Aided by his Swedish partner Jonas Bjorkman, Woodbridge beat his Davis Cup doubles partner Wayne Arthurs and compatriot Paul Hanley 6-3 6-4 in the final.

"Hopefully, I'll do it (break the record) next week," said Woodbridge, who next plays in Paris with Bjorkman. "I intend to pass it."

"I'm now tied and it feels great. What's great is that I got it out of the way and got the job done. I started believing it was possible 10-12 tournaments ago. When (former long-term partner) Mark (Woodforde) retired, I thought there'd still be time to do it."

At the prize ceremony, a cake with 78 candles was brought in to celebrate the Australian's feat.

"78 candles, that's a heck of a lot of candles to blow out. Luckily I had a partner to help me," Woodbridge smiled, referring to Bjorkman who has been his steady partner since the beginning of 2001.

"He's promised to play to play one more year, so hopefully we'll grab the record," said Bjorkman.

FOURTH TITLE

It was the fourth title of the year for the Australian-Swedish duo, who won both Wimbledon and the U.S Open this year.

"I always felt that with Jonas I could win major championships, and that's always been my goal since Mark retired. I feel that we can continue to do it," Woodbridge said.

"When we play our best, we can beat anyone. When you feel that way, you should just keep on going. I'm 32 now, but that's not very old as far as I'm concerned."

Woodbridge made his debut on the ATP tour in 1988 and won his first doubles title in 1990 in Casablanca with compatriot Simon Youl. Two years later he won his maiden grand slam title on home turf at the Australian Open in tandem with Mark Woodforde, with whom he struck up a phenomenal partnership that lasted until the end of 2000 when Woodforde retired.

The Australian pair won 11 grand slams together, the last at the French Open in 2000. Woodbridge has since won another four slams with Bjorkman. Of Woodbridge's 15 slams, eight have come at Wimbledon.

NO COMPARISONS

The 78th win put Woodbridge one doubles title above John McEnroe in the all-time standings, but the Australian insisted one could not call him a better doubles player than the American.

"One of the things I hate is these comparisons. You know, people discuss whether Pete Sampras is the best player ever, or Rod Laver is the best ever. You can only be the best player of your era. I feel that in my era, I am one of the greatest (doubles) players."

"I've always felt that Todd has been one of the best if not the best doubles players ever. To tie Tom Okker's record is obviously a great achievement and shows that Todd is the best out there," said Arthurs, who is likely to team up with Woodbridge to face Spain in the Davis Cup final on homeground in Melbourne in November.

"I'm pretty sure my spot is secure this time around," Woodbridge said with a wry smile.

Woodbridge was not selected to play in Australia's final loss to France two years ago.