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.
Jordan Smith embraces Jannik Sinner.Credit: Getty Images
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.”
