Woodbridge plays almost perfect match
Todd Woodbridge blocked out the scoreline and played an almost-perfect match to fire Australia to a 2-1 lead over Spain in the Davis Cup final at Melbourne Park.
In the process he became Australia's longest-serving Cup player, his 29th tie eclipsing the 28 played by the great Adrian Quist from 1933-39.
Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs crashed through a feeble Spanish defence, demoralising rookie Feliciano Lopez and veteran Alex Corretja 6-3 6-1 6-3.
It was a near faultless display of doubles artistry from Woodbridge, who barely missed a shot and was backed up by Arthurs' wildly swinging left-hand serve and dominant net work.
It was played in an atmosphere of rare intensity, Woodbridge shutting out Australia's 1-1 position in the tie after the opening singles were shared.
"It changes the way you feel, but the way you prepare for your match is the same," Woodbridge said.
"But I really felt like there was a time to really just focus in on playing well, not really on the result.
"If you focus too much on whether you're 2-1, one-all, all those sorts of things you get ahead of yourself and experience tells me to stay where you are at the present moment and deal with what you can," he said.
Woodbridge said he had enormous pride in his records in doubles, highlighted by this performance.
"You know, I'm very proud of it," he said. "I think I've been lucky because I've had a long career without injury. That's been one of the reasons I could do it.
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