MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS is having car trouble again. Having made
                     the critical life decision to drive a yellow Lamborghini instead of a
                     Ferrari, the Scudster found himself in a spot of bother in the
                     Melbourne Park carpark yesterday. He was seen - and heard - having
                     a verbal stoush with a parking officer. According to an eyewitness,
                     the parking man told Scud to park elsewhere. Scud objected strongly,
                     cursing the pesky official. He marched off, leaving the car in the
                     (reserved)parking place.

                     The parking man grabbed his walky-talky in search of reinforcements.
                     "I've just been sworn at and I'm f. . .ing sick of it," he said. "He's
                     taken my name and he's going to report me to . . .. . .(inaudible, but
                     believed to be a higher power at Flinders Park)."

                     Scud's father, Nick, then picked up the argument. By this stage two
                     parking officers, a security guard and a man guessed to be a
                     tournament official had gathered by the car. The guards told the
                     Patriarchal Missile (Big Scud) that if the car wasn't moved to the
                     nearby players' parking spots, it would be towed away. Big Nick
                     countered that the car was a courtesy vehicle from Ford and it had
                     been parked in the courtesy spot.

                     The battle raged for several minutes and there was no sign of a
                     ceasefire when our spy left the carpark.

                     From the media's point of view, the biggest difference between
                     Wimbledon and the Australian Open is the domination of the former
                     by London's aggressive tabloids. This is most evident at media
                     conferences. At Wimbledon, the lead off question will often focus on
                     the private life of a player: "Steffi, did your father . . .? Mary, have
                     you seen your father??" Here, the questioning is more tame.

                     For example, it took until yesterday for Andre Agassi to receive a
                     question about his celebrity wife, Brooke Shields. But the foray into
                     his marriage was not exactly rugged stuff by Wimbledon standards
                     and Andre's reply was a clean winner.

                     Question: I think it was in Stuttgart last year you said how your wife
                     was always a force in helping you get back there?

                     Agassi: According to the media, she's the reason I got to number one
                     and she's the reason why I fell, and now she is the reason why I came
                     back, so God bless Brooke."

                     Best question from one of the hordes of horny teenagers who turned
                     out to receive autographs and a close-up gawk at Anna Kournikova at
                     the "fanfest" yesterday. "Anna, after you finish tennis, will you
                     become a supermodel?" Kournikova: "Uhm, we'll see when I finish."