Joanna Garland's Not-So-Lovely Parting Gifts
After being one point from A$1 million, the sudden star has felt haunted—relatably—by what could've been.
ROEHAMPTON, England — One of the most memorable tennis nights of the year so far happened in January, when the glorious 1 Point Slam had its primetime showcase showdown.
Joanna Garland, a 24-year-old WTA player ranked 117th who had lost in Australian Open qualifying a day earlier, had won nine points in a row to make it all the way to the final of the sudden-death event. Garland had run the gamut of opponents to survive nine rounds of one-point peril, ranging in formidability from Eliza Wastcoat to Alexander Zverev en route to the final. By going 9-0, she put herself one point from the title and the ballyhooed A$1 million prize.
In that final, Garland was across the net from the least vaunted opponent she’d faced in days: Jordan Smith, an amateur player from New South Wales.
You probably remember how it went; she sure does.
After Garland served, Smith hit a backhand return safely into the middle of the court. On her first groundstroke of the rally, Garland was way late on her backhand, spraying it well wide of the court, ending her tournament with one shot, and making Smith the fairytale champion who took home the $1 million prize.
Smith was the sort of Cinderella story event organizers had probably dreamed of, but Garland, too, was an incredible underdog for whom the stakes were high, unlike many of the multimillionaires she’d shared the court with that night. Had she won that point, Garland would have more-than-doubled her career prize money to that point. She’d been just one point—maybe one shot—away from a life-changing sum.
I spoke to Garland on court that night, as Bounces readers may remember, and she was memorably self-deprecating in defeat.
Joanna Garland: If you win nine consecutive points, you’ve got to be pretty lucky.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Well, yes, but also—like you said—you were forcing the issue. It wasn’t like you were getting people missing or faulting serves against you or anything.
Joanna Garland: Yeah…
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You were great.
Joanna Garland: Eh.
But though she was humble and largely upbeat, she was also genuinely crushed.
“I’m just thrilled to have been here,” Garland said. “Yeah, it’s been great, it has been overwhelming. And yeah, a bit sad I didn’t win the million dollars? Of course that would have been life-changing.”
Garland made a name for herself among tennis fans that night, but not much else. When we spoke this week at Roehampton, where Garland competed in the Wimbledon qualifying draw, she discussed 1 Point Slam foremost as something that meaningfully haunted her.
“I struggled after that,” Garland said. “Not with the being at such a high and then falling off and going back to normal life; that’s fine. But just the losing out on that point—and losing out on that money—really messed with my head a lot.”
Garland added that she’d drawn a bit more of a crowd than she otherwise might’ve—by her own admission—at Wimbledon qualifying because of her name recognition among tennis fans.
“A bunch of people came to watch me play today, and I think that is a result of the 1 Point Slam,” Garland said. “I wouldn’t have gained those fans without playing that, and that’s really nice, so you can kind of see how the event has really benefited me. But I’d be lying if I’d say I haven’t struggled with it. And yeah, I’ve also been injured since then, so it’s been a bit of a rubbish year for me. But people still ask me about it, and it’s nice to have those memories, I think.”
I’ve never been a professional athlete, obviously, but I felt like I could relate to Garland’s situation. 1 Point Slam, with its luck-forward format, flashy graphics, and drumming on about the big cash prize at stake, was perhaps the closest thing tennis has ever had to a game show.
And while I’ve never lost a Grand Slam match, I have lost on a game show.
On the same day in March 2016 as Maria Sharapova was in Downtown Los Angeles, announcing that she tested positive for meldonium, I was about 10 miles away in Culver City, taping an episode of Jeopardy! I had auditioned after a friend and bar trivia teammate of mine, Dan Feitel, went on the show and won five episodes and $128,998. I took the test, went to a casting call, and got on the show about eight months later.
If you want to watch without reading the details first, here’s a video of the episode:
It all started pretty auspiciously. I was winning by a decent margin going into the final round, and was scoring well on the various Jeopardy analytics, having answered the most questions during the first two rounds of the game by a wide spread.
But just when I might’ve been 30 seconds away from winning ~$25,000—and getting to return for the next episode to try to keep winning more—it was all over. Because it’s a game show and it’s designed for drama, when I didn’t know the final question, I fell from first to third and instantly lost.
I don’t feel bad about not solving that bizarre final question: geography is one of my best trivia categories, but a decade later, I still could barely tell you what could make an island “leeward,” much less describe that concept to you in a foreign language.
Still, I was a bit of a zombie for the next few weeks at Indian Wells, and remained occasionally harrowed by the memories of how close I’d come for weeks and months—at least. I felt better, I’ll say, when I hosted a watch party when my episode aired about seven weeks later and none of the dozen people in my apartment knew the answer, either. Also, Buzzy Cohen, who won when I lost, went on to win the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which made me feel like it must’ve been some sort of destiny for him to survive and advance that day.
