WIMBLEDON

July 8, 2000

Todd Woodbridge

Mark Woodforde

MARK WOODFORDE: Actually, no. You know, not much. I mean, you know, it couldn't have been a better way to finish than by winning here. I don't know what it would have been like had we not won. But to come through in two of these majors - French Open and here - especially here because this one is so very dear to us - you know, no regrets. I think, what a way to go out. It makes it easier. A lot of the guys have joked with me all week in the locker room that, "How stupid. Why would you do it now, why would you stop? Titles here, titles there." But, you know, I think it just makes it a heck of a lot easier to actually step out. To be able to say good-bye to a place, to a tournament that has meant so much to us as a duo, and to us individually, because we know how much history is behind this event. It was so very special, so very dear to be able to stand there as winners and wave good-bye, and play in a match like that, the standard.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I'm not going to cross that road just yet. This was perfect. I was very pleased that today, win or lose, we were going to end our partnership out on that court. That was what really made me comfortable. I was really comfortable with the fact that we were out there. As I said, even if we lost, that's where we were going to be able to say good-bye from, here at Wimbledon. That was the perfect scenario.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: We'll still be playing later this year because the Olympics is still a goal. US Open.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: -- US Open and Olympics. Still chase two more majors for the year.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I haven't really crossed that road either. I have commitments already that I've made for next week. I don't know that I'd be able to do that.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, I had a really special person in our player box today, and that was the wife of Payne Stewart, Tracy Stewart. I'm heading off to Ireland to go to a memorial service for him in a place called Waterville that I visited the last two years with him on holiday. If I could dedicate my part of our victory here to him. From his passing, my tennis career kind of has hit another wave. I think I learned a lot from his passing. It was very, very special to have a close friend like her in the box, and him watching today. That was some real motivation for me to really try and take something home today.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: You know, it really made me focus on the time that I had left in my career because his was taken away at almost his height of winning a US Open, winning a major. Sometimes you think things are not going so well for you. It was an opportunity for me to sit back and realise that I only had so much time left in this game at my best, to not waste that time.

MARK WOODFORDE: I think just starting a new life. Tennis players always have, it seems like, two lives. Professional life, once that finishes, it returns to some normality. You know, both of us, Todd and Tasha are expecting in December, and Erin and myself are expecting in January. Your family life is just around the corner. I'm excited. I know Todd and Tasha are extremely excited. Erin and I are the same way. You know, that's going to take up a lot of time. I think just to be able -- for me, I mean, I don't want to harp on it, but being that little bit older, I've played so many years, doing the same thing over and over. I'm looking forward to just doing something at my own leisure, to be able to go off and make a quick trip somewhere, explore some of these cities that we play in - not that I'm going to be able to do that with a child in tow - just to be able to do something spontaneous. Everything has always been towards tennis, getting ready for a particular tournament or a particular match, going to bed at a certain time, getting up, getting X amount of hours of sleep. You know, it will be nice not to be able to run by a particular schedule, just get on with the major part of my life now. You know, I've played this game long enough, I've had a lot of enjoyment, a great partnership with Todd. You know, I don't know whether there's anything that I can build up on from this which, again, probably goes back, makes it a little bit easier to say I want to step out of it, because there isn't anything there left now, apart from a US Open and the Olympics this year, maybe another Davis Cup final. I've always gone on the process of having a goal. We've always gone on a process of having a goal set for ourselves. You know, there aren't any goals there anymore after this year. For me, if there's no carrot dangling in front of me, there's no real motivation. I can start my second life.

MARK WOODFORDE: You know, not really. You know, again, we play tennis in so many different countries and cities, just to be able to go off somewhere. I've done pretty well financially from the game. I'm not in any hurry to move into some employment to put money in the bank. I can take my time and just enjoy life, you know, maybe enjoy it as both of us are becoming fathers. It's an unknown for both of us. I think we can both really look back and enjoy it. The difference will be I won't be playing, Erin and I won't be traveling on the tennis tour. Todd and Tash will. A little bit different, but I just look forward to it, doing something different. I really do.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: We might need a break from each other, it would be good.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, it was something that we really talked about a lot probably during Davis Cup on clay, to try to help hold our serves a little bit more. So it had to do with, you know, Newc and Rochey, the two of us trying to work out ways on clay to get away with holds of serve. Obviously, it really worked well. We figured, why not continue to use it? It was pretty good today, too. It stopped us from having to make a lot of difficult volleys, hitting it back across in front of the net man. So that was where really we decided a lot to go use that, was in Nice last year.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: If you watch a lot of the other teams, they are starting to use it now. We've always been innovators in changing tactics. They don't seem to be able to come up with something of their own. They use something we've used first of all. It will be interesting to see next year what guys do because we've always been changing our play. They seem to have followed. I think it's worthwhile using it.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No.

MARK WOODFORDE: Not really. I think the people, the British public associate Wimbledon and the men's doubles championships and the Woodies together, all bunched in one basket. I think they're aware that this was going to be it. You know, it was just terrific. To be able to stand there, you know, as winners, to be able to wave good-bye, I think it would be pretty tough if we'd been out on Court 13 to a couple hundred people, quarterfinal losers, have a quick wave, a hide in the locker room. This is fabulous. They've always treated us, you know, with great care here. They just enjoy their doubles. They enjoy tennis, full stop.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Certainly getting close to it, that's for sure. If we can finish the year like we've been playing, yeah. '96 when we won the Olympics, that's paralleling. Right now it's starting to parallel that year.

MARK WOODFORDE: We were playing pretty well that year. Every time we stepped on the court, we had a lot of confidence. I think we won 11, 12 tournaments that year. This may be seven --.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Seven.

