Taiwanese singer Jay Chou’s time at the Australian Open One Point Slam turned out to be one of his briefest lengths spent on any stage or arena for the well-versed performer.
Playing the one-point, winner-takes-all first round against 24-year-old Australian Petar Jovic, Chou did not manage to get a hit of the ball at the famed Rod Laver Arena when his opponent hit an ace to the singer’s right.
One point is all it takes in the One Point Slam, an exhibition tournament that has tennis amateurs and pros facing off, meaning Chou did not get to show off the fruit of his labour from practising with 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer in Shanghai.
Chou sportingly applauded and congratulated Jovic for his winning serve, before throwing into the crowd the shades he wore on the court, much to the delight of the two women who were able to collect the spoils of his defeat.
His pre-tournament comments proved prescient.
“It’s a one-point game, so I could be knocked out without even touching the ball,” the Taiwanese star, 46, had said when he revealed he would be participating. He had also asked fans not to travel to Melbourne for the competition, where matches could last less than a minute.
Chou, a singer-songwriter more frequently seen behind a piano, is also an accomplished tennis player who often posts videos of himself hitting long rallies on court. He reportedly took up the sport to play with his son Romeo, a budding tennis player at the age of seven.
He had earlier stolen the spotlight from many of the other tennis pros like top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and Australian Open defending champion Jannik Sinner before the match, with his fans carrying posters into the arena to encourage him. His opponent Jovic quipped that Chou’s “the most famous guy in the stadium”.
Joanna Garland, also representing Taiwan, had a longer run in the tournament, beating stars like Alex Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Maria Sakkari before eventually losing the final to Australian and Sydney native Jordan Smith, who walked away with A$1mil. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
