WIMBLEDON REPORT : Edberg, McEnroe Front and Centre in Fourth Round

If Stefan Edberg’s life at Wimbledon has been relatively quiet so far, that is likely to end today when he plays John McEnroe in the fourth round, first match up on Centre Court.

McEnroe has won Wimbledon three times, Edberg twice. Edberg clearly is the better player now, but McEnroe, at 32, clearly believes he still can win. They have played 11 times, once in the 1989 Wimbledon semifinals. McEnroe has won seven, but lost the last three.

Image Is Everything: Andre Agassi also advanced, beating Richard Krajicek, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). However, the postmatch interview centered not on serves or volleys or strokes, but on sunglasses.

Agassi put them on when the sun went down, the reverse of what most people do, and told reporters that he has had trouble seeing the ball during matches during “darker times or twilight.” He added that he asked a sunglasses manufacturer to make him a special pair. Also, he mentioned the brand name of the sunglasses a couple of times--surprise, surprise.

When Agassi was asked how much he was being paid to wear them, he squirmed a bit and said he wasn’t being paid at all, but he just happened to be a friend of the manufacturer.

Odds and Ends: Henri Leconte, who has had back surgery twice, had to default his singles match to Guy Forget while leading, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 1-4, when he hurt his back again. . . . Brad Gilbert grumbled and mumbled his way to a third-round defeat, losing a four-setter to Christian Bergstrom of Sweden.