Tracy Austin

Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player.

Tracy Austin was born December 12, 1962, in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California.

Her parents were George and Jeanne Austin.

In January 1977, a month after turning fourteen, Austin won her first professional singles title, defeating Stacy Margolin at the Avon Futures event in Portland.

As an amateur she could not accept the prize money.

At her Wimbledon debut in 1977 she reached the third round where she lost to top-seeded Chris Evert.

In September, she made her US Open debut and reached the quarterfinal, falling to fifth-seeded Betty Stöve.

Less than two months before her sixteenth birthday, 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.

She followed up with tournament wins in Tokyo and Washington, defeating Martina Navratilova in both finals.

She won three major titles, the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships.

Austin defeated 35-year-old Billie Jean King in the quarterfinals of the 1979 Wimbledon Championships, then lost to Navratilova in straight sets in the semifinals.

Austin then became the youngest ever US Open champion, aged 16 years and 9 months, by defeating second-seeded Navratilova in the semifinals and first-seeded 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 in three sets in a semifinal of the Italian Open.

The Associated Press named Austin its Female Athlete of the Year for 1979.

Additionally, she won the WTA Tour Championships in 1980 and the year-ending Toyota Championships in 1981, both in singles.

Austin remains the youngest US Open female singles champion (age 16) and the youngest inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at age 29.

She won 30 singles titles during her career, on all playing surfaces: clay (both red and green), indoor carpet, grass, and hard courts.

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 (April 7–20) and then for 19 weeks (July 7-November 17), partly because she captured the two 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.

During the first four months of 1981, Austin played only two events because of chronic injuries.

On grass, she defended her singles title at the Eastbourne International in the United Kingdom in June 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 a three-set 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 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.

A series of injuries and a serious automobile accident in 1989 cut short her career.