John-Patrick Smith

A month after his college career ended, Smith became the first Vol since Peyton Manning in 1998 to be voted SEC Athlete of the Year by conference athletic directors.[5] Other male athletes from Tennessee to earn this honor at the time included baseball star Todd Helton (1995) and football wide receiver Larry Seivers (1977).

In April, Smith won the US F11, defeating Pedro Zerbini 6–2, 6–0 in the final. In July 2012, Smith won the Winnetka Challenger against Ricardas Berankis 3–6, 6–3, 7–6 in the final. This was his first challenger title, which he also had to qualify.[6]

In 2013, Smith competed mostly on the challenger circuit. His first title came on 25 August at the Canada F6, where he defeated Ante Pavic 3–6, 6–4, 6–3 in the final [7] Smith also enjoyed a successful week in Tiburon; with his quarterfinal finish he vaulted 15 spots to a new career-high ranking of No.208.

Smith made the second round of qualifying before losing to Denis Kudla in straight sets. He qualified for Indian Wells but lost in round 1 to Robin Haase.

Smith made the final of the Taipei Challenger, losing to Gilles Müller 3–6, 3–6. This increased his ranking to a career high of #181. He lost in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying to Farrukh Dustov. In the two Traralgon Challengers, Smith lost in the semi final to Bradley Klahn in 1 and in the quarter final to Ben Mitchell in 2.

In December, Smith narrowly missed out on a wild-card into the 2015 Australian Open, losing in the final of the Australian play off to Jordan Thompson 1–6, 3–6, 6–1, 7–6, 7–9. Smith ended 2014 with a ranking of 201.

Smith in 2015

Smith commenced 2015 at the inaugural Onkaparina Challenger, but lost in round one to Marcos Baghdatis. He was eliminated in the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open to compatriot Omar Jasika 7–6, 3–6, 10–12. In February, Smith headed to USA where he made the quarter final of the Dallas Challenger. He then played and qualified for the Delray Beach main draw. This was fourth ATP World Tour event for which he has qualified.[8] He drew No.1 seed Kevin Anderson and lost in round 1. Smith lost in round 1 of qualifying for Indian Wells before returning to the Challenger tour, where he won the Drummondville Challenger over crowd favourite, Frank Dancevic. This was his second career Challenger title and first since 2012.[9] This win gave Smith a near career high of 163. In June, Smith secured his first Grand Slam main draw entry via qualifying for the first time in his career at Wimbledon.[10] He lost in round 1 to Kenny de Schepper in 5 sets, despite leading 2 sets to 0.[11] In July, Smith entered the Newport Championships and defeated compatriot and third seed Bernard Tomic in round one, his first win on the ATP World Tour [12] on the way to the semi final where he lost to eventual champion Rajeev Ram.[13] At the US Open, Smith qualified before losing to Mikhail Youzhny in round 1. Smith ended 2015 with a ranking of 129.

Smith began 2016 with a wild card into the 2016 Brisbane International. He lost in round 1. Smith made the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open. In February, Smith qualified for Delray and defeated world number 26 and number 3 seed Ivo Karlović in round 1. He lost to Juan Martín del Potro in round 2. He lost in the qualifying rounds of Mexican Open, Indian Wells and Miami Masters. In April and May, Smith returned to the Challenger Circuit across Asia and Europe with limited success. In June, Smith lost in round 1 of Wimbledon qualifying. In July, Smith defeated compatriot Jordan Thompson in round 1 of Hall of Fame Tennis Championship, but lost to Marco Chiudinelli in round 2. Smith lost in round 1 of US Open qualifying before returning to the Challenger circuit in USA and Australia in September, October and November. Smith ended 2016 with a singles ranking of 226.

Smith began 2017 narrowly missing out on qualifying for 2017 Brisbane International and 2017 Australian Open, before playing a number of challengers in North America. His best result being a semi-final result at Drummondville in March. In April, Smith travelled to Europe and lost in the first round of qualifying for the 2017 French Open and Surbiton Challenger before qualifying for and making the quarter finals of the Nottingham Challenger in June. At Wimbledon, Smith lost in the last round of qualifying, 10–12 in the fifth set. In August, Smith qualified for the Cincinnati Masters but lost to Richard Gasquet in round 1. In September, Smith reached the 2017 US Open – Men's Doubles quarter final.

Smith commenced the season qualifying for the 2018 Brisbane International. He lost in round one to Mischa Zverev. Smith lost in the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open. In March, Smith travelled to the US and played on the Challenger circuit, reaching the final of the León Challenger in Mexico. In May, Smith lost in the qualifying for the French Open. In June, Smith qualified for and lost in round 1 of 2018 Wimbledon Championships. In July, Smith won his first ATP World Tour doubles title in Atlanta Open. Smith competed on the Challenger circuit for the rest of 2018 with limited success.

In January of 2019 John-Patrick Smith alongside fellow Australian Astra Sharma reached the final of the Australian Open Mixed Doubles. The most notable of their victories on this run came against second seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar in straight sets before eventually losing 6-7 1-6 to Barbora Krejčíková and Rajeev Ram in the final.[14] John continued his form in mens doubles later in the year, making 9 challenger finals and winning the 2019 Challenger Eckental and 2019 Puerto Vallarta Open.[15]

In December 2019, Smith won the Australian wildcard playoff to earn direct entry into the 2020 Australian Open. He lost in the first round to Guido Pella.