The Australian Open’s 1 Point Slam featured a slew of the top players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, most notably Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and Elena Rybakina.<\/p>\n
They were joined by Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and more of the world’s best men.<\/p>\n
But it was World No. 117 Joanna Garland who was the last professional player standing in Wednesday’s event at Rod Laver Arena.<\/p>\n
With $1 million Australian dollars on the line, the second 1 Point Slam featured 48 players — a mix of pros, amateurs and celebrities — in a one-point-only knockout bracket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Garland, 24, took out Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic, setting up the final showdown against Australian amateur Jordan Smith, who beat Sinner earlier in the tournament.<\/p>\n
“I feel like it’s 50-50,” Garland said on court in front of the sold-out crowd when asked about her chances of taking home the $1 million prize. “There are three winners here tonight: One is tennis, and two are me and him.”<\/p>\n
Garland earned the right to serve after winning a game of rock, paper, scissors, but she lost the point on the third stroke when she sent a two-handed backhand wide.<\/p>\n
In addition to the $1 million that Smith took home for himself, he was also awarded $50,000 for his local tennis club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier in the week, the 19th-seeded Garland fell to Anhelina Kalinina in Australian Open qualifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The week prior, she won a title in her first tournament of 2026, winning five straight matches to take the WTA 125 Workday Canberra International.<\/p>\n
Her best-ever result at a Grand Slam came last year, when she came through qualifying to reach the second round of the French Open. In November, she reached her first WTA semifinal in Chennai, concluding a season in which she had cut her ranking by over 400 places.<\/p>\n