TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Agassi’s Return Adds Color to Wimbledon

It’s not exactly the green, green grass of home, but Wimbledon is where Andre Agassi finds himself, for better or worse, for the first time in four years. The combination of Agassi and lawn tennis might prove to be one of the more interesting sidelights to the All England Championships, which begin Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Church Road, Wimbledon.

So far, the questions surrounding Agassi are threefold (abbreviated Agassi responses in parentheses):

1. How is he going to be affected by losing the French Open final? (Not at all.)

2. What is he going to wear? (Not telling.)

3. How is he going to play? (Not a problem.)

There you have it. If you get the idea that Wimbledon may be lacking a few good story lines--and it tends to look that way after having Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker in three consecutive finals--then it’s easy to understand the preoccupation with Agassi.

Indications are that Agassi may take London by storm. The tabloid Express has bought exclusive rights to his Wimbledon story, which Agassi will chronicle daily, in his own handwritten reportorial style. It ought to be pretty riveting, which may or may not equal his play on the grass courts.

“It’s completely different circumstances for me,” Agassi said in a conference call from Ponte Vedra, Fla., before he left for England. “It seems like for the first time I can play a tournament without being expected to do a lot. I’m just going to hope for the best and leave it at that.

“I may be fooling myself to think I can perform well. Can a baseliner win Wimbledon? We’re just going to have to wait and see. Tennis has come a long way since (Bjorn) Borg won from the baseline. Serves have gotten so much bigger, and the equipment has changed. My guess is (for a baseliner to win Wimbledon), you have to add something to your game--a big serve or come to the net every now and then. My guess is, it’s next to impossible to do it at the baseline.”

The only other time Agassi played at Wimbledon, as a 17-year-old in 1987, he lost his first-round match to Henri Leconte in straight sets.

“I’m sure this is going to be a great investment for me as far as my career goes,” Agassi said. “However, I’m not counting myself out. I don’t think it’s unrealistic that I may do well.”

Trivia question: Since the Open era, who are the only two women to win Wimbledon the first time they played in it?

More Andre: After his disheartening five-set loss to Jim Courier in the French Open final, Agassi said he developed a case of tonsillitis and bronchitis. However, he did not develop a case of heartache.

“You know, it’s extremely tough to go all the way in the French and feel like you’re so close,” Agassi said. “Well, (losing to Courier) has affected me positively. It made me more determined. I’ve got time on my side.”

Age group: Martina Navratilova’s grass-court victory Saturday in Eastbourne, England, was her 156th tournament title and put her only one behind Chris Evert’s record of 157. Since turning 30, Navratilova has won 35 titles. Evert won 24 titles after turning 30.

Band-Aids: Yannick Noah, who plays little tennis these days, has formed a band.

So has Mats Wilander, called Wilander, of all things. His group completed a 16-city tour of Sweden just before its creator and founder completed a two-round tour of the French Open.

Although Noah didn’t enter the French Open because he didn’t feel prepared to play in it, he found time to play with his band one night during a party at Roland Garros Stadium.

This brings us to John McEnroe. Last week in England, McEnroe played guitar in a band with Pat Cash, another former Wimbledon champion, to raise money for those still left homeless by the earthquake in Armenia in 1988.

As for their musical talents, McEnroe said: “We’re both pretty average at best, but for tennis players we’re pretty good, which isn’t saying much.”

Trivia answer: Navratilova in 1978 and Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

Add, subtract: Helena Sukova, Amy Frazier, Lori McNeil, Radka Zrubakova and Magdalena Maleeva have entered the $350,000 Virginia Slims of Los Angeles. The event will be held Aug. 12-18 at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach and serves as a hard-court warm-up for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 26. Top players entered are Monica Seles, Gabriela Sabatini, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Mary Joe Fernandez and Zina Garrison.

Ivan Lendl’s withdrawal last week from the Volvo/Los Angeles event July 27-Aug. 4 kept alive his streak of four entries and four subsequent withdrawals from the tournament. Brad Gilbert has signed up to join Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Aaron Krickstein in the $250,000 tournament.

Tennis Notes

Billie Jean King has sold 50% of her controlling interest in TeamTennis, which now will be led by Ehud Houminer, former president and chief executive of Phillip Morris USA. . . . The third Kristy McNichol celebrity tennis tournament will be held Oct. 12-13 at MountainGate Country Club. Proceeds from the fund-raiser will benefit the H.E.L.P. Group, a family of nonprofit organizations serving the special needs of children. For information, call (818) 781-0360. . . . Volunteers interested in working at the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament July 27-Aug. 4 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA may call the Southern California Tennis Assn. at (213) 824-1010. . . . Former tour player Pam Teeguarden has been named Tennis Line Producer for the Make-a-Wish celebrity tennis tournament Aug. 10 at the Beverly Hills Country Club. The event raises money to grant special wishes for children who have life-threatening illnesses.