WIMBLEDON NOTES : Wayne Who? To the Press, Brooke Is Queen

Tradition dictates that titled personages sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court. But at least one King chose to sit in the press seats--Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky said he had just been in Rome, where he had been blessed by the Pope.

The Great One sat with wife Janet Jones in the media section, unnoticed by the Fleet Street tabloid writers who had descended on Wimbledon on Thursday to ogle actress Brooke Shields, girlfriend of Andre Agassi.

Some reporters sat in the press section and spent the entire match gazing at Shields through binoculars, even though she was sitting only 20 feet away.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Box, the Duke and Dutchess of Kent entertained a large group of well-dressed society folk. With the temperatures in the high 80s, the Duke elected to leave his suit coat on. Unfortunately for his male guests, that meant they were expected to keep their coats on too.

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Top-seeded Steffi Graf advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Amanda Coetzer, then spoke for the first time about her sudden withdrawal from doubles with Martina Navratilova. Graf said she had told the truth when she said her back and wrist were fine after her match Tuesday.

“I knew I was not feeling 100%,” Graf said. “Things got a little worse that evening.”

Graf said her back condition was unpredictable and she always expected she would be able to compete in both singles and doubles.

Navratilova spoke about the situation Wednesday and was obviously put off by Graf’s decision.

“I know that,” Graf said. “That’s why I was waiting so long [to make a decision]. That’s why it was a difficult decision. I was really looking forward to it and I know she was too. It was one of the reasons she came. I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry for it.”

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Tim Henman, the British player who struck a ball in anger and inadvertently hit a ball girl hard behind the left ear with it Wednesday night, has, predictably, been pilloried here.

Henman was fined $3,000 and disqualified from the tournament, becoming the first player to be disqualified from Wimbledon in the open era.

John Curry, chairman of the All England Club, said, “It was obviously an accident, but the rules are very clear. If you hit an official, accidentally or otherwise, it is disqualification. Rules are rules.”

Henman was abject in his apology, presenting flowers and kisses to the ball girl, Caroline Hall, 16, who readily forgave him.

Speaking with typical English understatement, the apple-cheeked girl told reporters:

“It was a bit of shock and my head is quite sore. I know it was a complete accident and I was just very unlucky, as was Tim. Tim has said he was sorry, but I had already forgiven him because he didn’t mean the ball to hit me.

“Everybody has been really nice and kind, looking after me and making sure I am all right. I have seen the doctor and he said that I should rest, although I wanted to come back to work today.”