One-hit wonder: Why this tennis battler is dreaming of a shot at Alcaraz, Sinner and a $1m prize

Petar Jovic is a quintessential battling tennis player with dreams of forging a professional career.

The 24-year-old left-hander is in strong demand when visiting pros arrive in Australia looking for vital hitting practice, especially if they’ve got a match coming up against a left-hander.

But this week at Melbourne Park Jovic’s life could change forever, thanks to the Australian Open’s “1-Point Slam”.

Crowned last month as the winner of Victorian qualifying, Jovic will compete against other state champs on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night, as well as wildcards, such as retired Test cricket captain Steve Waugh, and present-day superstars stars of tennis, including men’s world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and women’s No.2 Iga Swiatek.

And there’s more than bragging rights up for grabs; the player left standing at the end will pocket a cool $1 million. One winner only.

For Jovic, who represented the Cranbourne Tennis Club in qualification for the 48-player draw, it’s a “life-changing” chance.

“That [money] could put me on the tour for a couple of years at least,” he said.

“I mean you can only [have to] play [and win] five points of tennis, and you get a million dollars – it’s unheard of.”

Open organisers have taken an innovative step this year with the “1-point Slam” competition. It will be shown live on Channel Nine and other broadcasters. To kick the idea off last year, a smaller tournament was held with a vastly smaller prize on offer – $60,000.

The concept is relatively straight-forward. Each “match” is decided by a single point. Win the point and you advance; lose it and you’re out. A “rock, paper, scissors” contest determines which player serves (or, alternatively, which side of the court – the deuce or add court – they’ll opt to play on) – a factor which can go a long way to deciding how the point plays out.

There’s one crucial rule, however: amateurs receive two serves, while current ATP and WTA-ranked players get one serve.

Jovic is on about a 10-point winning streak through qualifying.

The brutal nature of “one-point” competition – players live on the edge and walk the tightrope of going for a winner or playing the percentages.

“You’ve just got all these sort of emotions going into it. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s just so chaotic,” Jovic said.

His final contest at Fawkner Park Tennis Centre, with a spot at the AO on the line, was dramatic.

“[I] won the toss, so I had to pick the serve, obviously. And then the funny thing was, yeah, I’ve hit the serve, and I’ve thought I’ve missed it; it looked like it was very close to the line

“I’ve sort of stopped because I did think he was gonna call it, and then he’s just returned it, and it’s been in play. I’m on the back foot because I’m, like, panicking,” Jovic recalled.

“I was ready to pick the second ball out of my pocket, and then he’s hit [the ball] back. So I’m back-pedaling, and I’ve hit a backhand and sort of popped it up a bit, you know, and he’s just gonna hit the forehand, and just missed it.”

Jovic doesn’t know if there’s a sense of destiny for him, but he won’t die wondering on Wednesday night – even as he contemplates trying to fire down an unreturnable serve against a player of the ilk of two-time defending Open champion Jannik Sinner.

“You can only be so prepared because someone can frame a ball and it bounces weird and, you know, everything can just be thrown out of whack,” he said.

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