Tennis Legends - The Woodies: Dominant force of men's doubles in the 1990s

The Australian combination of Todd Woodbridge and lefty Mark Woodforde dominated the men's doubles scene for much of the nineties. As a pair, they totalled eleven Grand Slams together, including an Open Era record of six Wimbledons.

Woodbridge was born on 2nd April 1971 in Sydney to parents Kevin and Barbara. He was brought up in Woolooware along with brothers Gregory and Warren. The older member of the partnership is Woodforde, who was born in Adelaide on the 23rd of September 1965. Woodforde turned professional in 1984 and then Woodbridge followed suit in 1988. They began their association as doubles partners in 1991.

The first title lifted by the pair would come in the Belgian capital, Brussels, on the now defunct carpet surface. They went on to claim three additional titles in 1991, including the Queen's Club Championships on grass and their maiden home success in Brisbane.

Their opening year together in the Grand Slams was pretty consistent, making semi-finals at the Australian and US Opens, supplemented by a last eight appearance at Wimbledon.

In the 1992 Australian Open, major glory ensued for the home pair. Back then, men's doubles in Melbourne was a best of 5 set affair. The Woodies took their first Grand Slam title with a straight sets victory over the American pair Kelly Jones and Rick Leach.

It was the first of eight titles this year for the Aussies. All their success came on rapid surfaces and a number of them in the US. Highlights included the Cincinnati Open and the season-ending Doubles Championship in Johannesburg.

The 1993 season witnessed the Woodforde/Woodbridge combination harvest a quintet of titles. This includes a grasscourt double at Queen's and Wimbledon. A straight sets victory over the Canadian/American partnership of Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith secured a maiden Wimbledon title. It was the start of a dynasty at the sport's most revered event.

They retained their Wimbledon crown in the 1994 campaign, once again beating Connell and Galbraith in the final by a straight sets margin. It represented one of five titles for the Woodies this term. Their season was bookended by trophy lifts in Dubai and Stockholm.

Seven titles were accrued during the 1995 season. This haul included a pair of majors. The Woodies made it three Wimbledon titles in a row when defeating the all-American duo Leach and Scott Melville. This was followed, a couple of months later, by lifting a maiden US Open title. In the title match, victory came over compatriot Sandon Stollen and American Alex O’Brien.

1996 saw the Woodies defend both their Wimbledon and US Open titles. A fourth successive Wimbledon title came after a four set tussle with Connell and Zimbabwean Byron Black. It gave them a second Queen's/Wimbledon double on the London grass. Heading Stateside after an outstanding grasscourt campaign, Olympic glory in the Atlanta Games was now a big target. They duly hit the bullseye when pocketing gold medals after victory over British pair Neil Broad and Tim Henman in the final.

They then continued an incredible summer by going back-to-back at the US Open, beating Dutch pairing Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis. This match-up would become a great rivalry in the Woodies’ later years. Twelve titles across 1996 turned out to be a yearly high for them.

They equalled the Open era record of five consecutive men's doubles titles at Wimbledon following a triumph in over the aforementioned Eltingh/Haarhuis team.

Their Grand Slam winning ways in 1997 had already commenced on home soil. A second Australian Open title clinched via a four set victory over O’Brien and Sebastian Lareau. The first of five titles the Woodies won this term.

Five titles were amassed in the 1998 season but for the first time since their debut year of 1991, no Grand Slam titles were added to their bulging CV. The Woodies were losing finalists at the Australian Open and saw their five year winning streak stopped at Wimbledon following a five set defeat to Eltingh and Haarhuis, losing the decider 10-8.

1999 saw even further diminishing returns as their only tournament victories this year materialised in February at Memphis and San Jose. Two semis and a quarter-final were the best they mustered in the majors during the season. A frustrating campaign was redeemed in December when the Woodies were part of Australia winning the Davis Cup against France.

The French Open remained an elusive major for the complete set of Slams. They finished runners-up in 1997 at Roland Garros. In 2000, tennis immortality was boxed off. A straight sets win over Haarhuis/Stolle secured a career Grand Slam. At Wimbledon, now back in the major winning enclosure, the Woodies defeated the same opponents to become the first pair in the Open Era to win six men's doubles titles at SW19. The 2000 season was a great resurgence for the Woodies. Consecutive majors were the highlights of a season that yielded eight titles.

Their main frustration came when finishing as silver medalists at a home Olympics in Sydney. Woodforde announced his retirement from competitive tennis at the end of 2000. Woodbridge opted to carry on. It brought to an end a partnership that accrued 61 titles from 79 finals, including eleven Grand Slams.

After the Woodies combination was dissolved, the younger man carried on with a new partner in the shape of Swede Jonas Bjorkman. The alliance got off to an excellent start by lifting the 2001 Australian Open. They also won three consecutive Wimbledon titles from 2002 and lifted the US Open in 2003.

Woodbridge’s treble at Wimbledon swelled his total of men's doubles titles at SW19 to nine, a record across all eras at the grasscourt major.

In addition to hugely successful careers in men's doubles, Woodforde and Woodbridge supplemented their trophy hail with glory in the mixed doubles discipline.

Woodbridge triumphed in six of his fourteen mixed doubles finals. His first victory came with fellow Aussie Liz Smylie at the 1990 Australian Open, before winning the 1992 French Open and 1993 Australian Open in tandem with Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario. Czech Helena Sukova partnered Woodbridge to glory at the 1993 US Open and 1994 Wimbledon Champions. In 2001, Woodbridge teamed up with Rennae Stubbs to lift the US Open.

Five mixed doubles Grand Slam triumphs from seven finals for Woodforde. The first two came with Woodbridge's future sister-in-law Nicole Provis at the 1992 Australian Open (against Woodbridge and Sanchez-Vicario) and US Open. He then experienced the privilege of winning the 1993 Wimbledon title alongside legend Martina Navratilova. Woodforde’s final two were in unison with Larissa Savchenko-Neiland at the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Australian Open.

The Woodies both experienced handy singles careers. Both featured in a major singles semi-final. Woodbridge reached the last four at Wimbledon in 1997, losing to eventual champion Pete Sampras. He won a couple of singles titles and reached a high of 19 in the world rankings.

A total of four singles titles were won by Woodforde who matched Woodbridge's highest ever singles ranking. Woodforde's major semi-final came at the 1996 Australian Open.

The Woodies were inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010. Their bronze statues were unveiled and reside at the site of the Australian Open. Later that year, they were entered into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Both men have worked as tennis summarisers for a number of organisations. Woodbridge has become a prominent figure during the BBC’s TV coverage of Wimbledon. Woodforde works for the corporation on that event also, but his role is on the radio coverage.

Woodbridge married Natasha Provis in 1995. They have two children together, Zara and Beau. In 2022, Woodbridge survived a heart attack. They both received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1997 Australia Day honours.

Relations between the pair since their heyday have thawed. Woodforde has been particularly outspoken about the fracturing of their relationship, “For someone you could rely upon for as many years and have great fun and success and joy with, to be at this stage now, it's really hurtful. I'm still the same person.”

Woodbridge, however, has often contradicted Woodforde’s claims and believes the pair remain on reasonable terms. When asked bluntly in an interview with the Herald Sun "are you and Woodforde still close?", Woodbridge replied "yes". "We are good friends and what we achieved together is very special. We don't work a lot together or spend a huge amount of time together. We are very different characters and we live in different countries these days," he added.

Woodbridge spent 204 weeks as world number one in contrast to Woodforde enjoying 84 weeks. The two of them rank amongst the very finest doubles teams we've ever seen. They were the leading force in a single decade. Only a select number of doubles combinations are able to be lauded in the same way.