Burgin Says She Did Not Approve USTA Statement

Elise Burgin, who was dropped from the U.S. Olympic tennis team last week, confirmed that she had not approved a statement claiming she had withdrawn because she had not recovered from knee surgery.

“I had no knowledge of the contents of the (United States Tennis Assn.’s) release,” she said Monday during a press conference at the Forum. “I think I have stated (in her own release) that I have successfully recovered from the surgery.”

Although a USTA spokesman said the release was approved by Burgin’s Washington-based management agency, Advantage International, the head of Advantage’s women’s division, Phil dePicciotto disagreed.

“They (sent) it to us,” he said. “. . . We didn’t approve it and neither did Elise.”

The accuracy of the statement had been questioned because Burgin had been playing competitive tennis all summer.

For Burgin, her appearance at the news conference was the final chapter in a strange week. It all started a week ago Monday when John Lloyd phoned her in her Los Angeles hotel room.

Lloyd, who is Burgin’s Los Angeles Strings TeamTennis coach, was calling to deliver some surprising news. Evert had reconsidered and would accept the USTA’s invitation to play in the tennis competition at Seoul.

Which eventually meant, Evert’s yes forced the USTA to say no to Burgin.

That’s the simple explanation. But, by Friday, the USTA managed to bungle an already messy matter when it released the statement about Burgin’s supposed lack of recovery from the knee surgery last March.

“In this time period (the past two weeks), they failed to consult either me or my representatives at Advantage International regarding their intentions to ask Chris Evert to reconsider her Olympic decision,” Burgin said.

But Burgin says she holds no animosity toward Evert.

“Chris and I talked at length,” Burgin said of a phone conversation last week. “I want to say we’ve been close friends for years, and we’ve worked closely together.”

Burgin pointed out the controversy could have been averted.

“Even so, the real irony of this awkward situation is that it could have been avoided had the USTA taken one simple measure when it announced the team in December,” she said. “Had they made that team a provisional one, then the door would have remained open for Chris and Martina (Navratilova) to change their minds at any time up to July 31. Knowing that this was the situation, I would have then planned my schedule and lived my life for the past seven months accordingly.”