ITF to honour Woodies, Williams, Djokovic

Australian doubles legends Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde will be presented with International Tennis Federation's (ITF) highest accolade -- the Philippe Chatrier Award -- at the ITF World Champions Dinner at the Pavillon d'Armenonville here Tuesday.

The occasion will celebrate the achievements of the 2013 World Champions. This year's recipients are singles champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams; doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci; junior champions Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic; and wheelchair champions Shingo Kunieda and Aniek van Koot. The Bryans won the men's doubles trophy for the 10th time.

The evening will also see the presentation of the second ITF Seniors Award to Heide Orth of Germany. The 71-year-old is the most decorated senior women's player in history and has won 10 ITF Seniors and Super-Seniors World Individual Singles titles, 10 World Individual Doubles titles and 10 World Team Championships representing Germany.

Former British Davis Cup player and current television broadcaster Andrew Castle will host the evening with ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti presenting the awards. The trophies once again have been designed by sculptor Laurence Broderick.

Woodbridge and Woodforde receive the Philippe Chatrier Award for their on court achievements and their dedication in their varied roles as coaches, commentators, administrators and mentors.

Known as the 'Woodies', the pair enjoyed outstanding results together between 1990 and 2000, winning 11 Grand Slam men's doubles titles and a total of 61 tournaments. Their greatest success came at Wimbledon where they are the only men's partnership in the Open era to win five straight titles (1993-97) and hold the Open era record of six championships.

They won the Olympic gold at Atlanta 1996 and four years later took silver in Sydney. In Davis Cup, they compiled a 14-2 record together, scoring the vital doubles point that helped Australia defeat France for the title in 1999. The pair completed their set of Grand Slam titles when they won the elusive Roland Garros crown in 2000, shortly before adding their sixth Wimbledon title. By Woodforde's retirement after the 2000 Olympics they had a 508-137 career record.

"Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde were unbeatable in their prime, in a nine-year span winning 11 Grand Slam titles, Olympic gold and silver medals, and helping Australia to Davis Cup glory. They continue their commitments to tennis in a variety of capacities and are being honoured for their outstanding - and ongoing - contributions to the game," Bitti said.