Tracey Austin Interview (February 12, 1985)

Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won two Grand Slam titles, the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships. 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 thirty singles titles during her career, on all playing surfaces: clay (both red and green), indoor carpet, grass, and hard courts. A series of injuries and a serious automobile accident in 1989 cut short her career.[4][5]

Early life
Tracy Austin was born December 12, 1962 in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California.[6] Her parents were George and Jeanne Austin.[7]

Career

Tracy Austin playing in the Los Angeles Junior Tennis Tournament
1977 to 1980
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.[8][9] As an amateur she could not accept the prize money.[10][8] 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.[11]

Less than two months before her sixteenth birthday, Austin turned professional in October 1978.[12] 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.[13][14]

She followed up with tournament wins in Tokyo and Washington, defeating Martina Navratilova in both finals.[15] 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.[16][11] Evert had been attempting to win the title for the fifth consecutive year.[11] 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.[17][16]


1981 to 1983
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.[16] 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.

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.

1984 to 1989
Austin played sporadically from 1984 to 1987 and tried yet another 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.[21] This comeback was ended by a near-fatal motor vehicle accident in Millburn, New Jersey, on August 3, 1989. A van coming from the opposite direction crashed into her vehicle's driver side, and she suffered a bruised heart, a bruised spleen, a sprained back and a shattered knee.[5][22]