The Open Era
United States · born Los Angeles, 1962 · right-handed · Wimbledon mixed champion 1980 with her brother John, the first brother and sister to win it
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1980
Wimbledon mixed champion with her brother John, the first brother and sister to win a Wimbledon title together
2
Eastbourne singles titles, 1980 and 1981
2
Wimbledon singles semi-finals, 1979 and 1980
1978
Wimbledon girls' singles champion
14
Her age at her Wimbledon debut on Centre Court in 1977
Tracy Austin was born on 12 December 1962 into a tennis family in southern California: her sister Pam and brothers Jeff and John all played professionally. She was on the cover of World Tennis at four and of Sports Illustrated at 13, won a pro event in Portland at 14 in January 1977, and that summer played Chris Evert on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
She won the US Open in 1979, at 16 years and 8 months still the youngest champion, and again in 1981, when she beat Martina Navratilova in the final. She was world No. 1 in 1980, won 35 titles and played on winning Wightman Cup sides in 1979 and 1981. On grass she won the Wimbledon girls' title in 1978, reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals in 1979 and 1980, won Eastbourne in 1980 and 1981 and took the 1980 Wimbledon mixed with John.
Back injuries and sciatica ended her full-time career by the age of 21. In August 1989 she was badly injured when a van struck her car in New Jersey, and a 1994 comeback was brief. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992, at 29 the youngest inductee, and has since worked as a broadcaster for, among others, the BBC at Wimbledon and Tennis Channel.
| Wimbledon mixed 1980 | With John Austin beat Mark Edmondson and Dianne Fromholtz 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, after saving three match points in the second set, one at 4-5 and two in the tiebreak. Runners-up in 1981 to Frew McMillan and Betty Stöve |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon singles | 1977: lost to Chris Evert 6-1, 6-1 in the third round, aged 14. 1979: beat Billie Jean King 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 in the quarter-final, lost to Martina Navratilova 7-5, 6-1 in the semi-final. 1980: semi-finalist, lost to Evonne Goolagong Cawley |
| Eastbourne | 1980: beat Wendy Turnbull 7-6, 6-2 in the final. 1981: top seed, won without losing a set, beating Andrea Jaeger 6-3, 6-4 in the final |
| Wimbledon girls' singles 1978 | Top seed, beat Hana MandlÃková 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in the final |
| Invitation doubles | Won the 35 and over ladies' invitation doubles at Wimbledon in 2005 and was runner-up in 2006 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Mixed doubles | with John Austin |
| Eastbourne | ||
| 1980 | Women's singles | |
| 1981 | Women's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I missed my school prom but got to play Wimbledon six times so I think I ended up with the better deal."
The person behind the player.
Centre Court, 1977
Before their third-round match Chris Evert taught the 14-year-old how to curtsy to the Royal Box. Austin stood 4 ft 11 in, wore braces and pigtails, and played in pinafore dresses; Evert won 6-1, 6-1, though eight of the 14 games went to deuce.
Source: Sports Illustrated, 4 July 1977Wimbledon, 1977
Asked about her first Wimbledon, she told Sports Illustrated: "If I eat one more strawberry, I'll throw up." Arthur Ashe remembered meeting "this glorious little face with that mouth full of railroad tracks."
Source: Sports Illustrated, 4 July 1977Scotland, 1977
On the same trip a train strike threatened to strand her before a tournament in Scotland, and a tennis journalist drove her and her mother to Edinburgh. She remembered being keen to get the Royal Box curtsy right at Wimbledon.
Source: The ScotsmanWimbledon, 1980
She and John won the mixed after being three match points down in the second set. They reached the final again in 1981 and lost to Frew McMillan and Betty Stöve.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Newport, 1992
She was 29 when she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the youngest person to be inducted. She had written her autobiography, Beyond Center Court, the same year.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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