Tracy Austin displayed greatness in the
fall of 1979, when, three months shy of her 17th birthday, she became the
youngest female tennis player to win the United States Open. A freckle-faced,
pigtailed high school junior, Austin snapped Chris Evert's streak of four
consecutive U.S. Open championships. Even Austin's coach was surprised.
“I don't think about the ‘youngest.’ I
just think about the ‘champion’ part,” Austin said after her record-setting
performance. “I was always doing things younger, and it hasn't hurt me so far.”
During the five years leading up to the
1979 U.S. Open, Austin accomplished more than any other teenager in the history
of tennis. From 1974-1976 she captured ten national junior titles. In 1977, at
age 14, she won the first professional tournament she entered, the Avon Futures
in Portland, Oregon. That year she advanced to the second round at the
Wimbledon Tennis Championship in London, England, and reached the quarterfinals
of the U.S. Open. When she turned pro in 1978, she was promptly ranked among
the top ten players in the world.
Barely 16 years old, Austin stunned
Evert, 24, at the Avon Championships at New York City's Madison Square Garden
in the spring of 1979. A few weeks later the teen once again upset the worldly
veteran, ousting Evert in the Italian Open in Rome, Italy. Austin's win ended
Evert's streak of 125 consecutive wins on clay courts. Austin later won the
tournament, her first major international victory. At Wimbledon that year, she
reached the semifinals with a thrilling victory over Billie Jean King, a player
more than twice her age. Austin fell to Martina Navratilova, who won the
tournament.
In September, Austin arrived at the
National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, New York, for her third U.S. Open.
In her first 11 months as a professional, Austin pocketed $258,323—winnings
handsome enough for her parents to discontinue her $1-a-week allowance.
By this time Austin was, in the words
of her attorney, “the hottest property around.” Austin and her parents,
however, passed on several lucrative endorsement contracts that were waved at
Austin. The family accepted only two deals and rejected all offers from
equipment and clothing manufacturers. “There's no rush. No one wants Tracy to
be a walking, talking appearance,” family attorney Sarah Kleppinger told the New
York Times during the U.S. Open. “There's so much time, why not sort
through things?”
Austin was more concerned with the
business of winning tennis matches. The tournament's third seed behind Evert
and Navratilova, Austin won decisive victories over Argentina's Ivanna Madruga
and Americans Andrea Yaeger and Kate Latham.
Austin stumbled in her fourth-round
match against fellow teenager Kathy Jordan, the 19-year-old reigning collegiate
champion and the Open's most noteworthy newcomer. Jordan's aggressive,
net-charging style powered her to a 6-4 victory in the first set. Austin
responded with a 6-1 rout in the second set but fell to a 2-4 disadvantage in
the third set. Austin found herself two points away from elimination before
tying the set at 6-6 and coming from behind to win a tie-breaker.
The match with Jordan was Austin's
toughest of the competition. Later, in the quarterfinals, she dispatched Sylvia
Hanika in straight sets.
After her victory against Hanika,
Austin withdrew from the doubles competition, claiming a slight illness. Her
looming face-off against Navratilova, the victor in 11 of 15 previous meetings
and the winner of every outdoor match, provided a more likely reason. To
accommodate broadcasters, their semifinal match was moved from Friday to
Saturday. Austin's coach, Robert Landsdorp, sensed she was slightly off her
game and urged Austin to spend the extra day on the practice court.
Staring across the net at the two-time
Wimbledon champion, Austin opened the match against Navratilova with a double
fault. Austin dropped the first game and fell behind in the second game before
coming alive. She won three straight games, twice breaking Navratilova's serve
to pull ahead 3-1. Playing with a veteran's savvy, Austin made a critical
adjustment early on. She kept the ball away from Navratilova's cannon-shot
forehand.
With Austin leading 5-2, it was
Navratilova's turn to respond. Three consecutive wins and a 40-0 advantage in
the following game put the veteran within one point of clinching the set. Austin
refused to surrender, however, mounting a comeback that led a frustrated
Navratilova to slam her racquet against the asphalt surface. Austin wrapped up
the first set with two blistering winners—a backhand passing shot and a
forehand down the line off of Navratilova's serve.
The second set was a virtual replay of
the first. An Austin lead was followed by a Navratilova comeback that tied the
set at 5-5. Austin then won two straight, shutting out a serving Navratilova in
the final game. Austin's grit was evident throughout the match. She prevailed
despite losing the first point in 16 of the 24 games. Austin's surprisingly
cagey shot selection kept Navratilova off balance.
Evert reached the final in typically
dominant fashion. She went into the tournament carrying U.S. Open winning
streaks of 25 consecutive matches and 46 straight sets. Her four consecutive
Open titles tied the women's record held by Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (1915-1918)
and Helen Wills Moody (1932-1935).
Evert's consecutive-set streak came to an
end during her fourth-round match against Sherry Acker, who won the first set
6-4. The defending champion responded with scores of 6-0 and 6-2. She cruised
past Australian Evonne Goolagong in the quarterfinals and Billie Jean King in
the semifinals.
A sellout crowd of 18,288 watched the
Sunday afternoon showdown pitting Austin against Evert. Few observers believed
Evert would be denied her record fifth straight title, including Austin's
coach. Landsdorp told Sports Illustrated that he gave his charge “about
a 40 percent” chance of winning. The coach, in fact, promised to quit smoking
if Austin prevailed.
The match began roughly. Of the first
46 points, 38 came on errors. Most of the errors were poorly hit baseline
strokes. The first decisive moment was in the eighth game. Serving with a 4-3
lead, Evert blew an easy overhead shot that allowed Austin to tie the set.
Flustered, Evert dropped the next two games to drop the first set. Austin,
brilliantly mixing lobs, drop-shots, and smashes, charged to a 3-0 lead en
route to a 6-3 victory in the second set. In the final game, after blowing a
30-0 lead, Evert lost the match on a weakly hit volley that barely dented the
net.
A huge smile burst across Austin's face
as she hopped and skipped toward the net. There she met Evert, who smiled back
and patted the teenager on the head as they walked from the court. Austin was
the youngest champion in U.S. Open history. Evert, who reached the Open
semifinals for the first time at age 16, did not win her first title until age
20.
