Agassi Can Again Lay Claim to No. 1

Andre Agassi, win or lose in today’s Wimbledon final against Pete Sampras, will be ranked No. 1 on Monday.

This will be the first time since Feb. 5, 1996, that Agassi will be No. 1 in the world, the longest stretch between No. 1 rankings for any male player.

Agassi, at 29 years 2 months, also will become the fourth-oldest player to be ranked No. 1. Oldest was Jimmy Connors at 30 years 9 months.

Even if he wins, Sampras will drop from No. 1 to No. 3 in the rankings (behind Patrick Rafter as well). Thank the weird ATP computer formula for that.

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When she walks onto Centre Court today, Steffi Graf will be appearing in her 31st Grand Slam singles final. Her opponent, Lindsay Davenport, will be in her second. Only Martina Navratilova (34) and Chris Evert (32) have appeared in more finals than Graf.

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Agassi, not known for his powerful serve, hasn’t had his serve broken since a third-round match against Alberto Martin. That’s 36 consecutive games in which Agassi has held serve.

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After her semifinal win over Mirjana Lucic, during which Graf had her left thigh wrapped, it was announced that Graf and John McEnroe were pulling out of the mixed doubles.

This sentimental pairing had filled Centre Court all week as Graf, 30, and McEnroe, 40, had advanced to the semifinals. But with the constant rain of this second week, Graf would have had to play the mixed semifinal late Saturday afternoon and then return for her singles final today at noon.