Sydney battler Jordan Smith has turned tennis convention on its head, stunning the sport’s biggest names to claim a life-changing $1 million prize in the wild, all-or-nothing One Point Slam at Melbourne Park.

A 29-year-old grinder from Castle Hill, better known for running drills at his family’s tennis academy than trading blows with the sport’s royalty, Smith walked away with a life-changing cheque after surviving the most ruthless format tennis has ever dared to try: one point, winner takes all.

And along the way, he felled giants. Smith stunned two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, knocked out dual grand slam finallist Amanda Anisimova, then sealed the deal by upsetting women’s world No.117 Joanna Garland in Wednesday night’s final at Melbourne Park.

“I can’t even speak,” Smith said, barely holding it together as his mother, father and two brothers – who run the Castle Hill Tennis Academy – watched on in disbelief from the stands.

Asked what comes next after the most improbable million dollars of his life, Smith smiled through the shock. “Invest or buy a house, definitely, with my girlfriend.”

The tennis world erupted almost instantly. World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz summed it up in a single post, tweeting nothing but: “Jordan Smith.” American star Taylor Fritz lamented his absence: “Now that I’m actually watching it on TV, massive L from me to not be playing the one point slam, this looks like so much fun.” Australian doubles ace Ellen Perez added: “Jordan Smith!!!!! Grew up playing with him and he’s such a nice guy from such a good family. Love to see it.” And Alex de Minaur simply called it the “best moment of the year.”

Garland, despite finishing runner-up, became one of the stories of the night herself. Fresh off a first-round loss in Australian Open qualifying, the 24-year-old Brit became a crowd favourite by eliminating Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic on her own wild run to the final.

“I’m loving it,” Garland said. “I didn’t even tell my friends I was competing. My expectations were so low.”

This was only the second staging of the One Point Slam, but nothing like the first. Last year’s experimental event offered a modest $60,000 prize pool and featured just one top-10 player, with Russian firebrand Andrey Rublev famously bombing out on a service fault.

This year, Tennis Australia turned the dial to maximum chaos. A million dollars was on the line. Sixteen top seeds – including Alcaraz, Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka – received first-round byes before the draw exploded into a grand-slam-style knockout from the last 32.

Each “match” was decided by a single point. Serve or receive? That was settled not by a coin toss, but rock, paper, scissors. Amateurs were allowed two serves. ATP and WTA-ranked pros only one.

The carnage began immediately. French world No.34 Corentin Moutet was the first star sent packing, dumping his return against Argentine touring coach Andres Schneitner. Nick Kyrgios barely survived his opener. “My heart is racing,” Kyrgios said. “Honestly, this feels like the finals of Wimbledon.”

He wouldn’t last. Garland ended Kyrgios’ run in the quarter-finals when the former Wimbledon finallist over-cooked a backhand under pressure. “Biggest win of my life, right?” Garland laughed.

As the men wilted, the women thrived. Six-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek struck the first blow in a “Battle of the Sexes”, brushing aside Flavio Cobolli. Anisimova then out-dueled Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe blinked against Swiatek, and Sinner cracked when it mattered most.

“I kind of called it,” Sinner admitted after dumping a serve into the net to hand Smith a quarter-final berth. “You cannot imagine my heartbeat right now.”

Even Queensland state champion Alec Reverente, who beat Smith earlier in the night, had to settle for consolation – a new car – as the fairytale gathered unstoppable momentum.

By the end, fittingly, the last man standing was a battler named Smith. “It’s insane,” Jordan said, shaking his head as he walked away with a million dollars and a place in tennis folklore.

Images: AusOpen/X