The words were filed in Novotna's mind for future reference.. IN A pairing that should please the crowds like few others, John McEnroe and Steffi Graf are to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon. McEnroe, 40, won the mixed doubles title at the French Open in 1977 but has not played at Wimbledon since 1992. "I have a sense that something magical will happen at the final Wimbledon of the century," McEnroe said yesterday "For a start, I'm back, better watch out... the partnership of John McEnroe and Steffi Graf might stir a little bit of interest Obviously the girl needs help.

I'll see what I can do."I'm flattered to be given this opportunity to play. She is one of the goddesses of modern tennis, one of the greatest athletes this sport has seen - and she wants to play with me! Let's go out and win it, Steffi."In another dream pairing, Tim Henman and Andre Agassi contested a practice set on Court 9 yesterday. Agassi came back from 4-1 down in the tie-break to prevail, then met Henman at the net."Gimme some love," the Las Vegan said. "That was a great set."Andrei Medvedev observed the pair, and was impressed, especially by the American. "I watched Andre practising against Henman, and he was moving really well," the Ukranian said "In their first game, he broke Henman's serve at love To do that in England, you're a god.".

THE LAST Wimbledon Championships of the 20th Century are almost upon us, and having reached the age when I am older than most of the exhibits in the Wimbledon Museum I did think of getting myself cloned and starting up all over again so I would be around when the magnificent multi-million pound redevelopment scheme is finished in 2010. Already there is an impressive new No 1 court, a cascading waterfall where a car park used to be, and a giant television screen where spectators can laze on a grassy hillock with a Pimms close at hand and watch the major matches. But if clones don't have built-in memories like computers do, I would rather stay as I am with my irreplaceable yesterdays. They were a reporter's Valhalla. Wimbledon's long and lonely fight to bring about open tennis in 1968 and the bans and the boycotts of the 1970s all made front-page news; but for me the joy of The Championships is all about its people and the strange and wonderful things they do. Nothing was more fun than The Great Knicker Controversy of 1949. The photographers, and at least half the spectators, loved it; but it did have its serious side.It was all about an inch of lace on Gorgeous Gussie's (Moran) panties, and a dress short enough to make sure it could be seen... But it was more than just a fashion foible by the dress designer Ted Tinling, it was his broadside attack against The Championship Committee, who had banned his using even the slightest hint of colour on his creations, and Tinling who spent his life glamourising women's tennis was furious.

Gussie had a beautiful body, so did Karol Fageros in her gold lame underwear, but even Ted's friends thought he went too far when he produced a pair of pants with one cheek green, the other mauve (The All England Club colours). Faces in the Committee box were puce.Wooden rackets and white balls, which used to fluff up a bit, produced magnificent matches of a magnitude which because of the introduction of the tie-break (1971) can never be seen again. They left the competitors and spectators exhausted, and played hell with edition times. The Drobny- Patty third round clash in 1953 lasted for 93 games and took 5 hours 4 minutes and finished in the twilight.