Evert Wants to Compete in Olympics : U.S. Tennis Assn. Would Have to Cut One Player to Make Room for Her

With their dance cards nearly complete, some United States teams still can make room for the best eligible athletes for 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea. Today, another Olympian is ready to join the party.

Chris Evert.

Evert expects to inform the United States Tennis Assn. this week that she has had a change of heart and will accept its invitation to represent her country in the tennis competition at Seoul.

Evert, the three-time Wimbledon champion, presently is recuperating from a heel injury and rehearsing for her marriage Saturday to skier Andy Mill. She will resume competitive tennis at the Virginia Slims tournament of Los Angeles Aug. 8-14 in Manhattan Beach, which will give her a month of preparation for the Olympics.

In an interview Sunday from her Florida home, Evert said she originally turned down the USTA because of the timing of the Games and the potentially volatile atmosphere of the site.

“There was a conflict with the wedding date before, which was one reason, and then there was the political reason, when I wasn’t sure how safe Korea would be with all the student riots in the streets. And those two reasons were reason enough,” Evert said.

“But Andy and I changed the wedding date and decided to get married in early summer, so that’s one reason I started reconsidering the Olympics,” Evert said. “At first, I thought the date had passed, but I talked to someone from the USTA, and it turns out they don’t need to get their official team on paper until July 31.

“Now that things have calmed down somewhat in Korea politically, I’ve been giving it some more thought, and I’ll probably end up playing.”

Current members of the U.S. team are Pam Shriver, Zina Garrison and Elise Burgin, all members of the women’s professional tour. Shriver and Garrison had been selected to play singles, Burgin and Shriver for doubles.

“We have a week or 10 days to name the final team,” said Buford Driskill Jr., a USTA regional vice president and member of the U.S. Olympic tennis nominating committee.

“But I don’t know of any changes made in the past few days. I haven’t talked with them (other top USTA officials) because they’ve been in Argentina for the Davis Cup.”

If Evert is added to the team, one of the current members would have to be eliminated because no more than three women can compete from each country in the Olympics, according to Driskill. There is a limit of four for the men, he said.

Asked if the USTA would be willing to cut one of the current team members at this late date, Driskill said, laughing: “I’m old enough to know that anything is possible. But I’d really rather not comment on that.”

Marty Riessen, U.S. Olmpic women’s tennis coach, also said he was surprised that Evert had had a change of heart at this late date, especially because it would cost one of the three current members a spot on the team.

“Everyone would like to see Chris play, but I think it’s past the stage,” Riessen said, referring to the disruption it would cause the team. “It would mean one of them would have to step down,” he added, although he acknowledged that technically there is no problem in a change being made even at this time.

If Evert joined the team, either Burgin or Garrison are likely to be cut.

“I’m sure there would be a lot of pressure from everyone who would like to see Chris play,” he said.

The choice of Burgin, who is ranked 136th in the world, has been questioned.

However, Riessen added that he is not a part of the selection process and didn’t think he would be called in on this matter.

Olympic tennis, introduced in 1984 as a demonstration sport, is now a medal competition, but is not restricted to amateur athletes, as are sports such as basketball and boxing.

Some people prefer the “purity” of amateur competition, while others would not mind seeing how the Soviet Union basketball team would cope with the likes of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, or how the Cuban boxing team would handle Mike Tyson.

“I have mixed feelings about that,” Evert said. “As professionals, obviously, we already have our Wimbledons and other tournaments, and we also receive a lot of money. From that standpoint, I can see where the idea of amateur athletes competing in the Olympics sounds nice.

“The farce, though, is that you know that most of our top amateur athletes receive a lot of money under the table, which makes the whole thing a farce. America sends its best track athletes to the Olympics, so why not its best tennis athletes?

“I personally would like to see Larry Bird playing the Soviets. Let’s put our best guys out there.”

Although tennis has had its international competitions such as the Davis Cup for men and the Federation Cup and Wightman Cup for women, none of these events have had the scope of an Olympic Games.

“It’s not always fun playing for your country when hardly anybody in your country is paying attention,” Evert said. “The women’s events can’t even get on cable TV.

“You go to England, and the fans there cheer for the English players. You go to France, they cheer for the French. It might take time for tennis to really catch on at the Olympics, but I know it would be nice to be involved in something like that and have everybody back home rooting for you. I’ve always envied the Olympic athletes that a little.

“This might be my only chance ever to play in one. If I was 18 years old, I wouldn’t even hesitate. I’d go in a minute.”

Lisa Dillman contributed to this story.