Australian amateur to ‘buy a house with my girlfriend’ after beating Jannik Sinner en route to $1m prize in One Point Slam

The innovative tournament takes place ahead of this year’s 2026 Australian Open, with the chance for amateurs to mix it with the professionals for one point only.

And Smith thrived in the short format at the Kia Arena, opting for a conservative approach as his more established opponents wilted, including defending Australian Open champion and world No 2 Jannik Sinner, who faulted with his only serve.

Smith’s strategy was to “basically be a brick wall,” adding: “I’ll just make a lot of balls and hopefully they miss. If someone’s going to beat me, they’re going to have to hit a lot of tennis balls.”

And the New South Wales state champion continued his win streak, beating professionals Amanda Anisimova and Pedro Martinez to reach the final, to the delight of the home crowd.

Smith then ended the thrilling run of Joanna Garland, who failed to make it through qualifying for the Australian Open, only to beat Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios.

The Taiwanese player won a game of rock, paper, scissor to determine who would decide who served and the 24-year-old opted to serve.

The world No 117’s serve was returned by Smith’s backhand, only for her own backhand to drift wide, handing the amateur victory.

"I can't even speak, that's unbelievable,” said Smith before detailing how he will spend his prize money.

“[I will] invest or buy a house with my girlfriend. Coming into tonight, I was happy winning one point, I was so nervous, it was a great experience.”

Smith’s club, Castle Hill Tennis Academy in Sydney, also benefited from his success, with Tennis Australia’s Chief Tennis Officer Tom Larner awarding them $50,000 (€28,668) to upgrade facilities and equipment.

Smith had earlier lost the final of the amateurs, with Queensland qualifier Alec Reverente triumphing to land himself a new Kia car.

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