THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 8 : A HARD SELL : Chris Evert Charms, but Tennis, Olympics Remain an Uncertain Love Match

For Chris Evert, the Queen Mother of every tennis center court, it was pretty much royal business as usual here Saturday.

She beat her first-round opponent, Sandra Cecchini of Italy, 6-2, 6-2. She was gracious throughout and quickly became the crowd favorite, as sparse as it was. And afterward, she charmed the press.

But it wasn’t just another day on the throne for the 33-year-old Evert. No, this was special. This was the Olympics. And now that she had made up her mind to come here, after balking at the idea 10 months ago, she couldn’t have been happier.

“I wanted to be a part of this the first time,” she said.

For the first time since the 1924 Games in Paris, tennis is a full-medal sport in the Olympics, and much of the talk during the early rounds has centered on whether the sport really belongs. As much as Evert said she is enjoying her experience and happy to be here, she admitted that she wasn’t sure whether her game belonged, either.

“I’ve been trying to think about it, to decide whether I really feel included in this Olympics,” she said. “So many of the other athletes here--well, for four years, their goal is the Olympics. Oh, they have other meets, but all their training is essentially for the Olympics.

“It’s different with us. We have Wimbledon and the U.S. and French Opens, and we have to get pumped up for those. We just finished the U.S. Open a week or so ago, and that makes me look around at the other athletes in other sports--they are so hungry for this--and wonder just how many of the tennis players here are really that hungry.”

Early indications are that it’s a mixed bag. Most of the players are saying that it is fun, even kind of nice to be playing for medals and not money. But many of the matches here seem to have the half-hearted intensity of one of those Monday night exhibitions at the Forum. Against Stefan Edberg a few days ago, an overmatched Horst Skoff of Austria hit an approach shot, came to the net and returned Edberg’s next shot with a soccer header. Try that once at Wimbledon and see how often you are invited back.

“It’ll be interesting, when this is all over,” Evert said. “I think we are all going to have to stand back and take a look at it. I think it is very important for the game of tennis for this to do well here.”

The thing that may make or break Olympic tennis is the quality of the matches and the interest generated therein. That could thrust some heavy responsibility on Evert’s shoulders. She is seeded second, behind West Germany’s teen-age tennis machine, Steffi Graf. And it is a potential final match between Evert and Graf that has drawn the most anticipation. The schedule even fell that way, with the women’s singles set for the last match on the last day, Oct. 1. The men are seeded for an Edberg-Tim Mayotte final the day before, and that is sure to draw yawns worldwide.

So, as it has been for so many years, almost since she was a pigtailed phenom with a two-fisted backhand from the clay courts of Ft. Lauderdale, Evert continues to shape public sentiment toward her game. A strong showing by Evert--do well here-- an upset of Graf or at least a dramatic match--would greatly enhance the chances of tennis being in future Olympics.

In her match against Cecchini, before an audience of mostly Koreans, the response to her talents and deportment was the same as it has always been worldwide. She took the Italian apart like a surgeon determined to inflict as little pain as possible and leave no scars.

On break point at 2-3 and Cecchini serving, Evert moved her opponent from side to side as if she had her on a string. And when Cecchini, as exhausted as she was frustrated, finally lost the point, she walked to the baseline linesman, handed him her racket and gave a little shrug, as if to say: “Here, you play her, because I sure can’t.”

Cecchini--10 years younger than Evertand not even 10 years old when Evert won her first titles at Wimbledon, the French and the U.S. Opens--never won a point at the net in the entire match. She made six approaches. Evert passed her six times.

At the break at 5-2 in the second set, Cecchini walked past the seated Evert and said something that brought a laugh. Afterward, Evert would only say that her opponent is “the expressive type out there.” But the crowd loved it. Typical Evert. Charm ‘em while you beat ‘em.

The match was over in 1 hour 21 minutes. No overtime work for the Queen Mother on this day, but a world still to conquer. In Evert’s case, her effort will need to be truly Olympian.