Jordan Smith has spent almost his entire life around tennis courts. From the moment he picked up a racquet at the age of three, the game became both his playground and his classroom. Three decades later, the 29-year-old NSW coach is preparing for one of the most tantalising opportunities of his tennis life: a single point on Rod Laver Arena, with one million dollars on the line and a Kia EV3 for the best-performing amateur.<\/p>\n
Smith is the winner of the New South Wales AO 1 Point Slam final, earning his place in Melbourne\u2019s Opening Week showcase that brings together professionals, celebrities and amateur qualifiers from across Australia. For Smith, it is a rare moment in the spotlight – one he dreamed of as an upcoming junior.<\/p>\n
Tennis runs deep in the Smith family. His parents, Neil and Michelle, have operated the Castle Hill Academy in Sydney\u2019s northwest for more than 30 years. Neil, a former touring professional who played college tennis in the United States, has coached all three of his sons. Michelle, a former teacher, runs the administration. Jordan\u2019s two older brothers, Cameron and Blake, also coach at the academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all enjoy coaching and playing tennis,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThat\u2019s just how we grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s junior resume more than hinted at a future beyond suburban courts. He beat Cameron Norrie in the under-12s, won multiple national junior titles, and travelled overseas at 14, where he played a close match against a young Alexander Zverev. He is also a lifelong friend of Australian pro Jordan Thompson, having gone to school together at Oak Hill College.<\/p>\n
After school, Smith spent a year playing college tennis at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, studying human physiology. Homesickness pulled him back to Australia after 12 months, and he soon transitioned into coaching while continuing to chase his own playing ambitions.<\/p>\n
He competed professionally for several years, reaching a career-high singles ranking of 1,141 and doubles ranking of 748 in 2022\u201323. There were trips to North Africa and Asia on the Futures circuit, including extended stints in Tunisia, and the familiar grind of life on the lower rungs of the tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard having to fund yourself,\u201d Smith says. \u201cIt\u2019s really tough ups and downs, winning and losing matches. I felt like I couldn\u2019t maintain that year after year. Plus, with injuries, it\u2019s extremely hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he has no regrets. \u201cI\u2019m happy that I gave it a go,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t regret anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AO 1 Point Slam wasn\u2019t something Smith had circled on his calendar. He found out about it almost by chance, through Tim White at Tennis World Sydney Olympic Park – whose son Smith coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me about it, and I thought, yeah, why not?\u201d Smith says. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know too much about it. I thought I\u2019ll give it a go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NSW State Final was held at Homebush. Smith entered with modest expectations and a familiar mindset. \u201cI just sort of play one point at a time,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t think too much about the prize because you can get your hopes up.\u201d<\/p>\n
That approach carried him through. Calm, consistent and level-headed – traits he considers his greatest strengths – Smith edged his way through the draw to emerge as the NSW champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy strategy is to basically be a brick wall,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll just make a lot of balls and hopefully they miss. If someone\u2019s going to beat me, they\u2019re going to have to hit a lot of tennis balls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now comes Melbourne, a vastly different stage. The AO 1 Point Slam draw will feature 48 players: 24 professionals, eight celebrity wildcards, and 16 qualifiers. For Smith, the surreal nature of it is still sinking in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be awesome,\u201d he says. \u201cJust really enjoy the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he wins the toss, Smith knows what he\u2019ll do. \u201cI\u2019d serve,\u201d he says, quickly adding, \u201cbut it depends on who I\u2019m playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are dream matchups, of course. \u201cI love Alcaraz,\u201d he says. \u201cI do know Kyrgios a little bit, so that would be pretty cool as well \u2014 preferably not in the first round.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith believes the amateurs may even have a slight edge. \u201cWe know their game styles,\u201d he says. \u201cThey don\u2019t really know us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Away from the fantasy of a million-dollar point, Smith\u2019s life remains grounded. He coaches daily at Castle Hill, where the AO 1 Point Slam qualifying event was held. The $5,000 grant awarded to the club as part of his win will go back into equipment and facility support for the academy\u2019s 10 synthetic-grass courts.<\/p>\n
If he were to win the million? Smith laughs. \u201cPartly buy a house,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Sydney, they\u2019re pretty expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, preparation is simple. He\u2019ll play a tournament after Christmas – \u201cI\u2019ll be losing points there!\u201d – and keep training. His girlfriend will travel with him to Melbourne.<\/p>\n
But above all, Smith plans to stay true to the philosophy that got him there.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust take it one point at a time,\u201d he says. \u201cEnjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in a format where everything comes down to a single swing, that might be the most powerful strategy of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jordan Smith has spent almost his entire life around tennis courts. From the moment he picked up a racquet at the age of three, the game became both his playground and his classroom. Three decades later, the 29-year-old NSW coach is preparing for one of the most tantalising opportunities of his tennis life: a single […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6323,"featured_media":27586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/nsw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}