WIMBLEDON, England -- On a faultless afternoon at the All England Club thousands of patrons milled around the area between Centre Court and the adjacent outer courts. The mall of humanity created a prodigious collective buzz.

And yet, over the formidable concrete wall behind the baseline of Court 2, through the dull droning of the spectators, a screaming came across the sky. It cut through the curtain of noise like a laser:

"Eeeeeaaaggghhhh!"

There it was again.

"Eeeeeaaaggghhhh!:

It was 16-year-old Russian, Maria Sharapova, providing her own soundtrack for an eye-opening whipping of 18-year-old American Ashley Harkleroad, a pretty fair screamer herself. By consensus, Sharapova got the better of the audio battle -- she was far more consistent, if sometimes entirely off register -- even Harkleroad later had to agree.

Oh, yes, the match. Sharapova also won the first-round tennis contest, 6-2, 6-1 in a brisk 58 minutes.

Two weeks ago, when opponent Nathalie Dechy complained about the noise -- joined by players from surrounding courts -- Sharapova received a warning at the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. In three subsequent matches, she seemed to make a conscious effort to tone it down.

On Tuesday, Sharapova predictably downplayed the episode.

"I didn't really pay attention to that," Sharapova said. "I just played my game. I got to the semis, which was a good run for me. I was really happy for myself. I mean, grunting was the last thing on my mind.

"It's just something I've been doing all of my life, since I've been playing tennis. I mean, unless I control it, it's difficult. But I try to control it, yes."

While the sporting press here has referred to Sharapova's emissions as grunts, the word hardly does them justice. They are more like brief, controlled shrieks. Sharapova actually starts hers before the point of impact, then, when the ball hits the racket and she unleashes her shot, she really lets it go. The bigger the point, the bigger the embellishment.

Harkleroad was not overly impressed.

"Actually, I grunt pretty loud, too," she said. "If I'm playing her, I'm trying to be a bit more loud."

There were several points in the contentious first set when they sounded like -- no disrespect intended (to cats, that is) -- cats in heat. In the process of losing a love game in the second set, Harkleroad glared across the net at Sharapova and screamed, "Louder!"

"She grunts loud -- everybody knows that," Harkleroad said. "I was just trying to make it a more relaxed atmosphere because I was getting my clock cleaned out there.

"A lot of girls, before I played her, they say, 'You know, her grunt is ridiculous,' this, this and this. She just does it. I don't know why. That's just the way she does it, I guess."

Sharapova and Harkleroad were playing for much higher stakes than a trvial audio daily double; the tabloids described the matchup as "The Battle of the Babes."

They are young and blonde and pretty -- clearly heirs to the Anna Kournikova throne. Now that Kournikova is injured and has still failed to win a tournament, is Sharapova prepared to fill the Kournikova gap?

"I don't really need to be prepared for that," she said. "I just do my own thing, try to worry about myself, not try to be whoever else or try to close the gap."

Harkleroad's thoughts on the subject remained unclear, because when the subject came up a stern interview moderator tisk-tisked, "We're doing tennis questions here."

Sharapova, who is prevented from playing a full professional schedule because of her age, looked like the more polished player against Harkleroad, who made headlines last month when she upset No. 9 seed Daniela Hantuchova in the second round of the French Open. At 2-all in the first set, she took control. Harkleroad double-faulted on break point in the sixth game and the match was effectively over. Sharapova's forehand was enormous and was the chief weapon in compiling 32 winners. How dominant was Sharapova? She earned 14 break points (converting four), while Harkleroad managed just one.

As Sharapova noted in her press conference, her young life hasn't been all first-round victories at Wimbledon. For instance, she was born in Siberia, of all places.

Her father, Uri, used to play Yevgeny Kafelnikov's father, Aleksandre, for beers. Sharapova got her first racket, one of Kafelnikov's, at the age of four. Two years later Uri made a difficult -- and crucial -- decision. He moved Maria to Florida; Maria's mother, unable to get a visa, was forced to stay behind in Russia.

Two years later, Maria was invited to attend Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Bradenton, Fla., the finishing school for Andre Agassi, Monica Seles -- and Kournikova herself. At the age of 9, Sharapova found herself living in a dormitory with girls who were seven and eight years older. Her father visited when he could, usually once a week.

Although Sharapova lost her first five matches this year -- including the first rounds at the Australian Open and French Opens -- she broke through with four match victories in Birmingham, the last against fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, who is ranked No. 15 in the world. Sharapova's ranking is currently No. 88, but a win in the second round will bring that number up sharply.

Grunting is nothing new in tennis. Gustavo Kuerten probably has the most distinctive sound in tennis. Seles, long the gold standard, is and was a legendary grunter. The fact that she has won nine Grand Slam singles titles affords her a wide berth. Sharapova envisions Seles' sort of success, too.

"I really want to be No. 1 in the world," said Sharapova, who speaks English better than, say, Jennifer Capriati. "It's been my dream since I was a little girl."

Until she turns 18 and can play a full schedule her looks and grunts -- over-zealous interview moderators notwithstanding -- will be the main topics of discussion.

"It's just something that I try to control," Sharapova said. "But, you know, my mouth doesn't do anything, doesn't control the way I play. It's just a mouth.

"I know people talk about my looks and my grunting on the court, but in a few years none of that will matter. All that will count is becoming a champion."

Greg Garber is a senior writer at ESPN.com.