Who is Jordan Smith, the Australian Open’s newest millionaire?

Before Wednesday night, the most Jordan Smith had won playing tennis was $6388.

The 29-year-old tennis coach from Sydney’s north-west suburbs had entered the Australian Open’s new “1-Point Slam” competition on a whim after a suggestion from a parent at the tennis school where he works. What followed was a dream night on Rod Laver Arena that ended with Smith being the last player standing.

In a competition where each match was decided by a single point and the field included 24 professional players – including the top three men, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev – Smith’s own dad thought the trip to Melbourne would be a waste of time.

“My wife said, ‘we should go down to Melbourne and watch’. And I said, ‘really?’” Neil, 65, said on Thursday morning. “And I’m so glad we did.”

On Wednesday night, Smith won every point he played, including against reigning Australian Open Champion, Sinner, on his way to the $1 million prize.

“It’s unbelievable … Waking up yesterday morning, I was happy just to win maybe one round and maybe get to Sinner because I played him in the third round,” Smith told Nine’s Today show on Thursday morning.

Smith started playing tennis at the age of three. His parents had opened the Castle Hill Tennis Academy 32 years ago, after Neil spent years on the professional circuit himself. The youngest of their three sons, Jordan had won a national age title by the time he was 12.

“It’s in his blood,” Neil said. “We call him the smiling assassin because he’s always smiling.”

At 14, Smith played his first match against Zverev. He went to high school at Sydney’s Oakhill College and befriended Australian tennis professional Jordan Thompson.

What followed was a scholarship to attend Gonzaga University in Washington state, but he left that after just one year. Described by his dad as a homebody, Smith returned home due to homesickness.

A gruelling few years on the professional circuit followed. Like many of his contemporaries, the COVID-19 pandemic played havoc with his career. In 2023, Smith called it quits on his playing career. His career high singles ranking was 1141.

“It’s a very tough life,” Neil said. “He did it for a while, and I said to him, ‘mate, you’ve got to do it and at least have a go’ and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but you don’t want to be in the years ahead and say ‘I wish I did’.

“It’s just a hard life. It looks easy on TV, but it’s just a bit of a difficult life.”

Smith joined the family business and began coaching full-time at his parents’ academy. That’s where the parent of one of his students approached him about the new event at the Australian Open.

“He told me about it, and I thought, yeah, why not?” Smith told Tennis Australia last week. “I didn’t really know too much about it. I thought I’ll give it a go.”

He won the NSW final, paving the way to play against the best in the world in Melbourne. But winning? Even he said, the idea of it was unbelievable.

“It’s just been a whirlwind. So overwhelming, and I don’t know really what’s happened,” he told Today on Thursday morning.

With advice from mum Michelle, 66, and dad Neil, Smith will use the money towards breaking into Sydney’s housing market. Until then, his parents are on media duty, fielding calls from Italian newspapers to the BBC.

“Between all of us – we had friends here and family – and between all of us, all our phones ran out,” Neil said. “So many videos, so many photos. I think last night I must have talked to about 50 or 60 people. I got back up this morning with 85 more messages ... We’re in shock.”

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