A hyper-focused 19-year-old Todd Woodbridge with his eyes on the prize at Kooyong Tennis Stadium. (Photo, 1990.)
Now a beloved commentator at the Australian Open – kicking off today – Woodbridge retired from his stellar tennis career in 2005 with a staggering 83 doubles titles.
His Tennis Australia biography reads:
Todd Woodbridge formed half of arguably the most successful doubles combination in history, pairing with compatriot Mark Woodforde to win 11 Grand Slam doubles titles and five straight Wimbledon titles as well as an Olympic gold medal at Atlanta in 1996.
Woodforde retired shortly after the pair won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics... Woodbridge began a successful partnership with Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman that reaped a further five majors.
Part of Australia’s winning Davis Cup teams in 1999 and 2003, Woodbridge retired after the 2005 Wimbledon championships with a record 83 doubles titles. He also proved an adept singles player, peaking at world No.19 in May 1997, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals the same year and winning two ATP singles titles.
**This photograph is part of an IA series that looks at Australia through the lens of award-winning photojournalist Bill McAuley.**
Bill McAuley's 40-plus-year news career began in 1969 as a cadet photographer at 'The Age' in Melbourne.
He has several published collections, including 'Portraits of the Soul: A lifetime of images with Bill McAuley' and 'Last light on Victoria Dock, 1999'. To see more from Bill, click here.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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