Tracy Austin


Tracy Ann Austin Holt is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles; the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1980. Additionally, she won the WTA Tour Championships in 1980 and the year-ending Toyota Championships in 1981, both in singles. A series of injuries and a serious automobile accident cut short her career. Since 1979, she has been the youngest US Open female singles champion in history, and she is the youngest inductee of all time at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at age 29. Austin won singles titles on all playing surfaces: clay, indoor carpet, grass, and hard courts.

Playing style

Austin possessed a solid baseline game, with a strong forehand and reliable two-fisted backhand. She struck the ball deep, with substantial pace, and with pinpoint accuracy, hitting on or near the lines. Often this aspect of her game has overshadowed her solid net game which resulted in a Wimbledon mixed doubles title with her brother John. Austin's first serve was a mid-paced high percentage shot that functioned well on all playing surfaces, and although her second serve has been described as lacking penetration, she rarely double faulted. She played an exhibition doubles match at age 12 in Claremont, Ca with Elgin Baylor, Lawrence Mc Cuthcheon, and Lea Antonoplis.

Career

1978 to 1980

Austin turned professional in October 1978. That same month, she won her first professional singles title, defeating Betty Stöve in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, West Germany.
Austin defeated 35-year-old Billie Jean King in the quarterfinals of the 1979 Wimbledon Championships, then lost to Martina Navratilova in straight sets in the semifinals. Austin then became the youngest ever U.S. Open champion, aged 16 years and 9 months, by defeating Navratilova in the semifinals and Chris Evert in the final. Evert had been attempting to win the title for the fifth consecutive year. Earlier that year, Austin ended Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay by beating her 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 in a semifinal of the Italian Open. The Associated Press named Austin its Female Athlete of the Year for 1979.
Austin lost in the semifinals of both Grand Slam tournaments she played in 1980. Evonne Goolagong Cawley, seeded fourth and the eventual champion, defeated Austin at the Wimbledon Championships. As the top seed and defending champion at the US Open, Austin was expected to extend her five-match winning streak against third-ranked Evert. Austin took a 4–0 lead in the first set before Evert won 16 of the final 20 games to win the match. Evert went on to beat Hana Mandlíková in the final. Austin was ranked the World No. 1 singles player in 1980 for two weeks and then for 19 weeks, partly because she captured the two sponsors' tour-ending events. Austin defeated Navratilova to win the Avon Championships in March and Andrea Jaeger to capture the 1980 Colgate Series Championships in January 1981. In 1980, Austin won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with her brother John, becoming the first brother and sister team to win a Grand Slam title together.

1981 to 1983

During the first four months of 1981, Austin played only two events because of chronic injuries. On grass, she won the BMW Championships in Eastbourne, United Kingdom without losing a set. After Wimbledon, Austin won 26 consecutive matches and four consecutive tournaments. She defeated Pam Shriver in the final of the Wells Fargo Open in San Diego, and three weeks later, she beat both Navratilova and Evert in straight sets to win the Canadian Open in Toronto. As the third-seeded player at the US Open, Austin defeated fourth-seeded Navratilova in the final. Navratilova, however, ended Austin's winning streak in the final of the U.S. Indoor Championships. In Europe during the autumn, Austin lost to Sue Barker in the quarterfinals of the Brighton International in Brighton, United Kingdom, but recovered the following week to defeat Navratilova in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, West Germany. At the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, Austin was seeded second but lost to sixth-seeded Shriver in the Australian Open quarterfinals. The 1981 year-ending Toyota Series Championships featured two matches against Evert and one against Navratilova. Evert won her round robin match with Austin, then Austin defeated Evert in their semifinal. Austin then won the tournament with a three-set defeat of Navratilova. The Associated Press named Austin its 1981 Female Athlete of the Year for the second time.
Austin was the first opponent of Steffi Graf when the German made her professional debut at the 1982 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Austin defeated the 13-year-old Graf 6–4, 6–0.
Back injuries and recurring sciatica then began to impair Austin's effectiveness and sidelined her for long stretches. Billie Jean King, seeded twelfth, upset third-seeded Austin in the 1982 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Several weeks later, however, Austin won her 30th and final top-level singles title in San Diego. Austin had a good showing at the 1982 season-ending Toyota Series Championships where she defeated Jaeger, the World No. 3, in straight sets to reach the semifinals. However, she was unable to repeat 1981's victory over Evert, who defeated her in the semifinals.
In 1983, she was the runner-up at the Family Circle Cup, losing the final to Navratilova in three sets. She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open.

