Todd Andrew Woodbridge, OAM (born 2 April 1971) is an Australian former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player and current sports broadcaster with the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. Woodbridge is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with

Mark Woodforde Mark Raymond Woodforde, OAM (born 23 September 1965) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge. Woodforde was born in Adelaide, and joined ...

(nicknamed "

The Woodies The Woodies was the nickname given to the tennis doubles pairing of Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, one of the most successful pairings in tennis history. The Woodies combined Woodforde's left-handed baseline play with Woodbr ...

") and later

Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...

. He is among the most successful doubles players of all time, having won 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles (nine Wimbledons, three US Opens, three Australian Opens and one French Open), and a further six Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (three US Opens, one French Open, one Wimbledon, one Australian Open). Additionally, he was a gold medalist with Woodforde at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

to complete a career

Golden Slam The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year, also referred to as the "Calendar-year Grand Slam" or "Calendar Slam". In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam p ...

. In total he has won 83 ATP doubles titles. Woodbridge reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in July 1992. Woodbridge was awarded the Medal of the Order of the Australia in the

1997 Australia Day Honours The 1997 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1997 by the Governor General of Australia, Will ...

"for service to sport as gold medallist at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996". In 2002, he was inducted into the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

'Best of the Best'. Woodbridge was at the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

between 2006 and 2018, working for

Seven Sport Seven Sport is the brand and production department under which all sporting events on the Seven Network are broadcast. It broadcasts some of Australia's most prominent sporting events, such as the AFL, cricket, the Olympics and Paralympics, as ...

as a tennis commentator, where he was also a host of the network's

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

coverage. In April 2018, he hosted the morning sessions of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

for the network. In 2014, alongside Woodforde, the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...

(ITF) presented him with its highest accolade, the

Philippe Chatrier award The Philippe Chatrier Award is an annual International Tennis Federation (ITF) award. It was introduced in 1996 to recognise individuals or organisations considered to have made outstanding contributions to tennis globally, both on and off the cou ...

, for his contributions to tennis. In 2018, Woodbridge was signed by the

as a commentator for Wide World of Sports tennis, including the

after winning the broadcast rights for 6 years.

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

2018 was the final event he covered for the Nine Network.

Tennis career

Juniors

In juniors, Woodbridge made the finals of the Jr Australian Open in 1987 and 1989, and Wimbledon in 1989.

Pro tour

Bjorkman and Woodbridge doubles Wimbledon 2004

He is best known as one of the top doubles players in the world for most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s (decade). His primary doubles partnerships were first with fellow Australian

and later with Swede

. Woodbridge and Woodforde are often referred to as "

" in the tennis world. Woodbridge also had a career high singles ranking of 19 after reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1997, beating

Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. Chang won a total o ...

Marcos Ondruska Marcos Ondruska (born 18 December 1972) is a former tennis player from South Africa, who turned professional in 1989. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he defeated Goran Ivanišević in th ...

Alex Rădulescu Alex Rădulescu (born 7 December 1974) is a former tennis player from Romania, who competed for Germany. Rădulescu turned professional in 1995. The righthander reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour on 10 March 1997, when he be ...

Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open ...

and

Nicolas Kiefer Nicolas Kiefer (; born 5 July 1977) is a German former professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of the 2006 Australian Open and won a silver medal in men's doubles with partner Rainer Schüttler at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kief ...

before losing to

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

. He did however have the distinction of being one of only seven players to beat Sampras at Wimbledon, knocking him out in the first round in 1989 (Sampras's first ever Wimbledon match). The Woodies won a record 61 ATP doubles titles as a team, including 11

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

events. Woodforde and Woodbridge won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and reached the final to win a silver medal at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. In the fourth set tie-breaker against Canadians

Sébastien Lareau Sébastien Lareau (; born April 27, 1973) is a former professional tennis player. He became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title by winning the 1999 US Open – Men's doubles, 1999 US Open men's doubles with his American partner Ale ...

and

Daniel Nestor Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal ...

, Woodbridge served a double fault to lose the match. After Woodforde retired from the tour in 2000, Woodbridge established a partnership with Björkman that resulted in five Grand Slam titles in four years. At the end of 2004, Björkman ended his partnership with Woodbridge. According to an interview Woodbridge granted to the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, Björkman wanted him to play more weeks on the tour, but Woodbridge wanted to limit his time away from his family as much as possible. Woodbridge then took on India's

Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...

as his new partner, who had just been dumped by

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian

Max Mirnyi Maksim "Max" Mikalaevich Mirnyi ( be, Максім Мікалаевіч Мірны, ; russian: Максим Николаевич Мирный, ; born 6 July 1977) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player. Mirnyi became a doubles speci ...

