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Everyday tennis enthusiasts are being offered the chance to win one million Australian dollars when they face tennis' top professionals - including top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz - in a winner-takes-all point before the year's first major

Organizers of the Australian Open have announced the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will pair everyday competitors against 22 professionals in a elimination competition at the tournament grounds

The Unique Competition Operates

Participants must play 'the decision-making game' to decide who takes the serve or return position, and the player who wins the point will move forward to the following stage

The victor of the event will receive £490,000

By comparison, players who advanced to the penultimate round of the men's or women's singles in the last edition won substantial prize money

Past Related Competitions

The New York major organized a restructured, standalone combined gender tournament in late summer which encouraged top singles players to take part, with the champions receiving $1m

The Melbourne tournament held its inaugural One Point Slam earlier this year, but the cash prize was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it had limited exposure

The Russian player was the only top-10 player competing, and his progress came to an end when he sent the one and only serve allowed failing to clear the net in his quarter-final

Tournament Information

Officials have not detailed exactly how the event will function, but it is expected to mirror a similar format to this year's edition

The top competitors will be granted to have a single serve and the non-professionals two times - as is the usual procedure in standard play

While it is not certain how the draw will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the location will be the main stadium rather than the secondary venue

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

Entry Details

Local players - or foreign participants who have enrolled with the governing body - can participate in 'single-point competition' events at their neighborhood facilities

The champions of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a random pairing, with a single non-professional from every geographic division selected to compete in the 'championship round' in a night session on the specified date

There will also be a preliminary competition in late year which everyday players, developing professionals, celebrities and sport stars can compete in

It starts on early January and the successful competitors will go into the midweek 'championship match' with the other eight amateurs and elite competitors

"No matter your experience, the ultimate winner will walk away with the reward. Registrations will start imminently at facilities across the country"

Tournament officials stated there were "further celebrities to be announced soon", while the event portal indicated "well-known figures" would be participating