1988 to 1989

Austin began her first comeback on the tour in 1988 when she played in seven doubles tournaments, and in 1989, when she played in one doubles and two singles tournaments. A highlight of this comeback included a semifinal showing in the 1988 US Open mixed doubles with partner Ken Flach. This comeback was ended by a near-fatal motor vehicle accident on August 3, 1989.

1992

In 1992, Austin became the youngest person to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, at the age of 29.

1993 to 1994

She attempted a second comeback in 1993 and 1994 but was not particularly successful. In 1993, Austin upset Rennae Stubbs and Katerina Maleeva at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, then lost to Stephanie Rottier. At the WTA Manhattan Beach event, she upset Gigi Fernández and Elena Likhovtseva, then lost to Gabriela Sabatini in the round of 16. he wins over Maleeva, Fernandez, and Likhovtseva began a buzz that Austin might become at least a top 20 player again. However, in 1994, her results were not as promising and at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, Austin lost in the second round to Steffi Graf, and Austin soon retired in June 1994.

Family life and work as a tennis commentator

Austin's older sister Pam and her brothers Jeff,Doug and John were professional tennis players. She is the sister-in-law of fitness author Denise Austin, who is married to Jeff. She is married to Scott Holt and is the mother of three sons: Sean, Brandon, and Dylan. Brandon currently is a member of the USC Tennis team, recruited by Coach Peter Smith.
As a child, Austin lived next door to Air Force Colonel Keith Lindell, who was responsible for the training of the original seven Project Mercury astronauts.
Since retiring as a player, Austin has worked as a commentator for NBC and the USA Network for the French Open and the US Open. During the 2000s, she worked for the Seven Network, which broadcast the Australian Open and usually participates in the BBC's Wimbledon coverage. She began working for the Tennis Channel in 2010 and joined its US Open team and later its Australian Open team in 2012. Austin has worked for Canadian television for its coverage of the Rogers Cup since 2004.
Austin is the focus of David Foster Wallace's "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart", a book review of Austin's memoir Beyond Center Court, lacerating the work for using generic, bland clichés of sports autobiographies to hide the genuinely compelling and tragic story of Austin's career.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

