A former local junior has been crowned a state champion while representing Cranbourne Tennis Club, earning a place at the Australian Open 1 Point Slam to win $1 million against some of the world’s best players.
Petar Jovic, who grew up in Tooradin, stood for Cranbourne as a junior, and later moved to Malvern East, won the Victorian State Final of the AO 1 Point Slam on 20 December after having seven points (opponents) in a row.
“It doesn’t seem like much, but it is a lot,” he said.
“At one point, anything can happen.”
Petar, alongside the other seven state champions, progressed directly into the main draw to compete for $1 million against some of the world’s top players, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, and Daniil Medvedev.
“I think I want to play against Alcaraz the most, because he’s the world number one. If at some point, I can beat him in one point, I can say I have beaten the world number one,” the 24-year-old said.
He said he had a lot of good memories at Cranbourne Tennis Club, and he thought he would just go down here and try and represent the Club.
“I know Paul Kleverlaan. He’s the head coach there. From a young age, he’s helped us out a lot as well. So, it was good to see him again after a while,” Petar said.
“They’re super excited for me, and I’m happy to represent them.
“Because I won the state final, you know, the tennis club received the $5,000 grant. That’s sort of my way of giving back to the club and to Paul for all those years.
“It’s a nice feeling as well.”
The 1 Point Slam, first introduced to AO last year, is a fast-paced, winner-takes-all format where matches are decided by a single point.
The showdown will see 48 players, including 24 professionals, 8 state champions, 8 qualifiers, and 8 celebrity wildcards, battle for the $1 million prize money on Wednesday 14 January at Rod Laver Arena.
To get to the top of the state, players chose a local club and played there first. The club winners moved to the final round and played at Fawkner Park.
“When we looked at the draw, it said there were 108 players in the tournament. So that means that there were 108 clubs in the tournament and then 108 winners,” Petar recalled.
“I think there were about 2,500 players who entered to try and become the Victorian champion. That’s a lot of players, and only one makes it to the Australian Open.
“That’s just an amazing feeling.”
Petar recalled that the state final was a very humid, overcast, but luckily, not too windy day. The crowd was about 200 people.
“Seeing that many people, it made me nervous a little bit. It’s only one point, and if you lose, you go home,” Petar said.
“They only had two courts, so you’re waiting a lot. That made you a little bit tense and nervous.
“And then when it’s your turn, you don’t get a chance to warm up. You have to go straight away.”
Petar went with a strategy. He said his strategy was to serve whenever possible, backing his strongest weapon to take control of the point early.
Confident in his serve, Petar aimed to hit a winner when he got the ball. He also adopted a more defensive approach when returning, keeping the ball in play and waiting for opponents to make mistakes. He recalled the longest rally was about six shots.
“I think the rallies aren’t too long because it’s a lot of pressure, and someone’s going to miss because they’re a little bit nervous,” Petar said.
“I was just hoping the other person would miss the shot before I did.”
The 24-year-old believed a mixture of a little bit of luck and a bit of strategy is needed to win the 1 Point Slam.
“Anything can happen, one point. If someone’s serving against me and they hit a fault, then I win, but I haven’t done anything,” he said.
“And then I can hit a really good serve, and they can miss the serve, and I win the next point.”
Playing tennis since the age of six, Petar currently plays on the Futures Tour.
He has been a hitting partner for top players at the AO, including Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and Holger Rune.
Patar shared that his early development lagged behind some peers, but that never stopped him.
He just kept training, training, and training. Now, he said, years of steady training and persistence had helped him progress significantly over the past few years.
The left-handed player based his game around big serves and big forehands. He likes attacking and coming to the net. His favourite surface is clay because with a slower court, he has to construct the points.
“It is a better feeling when you put a good combination of shots together to win the point,” he said.
The former Tooradin local is now looking forward to the official game next week.
He said 1 Point Slam is a very “cool concept”.
“Any amateur or any person can get a chance to play with the best players in the world,” he said.
