Tracy Austin was a former world number one and achieved Grand Slam success in the US Open singles and Wimbledon mixed doubles, before her career was sadly cut short by a series of injuries.

The American came from a strong tennis family, with older sister Pam and brothers Jeff, Doug and John all going on to become professionals.

Tracy Austin showed great promise as a young player, winning an impressive 21 age-group junior titles, before becoming the youngest player to win a professional tournament when she won an event in Portland, Oregon, in 1977 aged 14 years and 28 days. Later that year she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, reaching the third round before progressing to the US Open quarter-finals two months later.

In 1979 she finally made her presence felt at the very top of the women's game as she clinched her first Grand Slam title by defeating compatriot Chris Evert in straight sets at the US Open. The result denied Evert her fifth straight US Open and made Austin the youngest ever champion at Flushing Meadows, aged 16 years and nine months.

The following year Tracy Austin clinched Wimbledon glory with the mixed doubles crown alongside her brother John. 1981 proved to be a difficult year, however, as she struggled with injury and only competed in two events in the first four months of the year.
That said, she still managed to show glimpses of her best on her way to defeating Martina Navratilova for a second US Open title.

However, back injuries and sciatica effectively ended her run at the top of the game, and after a series of failed comeback attempts, Tracy Austin retired in the mid-1990s after becoming the youngest person to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.