It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours for Jordan Smith since winning the AO 1 Point Slam Driven by Kia in front of an awe-struck Rod Laver Arena crowd on Wednesday.
As well as becoming an overnight millionaire, the amateur player won $50,000 for his local tennis club in Castle Hill, NSW, and has already had several media commitments, including an appearance on the Today show with Jayne Azzopardi.
The NSW state champion stunned fans by knocking out world No.2 Jannik Sinner and dual Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova on his way to the final, where he defeated World No.117 Joanna Garland to secure the $1 million prize.
He had to beat 48 players in a draw featuring a star-studded line-up of global tennis icons including Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev and Naomi Osaka.
In a special initiative as part of Opening Week, Smith handed out 5000 Hot Shots Tennis racquets to kids as part of an ongoing participation drive, with the aim of inspiring them to get involved in the sport.
Speaking to a crowd of aspiring young tennis fans and budding players at Grand Slam Oval, Smith was soaking it all in. “It’s been a whirlwind over the last 24 hours. I thought I’d just try and smile and just enjoy it,” he said.
Making a keen observation on the night, Smith revealed the special tactic he incorporated that he believed gave him an edge. “Originally, I won the scissors, paper, rock against Jannik. I noticed the pros were pretty nervous in the first couple of rounds with serving. They all chose basically to receive,” he said.
“I normally would choose to serve because I get two as an amateur, but I thought I may as well give Jannik a go and he was pretty nervous. I think he psyched himself out a little bit.”
Speaking with tennis.com.au, Smith had big aspirations as a youngster but could never have envisaged what transpired on Wednesday night. “I dreamed of playing on Rod Laver Arena and at Wimbledon. Didn’t think I’d ever be at Rod Laver in this scenario as a kid though,” Smith said.
Listing his favourite players growing up, the 29-year-old is a fan of both the old and the new guard alike. “I grew up as a kid admiring Roger Federer. I loved Andy Murrary as a player, game-style wise, and Lleyton Hewitt, obviously. And then watching the players now with Sinner and Alcaraz, they’re just unbelievable,” he said.
While he was billed as an amateur on the night, Smith was a talented player growing up. He started playing the sport at age three, winning two national junior singles titles and three national junior doubles titles between 2008 and 2012.
He then spent a year at Washington State’s Gonzaga University in the US on a college scholarship, reaching a singles ranking of No.1141, before becoming a Tennis Australia club professional coach.
And in a real claim to fame, Smith even played against former top-10 player Cameron Norrie and two-time Grand Slam finalist Zverev when he was a junior.
Casting his mind back to both those matches, Smith recalled a nice moment he shared on court with Zverev at Rod Laver Arena. “I played Cameron (Norrie) when I was in 12s, so that was 17 years ago. They were both, obviously solid players,” he said.
“I played Alex Zverev in Germany, and I spoke to him when we were courtside saying, ‘I played you when I was 14’ and he remembered me. He was like, ‘it was a three-setter, wasn’t it?’, which I ended up losing, but that was really cool. He even congratulated me afterwards.”
Increasing the prize money from $60,000 in 2025 to $1 million in 2026 and shifting the court from KIA Arena to Rod Laver Arena, Smith believes the 1 Point Slam is a great opportunity for anyone to have a life-changing moment.
“As we’ve sort of seen now, it’s changing my life. It’s an interesting idea but I think it’s really cool. Obviously. It’s good to see a lot of celebrities and pros getting behind it,” he said.
The Sydneysider revealed he discovered the event off a social media post while coaching and entered on a whim.
“I found out about it from a local lesson. It was advertised on social media and I thought ‘yeah, I mean, I’ll try maybe and see how I go’. A lot of people knew about it and it’s just amazing.”
From ‘I’ll see how I go’ to winning a million dollars in one fateful night, Smith’s journey has proved that tennis can change lives – and it can all happen very quickly.