Tennis Prose




Oct/11

17

Biofile with Tracy Austin

Status: Former #1 tennis player in world. Winner of U.S. Open in 1979 and 1981.

DOB: December 12, 1962 In: Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA

First Tennis Memory: “I was at Jack Kramer’s tennis club. Probably playing with Vic Braden, he worked with a lot of us little kids. It was all about keeping it fun.”

Tennis Inspirations: “You know, I never really had any. It wasn’t like I looked up to anybody and was trying to emulate anybody. I just always had a passion for hitting a ball. For running. And for playing the sport. And, luckily for me, I still have that same passion.”

Last Book Read: “Outliers. I love that book. Because it just shows how important it is for everything to come together and I feel a little bit like an Outlier. A lot of things came together in my life. And if one of those had been missing, it might not have all worked out.”

First Car: “Was a Mustang (yellow). First car I ever won was a Porsche (red) when I was 15 but I gave it to my mom. So I bought a Mustang.”

Current Car: “It’s a black Escalade and a black Porsche.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Pralines and cream.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Winning the U.S. Open the second time against Martina.”

Most Painful Moment: “Probably pulling out of Wimbledon when I was the second seed with a stress fracture in my back.”

Favorite Tournaments: “Probably U.S. Open but I liked Stuttgart as well. Stuttgart I won four times in a row so I have great memories there.”

Closest Tennis Friends: “Gosh, that list is long. That’s just a really long list.”

Funniest Player Encountered: “Best personality I’ll go with probably Vitas Gerulaitis. Light up a room.”

Family: Husband, Scott Holt; three sons.

Career Accomplishments: Winner of 30 WTA singles titles and five doubles; Was #1 player in the world for 21 weeks; Won title in singles debut in 1977 in Portland; Youngest singles champion (14 years, 28 days); Ended Evert’s 125-match win streak on clay in Rome in 1979 Italian Open; Only player to defeat Evert and Navratilova back-to-back four times in the same tournament; Won 1980 Wimbledon mixed doubles title with brother John Austin; Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1992;

2 comments

  • Dan Markowitz · October 17, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    Tracy Austin seemed to have such a short career, but that one stat of beating Evert and Martina four times back-to-back in the same tournament, I’m not sure what that means, does it mean she beat them 4x in the US Open, for example?, speaks to a certain longevity.

    I think Austin and Jaeger, though, have bad connotations in most tennis fans minds, for hitting moonballs. They weren’t terribly exciting to watch play, almost latter-day Wozniakis.

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 17, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    Austin beat them four times at the same event, not the exact same tournament. Which is a pretty special feat, given how dominant Evert and Martina were. She wasn’t a moonballer but she was super consistent and super accurate, they showed her US Open win over Martina this summer. I don’t think any top players, slam champs could have “Bad connotations” about them, not even the so called one hit wonders like Johansson or Schiavone or Korda. Like New York Rangers player Derek Stepan told me last week, he likes to watch all top players not just the top three because of how well they move and play.

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