Smith celebrates 30th with perfect present
ROWAN SPARKES AND BEN MCKAY NORTH Queensland’s JohnPatrick Smith and playing partner Astra Sharma are through to the Australian Open mixed final.
Sharma and Smith upset the second-seeded pairing of American Nicole Melichar and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6 (7-5) on Thursday night to reach their first major decider.
It is Smith’s best result at a major in his career, surpassing his men’s doubles quarter-final appearance at the 2017 US Open.
Far North tennis stalwart Paul Horn remembers playing against the Townsville junior when he was just 13 years old.
“He’d often come up here and play in the FNQ Open or the FNQ Aged Titles,” Horn said.
“As a kid, he’d play in Cairns two or three times a year.
“He was an exceptional junior at the time I was still playing open tournaments – he was about 14 years old, while I would’ve been about 28.
“It’s not often you get someone from North Queensland making an Australian Open final,” Horn said.
“He was always a nice kid growing up, even though he was by far and away the most talented kid coming through the juniors up here.”
On Thursday night, Smith had even more reason to celebrate, triumphing on his 30th birthday.
After finishing the semifinal at 11.20pm, Smith was eager to spend the final minutes of the day in traditional fashion.
“Where are my beers? Who’s got my beers?” he asked the crowd in his on-court interview.
The larrikin Queenslander then backed down, citing the need for routine.
“I got to play on RLA (Rod Laver Arena) so a pretty good day in the books I would have thought,” he beamed.
Sharma, Smith’s playing partner, also has a Cairns connection.
The 23-year-old from Perth was crowned the female champion at the Cairns Tennis International in September.
Smith and Sharma will take on Barbora Krej íková and Rajeev Ram in the mixed doubles final at 7.45pm tonight.