Tracy Austin put her hands to her head, then buried her face in them and, finally, raised two fists to the sky with a triumphant smile. It was not quite as exuberant as her celebration when she won the U.S. Open for the first time in 1979. But it was pretty close.
Her son Brandon Holt had just won his third qualifying match by beating Dimitar Kuzmanov, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in a rain-delayed match that required nearly six hours to complete and tested Holt’s mental focus. The win, in his first qualifying event for a Grand Slam tournament, ensured Holt a place in the main draw of the same tournament his mother won twice.