{"id":359326,"date":"2024-01-11T22:10:26","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T23:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359326"},"modified":"2024-01-12T01:02:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T01:02:43","slug":"aussie-teens-stunning-win-that-began-new-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359326","title":{"rendered":"Aussie teen's stunning win that began new era"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke Dennehy is a journalist for<\/em><\/strong> Tennis Australia<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, which has contributed this piece<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On January 11, 1988, a 16-year-old named Todd Woodbridge<\/a> won the first ever Australian Open<\/a> match at the brand new National Tennis<\/a> Centre, at what was then known as Flinders Park.<\/p>\n

It was an exciting time for the tennis world and Melbourne, as this new state-of-the-art facility opened and changed the Australian grand slam forever.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Back then, Woodbridge was ranked No.413 in the world, and received an AO 1988 main-draw wildcard because of his strong junior performances the year before.<\/p>\n

He played American qualifier John Letts, and despite the pressure of playing as a homegrown player at the new venue in his major tournament debut, Woodbridge quickly won 6-2 6-0 6-1 out on Court 10.<\/p>\n

It meant that he was the first officially-recorded winner of a completed match at the AO's new home.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

At that time, John Cain Arena, Garden Square, Court 3, or any of the western courts didn't exist.<\/p>\n

Court 10 was approximately where Kia Arena is now, and that area will always have a special place in Woodbridge's heart.<\/p>\n

"Did I ever expect that I would have won three straight sets to be quick enough to be the first match ever to come off court at Flinders Park? Of course not, but that happened," Woodbridge said.<\/p>\n

"The thing I remember is there were all these cameras waiting and it was a great feeling. Eddie McGuire interviewed me and I had this high, squeaky voice.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie fan favourite reflects on singles career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Adelaide striker opens up on globetrotting career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Former Melbourne star torches 'selfish' Demons<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"Looking back now it was the beginning of my dream of becoming a professional tennis player.<\/p>\n

"The intensity and seriousness of what I was like after that match is now interesting to watch, I have a bit of a giggle now. But it is the reason I ended up where I am today."<\/p>\n

In the second round Woodbridge lost to his friend Jason Stoltenberg, who was a year old than him, but it didn't matter.<\/p>\n

He was on his way, and he had newfound confidence.<\/p>\n

\"22-time<\/p>\n

"To get a win in a grand slam and my first points like that, it made me think that I belonged, and I can do this," he said.<\/p>\n

"Because no matter how good you are, there is always doubt. So, to be able to win a match at the Australian Open like that is just a massive step up, it's like a bold leap forward."<\/p>\n

Back in the locker room after that first win, Woodbridge gained the respect of his peers immediately.<\/p>\n

He became the hitting partner of choice for the likes of Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl, who noticed his win.<\/p>\n

"What that win meant was I became one of the sought-after hitting partners around," he said.<\/p>\n

"The best juniors got to hit with the best pros. I used to practice a lot with Edberg because he liked the way I hit the ball.<\/p>\n

"I worked hard, I did what I was told, and I turned up on time. I did everything they wanted."<\/p>\n

Woodbridge also was a perhaps unlikely choice for another superstar on the rise, German sensation Steffi Graf.<\/p>\n

After that first Australian Open win he went on to hit with Graf many times, in what was an iconic year for the superstar.<\/p>\n

In 1988 Graf won all four grand slams and the Olympic gold medal and Woodbridge played a small part after his first Australian Open win.<\/p>\n

"Steffi used to like hitting with guys," he said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Alex de Minaur faces former world No.3 in horror start as full Australian Open draw revealed\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/p>\n

"We used to play the same way, I had the slice backhand and the flat forehand a bit like Steffi, but I didn't move as well as her."<\/p>\n

Woodbridge remembers fondly the new facilities at Flinders Park, which had the whole tennis world \u2013 and Melbourne and Australia – talking.<\/p>\n

That first grand slam win would set Woodbridge up for what was a remarkable career, both on the singles and doubles court.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was also a great time for Australian men's tennis, with Pat Cash winning Wimbledon the year before in 1987 and reaching the final at the new venue at AO 1988, eventually falling in a thriller to Swedish champion Mats Wilander.<\/p>\n

Woodbridge was happy that Stoltenberg, and Tasmanian Richard Fromberg, were coming up together at that same time.<\/p>\n

All three were able to support each other when facing the unique pressure that comes with being a rising Australian tennis star.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Ajla Tomljanovic's beef with Jelena Ostapenko set to re-ignite in Australian Open's second round\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Add in a sparkling new world class venue like Flinders Park, and there was a lot of attention on Australian tennis at the time.<\/p>\n

"You have to remember the places we were playing in were basically tennis clubs. They didn't have state of the art facilities," he said.<\/p>\n

"So, to go to this new place called Flinders Park, which was literally a concert arena built for tennis, it took your breath away.<\/p>\n

"There was nothing like it in the world, it was incredible.<\/p>\n

"It wasn't just the attention on me, it was the attention on this group that were coming through, which was great.<\/p>\n

"Coming through on your own in that space was quite daunting, and I very much remember that. A win like that puts the pressure on, but we were able to share the load as there were a few of us doing well.<\/p>\n

"I look back and am very thankful for that.<\/p>\n

"Because I know there are times if it was just yourself it would have been much harder to hang in there."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke Dennehy is a journalist for Tennis Australia, which has contributed this piece On January 11, 1988, a 16-year-old named Todd Woodbridge won the first […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359326"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359337,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359326\/revisions\/359337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}