WTA career finals

Singles: 44 (30–14)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.January 10, 1977PortlandHard Stacy Margolin6–7, 6–3, 4–1 ret.
Loss1.March 6, 1978DallasCarpet Evonne Goolagong Cawley4–6, 6–0, 6–2
Loss2.October 2, 1978PhoenixHard Martina Navratilova6–4, 6–2
Win2.October 23, 1978FilderstadtCarpet Betty Stöve6–3, 6–3
Win3.November 21, 1978:fr:Classic du Japon|TokyoHard Martina Navratilova6–1, 6–1
Win4.January 1, 1979WashingtonCarpet Martina Navratilova6–3, 6–2
Loss3.January 29, 1979ChicagoCarpet Martina Navratilova6–3, 6–4
Loss4.March 21, 1979Avon ChampionshipsCarpet Martina Navratilova6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Win5.April 10, 1979Hilton Head IslandClay Kerry Melville Reid7–6, 7–6
Win6.May 7, 1979RomeClay Sylvia Hanika6–4, 1–6, 6–3
Win7.July 30, 1979San DiegoHard Martina Navratilova6–4, 6–2
Loss5.August 20, 1979MahwahHard Chris Evert-Lloyd6–7, 6–4, 6–1
Win8.August 28, 1979US OpenHard Chris Evert-Lloyd6–4, 6–3
Win9.November 5, 1979FilderstadtCarpet Martina Navratilova6–2, 6–0
Win10.December 15, 1979TokyoCarpet Martina Navratilova6–2, 6–1
Loss6.January 2, 1980LandoverCarpet Martina Navratilova6–2, 6–1
Win11.January 7, 1980CincinnatiCarpet Chris Evert-Lloyd6–2, 6–1
Win12.January 28, 1980SeattleCarpet Virginia Wade6–2, 7–6
Loss7.February 4, 1980Los AngelesCarpet Martina Navratilova6–2, 6–0
Win13.March 10, 1980BostonCarpet Virginia Wade6–2, 6–1
Win14.March 17, 1980Avon ChampionshipsCarpet Martina Navratilova6–2, 2–6, 6–2
Win15.March 29, 1980:fr:Clairol Crown|CarlsbadHard Martina Navratilova7–5, 6–2
Win16.April 7, 1980Hilton Head IslandClay Regina Maršíková3–6, 6–1, 6–0
Loss8.April 29, 1980OrlandoClay Martina Navratilova6–2, 6–4
Win17.June 16, 1980EastbourneGrass Wendy Turnbull7–6, 6–2
Win18.July 28, 1980San DiegoHard Wendy Turnbull6–1, 6–3
Win19.September 29, 1980MinneapolisCarpet Martina Navratilova6–1, 2–6, 6–2
Win20.November 3, 1980FilderstadtCarpet Sherry Acker6–2, 7–5
Loss9.November 10, 1980TampaHard Andrea Jaegerw/o
Loss10.November 22, 1980TokyoCarpet Martina Navratilova6–4, 6–3
Win21.December 15, 1980:fr:Tournoi de tennis de Tucson|TucsonCarpet Peanut Louie6–2, 6–0
Win22.January 7, 1981LandoverCarpet Andrea Jaeger6–2, 6–2
Win23.June 15, 1981EastbourneGrass Andrea Jaeger6–3, 6–4
Win24.July 27, 1981San DiegoHard Pam Shriver6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Win25.August 17, 1981TorontoHard Chris Evert-Lloyd6–1, 6–4
Win26.September 1, 1981US OpenHard Martina Navratilova1–6, 7–6, 7–6
Win27.September 21, 1981AtlantaHard Mary-Lou Piatek4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss11.September 28, 1981MinneapolisCarpet Martina Navratilova6–0, 6–2
Win28.October 26, 1981FilderstadtCarpet Martina Navratilova4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win29.December 14, 1981East RutherfordCarpet Martina Navratilova2–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win30.July 26, 1982San DiegoHard Kathy Rinaldi7–6, 6–3
Loss12.October 18, 1982FilderstadtCarpet Martina Navratilova6–3, 6–3
Loss13.December 6, 1982RichmondCarpet Wendy Turnbull6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Loss14.April 4, 1983Hilton Head IslandClay Martina Navratilova5–7, 6–1, 6–0

Doubles: 7 (5–2)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1.October 2, 1978PhoenixHard Betty Stöve Martina Navratilova
Anne Smith		6–4, 6–7, 6–2
Win2.October 23, 1978FilderstadtCarpet Betty Stöve Mima Jaušovec
Virginia Ruzici		6–3, 6–2
Loss1.November 21, 1978:fr:Classic du Japon|TokyoHard Kathy May Martina Navratilova
Betty Stöve		6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Loss2.January 8, 1979OaklandCarpet Betty Stöve Rosie Casals
Chris Evert		6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Win3.January 22, 1979HollywoodCarpet Betty Stöve Rosie Casals
Wendy Turnbull		6–2, 2–6, 6–2
Win4.August 20, 1979MahwahHard Betty Stöve Mima Jaušovec
Regina Maršíková		7–6, 2–6, 6–4
Win5.July 28, 1980San DiegoHard Ann Kiyomura Rosie Casals
Wendy Turnbull		3–6, 6–4, 6–3

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.