Australian Open 2026: ’Awful’ detail in Aussie Open’s million-dollar slam as gimmick called out, Jordan Smith one-point slam

Australian amateur tennis player Jordan Smith left jaws on the floor after taking out the $1 million event, much to fans’ delight.

However, AFL champion Kane Cornes labelled the competition an “excruciating watch” and described it as an “awful” spectacle.

Smith said he turned himself into a “human wall”, taking no risks and just focusing on keeping the ball in play.

It allowed him to reach the final against World No. 117 Joanna Garland, who fluffed a shot early in the decider to give the 29-year-old amateur victory and the $1m prize.

Other stars and media personalities took risks and played up to the crowd, but Cornes was not impressed.

“This 1-point slam might be the worst televised sporting event since AFLX,” he wrote on X.

He then launched a scathing attack on SEN radio on Thursday morning, labelling the entire thing “awful”.

”Congratulations to Jordan Smith, who took out the million dollars, (but) I’m a little bit sceptical,” Cornes said.

“You could not have had a multimillion-dollar professional win this extra million dollars.

“It was the worst sporting event I’ve ever seen.

“The concept of the amateurs versus the pros goes back a long time, and it sounded like it had legs until I turned it on.

“I feel sorry for (Channel 9’s) Toddy Woodbridge and Clint Stanaway and the crew trying to make that entertaining last night. You have a one-point game, so if the serve goes into the net, that’s it. Or if a pro gets the serve in and (AFL player) Bailey Smith can’t hit a forehand, that is it.

“You then meet in the middle for a cringe interview about people that we know nothing about, and we couldn’t give a stuff about. It was nothing but awful. It was an excruciating watch.”

While others felt the same on X, the main criticism of what was deemed by many as an overwhelming success was how much it was dragged out.

“The one-point slam was fun and had good storylines, but it did not need to be almost 3 hours long. Too many ad breaks and the random player introduction videos were unnecessary,” one fan wrote on X.

“Only thing I’d do differently with the one point slam is less interviews … An interview before and after a one point match is too much,” another said.

While a third simply said: “Great concept but too much fluff”.

However, like it or not, many tuned in live and on their screens to watch the unique event, and therefore it is hard to imagine it won’t be back next year.

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