. Coincidentally, Björkman and Mirnyi ended up partnering together. Woodbridge announced his retirement at the 2005 Wimbledon Championships after 17 years as a tennis professional and 83 ATP tournament doubles titles, an all-time record at the time now surpassed by

the Bryan brothers The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...

. He was a member of the Australian Davis Cup Team, playing the most ties (32) of any player. According to the ATP website, he finished his career with US$10,095,245 in prize money.

After retirement

In 2006 and 2007, Woodbridge joined the

's commentary team for the

. He also became an ambassador for bowel cancer awareness group "Let's Beat Bowel Cancer". A Cabrini Health initiative. In 2007, Woodbridge joined the 6th season of

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

, the Australian version. In 2008 and 2009, Woodbridge aligned himself closely to the sailing community through his commitments at

Hamilton Island Race Week Hamilton Island Race Week is a keelboat regatta set against the backdrop of the Whitsunday Islands, on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reef ...

hosting tennis clinics and wine tasting events. Woodbridge served as the

tournament director A tournament director (TD) is an official at a competitive sporting or gaming event, who typically perform a number of key functions. The extent of the tournament director's duties varies depending on the size of the tournament, the nature of the ...

for the 2009 Australian Open legends event. In July 2009, he was appointed coach of the Australian Davis Cup Team, taking on a newly expanded, full-time position that merges a role as the national men's coach overseeing the male player development pathway with the Davis Cup coaching job. In January 2010 on Australia day, The Woodies were inducted to the

Australian Tennis Hall of Fame The Australian Tennis Hall of Fame was established in 1993 by Tennis Australia under the leadership of then-president Geoff Pollard. Described by Tennis Australia as "one of the highest honours Australian tennis players can receive", inductees are ...

for their achievements in tennis. As a part of the induction ceremony, their bronzed statues were placed with other great Australian tennis players at the Melbourne Park. In July 2010 The Woodies were inducted to the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

. In January 2011, Woodbridge was confronted on court by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

player

Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...

for comments he made via

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

Rennae Stubbs Rennae Stubbs (born 26 March 1971) is an Australian tennis coach, television commentator, and former professional player. She is the host of The Power Hour on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk. She worked at the Seven Network between 2011 and 201 ...

alleging Clijsters was pregnant. In June that year, Woodbridge started anchoring the

coverage. Woodbridge had planned to compete in the 2021 Margaret Court Cup in

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, but was prevented from doing so by domestic border closures. In 2019, Woodbridge joined the

's as a sport commentator and presenter covering the

and

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

. Todd is currently a fill-in sport presenter on ''

Nine News Melbourne ''Nine News Melbourne'' is the weeknight, flagship news bulletin of the Nine Network in Australia. It is screened in Melbourne and Tasmania, and across Victoria. Like all ''Nine News'' bulletins, the Melbourne bulletin runs for one hour, from 6 ...

''.

Personal life

He was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and raised in

Woolooware Woolooware is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolooware is located south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. It shares the 2230 postcode with Cronulla. Woolooware stretc ...

by his parents, Kevin and Barbara. He has two older brothers, Gregory and Warren. He attended

Woolooware High School Woolooware High is a comprehensive secondary school in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1967 and took its first class in January 1968. Woolooware High is known for participation and success in performing arts, spo ...

, then turned professional in 1988. Todd and Natasha Woodbridge married on 8 April 1995 in Melbourne; they have two children, Zara and Beau.

Grand Slam men's doubles finals: 20 (16–4)

Mixed-doubles finals: 14 (6–8)

Career finals

Singles: 9 (2–7)

Doubles: 114 (83–31)

Performance timelines

Singles

¹This event was held in Stockholm through 1994, Essen in 1995, and Stuttgart from 1996 through 2001.

Doubles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodbridge, Todd 1971 births Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian male tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions Australian Open (tennis) junior champions Australian television presenters French Open champions French Open junior champions Hopman Cup competitors Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic tennis players of Australia Australian tennis commentators Tennis people from Florida Tennis players from Sydney Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions Wimbledon junior champions Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian Institute of Sport tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Living people International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees