TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Agassi Made Him Eat More Than Words

Pass the salt to Edwin Pope, the venerable Miami Herald columnist, who wrote this from Wimbledon early in the tournament: “If Andre Agassi ever wins Wimbledon, I’ll eat his T-shirt.”

Agassi won the title about a week after Pope had dismissed him: “Not only has he no chance to win here, if he doesn’t pull himself together soon, he could be all the way out of tennis in two or three years.”

Over the years, Pope has proved to be much more accomplished at putting together words than making forecasts. The day after Agassi’s five-set victory over Goran Ivanisevic in the Wimbledon final, Pope was forced to eat some humble pie in public.

Wrote Pope: “Will somebody please tell me how to eat a T-shirt? Broil it? Bake it? Fricasee it?”

Pope speculated that the answer might be found during his post-Wimbledon vacation in Ireland.

“That settles it--T-shirt marinated in Guinness,” Pope said. “Only please send a clean one, Andre.”

Borg update: At 36, Bjorn Borg is encouraged even though he has now lost during the first round in all four of his ATP tournaments and hasn’t won a set. Borg, who will play in the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament the week of Aug. 3, says his game is getting better.

“Physically, mentally, I’m 100%,” said Borg, who quit tennis in 1982. “I know I can play a little better, but my game is starting to get better. I have to go more for the shots, to hit the ball a little bit harder, like I used to. I don’t like to lose, but I’m very encouraged. It’s going in the right direction.”

Borg’s schedule includes exhibitions in New Jersey and Boston this month, then the Los Angeles event. He will skip the U.S. Open, but play three more ATP Tour events in Europe.

Borg said he plans to play the Grand Slam events next year.

“My goal is to reach a level, at 36, where I can play competitive tennis, and I know I can.”

Besides Borg and John McEnroe, other entries in the Los Angeles tournament are David Wheaton, Richard Krajicek, Brad Gilbert, Aaron Krickstein and Derrick Rostagno.

Old news: Jimmy Connors, who will turn 40 in three weeks, made the cover of a particular magazine for the first time last month: “Longevity.”

Mr. Wimbledon: And where’s Agassi? Well, he won’t be at the Los Angeles tournament, even though promoter Bobby Kramer sought him long before Agassi won Wimbledon. Agassi is scheduled to play at Charleston, S.C., Aug. 8-9, in an exhibition that also includes Ivan Lendl.

Shorts stop: You might have noticed that Michael Chang and Zina Garrison wore compression tights beneath their tennis clothes at Wimbledon, which were approved for play on medical grounds. Chang and Garrison also will wear the tights at the Olympics.

In the field: Garrison, Amy Frazier and Magdalena Maleeva have entered the $350,000 Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, Aug. 10-16, at Manhattan Country Club. Mary Pierce pulled out because she will play for France in the Olympics.

Monica Seles, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, leads the 28-player field that also features Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Pam Shriver and Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere.

Gabriela Sabatini and Jennifer Capriati head the field in the Mazda Tennis Classic, Aug. 24-30, at La Costa.

Ratings game: For what it’s worth, if Pete Sampras had beaten Goran Ivanisevic in the Wimbledon semifinals, he would have replaced Stefan Edberg at No. 2 in the rankings.

Tennis Notes

Eric Amend of San Pedro, Sean Brawley of Pacific Palisades, Tony Bujan of Palm Desert and Woody Hunt of Torrance head the entry list for the Volvo/Los Angeles pre-qualifying tournament Monday through July 26 at the Racquet Centre in Universal City. The singles finalists as well as the winning doubles team earn berths in the qualifying tournament, Aug. 1-2, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.

Paul MacDonald is the new general manager of the Vic Braden Tennis College at Coto de Caza . . . Amanda Basica of Lomita, Sandra DeSilva of San Marino, Janet Lee of Rancho Palos Verdes, Stephanie Lansdorp of Rolling Hills Estates, Meilen Tu of Northridge, Ania Bleszynski of Los Angeles and Glenn Weiner of Cypress--all members of the U.S. National tennis team and the USTA Training Assistance Program--are in Florida preparing for the national clay-court championships later this month . . . Cort Furniture is sponsoring a tennis clinic for Special Olympic athletes of Santa Monica, from 4-5 p.m. Aug. 4 at the UCLA Sunset Courts during the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament.