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| Full name | Mark Raymond Woodforde | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Residence | Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 September 1965 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 1984 | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2000 | ||||||||||||||
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
| Prize money | $8,551,305 | ||||||||||||||
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2010 (member page) | ||||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 319–312 | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 19 (22 April 1996) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | SF (1996) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | 4R (1997) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 4R (1988, 1990, 1997) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | 4R (1987, 1988) | ||||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Cup | QF (1996) | ||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 647–248 | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 67 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (16 November 1992) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | W (1992, 1997) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (2000) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1989, 1995, 1996) | ||||||||||||||
| Other doubles tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Tour Finals | W (1992, 1996) | ||||||||||||||
| Mixed doubles | |||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | W (1992, 1996) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1995) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1993) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1992) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mark Raymond Woodforde, OAM[2] (born 23 September 1965) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge.
Woodforde was born in Adelaide, and joined the men's professional tennis ATP Tour in 1984. Woodforde won four singles titles, including his hometown Adelaide tournament twice. His best singles result in a Grand Slam was reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open in 1996, his 38th Grand Slam singles tournament, which remains a record for the longest time taken to reach a maiden semi-final.[3] Woodforde is best known for his doubles success, having won twelve Grand Slam doubles titles in his career – one French Open, two Australian Opens, three US Opens, and a record six Wimbledons. Eleven of these victories came as a member of the Woodies, and he won the 1989 US Open doubles with John McEnroe. He also won five Grand Slam mixed doubles titles – one French Open, two Australian Opens, one US Open, and one Wimbledon; thus making an overall total of 17 Grand Slam doubles titles. He reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking in November 1992.
He enjoyed the greatest success of his career when playing men's doubles with Woodbridge, combining his left-hand baseline play with Woodbridge's swift volleying reflexes at the net. They were the ATP Doubles Team of the Year four times, and all together the Woodies won 61 ATP doubles tournaments (Woodforde won 67 in his career).
Woodforde's other career highlights included a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Woodforde was awarded the Medal of the Order of the Australia in the 1997 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as gold medallist at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996".[4]
Woodforde played for the Australian Davis Cup Team in three Davis Cup finals, including teaming with Woodbridge to clinch the 1999 win over France in Paris to give Australia its first Davis Cup victory in 13 years.
Woodforde retired from professional tennis in 2000 after a Davis Cup final loss to Spain, and was appointed the coach of Australia's Fed Cup team in 2003. He has since provided commentary for tennis on Fox Sports and ESPN.
In January 2010 on Australia Day, the Woodies were inducted to the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame for their achievements in tennis. As a part of the induction ceremony, their bronzed statues were placed with other great Australian tennis players at Melbourne Park.
In 2014, alongside Woodbridge, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) presented him with its highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award, for his contributions to tennis.[5]
- ^ "Mark Woodforde". atpworldtour.com. Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ "Woodforde, Mark Raymond". It's an Honour. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Wimbledon 2011: Murray v Lopez and Federer v Tsonga as it happened". BBC News. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "The Australia Day 1997 Honours". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special (National : 1977 - 2012). 26 January 1997. p. 30. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Legendary Australian tennis duo "the Woodies" to receive Philippe Chatrier Award". Inside the Games website. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2020.