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Tracy Ann Austin (b. December 12 1962, in Palos
Verdes Peninsula, California) is a former World
No. 1 woman tennis player from the United States.
She won the women's singles title at the U.S. Open
(tennis)|US Open in 1979 and 1981, and the mixed
doubles title at Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon
in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her
very promising career.  

As a junior player, Austin won 21 age-group titles
including the US national 12s title at age 10 in
1972. In 1977, she became the youngest player to
win a professional tournament, capturing the title
in Portland, Oregon aged 14 years and 28 days.
Later that year, she made her Grand Slam
(tennis)|Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon and at the
US Open 2 months later she reached the
quarter-finals. 

Austin became the youngest-ever US Open champion
in 1979, aged 16 years and 9 months. In the final
she faced Chris Evert (who was bidding to win the
title for the fifth consecutive year) and beat her
in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Earlier that year, she
had also ended Evert's 125-match clay court
winning streak by beating her in three sets in the
semi-finals of the Rome Masters|Italian Open. 

Austin won the US Open again in 1981 in a
thrilling final against Martina Navratilova in
which she prevailed 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 7-6(7-1).

In 1980, Austin won the Wimbledon mixed doubles
title partnering her brother John Austin. She was
a singles semi-finalist at Wimbledon in both 1979
and 1980.

Austin was briefly ranked the World No. 1 singles
player in 1980, breaking a six-year stangle-hold
that Evert and Navratilova had held on the top
spot.

After a fleeting period of great success, back
injuries began to impair Austin's effectiveness
and sidelined her for long stretches. She won her
29th and final top-level singles title at San
Diego in 1982. By 1983, before her 21st birthday,
she was virtually finished. 

Austin had a near-fatal motor accident in 1989,
but survived. She attempted a brief comeback on
the tour in 1993-1994, but was not particularly
successful.

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

Since retiring as a player, Austin has frequently
worked as a commentator for NBC and the USA
Network.

==External links==
*wta|id=10060|name=Tracy Austin
*http://www.tennisfame.com/enshrinees/tracy_austin
.html International Tennis Hall of Fame Profile

Tennis World Number Ones (women)