🔗 Share this article

Amateur players will have an opportunity to claim A$1m when they take on tennis' top professionals - including leading player the Spanish champion - in a winner-takes-all point before the Australian Grand Slam

Organizers of the year's first Grand Slam have announced the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will match 10 amateur players against 22 professionals in a single-elimination format at the Australian Open venue

How the Tournament Functions

Competitors are set to play 'rock, paper, scissors' to decide who serves or receives, and whoever wins the point will progress to the subsequent phase

The winner of the event will earn approximately half a million pounds

For comparison, players who made it to the penultimate round of the main draw competitions in the previous year's tournament won A$1.1m

Earlier Similar Events

The US Open hosted a revamped, independent combined gender tournament in late summer which motivated top singles players to compete, with the champions receiving a million-dollar prize

The year's first major held its first-ever quick-fire event earlier this year, but the total purse was a smaller amount and it generated little publicity

Andrey Rublev was the single high-ranked athlete participating, and his campaign finished when he put the one and only serve allowed into the net in his last eight match

Tournament Information

Officials have not said exactly how the event will operate, but it is expected to emulate a comparable structure to the most recent iteration

The elite players will be granted to serve once and the everyday players twice - as is the usual procedure in standard play

While it is not certain how the pairings will work, there will be several competitive phases and the location will be the main stadium rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will be held in a evening slot instead of 1pm local time

Entry Details

Local players - or foreign participants who have signed up with Tennis Australia - can enter 'single-point competition' tournaments at their local tennis clubs

The champions of the community events will then go into a random pairing, with one amateur player from every region and area selected to participate in the 'championship round' in a evening match on mid-January

There will also be a qualifying draw in the final month which amateurs, lower ranked pros, well-known figures and athletic celebrities can enter

It commences on Monday, 12 January and the pair of champions will advance to Wednesday's 'final showdown' with the remaining non-professionals and elite competitors

"Whether you're an amateur or a pro, the ultimate winner will receive the prize. Applications will begin shortly at clubs nationwide"

Tournament officials mentioned there were "additional stars to be unveiled imminently", while the official website indicated "famous personalities" would be involved