WIMBLEDON

June 29, 2005

Todd Woodbridge

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Do I want to say anything? Ask me a question. Look, I decided to call it a day. I think that I've had a pretty good run. I really wanted to come here and go for 10 titles. Things didn't work out according to plan. I had always planned to play my whole year out this year, but my partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi didn't go as what we would have hoped. I didn't even come to this tournament planning to retire. But I felt I had so many good, strong memories here, it was the right place to do it and the right time in my career to do it. Yeah, I've been sitting on it for a while. I had to make an announcement because our Australian Davis Cup team is getting ready to play the quarterfinal against Argentina. I felt it was unfair to sort of sit on the fence for a few more days for them. They need to be clear on what they've got to try to do. I told Fitzy earlier this morning. Here we are.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No. I think if you retire, you do it all at once. There's no finishing playing the tour here at Wimbledon and then going down to Australia and playing. The thought and the seed has been planted in my head for a couple of weeks. I think it germinated here when I didn't play too well in the dubs. I don't want to go down to Sydney, have that in my mind, not play as well as I can. I wasn't going to play the semifinal if we were to win that one or the final. You know, you retire, you retire, and that's it.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: That was the hardest part of the last few days actually. Wayne was sort of asking me whether I would think about it because he knew it was on the cards. He said, "Come on, just play this one. If we can get through, play a few more tournaments with me." But I know myself really well. I know my mental state of mind. And to go down there and have that in my head, perhaps not get the result that I desired or the team desired out of my match and maybe even the tie, it's not how I would have wanted to end my Davis Cup career. I honestly feel like I'm not letting anybody down because I've turned up more than anybody, I've given my all in Davis Cup, done as much as I can. The time for me is right. I haven't played enough tennis to go into a Davis Cup tie and be fully confident.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No, he's been trying for a few days. I chatted with him -- I lost on Thursday. I've chatted with him since then. He gave me a few days' peace just to sort of sit on it and think about it. I guess he's probably disappointed. But everybody and every player goes through that phase of their career and has to make that decision. And I think I've made the right decision because I couldn't play a hundred percent as I wanted to.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah, I'm not sure really. But as far as I know, Wayne and Lleyton are certainly okay. I know that Flip's working on what was happening with his ankle, so, yeah.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think the top for me was winning my first Wimbledon here with Mark in '93 because coming from Australia, there are two goals I think as a player, and they're to play Davis Cup and win Wimbledon. The moment you become a Wimbledon champion, you take a step up as a tennis player. That was probably the time where I first felt that I'd made it as a player.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Oh, you know, I'm very disappointed with our council, so much so that I think they all should resign because they've gone ahead and made changes without even asking what the rest of the tennis world thinks. They've made a scoring system that doesn't even exist. It's not an approved system by the International Tennis Federation. They've gone and made a decision against what the players also wish. Even the top singles players are scratching their head at this decision. It's disappointing. Perhaps with that in mind I've also timed it pretty well.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Well, my reasons for retiring are completely personal. I always had said if I was not winning major tournaments, and tournaments, that it was a time for me to retire. The last six months, that's the way it's been. I haven't won a tournament since January.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No. I look at this as completely personal announcement and time. I'm disappointed not to be able to play Davis Cup, but you can't retire from the tour and continue to do that. It's all or nothing. Once I have the thought in my mind to retire, it's too hard to go and represent your country with that sort of on your shoulders. As far as Australia's chances are, it probably hurts our chances somewhat because I guess the load really gets put on Lleyton and Wayne to have to play both singles and doubles if Philippoussis isn't fit. So they're going to have a big weekend. They haven't played together in these situations. But I've had to look at my situation first. You know, I know that I've made the right choice.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think probably my Wimbledon record, that I was in 10 finals in something like 11 or 12 years, and won 9 of them. I guess that could be the only thing. And I think, you know, in doubles you've got to choose good partners and you've got to be there at the right time. You know, people are always going to argue whether I was or I wasn't, but I think I have a pretty good case that I was the best forehand court player of all time. So I can at least take that home with me.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think my return of serve and my volleying. I had a pretty ordinary serve by modern-day terms, but that's how you get good volleys, because you've got to play a lot off your shoelaces. I didn't waste many opportunities at the net. If the ball was there to be put away, it got put away. I had good reflexes. I didn't make many bad errors, particularly errors of judgment tactically.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think he'd probably be surprised if he got a call up, as well. He is having the tournament of his life, I suppose, and playing very well. Put me out, as well. I think to get into Davis Cup team, you've got to get the runs consistently and prove it. It's a massive step up to go from here and into a Davis Cup tie when you haven't sort of experienced that before, because it's enormous pressure. It's the most pressure you'll ever play under. He'll be nervous going into a semi here at Wimbledon, but if he loses, he's had a great tournament. If he loses at home in Davis Cup, he'll never, ever have felt anything like that. And I think that's probably the only thing hanging over whether you could pick someone like him to go in there, is that he hasn't really experienced anything in that before, even a Grand Slam semifinal which is getting here for the first time.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: You know, I want all your jobs (smiling).

