🔗 Share this article

Recreational competitors will have the chance to claim a seven-figure prize when they take on tennis' top professionals - headed by leading player the Spanish champion - in a one-point battle before the Australian Grand Slam

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have announced the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will match a dozen non-professionals against top-ranked players in a single-elimination format at the Australian Open venue

The Unique Competition Operates

Players will play 'rock, paper, scissors' to decide who gets to serve or return, and the player who wins the point will progress to the following stage

The victor of the event will receive £490,000

By comparison, players who advanced to the final four of the primary tournaments in the last edition won over a million Australian dollars

Earlier Similar Events

The New York major organized a restructured, separate combined gender tournament in August which encouraged top singles players to take part, with the victors receiving one million US dollars

The Melbourne tournament held its debut quick-fire event in the current season, but the prize fund was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it received minimal attention

Andrey Rublev was the only top-10 player involved, and his run finished when he sent the one and only serve allowed into the mesh in his penultimate round

Event Specifics

Organizers have not detailed exactly how the event will operate, but it is projected to follow a akin setup to this year's edition

The professionals will be granted to have a single serve and the non-professionals on two occasions - as is the standard practice in standard play

While it is uncertain how the pairings will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the location will be the main stadium rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will be held in a nighttime schedule instead of 1pm local time

Participation Requirements

Domestic competitors - or overseas competitors who have signed up with the national federation - can enter 'One Point Slam' tournaments at their local tennis clubs

The champions of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a selection process, with an everyday competitor from every geographic division chosen to take part in the 'final competition' in a night session on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a qualifying draw in the final month which non-professionals, developing professionals, well-known figures and athletic celebrities can compete in

It commences on Monday, 12 January and the successful competitors will go into the following day's 'final showdown' with the other eight amateurs and 10 professionals

"No matter your experience, the final champion will walk away with the reward. Registrations will begin shortly at venues nationwide"

Event organizers said there were "additional stars to be revealed shortly", while the event portal indicated "famous personalities" would be participating