A little-known local amateur player on Wednesday beat Jannik Sinner and went on to make himself a millionaire in Australian dollars after winning the 1 Point Slam at the Australian Open’s pre-tournament event, beating Taiwan’s Joanna Garland in the final.
It was a life-changing day for Jordan Smith at Rod Laver Arena, with the event including top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
All of the matches lasted just a single point in a knockout bracket that included men and women, professionals and amateurs, plus celebrities such as Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, who was knocked out without hitting the ball after an ace from Petar Jovic.
Photo: AFP
Smith emerged in triumph from a state qualifying event to get the winner-take-all prize of A$1 million (US$669,575).
The Australian won on the third stroke of the final when Garland, the women’s No. 117, sent a two-handed backhand wide.
Garland had service, which was decided by playing rock, paper, scissors. Not that serving was always an advantage.
Photo: AFP
Sinner lost his third-round point against Smith by netting his serve. So did Coco Gauff against Donna Vekic, while Frances Tiafoe sent his serve to Iga Swiatek too long — mishaps that provoked giggles and laughs from the players involved.
Garland lost in Australian Open qualifying this week — she went down 7-5, 6-2 to Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine on Tuesday — yet surged through the 1-Point Slam bracket by beating Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios, plus Maria Sakkari and Vekic.
Sakkari had eliminated Alcaraz.
Photo: EPA
The Australian Open is scheduled to start on Sunday.
In men’s singles qualifying, Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou failed to advance, beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Murphy Cassone of the US on Monday.
Compatriot C.H. Tseng also exited, beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Martin Landaluce of Spain on Tuesday.
At the Adelaide International 1, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia were beaten in a walkover in the quarter-finals by Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Desirae Krawczyk of the US at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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