Tracy Austin

With flying pigtails and pinafore, Tracy Austin burst into tennis prominence a decade ago. At 15 and still an amateur, she was ranked among the top eight players in the world; at 16 she became the youngest player to win the U.S. Open; at 17 she was rated No. 1; at 18 she again won the Open. Then a series of major injuries overtook her and, a year and a half ago, she found herself playing in such pain that she decided she needed a rest. A long one.

Jeanne Austin Mother of tennis champion Tracy Austin Jeanne Austin, 84, the matriarch of a tennis playing family that produced four professional players, including two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin, died Tuesday of heart failure at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after a long illness, daughter Pam Austin said. From 1962 to 1977, Jeanne Austin managed the pro shop at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, where her five children learned to play tennis.

Tracy Austin, once the top-ranked player in the world, will return to professional tennis in the $100,000 Virginia Slims of San Diego Aug. 1-7. After four years of inactivity from tournament play because of recurring back and neck injuries, Austin, 25, a two-time U.S. Open champion, will team with Robin White in the 16-team doubles draw at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club. "I hope to play singles again in the future," Austin said in a press release.

Former tennis champion Tracy Austin on Tuesday joined an all-star cast of sports figures in accusing a prominent Los Angeles investment broker of defrauding them. In a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Austin and her husband, Scott Holt, alleged that Gary R. Fournier charged excessive commissions on bond trades and "churned" their accounts to generate fees from unnecessary transactions. The couple claims damages "in excess of $500,000" on the trades, which allegedly occurred from 1994 to 2002, while Fournier worked for Salomon Smith Barney Inc. in Los Angeles.

Two-time U.S. Open tennis champion Tracy Austin will compete against local tennis players today to help the South Bay Children's Health Center, which expects to raise about $50,000 to treat children from low-income families. The Tracy Austin Charity Tennis Tournament has raised about $1 million for the center since it started 19 years ago.

Two-time U.S. Open singles champion Tracy Austin was injured in an automobile accident today, police and hospital officials said. Austin, 26, was taken to the emergency room of Overlook Hospital in Summit at 11 a.m., hospital President Michael Sniffen said. Millburn Police Officer Paul A. Cuomo said Austin was involved in an accident about 10 a.m., but he could not provide details of the accident or of her injuries. He said no one else was injured. Sniffen said Austin was being X-rayed.

Tracy Austin will skip the U.S. Open, putting her tennis comeback on hold while she concentrates on her career as a television commentator. She'll work for the USA network during the Open, which begins Monday. "Tracy's position is she can't do the commentary and the tennis at the same time and do them both well," Gorden Beck, the USA network's executive producer, said Tuesday. "It was one or the other."

There she was, the one-time teen queen of tennis, stepping onto center court to play a match before a crowd for the first time in four years. She wore a pink, sleeveless tennis outfit that exposed well-toned arms. Missing were the familiar pigtails and freckles that were once her trademark. The crowd roared at the announcement: "To my left, a real treat. For the first time in years, Tracy Austin! "As a special request of Tracy Austin's, this will be an eight-game set with ad scoring.

Tracy Austin, who became the youngest member of the Tennis Hall of Fame last summer, is returning to tournament tennis on a limited basis. Austin, 30, has accepted a wild-card entry to play in her first event in nearly four years, next month's Matrix Evert Cup at Indian Wells. Austin, the youngest winner of the U.S. Open at 16 in 1979 and a two-time Open champion, stopped short of calling it a comeback. "I'm just going to see how I do," Austin said Thursday.

In 1979, when she was 16, Tracy Austin wore her hair in pigtails--and won the U.S. Open. But 10 years later, Austin's left foot is sore and bothering her again, she has played tournament singles only once in more than five years and she is still thinking about coming back. Where? It has been nine years since Austin was the No. 1 player in the world and the women's game has changed greatly in her absence. And the name game?

When Mrs. Scott Holt of Rolling Hills Estates steps up to be inducted into the Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday night at the Riviera Country Club, she will be more than 20 years removed from her days of athletic glory. For Tracy Austin, they have been a good 20 years. She is a wife and mom now. She and husband Scott, a successful businessman in commercial real estate, have three boys.

Tracy Austin, who won the U.S. Open as a 16-year-old tennis phenom and again as an 18-year-old, is 38. It has been 20 years since her second Open title. "I know that's scary to people who think of me as a 16-year-old kid," she said. "What's scary to me is that in another 20 years I'll be 58." At this year's Open, which begins Monday, she'll again serve as a commentator on the USA network's weekday coverage. This will be the 12th Open she has worked for USA.

Saddleback High sophomore Kim Nguyen knew the Ojai tennis tournament had some prestige. But she didn't know how prestigious it was until the presenter of her girls' 16 division trophy announced that Billie Jean King and Tracy Austin were past champions. "That shocked me," Nguyen said. "I mean it really shocked me. It made me proud to win." And relieved. Nguyen had spent six to eight hours a day training for this tournament with her tennis coach and her taekwondo instructor.

One of Denise Austin's biggest fans lives in San Pedro and was probably pacing around in her pajamas waiting for this week's column to land. So, Rita, this one's for you. Fans have to be up and at 'em promptly at 7:30 weekday mornings to follow "Denise Austin's Daily Workout" on Lifetime TV. The fitness pro puts in her own 30 minutes of exercise every morning, usually around 6:30 a.m., before daughters Kelly, 7, and Katie, 4, wake up.

Two-time U.S. Open tennis champion Tracy Austin will compete against local tennis players today to help the South Bay Children's Health Center, which expects to raise about $50,000 to treat children from low-income families. The Tracy Austin Charity Tennis Tournament has raised about $1 million for the center since it started 19 years ago.

Pete Sampras, bidding for a fourth title in the Lyon Open in France, routed Ronald Agenor of Haiti, 6-4, 6-1, and advanced to the quarterfinals. . . . Mark Philippoussis, 18, of Australia, defeated Richey Reneberg, 6-1, 6-4, and advanced to the semifinals of the Marlboro tournament in Hong Kong. Philippoussis was joined by defending champion Stefan Edberg, who defeated Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands, 6-7 (6-2), 6-3, 6-3. . . .

Tracy Austin, still recovering from knee surgery, will not play for the Los Angeles Strings in the Domino's TeamTennis League, which starts July 11 at the Forum. Anne White will replace her.

With top-ranked Steffi Graf not scheduled to play Monday, the spotlight at the Evert Cup fell on a former No. 1 player, Tracy Austin. Austin defeated Radka Zrubakova of Slovakia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, at Hyatt Grand Champions to set up a probable second-round matchup against Graf, who will play Gigi Fernandez today. Graf and Austin haven't faced one another since Austin defeated the German, 6-4, 6-0, at Filderstadt, Germany, in Graf's first professional match. That was in October of 1982.

Tracy Austin will skip the U.S. Open, putting her tennis comeback on hold while she concentrates on her career as a television commentator. She'll work for the USA network during the Open, which begins Monday. "Tracy's position is she can't do the commentary and the tennis at the same time and do them both well," Gorden Beck, the USA network's executive producer, said Tuesday. "It was one or the other."