The perfect match 8212; sticking through thick and thin

Woodbridge said for doubles to be more successful and create more interest, participation of countries was needed. 8220;They Paes, Bhupathi played a brand of tennis that was quite similar to ours and they had a great last season making four Grand Slam finals. We need nations to get pairs like us 8212; the Woodies, Jacco Eltingh-Paul Haarhuis, Paes-Bhupathi. That helps because then the profile back in each country is lifted. The Indians are superstars in India, the Dutch are big, we are household names in Australia. You need countrymen to stick together and work at it.8221;

Woodbridge added, 8220;If the public can also recognise a particular team and support them through the year instead of a few weeks, they don8217;t know who is playing with who. That gets a bit confusing.8221;

The Woodies started talking about Paes and Bhupathi without any kind of prompting. It was obvious they felt strongly about the game 8212; what will happen when they make their last bow and about the Indian ex-pair, when the two themselves look chary of making even remote gestures towards reconciliation.

Woodforde is retiring from the professional Tour after the Olympics and may only change his mind if Australia make the Davis Cup final again this year.

Woodforde said it was time Paes and Bhupathi sorted out their own problems without the involvement of others. 8220;If they can sort it out between themselves, there is no one else to be involved. For Todd and I, if there was some problem between us, we worked it out ourselves. We tried not to attach and bring other people into the disagreement. There8217;s always going to be disagreements. As long as you can communicate well enough with each other and be honest enough, things should be allright.8221;

THINGS haven8217;t been all hunky-dory for the Woodies. There have been occasions when the two have come close to breaking up and publicly aired their differences at least Woodbridge has. In the 1997 US Open, they fought on court, watched by a live TV audience.

Woodforde said at that year8217;s World Doubles Championships in Hartford, he did have a difference of opinion on the day at Flushing Meadows but that was 8220;par for any relationship8221;.

Nothing has come close to the bitter verbal brawling that Bhupathi, Paes and their assorted associates have indulged in. Woodbridge, who asked Woodforde to be his best man at his wedding in 1995, brought the partnership to something more basic. 8220;We used our partnership as a business too and were smart enough to realise that what we had was good and you have to keep working on it. It8217;s like anything else in life, you have to keep working and try and improve it.

8220;We had something good and were always trying to make it better, have always done to a stage when we8217;ve nearly finished playing together. That8217;s why we8217;ve been able to stay together for so long, through the good, bad times and everything.8221;

That statement from the outspoken younger Woodie is a not-too-well camouflaged piece of advice to the Indians. There may be people, including Paes and Bhupathi, who would be tempted to say it8217;s not really any of the Woodies8217; or anyone else8217;s business what they do. Perhaps they would be right but nonetheless what the Woodies said on Thursday evening is really what everyone else wants to say, and more importantly, feels.

Paes and Bhupathi were the flagbearers of a generation of youngsters 8212; in the sport and outside it. An inspiration for countless others. They made people believe that with confidence, hard work and belief in each other, they could conquer the world. They did, but sadly, it was just a brief moment in time.

Right at the end, Woodbridge said: 8220;We realised what we had was something special and it8217;s stupid to throw it away.8221;