MARK WOODFORDE: -- For the year. I think this year we're playing better, playing a better standard all the way through, each match. You know, God, who knows what's going to happen by the year end. It's just great to be up a part of it in the last season.

MARK WOODFORDE: I mean, for me, we've played a couple of times against Jacco and Paul. I think we've always held them in high esteem, that they were our -- a pair that could really match with us when both teams were playing very well. We played them years and years ago in the quarterfinals.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: '93, first time we won.

MARK WOODFORDE: We won 8-6 in the fifth set. That was, you know, just a rip-snorter of a match. I mean, it was back and forth. We were quite fortunate to get through in the end. That one stands out because I know when we won the quarterfinals 8-6 in the fifth, Todd said, "This is just like Eltingh-Haarhuis back in '93."

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah, '93. You get feelings about how you're going to go in the tournament, too. That would have been the match that I picked, as well, because that match, all of a sudden you start to think, "We can win this tournament." That was exactly the same feeling I had this time around getting through that match, two sets to one down, this year, against Lareau and Nestor, 8-6 in the fifth, same score line, same court. You start to get good vibes good things.

MARK WOODFORDE: Also, actually losing to Jacco and Paul, that score was 10-8 in the fifth. We were going for six in a row. I mean, that's sort of unheard of in this type of an event. That was a pretty decent match. I mean, we were down most of the way. I felt we were down most of the way. We actually were getting closer and closer. I think that brought out really the best of both teams. That showed what both of us were about. Even though we'd lost, I remember near the end of the match just saying to myself, the result was unknown, but what a way to be involved, what a feeling to be involved with this particular match. It sort of came out 1-1, two matches that I've highlighted that haven't been both victories, but both are really, you know, in here with a lot of memories (indicating his head). Can't complain about today, the way we played. We didn't make too many rash errors. Kept the pressure on.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Probably the best final we ever played.

MARK WOODFORDE: If we could be sitting in that Royal Box, that would be beautiful. It would be nice to come back. You know, this event, from day one for us, it's up here for us (indicating high). Not putting any of the other Slams down, but Wimbledon is everything. It would be certainly nice, once Todd finishes, as well, if we could both sit there.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Get older a bit quicker. Catch up with him. He's in the 35's next year.

MARK WOODFORDE: God.

MARK WOODFORDE: No. I think Wimbledon needs a break from me. You know, it would be nice to just step away.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Just wait till I get to 35.

MARK WOODFORDE: I'll have to play with someone else, then who knows who they'd pair me with. It would be nice to just take a bit of a break from here and then maybe even come back when Todd is ready to play. You know, Wimbledon will always be very, very special.

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah, that's something that's difficult to answer. Most of my life has been based on competitiveness, getting out and pushing myself, having goals in front of me, trying to be better and better. That sort of disappears once I stop playing. Yeah, that's a tough one. I hope bringing up a son or a daughter is not much of a challenge for Erin and myself. I'm sure it will be a difficult task. You know, I just hope something is out there. I've got a great wife. I have a lot of great friends. Todd and Tash, Muddy, Ray Ruffels who helped us through the first part of our partnership, Des Tyson who is working with Todd, all of those people now are part of my life, as well. Hope we'll be able to remain in contact with all of them. Whether there's anything that's out there competitive to keep my juices flowing remains to be seen. It's just nice to be able to sit back and sort of put my feet up for a while, not have to go out there and seek a victory over opponents or over a foe. It would be nice to just enjoy it, really enjoy life.

MARK WOODFORDE: As far as I know, it's just the three big singles guys and me.

MARK WOODFORDE: No.

MARK WOODFORDE: Well, I think for something as great as being tournament director of the Australian Open needs a little bit --.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Some training?

MARK WOODFORDE: Some training, yes. That maybe will keep my juices flowing. That's something that I would dearly love -- maybe not dearly, that's a bit too graphic. That's something in my sights that I feel can keep my finger on the pulse of tennis. Maybe in a five-year period. I certainly need some training. Whether it's helping the South Australian Open, learning from someone like Colin Stubs, whether it be in Indian Wells where I have a base set up with Erin, most of our life is spent there. If I can juggle those two and then certainly lead up to the Australian Open, I think maybe a five-year time period is decent enough. Not that someone like Paul is not doing a fabulous job. You know, I think there are changes that certainly can be improved. He might be ready to step out of that position. I'm not in any great hurry for the first three, four, five years to be doing anything.

MARK WOODFORDE: There would be nothing greater than for Australian tennis to have Rafter as the singles champion, Todd and I as the doubles champion, and a good chance with Lleyton. I think that really shows the way Australian tennis is on the up and up. Whether Pat can contain his nerves walking out, that remains to be seen. I mean, he's up against one of the great champions of the game. He's had a great run through to the final, apart from playing against Todd, who gave him a really tough match, made him play a heck of a lot of awkward volleys.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I got him ready.

MARK WOODFORDE: It's like Todd did get him ready for the rest of the draw. Pat has had a dream run up to the final. He's conserved a lot of energy. That's really what you need to rely upon going into a major final, one that you've never, ever been involved in before. Newc and Rochey I'm sure are going to be there trying to relive their first time going out to Centre Court Wimbledon singles final. It's basically going to be up to Pat. Sampras' game is not going to change. He's not going to come out with any significant change in his tactics.

MARK WOODFORDE: He'd have to return serve very, very well. You know, Pete's serve is absolutely phenomenal.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think he can do it.

MARK WOODFORDE: I think he's feeling confident. I mean, he beat Agassi. He's beaten Todd and some other decent players (laughter).