For decades, Todd Woodbridge knew exactly what it took to succeed under pressure.
As one half of one of Australia’s most successful tennis partnerships, he spent much of his life competing at the highest level. But there is one role where even a champion admits he is still learning — being a dad.
The former tennis star and Tipping Point host has opened up about one of the hardest moments he has faced as a parent, and the difficult lesson that came with watching his children forge careers of their own.
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Watching his son struggle was harder than any match
Todd, 55, shares two adult children with his wife Natasha, whom he has been married to for more than three decades.
Their son, Beau, 23, is pursuing a career in musical theatre in London, following in his father’s footsteps in one important respect: he has chosen a demanding career in the public eye.
But instead of tennis courts, Beau’s stage is the West End.
Todd recalled one particularly difficult period when Beau was playing Evan Hansen in the Australian tour of Dear Evan Hansen.
Ahead of the final week of performances, Beau was dealing with problems with his voice and his health.
“He really wanted to do the last week of shows and struggled,” Todd told nine.com.au.
Beau was staying with his parents at the time, and each morning he would test his voice with a vocal coach.
The answer was repeatedly the same: he wasn’t ready to perform.
The hardest part was knowing when to stay silent
For Todd and Natasha, watching their son struggle from the sidelines was deeply difficult.
They could see how much Beau wanted to return to the stage, while also understanding that his health had to come first.
“The psychology that was happening in our household was so tough,” Todd recalled.
“He was hurting because you want to be there [for the show] but you can’t.”
Yet Todd knew there was something else he had to do as a father — resist the instinct to take control.
“I have to be aware of butting out. Because it’s not my journey,” he explained.
It was a lesson that came into sharp focus during that difficult week.
Then Beau did something that moved his dad
Despite everything he had been dealing with, Beau eventually managed to return to the stage and deliver the performance he had been hoping for.
For Todd, seeing his son push through such a challenging period was profoundly emotional.
“That week was really rough,” he admitted.
“I got very emotional because we at home had been through hell and back for him, but you couldn’t tell him.”
Todd also realised something else while watching his son.
He was experiencing the same feelings his own parents must have felt while watching him build his tennis career.
“And now I know how my parents felt when they were watching me in my career,” he said.
“He’s doing exactly what I did, just in a different form of entertainment.”
But Todd never wanted his children to play tennis
Given Todd’s extraordinary tennis career, it might seem natural that he would want his children to follow the same path.
But the opposite was true.
Todd has revealed that he “never wanted” his children to pursue tennis professionally.
He understands better than most how difficult it can be for a child to establish an identity when their parent has already achieved so much in the same field.
“It’s hard to step out of your parents’ shadow in the thing they do well,” he said.
Rather than pushing Beau or Zara towards a particular career, Todd and Natasha wanted to give their children the freedom to discover their own strengths.
“I think our goal as parents was to give the kids as many opportunities as possible and let them choose the one they wanted.”
Zara has forged her own path, too
Todd’s daughter Zara, 25, has also taken a very different route from her father.
She is close to becoming a qualified nutritionist and previously moved overseas to study and experience life away from home.
She is also a talented golfer who has competed at the highest level of women’s amateur golf.
For Todd, watching both children develop careers and passions that belong entirely to them appears to be a source of enormous pride.
Neither has needed to recreate their father’s career to prove themselves.
Learning to let go
With Beau now pursuing his ambitions in London’s West End and Zara building her own professional future, Todd is entering another unfamiliar stage of fatherhood.
The children he once had to guide are now adults making their own decisions.
And that means knowing when to offer advice — and when to simply stand back.
“When it’s asked for, you can help, and occasionally, you’ve got to step in and guide them,” Todd said.
“But I also know you’ve got to let your kids make their own mistakes.”
It is perhaps one of the hardest lessons for any parent, particularly one who spent much of his own life competing, achieving and trying to control every detail of his performance.
“The rest lays upon them”
Todd’s approach now is remarkably simple.
He does not expect his children to follow a particular path or achieve a particular version of success.
Instead, he wants them to have the confidence to define it for themselves.
“I don’t wish them any more than what they’ve got. The rest lays upon them,” he said.
“They’ve got a good foundation and I think they’re set to be able to achieve their own goals, and that’s all you can do.”
For a man who spent decades knowing exactly when to step forward and when to fight harder, fatherhood has taught Todd Woodbridge something very different:
Sometimes, the hardest thing a parent can do i