By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, January 14, 2026Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook
Tennis is a lifetime sport.
Winning one point completely changed Jordan Smith’s life.
Smith, an amateur player from Sydney, won $1 Million Australian dollars, which is about $670,000 U.S. dollars winning the Australian Open’s 1 Point Slam on Wednesday night. Smith, who defeated two-time reigning AO champion Jannik Sinner en route to the final, also earned $50,000 for his local tennis club by taking the title.
Facing WTA world No. 117 Joanna Garland, who earned massive support from Aussie fans for her run to the 1-point, $1 million final, Smith took the court with a simple game plan.
“Amazing opportunity, just gonna have some fun,” Smith said. “To be honest, I’ve just been thinking on the spot and going for it.”
Garland won the rock, paper, scissors toss and opted to serve for the $1 Million. That approach served Garland well throughout the event: She knocked off 2025 AO finalist Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic in one-point matches to reach the final.
With drama ratcheting and the crowd roaring, Garland spun in her first serve and went all in on a backhand drive down the line, but missed it wide.
Remarkably, Smith captured the $1 Million champion’s check with that one-point win. See the moment here:
It’s a life-changing moment for Smith, who said he plans to spend his earnings on a new house to share with his girlfriend.
“I can’t speak. It’s unbelievable,” Smith said.
The exhibition event pitted 22 pros competing against 10 amateurs from across the country for their chance to take home $1 million. Smith, who once ranked as high as No. 1,141 in the world, defeated Laura Pigossi, Pedro Martinez, Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova as well as Jannik Sinner, defeating the world No. 2 when the Italian missed a serve.
Here’s the Australian Open’s description of the event:
It works like a regular elimination draw, with ‘rock, paper, scissors’ used to determine who serves or receives. Whoever wins the point wins the match and progresses to the next round, while the loser of the point is eliminated from the event. The winner of the final match wins the $1 million prize.Qualifying will take place across Australia and at the AO during Opening Week with the final played on Rod Laver Arena.
Several of tennis’ top stars were on hand and looked blown away by Smith’s calm competitiveness en route to the biggest prize of his life.
Credit Garland for a classy summary of a wild and life-changing night at Melbourne Park.
“There are three winners. One is tennis, the others are me and Jordan,” said Garland.
