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Amateur players are getting the chance to claim a seven-figure prize when they compete against tennis' top professionals - featuring leading player the Spanish champion - in a one-point battle before January's Australian Open

Organizers of the Australian Open have announced the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will match 10 amateur players against elite athletes in a single-elimination format at Melbourne Park

The Unique Tournament Functions

Competitors are set to play 'rock, paper, scissors' to establish who gets to serve or return, and the competitor securing the point will progress to the following stage

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

For comparison, players who reached the semi-finals of the men's or women's singles in the last edition won A$1.1m

Past Similar Events

The New York major organized a restructured, standalone combined gender tournament in the eighth month which motivated top singles players to compete, with the winners receiving one million US dollars

The year's first major held its first-ever One Point Slam earlier this year, but the cash prize was a smaller amount and it had limited exposure

One top competitor was the sole elite competitor participating, and his progress concluded when he put the sole serving chance permitted into the net in his last eight match

Competition Details

Planners have not specified precisely how the event will work, but it is projected to follow a comparable structure to the previous version

The top competitors will be permitted to serve once and the non-professionals two times - as is the usual procedure in conventional tennis

While it is not certain how the pairings will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the location will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the smaller Kia Arena

The last matches will be held in a evening slot instead of 1pm local time

Competitor Requirements

Any Australians - or overseas competitors who have registered with Tennis Australia - can compete in 'single-point competition' tournaments at their local tennis clubs

The champions of the local competitions will then go into a selection process, with a single non-professional from every region and area selected to participate in the 'grand finale' in a night session on the specified date

There will also be a qualifying draw in the final month which non-professionals, aspiring competitors, well-known figures and sport stars can participate in

It begins on early January and the successful competitors will advance to the midweek 'final showdown' with the remaining non-professionals and 10 professionals

"No matter your experience, the overall victor will claim the award. Entries will open soon at clubs across the country"

Competition planners mentioned there were "further celebrities to be unveiled imminently", while the tournament site indicated "famous personalities" would be participating