XXVI OLYMPIC GAMES

July 23, 1996

Todd Woodbridge

TODD WOODBRIDGE: The result of the match -- was probably the most important game of the match, I think, because if I had lost the game, I was going to be disappointed, down and probably he then got the momentum going his way if he had held serve, and he is back on top. And I am not sure how many breakpoints it was that I was down, how many game points that I had, but getting through it, I think that was nearly the match there in that game.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: And then he was a bit disappointed with himself. And then he played another loose service game. I went 5-2 really quickly, and, you know, I sort of felt -- I felt good then, because I knew I had gutsed out the really tough part of that set. And, you know, then I held and broke early again while he was -- still wasn't -- really hadn't recovered from it. It took him five or six games before he recovered, then I held on from there.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: It's a lot different, actually. I was quite nervous, really; wasn't all that confident about today's match, to be honest with you. I have been beaten before. Last time we played, I just felt that I hadn't been hitting the ball quite as well as I would have liked. I have been hitting it well, but I would have liked to have been hitting it better. So perhaps, in that respect, because I was nervous, I took a little bit of the pressure off myself, and the expectation, and I played -- you know, I could still play better, but I played as well as I needed to.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Oh, yeah, you sort of -- you know what is difficult for me -- not difficult, but what is different about it is that, like, at breakfast this morning, you are having breakfast beside 30 swimmers, and you think, oh, geez, they all know me, if I don't do very well, they will think I am useless. And it is that type of, you know, everybody wants everybody to do well on your team. You feel like you are performing for a lot of other people than just yourself. And for me, you know, for tennis players, in general, that is a whole different aspect to what we are used to.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah. Well, it makes you feel different because you want to do better, so you sort of put a little bit of extra pressure on yourself. So sometimes you have got to try to take pressure off yourself so that you can play to your full potential. A little bit like Davis Cup, I guess, where you are willing to do it for your country, and this, that other thing, it gets close to the Olympics.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: It is probably as bad as it gets anywhere. We do get the odd day in Cincinnati, Indianapolis or U.S. Open, but it has been like this fairly constantly since we have been here. So it is a real effort out on the court to make yourself just stay cool, calm, and under the pressure and realize that the other guy's feeling it. If you can hang in long enough, you are going to get some chances in a match. Because there is going to be times where you miss a ball that you really shouldn't have because you are a little bit slow, or mentally you just couldn't quite get yourself to make it. It is probably, I would think, about -- with the heat and the humidity together, it is about as bad as you can possibly play in.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No, it actually helps me, I feel, because all my focus isn't just on that. And it gives me something else to worry about in the meantime, not just thinking doubles, doubles, doubles, and a medal like that. So I am quite pleased to be playing the singles. And then, obviously, to win the match, because I have got used to the conditions a little more, the balls during the match, feeling more comfortable out on the court, so that should help me for when I get out into the doubles.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Fairly finicky, sort of, I suppose, people are. I haven't been hitting it badly, I just felt I would like to hit it a little bit cleaner, but the conditions here with the humidity, the balls are going very quick through the air. A lot of players are having trouble controlling it and keeping it in. So with a bit of experience, I realize it is not only me having that problem since I have been here. I used to think no one else had that trouble, but now I know I just got to try keep it in the court. By having a match under my belt, like I said before, you get a bit better and get used to it. A match is much better than any practice you can play.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah, we just touched on that, the game at 3-2 and that was probably, you know, the match there and there, once I had won that game, because he really got down on himself quickly I got another quick break and turned it right and got right on top, so in this weather, if you can really guts out a game like that, your opponents are going to have trouble because it is very demoralizing to think I have put in all this energy trying to get that game and I have blown it.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, I think so. Every player that I know that is here is really gunning for it. I think especially once you get to the event, and you are around the other athletes, then you realize how important it is because like I said, being in the village, staying with all the other athletes, they expect you to do well, and they want you to get a medal, and so on, so you got that expectation of other people upon you, so you can't let them down. You can let yourself down at another tournament but you can't here.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: To me there is two things that you -- about staying in the village. One: You miss the camaraderie of the team. You do talk to a lot of other athletes, for instance, when Michael Dolan won gold the other day, I had spoken to him the night before. I said, how did you go today? He said, pretty good. Big day tomorrow and then he wins a gold. You go, geez, and so you get a big rush out of that. It is a really a great feeling and you sort of can eat off that for your own event. Then probably the negative aspect to that is that you have to realize the times you have to set yourself some time aside to just get some relaxation and to get away from the hype that is in the village because there is a lot going on. There is a lot of people and it is just important that you realize you are there to actually focus on your event and not on socializing because you can do plenty of that.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No, I think I have chosen the right one. I don't think I can make as good a living out of shooting as I could in tennis.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, it is unusual for us to have to -- I guess we go from the French to Wimbledon, but we have those couple of tournaments in between where you sort of work your way back up trying to get your form right for that event and we didn't really have that, Mark and myself both went like a holiday for five days; didn't speak with anybody involved in tennis and didn't touch a racket. That was to just try get fresh for here because obviously we wanted to do well here. We feel if we can do that would be really sort of topping off our partnership, so to speak.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: It is great at the village because I have got some family around, but probably not so much. I mean, I feel like I am fairly experienced, but it is kind of neat. I mean, opening ceremony the three of us all got together; had photos. It was nice, really good feeling, and, you know, I am really proud of being able to watch those two as well.