Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge is urging everyone to be vigilant with their health, after suffering heart attack at the age of 51.
Todd Woodbridge : Heart | What happened to | Age
Woodbridge is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde (nicknamed “The Woodies”) and later Jonas Björkman.
He is among the most successful doubles players of all time, having won 16 Grand Slam men’s doubles titles (nine Wimbledons, three US Opens, three Australian Opens and one French Open), and a further six Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (three US Opens, one French Open, one Wimbledon, one Australian Open). Additionally, he was a gold medalist with Woodforde at the 1996 Summer Olympics to complete a career Golden Slam.
In total he has won 83 ATP doubles titles. Woodbridge reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in July 1992.
Todd Woodbridge heart
Former tennis champion Todd Woodbridge has opened up after a serious health scare last week, pleading with others to take care of their health and speak to their doctor.
The 51-year-old had a mild heart attack while exercising last Thursday.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen to me,” he told Neil Mitchell. “I like doing my exercise, I eat well.”
Woodbridge urged others in his age bracket to see their doctor, especially if they have a family history of heart disease.
“My dad carried a pretty heavy cholesterol issue, I have that, and as we spoke about in What Makes You Tick, I lost both of my brothers in their 50s,” he said.
The broadcaster said the heart attack was his “wake up call” and it “should be everybody’s wake up call”.
He had no warning signs.
“You might think you’re ok but your family wants you around for a lot longer,” he said.
What happened to
Tennis great Todd Woodbridge is urging others to have a health check after becoming the latest 50-something celebrity to suffer a heart attack.
Woodbridge says he was left shocked after experiencing symptoms as a fit 51-year-old last Thursday.
The 16-time grand slam doubles champion and one-time top-20 singles star regularly works out in his home gym in Melbourne and also keeps active while away commentating at tournaments.
“I tried to keep my routine having travelled to the US Open and London and I was just exercising and had chest pains and every symptom when you look up Google – full sweats and I felt awful,”’ Woodbridge said.
“I had a little heart episode that goes down as a mild heart attack which is a bit of a shock to me.
“And you’re personally still coming to terms with somebody like myself, who I consider to lead a pretty good, fit, healthy lifestyle – I keep active, I eat well, I do all the right things, I enjoy doing that.
“It’s been a wake-up call to me to make sure I look after myself. If it can happen to me it shows that it can happen to anybody.”
While Woodbridge survived his frightening ordeal, cricket legend Shane Warne died earlier this year at just 52 after having a heart attack in Thailand.
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching also died in March at the same age from a sudden heart attack.
Age
As of 2022, Todd Woodbridge is 51 years old.