Three more things we learned about the 1 Point Slam, from champion Jordan Smith

Episode 3 of The Big T, a Tennis Channel podcast, is available to listen on your favorite streaming platforms—click here for the latest drop.

You can also watch bonus content from the episode on the Tennis Channel app—click here to start digging in!

This week's episode was different than any other. Recorded on site at the Australian Open, Mark Petchey and Andrea Petkovic gave their thoughts on the early goings-on Down Under. From Novak Djokovic's imperious form to Carlos Alcaraz's new serve technique to Iga Swiatek's wardrobe malfunction, there's already been a lot to talk about in Melbourne.

But it was something from before the tournament began that's still the talk of the town.

🎾 Spilling the T: Jordan Smith, 1 Point Slam champion

Jordan Smith would like to see tennis' newest innovation continue past the Australian Open. After all, if you can defeat Jannik Sinner in Rod Laver Arena, you can beat Iga Swiatek on Court Philippe Chatrier, Carlos Alcaraz on Centre Court and Aryna Sabalenka in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Right?

That, incredibly, is plausible with the unique format of the 1 Point Slam, where the everyday—but, to be clear, still very good—player can compete with the best in the world. The amateur only needs to win one point to win the match.

Here are three things we learned about Smith's unlikely rise to stardom during his appearance on The Big T:

1. He won 17 consecutive one-point "matches" to take home the title. Smith heard about the event last October, and played a local tournament in Sydney to try and qualify. He won 5️⃣ rounds there against "10 year olds, teenagers, adults—anyone can enter. So that was very nervous, actually."

He advanced, along with winners of other local tournaments, to another 64-player draw. 6️⃣ rounds later, he was the state champion of New South Wales.

And with 6️⃣ more victories in Melbourne, history was made.

"I was pretty happy I made it to Rod Laver [Arena], so maybe that’s why the nerves weren’t as bad," said Smith.

📲🖥️ Stream a replay of the 1 Point Slam on the Tennis Channel App!

“Just think about it, how are the odds stacked to win that many points in a row?" asked Petkovic. "Not very high!”

Well, Petko, if you consider the outcome of each point even, a 50/50 split—which I wouldn't, but for the purposes of this exercise let's suppose they are—the odds of calling a coin flip correctly 17 consecutive times is 1 in 131,072.!

Either way, Smith beat the odds, big time, and has a lot more coins he can flip.

(How rare is it to win 17 consecutive points in professional tennis? It's certainly unusual in the pros. I don't have confirmed data, but I found an old message board discussion about the topic. In it are 19 examples of at least 17 consecutive points won—again, these are not fact-checked. One of note: 19 in a row, by Andre Agassi over Pete Sampras, in their 1995 Miami final.)

2. In Australia, it's apparently called "Scissors, Paper, Rock"—not rock, paper, scissors. This was how it was decided who would serve each 1-point match. The winner of each SPR would make the strategic decision.

Remember that the amateurs got two serves, while the pros only got one. That was helpful for Smith—who faulted on the first serve of his first match.

“I sort of pushed the second in, and lucky enough, won that point,” said Smith.

As Smith watched the event unfold, he noticed most pros opting to receive, perhaps wanting to avoid the embarrassment of faulting away the match in one swing.

“None of ‘em wanted it," observed Smith, "so I’m like, alright I’ll make Jannik—if I happen to win the scissors, paper rock—I’ll make him serve. And lucky enough, yeah, he missed it.”

After Smith advanced to face Sinner, the SPR was conducted off screen. Smith won, and made Sinner serve.

“I think he had probably 10 to 15 minutes to think about it, yeah it seemed like he psyched himself out a bit.”

3. He won more than one million Australian dollars. The week of Smith's life has included dinner with Rod Laver, and a chat with Roger Federer. Most professional tennis players can't say they've had those experiences.

Fulfilling a "lifelong dream," Smith and Federer chatted for 15 minutes. But Federer, who returned to Melbourne Park for the first time in six years for the tournament's Opening Ceremony, didn't watch Smith's run live. The Swiss who seemingly can do no wrong couldn't figure out how get the event to show on his TV.

“Said he watched the highlights straightaway after, on YouTube.”

📲🖥️ Stream a replay of the AO Opening Ceremony on the Tennis Channel App!

📫 Calling All Questions!

Petko and Petch took fan mail from The Big T audience at the end of the show:

• Which former player would be a great commentator?
• How do you defeat a pesky moonballer?

Want to see your questions on the show? 👉 Email thebigt@tennischannel.com

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🚨 Bonus Content: Andrea Petkovic on how to beat Sabalenka

🚨 Bonus Content: Mark Petchey on how to matchplan for Sinner