Austin Wins the US Open.

« 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 fellbehind 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 ofclinching the set.

Austin refused to surrender, however, mounting a comeback that led a frustrated Navratilova to slam her racquet against the asphalt surface.

Austinwrapped 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 straightsets.

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 withscores 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 fifthstraight 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 eighthgame.

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 theywalked 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 herfirst title until age 20. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

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