TENNIS / JERRY CROWE : Inquiring Minds Will Love This

It’s all there in this week’s National Enquirer: “Rush Limbaugh’s Secret Bride-to-Be’ . . . “Tonya: Her Life in Photos’ . . . “The Evil Spy Who Betrayed America Was Really a Henpecked Wimp.”

And the one that caught our eye: “Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi: ‘We’re So Much in Love.’ ”

Yes, reports the Enquirer, the Zen Master and the seldom-seen-on-the-screen actress are an item.

It’s true, too.

“Andre and Brooke are boyfriend and girlfriend,” Phillip Agassi, older brother of the former Wimbledon champion and manager of Agassi Enterprises, said from Las Vegas. In the article, Andre is quoted as saying, “I’m in love with Brooke. She’s very special--and she’s added a lot to my life.”

Babbles Brooke, “Andre Agassi is the love of my life! We’re so much in love--and I hope this feeling goes on forever!”

Shields, who is five years older than the 23-year-old Agassi, said that their romance began with a fax, that they see each other every couple of weeks, love to go to movies and eat at Wendy’s and have been dating for about six months.

“If this goes well,” she said, “I’d like to be married by the time I’m 30, then have two or three children.”

After she had foot surgery recently, Shields said, Agassi jetted to her side when she had a severe reaction to medication.

“I vomited constantly,” she said. “Andre held my head when I was sick and carried me back and forth to the bathroom.”

Isn’t it romantic?

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Eye, eye, eye: After losing to Pete Sampras in the semifinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup at Indian Wells, Stefan Edberg was kept on the court to receive a “nicest eyes” award from a tournament sponsor.

“I’ve had a lot of sportsmanship awards,” Edberg said, “but this is a new one for me.”

What’s next, best buns?

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Last roundup: Only two months into her final year of singles competition, Martina Navratilova, 37, was asked to defend her decision to leave the WTA Tour after winning a tournament in Paris last month for her 167th title.

“I had my mental state questioned by some people,” she said. “They said, ‘Are you crazy? Rumor has it that you’ve really lost it in the head.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ Started to get really defensive. I was told that I was crazy for quitting because I am at the top and playing really well. But this doesn’t change my mind.

“I am quite happy with my decision and my mother thinks I am going to change my mind, but she has been wrong about (me) being a vegetarian, also, so it is not the first time that my mother could be wrong.”

In putting together a schedule for her final year, Navratilova said she included almost all of her favorite stops, including the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles Aug. 8-14 at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach.

“The crowds have been fantastic the last couple of years,” she said of the Southland stop. “They just really go overboard.

“Like I said last year, I felt in my earlier years of my career I was underappreciated. I hit great shots and people were like, ‘Oh, just an average shot,’ and somehow I am hitting an average shot and I am getting standing ovations now. I just walk on the court and people go crazy . . . and I certainly get that kind of reception in L.A.”

Won’t it be difficult to walk away from that?

“Well, sure, but, you know, I have had enough,” she said. “I mean, enough of a good thing already. I have had such a great ride, made so many friends, had such great opportunities and experiences.

“I don’t feel like it is going to be this big part of my life that is cut away because those memories will always be there. And I am walking away on my own, not because I am forced to by body or mind or anything else.

“I am walking away because I am ready for the rest of it.”

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Just wondering: As he prepared to serve during a match against Petr Korda in the Newsweek Champions Cup, Todd Martin heard a spectator call out from the stands, “We’re all with you, Todd.”

After losing the point, Martin returned to the baseline, looked up and asked: “Are you still with me?”

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Never say never: Pete Sampras says the most imposing obstacle in his pursuit of a Grand Slam will be the French Open. His victory at Kitzbuhel, Austria, in 1992 was the only one of his 23 titles that was won on clay and he has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals at the French Open.

“I feel a bit vulnerable on the clay,” said Sampras, who has won the sport’s other three majors--the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open. “I feel like when I play guys on clay, they’ve got a pretty good chance. They’re not really intimidated by me.

“I still feel like I’m a bit behind the Couriers and Brugueras on the clay, and that’s maybe going to take some more time. I realize I need to get a great draw and be playing the best tennis of my career because it’s going to be the biggest challenge for me.”

Sampras, 22, doubts that anyone can win all four majors in one year.

“As far as realistically winning the Grand Slam, I think it’s--I don’t want to say impossible, but it’s going to be a hell of an effort,” he said. “When (Rod) Laver won it (in 1969), he won three of the Slams on grass, which is probably his best surface. . . .

“Realistically, the French is going to be the biggest hurdle for me. But to win all four in the same year is pretty much impossible.”

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Is that all? Said Thomas Muster, asked what he would have to do to become competitive with Sampras after his fifth consecutive lopsided loss against the world’s No. 1 player: “Be born again, be taller and get long arms.”

Tennis Notes

India named its team for a first-round Davis Cup match against the United States March 25-27 at New Delhi--Leander Paes, Zeeshan Ali, Gaurav Natekar and Asif Ismail. Only Paes, ranked 330th in the world, and Ali, ranked 481st, are expected to play against the U.S. team of Jim Courier, Todd Martin, Patrick McEnroe and Richey Reneberg. The winner will play Belgium or the Netherlands in the quarterfinals July 15-17 in Europe. . . . In its first year under Captain Tom Gullikson, the U.S. team might have to play all its matches on the road. “We’re calling it Gulli’s Travels,” a U.S. Tennis Assn. spokesman said.

Cold Warrior: Aaron Krickstein, a surprise semifinalist in the Newsweek Champions Cup, upset 12th-seeded Alexander Volkov in the quarterfinals, improving his record against Russian players to 13-0. . . . The Women’s Tennis Council postponed discussion of a special seeding for Monica Seles after the former No. 1 player announced that she would be sidelined from the WTA tour for “an indefinite period of time.”

The Museum of Contemporary Art’s second “MOCA on Court” tennis tournament April 30 and May 1, 6, 7 and 8 will benefit MOCA’s education and community outreach programs. Details: (310) 454-1383. . . . Senior players from around the world will compete in the Phoenix Challenge/Love 50 tennis tournament April 3-10 in Santa Barbara. The event bills itself as the world’s largest senior recreational tennis tournament.