BACKHAND REMARK : Burgin Says She Deserves Olympic Tennis Bid Despite Bud Collins’ TV Comment

She has put her heart and soul into preparing for Seoul. She has “sacrificed everything” to make sure she will be ready to play tennis for the United States in the Summer Olympics.

To Elise Burgin, playing for her country isn’t something to be taken lightly.

“Anytime you get the opportunity to represent the U.S., I think that is one of the biggest honors that can be bestowed upon you,” said Burgin, who was selected to the U.S. Olympic squad in January, along with Pam Shriver and Zina Garrison by the United States Tennis Assn.

So you can imagine Burgin’s response after NBC tennis commentator Bud Collins said on national television from Wimbledon last weekend that she should not have been chosen.

“Elise is a good friend of mine, but she doesn’t belong on the Olympic team,” Collins said.

Burgin, who graduated from Stanford with a degree in journalism, said that Collins hadn’t told the whole story. “The very first thing I was taught in school was to show all sides of the issue,” said Burgin of TeamTennis’ L.A. Strings.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But any journalist has the duty to present all sides. What he neglected to point out is that I’ve had an incredible amount of international experience and team experience. My doubles record speaks for itself. I don’t feel like I need to defend my record.”

Burgin, 26, was named to the Olympic squad after Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova--a naturalized citizen--declined invitations to the first Olympic tennis competition for medals.

Burgin had a knee operation to remove inflamed tissue in March and lost in the first round at Wimbledon. She is ranked 136th in the world in singles, 20th in doubles.

Last night, playing for the Strings, Burgin beat Mary Lou Daniels of the Sacramento Capitals, 6-4, in the TeamTennis season opener at the Forum. The Strings, however, lost to Sacramento, 28-25.

Burgin has been ranked as high as seventh in doubles, and has made it to the doubles semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In the Olympics each player must play both singles and doubles.

Collins said that he stands by his comment at Wimbledon and that the selection of the U.S. team should be reconsidered.

“What I meant is that I feel the Olympic team should be made up of the best players in the country, and she isn’t one of them,” Collins said from Boston.

“I don’t want to get in a fight with Elise. I think she will be a fine representative of the country and I’m glad she’s going. If they chose her because of her doubles experience, that’s their decision.

“I just said what I thought. I feel tennis as a whole needs to put its best people in the Olympics.”

Collins said he would have picked Katrina Adams, 19, over Burgin. Adams took Evert to three sets at Wimbledon in the quarterfinals and teamed with Garrison to reach the semifinals in doubles.

But Collins isn’t expecting the USTA to change the Olympic squad.

“Expecting the USTA to make a rational decision is pretty difficult,” he said.

Obviously, Collins’ remark on national TV upset Burgin, who said her success in doubles and her experience playing alongside Shriver undoubtedly played a role in her selection.

“Personally, my God, it makes me look like I’m a terrible tennis player,” Burgin said of Collins’ remark. “I’m just very sorry that the overall picture was not presented in such a big forum as national TV.”

According to Ed Fabricius, director of communications at the USTA and member of the Olympic selection committee, players chosen for the team must have competed in the Federation Cup, the women’s equivalent to the men’s Davis Cup. Burgin has represented the U.S. in the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup.

“Bud’s entitled to his opinion,” Fabricius said. “Elise met all of the qualifications. It’s just unfortunate that Bud’s comments didn’t take Elise’s international experience into consideration.”

Collins would like to have seen the USTA select a provisional roster that could have been changed after Wimbledon.

Burgin is more concerned with training for the Olympics, getting as much playing time as she can in TeamTennis, hoping to improve her singles play.

“I’m looking to get in a lot of matches,” she said. “I will use this, obviously, to get match-tough.”

Burgin’s coach, Lenny Scheuermann, said that her knee recuperation has hampered her play.

“She hasn’t been doing well in singles lately, and the knee has played a factor,” Scheuermann said from Baltimore. “She has been trying to do it and do it, and she hasn’t taken a rest, which hasn’t helped her. I think after TeamTennis we’ll see a lot of improvement in her singles play.”

Burgin said she purposely scheduled her knee operation for March so she would have plenty of time to recover before the Olympics. Scheuermann also supported her selection to the Olympic team.

“I think on the strength of her doubles play, she deserves it,” he said.