Tennis stars serve the ‘CSI’ world

Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport are tennis icons, but thanks to one of television’s most popular series, they’re trying a new game.

With more than 200 singles titles between them, they play themselves — as does another veteran of the sport, Justin Gimelstob — on CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” at 9 p.m. Wednesday. They’re seen covering a big match for a player who’s found dead soon after (in a tennis ball firing machine). For Evert and Davenport, the opportunity was something they couldn’t resist.

Evert explained that she’s a friend of series star Elisabeth Shue. “She plays in my pro-celebrity event every year, and she’s really good, one of the best celebrity players I know. I think she had mentioned they wanted (John) McEnroe for this, and I said, ‘Well, OK. Have a good show.’ Then my agent got a call from the producer, and I said, ‘Yeah, as long as I’m not the (murder) victim, it’d be fine with me.’ ”

One scene finds Evert in a ball-hitting workout with Shue’s character, forensic sleuth Julie Finlay, while being interrogated. “I think that meant a lot” to Shue, Evert says. “It was so funny. I was more worried about the lines, and she was more worried about the hitting. It was just like talking to my friend, so I wasn’t intimidated.”

Evert also liked being in the same boat with Davenport, since the “CSI” hour opens with them doing commentary on the match the victim-to-be ultimately wins. They both cover tennis for ESPN, and the cheerful Davenport says she was “shocked and flattered” to be part of the episode.

“My husband and I have three small kids, so we don’t watch a lot of TV, but ‘CSI’ is definitely one of the shows,” she said. “I was a little bit unsure for about a week after I said ‘yes,’ because I was thinking, ‘I’m way out of my comfort zone.’ They reassured me it would be fine, because it was really what I do in my profession. They said, ‘Don’t sweat it. We’ll make it look good.’ ”

With 18 Grand Slam singles titles including three Wimbledons, six U.S. Opens and seven French Opens, Evert knew another actress in the “CSI” episode — whom she prefers not to name, given how deeply that performer figures into the mystery.

“She trained at the Evert Academy for three years, and I used to hit with her all the time. She was so good, she placed No. 1 at Duke (University), so they had authentic players.”