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Everyday tennis enthusiasts will have an opportunity to earn a seven-figure prize when they face tennis' top professionals - featuring world number one Carlos Alcaraz - in a single-point showdown before January's Australian Open

Tournament officials of the Melbourne major have revealed 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

This Innovative Event Will Work

Players will play 'the classic hand game' to establish who gets to serve or return, and the competitor securing the point will advance to the following stage

The winner of the event will take home £490,000

For comparison, players who reached the penultimate round of the primary tournaments in the last edition won substantial prize money

Earlier Comparable Tournaments

The US Open staged a revamped, standalone mixed doubles tournament in the eighth month which encouraged top singles players to take part, with the champions receiving one million US dollars

The Australian Open held its first-ever One Point Slam in the current season, but the cash prize was A$60,000 and it received minimal attention

The Russian player was the only top-10 player involved, and his campaign concluded when he sent the single service opportunity granted failing to clear the net in his last eight match

Competition Information

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

The professionals will be allowed to serve once and the amateurs two times - as is the standard practice in traditional tennis

While it is not certain how the draw will work, there will be several competitive phases and the location will be the primary court rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will take place in a evening slot instead of 1pm local time

Entry Information

Domestic competitors - or foreign participants who have enrolled with the governing body - can participate in 'single-point competition' tournaments at their local tennis clubs

The champions of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a draw, with a single non-professional from every state and territory selected to take part in the 'championship round' in a night session on the specified date

There will also be a qualifying draw in the final month which everyday players, aspiring competitors, famous personalities and sport stars can compete in

It begins on Monday, 12 January and the pair of champions will advance to the following day's 'grand finale' with the additional everyday players and elite competitors

"No matter your experience, the final champion will walk away with the reward. Applications will start imminently at clubs nationwide"

Competition planners stated there were "further celebrities to be announced soon", while the official website said "celebrities" would be involved