorded at 90 decibels, while Maria Sharapova gives a 103-decibel squeal.

Fan Marnie Lloyd, 24, from Battersea, South London, said: "She sounded more like a Nissan Micra than a McLaren. I felt pretty let down."

Meanwhile on Court One big-hitting Russian Maria was making a huge racket as she beat Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova 7-5 6-4. During tough rallies she was even approaching her best of 103 decibels.

Last night Michelle denied championship organisers had asked her to reduce the noise, amid claims that her yelps were tantamount to cheating. (ANI)