As I listened to Garland, I felt like she might’ve come closer than any tennis player to what I felt—with the stakes, obviously, even more heightened in many ways. When I floated the theory by her, she was receptive.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: It’s almost like you were on a game show or something: there’s this big prize, and this instant thing that can go either way. I was actually on a game show once, so I know, sort of, what that’s like to not win. It feels almost closer to that more than to a normal tennis tournament loss, because it’s so quick and heightened and dramatized and everything. Do you relate to that?
Joanna Garland: Yes, completely. Like, I’ve lost matches before—big matches where I’ve had match points—and they were nowhere near as painful as this. I think it’s just because of it being one point and that really emphasizes what’s at stake.
And also the fact that I lost it to an amateur, probably (laughs). Or that I missed a backhand down the line late. So yeah, I can relate to that.
I, also, have many fond memories from being on Jeopardy!—particularly how much friends and family were excited for me being on the show—and hoped Garland could similarly find some joy in the overall experience.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: But you also did something that 127 men in Paris couldn’t do, which is beat Zverev.
Joanna Garland: (laughs)
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Really, you did big things. Obviously you lost that one point, and I understand and can relate to being fixated on that point.
But at the same time, you did all this great work to get there that was pretty incredible.
Joanna Garland: I guess so.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Hopefully you can enjoy those parts of the night as well, and then stop the YouTube video before the final five minutes or whatever.
Joanna Garland: Yeah, the final point—it was going so well up ‘til then (laughs).
I think now, months later, time has passed—and things always need time—I can really appreciate what a great opportunity and what a great experience it was, and it’s something that I’ll keep looking back on when I stop playing tennis. I mean the point against Zverev: How cool is that, huh?
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You’ve watched that one a lot, I hope.
Joanna Garland: I’ve watched it a few times. I mean, I damn well know that I’m not winning a single point off him if I play him normally, but that’s OK.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You’d win points. You’ve won 100 percent of your points against him, historically.
Joanna Garland: (Laughs). And unless I play him again next year, then that record will stay, won’t it? No, it’s really cool. It’s an experience that will stay with me forever.
Though she said that it was still an effort to “focus so much on the one point that I lost instead of the nine points that I won,” there were some lessons Garland said she hoped she’d unlocked about handling the stage.
“Mostly what I can take from that is that I’m capable of playing—and speaking—in front of so many people, and not completely like pissing my pants,” she said. “That was more scary for me than the actual playing part. When we were sitting on the side and all the pros were talking to each other, you could hear how nervous they were about the tennis part. But they were natural with the speaking and playing in front of so many people.”
While I only got $1,000 for coming in third on my television show—not enough to cover my expenses for the venture—Garland perhaps got even less for her close call at big bucks, saying that she’d gotten “honestly a bit less than I’d imagined” in the aftermath of her moment of fame.
“I had loads of people coming up to me—and maybe they said this to make me feel better—they were like, ‘Oh, you’ll get tons of sponsors from this.’ And I’ve had zero,” Garland said.
Garland added that she did sign with an agency, and got invited to do magazine photoshoots in Taiwan, but they didn’t fit with her tennis travel and training schedule.
“Which is a bit of a shame,” she said. “I missed out on those opportunities, but no, I haven’t had any [new] sponsors…I would hope to be recognized and receive sponsorship for my results—my actual tennis results—and not the 1 Point Slam. I really hope, one day, I can get a similar kind of recognition for my tennis level.”
Despite her complicated feelings about the event, Garland said she’s ready for more.
“I asked for a wild card,” Garland said, smiling. “So yeah, let’s see if they invite me back again.”
Her advice for others playing the event next year?
“Try and have as fun as you can, be relaxed,” Garland said. “Easier said than done, I know. Yeah, and probably don’t go for a backhand up the line if you’re at match point.”
Garland, whose ranking has fallen from 117th to 188th in the months since her star turn, had her Wimbledon journey ended in the second round of qualifying on Wednesday, when she bowed out in straight sets to Tyra Caterina Grant. Her right knee, one of the areas that’s bothered her this year, was heavily taped during the loss.
But though her future is uncertain, it’s certainly not in jeopardy. Garland’s journey on the tour will continue, one point at a time.
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Great piece! And yeah, you pretty much killed it on Jeopardy other than that very last one. Also going for the $3000 in the first round Daily Double was pretty brazen, but you fought your way through it. Stay leeward.
As someone who also lost on J!, I feel the pain. I think what probably bothers her (and me) the most, was that event was “your shot” and as the event unfolded you could feel yourself getting closer, and then to have it fall short it so deflating because for most, there is never going to be that kind of opportunity again.