🔗 Share this article

Recreational competitors are getting the chance to earn a seven-figure prize when they take on tennis' top professionals - featuring leading player Carlos Alcaraz - in a winner-takes-all point prior to January's Australian Open

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have unveiled the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will pit 10 amateur players against 22 professionals in a elimination competition at the tournament grounds

How the Tournament Functions

Participants must play 'the decision-making game' to decide who gets to serve or return, and the competitor securing the point will progress to the subsequent phase

The winner of the event will take home a significant cash prize

Contextually, players who reached the semi-finals of the primary tournaments in the last edition won over a million Australian dollars

Earlier Related Competitions

The New York major staged a redesigned, independent combined gender tournament in late summer which motivated top singles players to take part, with the champions receiving a million-dollar prize

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

The Russian player was the only top-10 player involved, and his progress came to an end when he put the one and only serve granted into the mesh in his penultimate round

Event Details

Organizers have not specified precisely how the event will operate, but it is expected to follow a akin setup to this year's edition

The elite players will be allowed to have a single serve and the everyday players two times - as is the usual procedure in conventional tennis

While it is unclear how the draw will work, there will be five knockout rounds and the venue will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the smaller Kia Arena

The last matches will take place in a nighttime schedule instead of early afternoon

Entry Details

Local players - or overseas competitors who have registered with the national federation - can enter 'One Point Slam' tournaments at their local tennis clubs

The victors of the local competitions will then go into a selection process, with an everyday competitor from every region and area chosen to take part in the 'championship round' in a evening match on the specified date

There will also be a qualifying draw in late year which non-professionals, developing professionals, famous personalities and sport stars can participate in

It starts on early January and the two winners will advance to Wednesday's 'final showdown' with the remaining non-professionals and top-ranked athletes

"Regardless of your skill level, the final champion will receive the award. Registrations will open soon at clubs across the country"

Tournament officials said there were "additional stars to be announced soon", while the official website said "celebrities" would be taking part