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Recreational competitors will have an opportunity to win a seven-figure prize when they take on tennis' top professionals - featuring top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz - in a single-point showdown prior to the year's first major

Event planners of the Melbourne major have unveiled the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will pair 10 amateur players against elite athletes in a elimination competition at Melbourne Park

How the Tournament Functions

Competitors are set to play 'the decision-making game' to decide who takes the serve or return position, and the competitor securing the point will advance to the following stage

The champion of the event will earn £490,000

For comparison, players who advanced to the penultimate round of the main draw competitions in the previous year's tournament won over a million Australian dollars

Past Comparable Tournaments

The American Grand Slam staged a revamped, standalone combined gender tournament in August which encouraged top singles players to compete, with the champions receiving a million-dollar prize

The year's first major held its inaugural single-point competition this year, but the prize fund was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it had limited exposure

Andrey Rublev was the only top-10 player participating, and his run concluded when he sent the one and only serve granted failing to clear the net in his last eight match

Event Details

Officials have not specified precisely how the event will work, but it is anticipated to follow a similar format to this year's edition

The professionals will be allowed to make one service and the everyday players two times - as is the usual procedure in traditional tennis

While it is unclear how the pairings will work, there will be several competitive phases and the venue will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will occur in a nighttime schedule instead of early afternoon

Participation Information

Any Australians - or international players who have enrolled with Tennis Australia - can compete in 'One Point Slam' events at their neighborhood facilities

The victors of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a random pairing, with a single non-professional from every region and area picked to take part in the 'final competition' in a evening match on the specified date

There will also be a preliminary competition in December which amateurs, lower ranked pros, celebrities and athletic celebrities can enter

It commences on the starting date and the successful competitors will advance to Wednesday's 'final showdown' with the remaining non-professionals and 10 professionals

"No matter your experience, the overall victor will claim the award. Entries will begin shortly at venues across the country"

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