TODD WOODBRIDGE: No, look, I've been working on perhaps trying to get into television, television commentating, then into some hosting if it could work for me. That's where I'd like to try to start.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah, that's where I'd like to go, if there's a role for me in Australia to do that. I think also, along the tennis lines of Australian tennis, I don't want to become sort of a martyr of tennis in Australia, but there is something I have to give back. I'm living in Melbourne now. There's a lot of good kids there. I still enjoy playing tennis. I think there's an opportunity to give back in that role in Australia. I don't want to coach and get out on the road. I've done 17, 18 years of that now. I want to spend some time enjoying a Wednesday round of golf and that sort of thing, but we need to get our former players back into the Australian tennis scene and use all the experience we have. I think I need to find a position there somehow.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Look, it holds the best memories I've ever had, from the first time I played a Junior match here. I won two Junior doubles here, 9 in the men's and a mixed, a semi of the singles. All of my greatest results came here. It was a place that sometimes people come here and they don't feel comfortable, they feel nervous. I came here and felt like I was absolutely at ease, at home, and enjoyed every time I could walk out on the court. I think I held the place with so much respect that mentally I focused better here and I kept my temper in check. Everything I did here was very purposeful. You know, that's why for me this was the best place to retire at.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I could. I've had to announce something because I needed the Davis Cup team to move on and get ready for that. But I am still out there in the mixed. I can tell you today actually I felt so much more relaxed getting it off my chest. Sam's playing great tennis, Sam Stosur, semis of the ladies. We're in the quarters. That would be even better if I could walk away with something.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Yeah, look, it's always going to play second fiddle, that's obvious. But in the past 12 months on the ATP Tour, we have got all of the guys back out on the court playing. Even in Halle, a week before Wimbledon, Federer played Safin in the singles, but they also played against each other in the doubles final. All of those guys are back out and playing. It's just a matter of they're not going to play every week. But we've worked on that and got that much, much better. I think you'll see -- Nadal is another great inspiration as far as I'm concerned. He's playing nearly every week. He played here at Wimbledon. The only tournament he hasn't played at was the French. I give him credit for that, because he's going to change the thought process of all the younger players.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: The best team that I ever had to play against was Eltingh and Haarhuis, the Dutch team. They were always the toughest for us. Perhaps the best individual that I had to play against in my career was Anders Jarryd. He was the best returner off that side of the court. Best stroke? There's a few of those out there. I always thought my best partner had the best first forehand volley, that was Mark Woodforde.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: That's the way the story goes, so we'll stick to it.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think it is true. I think when Mark went to him with what options he had as far as partners to go after him, he threw me in there, I think Mark mentioned that.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I've always been feisty. I hate to lose. I hate to lose. Still do. Even though I'll stop, I still hate to lose.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: We have absolutely no differences in our team. We've been a strong team. We've all played together over the past however many years. Not one member of the team has ever left. You know, my decision had to come at the right time for me as a tennis player and as a father and all of the other stuff. I have the greatest respect for my team. Lleyton Hewitt turns up at every tie. He's turned up against India in relegation matches. He's a true champion in Davis Cup. Wayne Arthurs has also had his best results in Davis Cup. My captain, John Fitzgerald, is a very good personal friend of mine. I had to sit down with him and have difficult conversations for two reasons: about giving the game away, and about him also wanting me to stay and play for Australia. But in the end, he said, "You have to make the right choice for you. You've done enough already for your country."

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Hewitt and Arthurs.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: Thanks, guys.