This amateur tennis player just defeated Sinner and won $1 million

One point.

That’s all that stood between community tennis player Jordan Smith and his dream of claiming the Australian Open’s 1-Point Slam $1 million prize.

The NSW champion had managed to defeat No.2 Jannik Sinner, Laura Pigossi and Pedro Martinez earlier in the evening and was facing world No.117 women’s player Joanna Garland in the final. An underdog in her own right, Garland had sensationally defeated men’s No.3 Alexander Zverev after a lengthy rally and also triumphed over fan-favourite Nick Kyrgios.

It was a fairytale match-up for broadcast networks and a welcome surprise for the crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night who were no doubt anticipating a high-ranking professional player to win.

Garland served and Smith fired a shot back, but Garland’s return backhand went wide.

Smith – an amateur player who’d loved tennis since he was three years old – was now the Australian Open’s 1-Point Slam champion and a millionaire.

Smith’s family embraced in the stands and the 29-year-old, representing Castle Hill Tennis Academy in Sydney, put his hands up to his head in disbelief.

“I’m just happy I won a point,” Smith joked in a post-match interview. “I was so nervous.”

Tennis pros, celebrities and amateurs: How did the Australian Open’s 1-Point Slam unfold?

On Wednesday night a sold-out crowd packed Rod Laver Arena to watch the Australian Open’s “1-Point Slam” competition where tennis pros including No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and women’s No.2 Iga Swiatek competed against community champions and wildcards like AFL star Bailey Smith, TV host Andy Lee and Mandarin pop star Jay Chou for a cool $1 million.

The concept was relatively straight-forward and pretty brutal. Each “match” was decided by a single point. Win the point and you advance; lose it and you’re out. One misplaced step, messy swing or misjudged bounce and you could kiss the million dollar jackpot goodbye.

A “rock, paper, scissors” contest determined who served, but this proved to be a point of confusion for many players (do you shoot on count three or four?)

The million-dollar prize was wheeled out on court at the start of the slam and left in the corner. The metre-high stack of green bills elicited gasps from the crowd and then laughter when the camera panned to show Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley’s face on it.

There was an early upset in the first round after a nervous Thomas Van Harran succumbed to a double fault, allowing a TV personality Karl Stefanovic to cruise through.

Other celebrity entries like comedian Andy Lee employed some sneaky mind games, taking the time to stall before his serve by taking off his jacket and asking for numerous balls. The psychological warfare proved successful and Lee won the point over Ashleigh Simes.

Other players preferred to interact with the crowd with fan-favourite Nick Kyrgios running around the court before his match. Kyrgios won the point over Steve Yarwood and then promptly celebrated like he’d won Wimbledon.

“This might be the biggest match of my career,” joked Kyrgios.

The next few rounds saw tennis pros Alexander Bublik, Naomi Osaka, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev effortlessly carve through the field of celebrities and community champions.

However, the one-point do-or-die pressure affected the professionals with Coco Gauff and Félix Auger-Aliassime both losing their matches. Other professional players quickly started to drop like flies.

Garland and Smith were the standout players during the evening. After defeating Geelong star Bailey Smith (no relation), Jordan Smith cruised through the rounds; however, he was blessed with some luck.

Smith faced Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in round three, with the world No.2 failing to land his serve and hit the net. Smith went on to defeat women’s No.4 Amanda Anisimova followed by Pedro Martinez and advance to the final.

Meanwhile, Garland produced a stellar performance and defeated Zverev and then Kyrgios who responded with a comical racquet smash and a smile. The 24-year-old Taiwanese player later defeated Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic.

The Australian Open’s 1-Point Slam was ultimately a light-hearted evening defined by good sportsmanship, perhaps best summed up by Garland herself.

“There are three winners tonight,” Garland told the crowd before playing in the final match. “Tennis, me and him [Smith].

Follow our live Australian Open blog each day from January 18 for results, news, analysis and interviews.

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