SINGAPORE: She was the first of tennis’ “now-ubiquitous nymphet prodigies... beautiful and inspiring.” That was how the late David Foster Wallace, an American essayist, described Tracy Austin, the youngest ever US Open women’s champion at 16 years of age – still a high school student. But Austin, who had beaten Chris Evert to attain that feat at Flushing Meadows in 1979, claimed only two more Majors – US Open (1981) to go with a mixed doubles crown with brother John at Wimbledon in 1980.
She wasn’t meant to win just three Slams. She was destined for greatness and a shot at creating enough history to last a few generations but it was not to be. Injuries, an almost fatal accident and a need to return to school to ‘get back to a normal life’ cut short her opportunities.
While the Austin story began for real after she won her first professional tournament when at 14 (not a misprint), her career was already set in motion thanks to Sports Illustrated. “I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when I was 13,” she told Express. “I started playing exhibition games in Los Angeles when I was seven. I guess I was ahead of my time, winning a lot of titles as a junior. And they were forecasting that I would be winning a lot and have a good career.”
Austin, who is here in the city to take part in a WTA Legends competition as part of the WTA Finals programme, talks clearly and is concise. And she is quite happy to accept that she was different. “I was unique, yeah. I got to the quarterfinals of the US Open when I was 14. I was 4 foot 11 inches. I weighed 89 pounds and had braces. It was a quite a situation. Pigtails and all.. it really wasn’t planned.”
She becomes animated when talking about the US Open in 1979. “By the time I was 16, I was already No 2 or 3 in the world. I had beaten Chrissy and Martina (Navarathilova) before. At the time (winning the title) felt normal because it was like a natural progression. I had already won tournaments, been in the top 10 in the world and was considered a rival.”
But there was something different about Austin that separated her from the rest of the pack. When she was world No 1, she decided not go to the Australian Open and the French Open to focus on her studies. “I think as a person it was more healthy,” she says. “As a person to go back and be somewhat normal. I felt the need at the time. Because I was playing Chris and Martina on a Saturday and Sunday… doing commercials (other days). So going back helped me have a ‘normal life.’ Then injuries started to ruin her physically and while she played in both the French and the Australian Opens later in her career, her career was effectively over even before she turned 22.
But it could have been worse as she thought she was gone after suffering a nasty accident in 1989. “It certainly changed my life in many ways. It stopped me from playing. I was out for a year. But then when you are that close to being gone, I mean he hit me at 65 miles an hour on my front wheel… I think you change. You become a lot more appreciative of life. You become a glass half-full kind of person. I know it’s a cliché but when you are that close… it does open your eyes up a bit.”
Austin made a comeback, but it proved futile and she retired in 1994.