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Recreational competitors are getting an opportunity to win A$1m when they face tennis' top professionals - headed by world number one the Spanish champion - in a winner-takes-all point before the year's first major

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have revealed the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will pit a dozen non-professionals against top-ranked players in a single-elimination format at the Australian Open venue

This Innovative Event Will Work

Players will play 'the classic hand game' to establish who gets to serve or return, and whoever wins the point will progress to the next round

The champion of the event will receive £490,000

Contextually, players who advanced to the final four of the men's or women's singles in the last edition won over a million Australian dollars

Previous Similar Events

The New York major staged a revamped, separate combined gender tournament in August which motivated top singles players to take part, with the winners receiving one million US dollars

The year's first major held its first-ever single-point competition this year, but the total purse was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it received minimal attention

Andrey Rublev was the sole elite competitor participating, and his run concluded when he put the sole serving chance allowed failing to clear the net in his quarter-final

Event Specifics

Officials have not said exactly how the event will work, but it is expected to emulate a comparable structure to this year's edition

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

While it is unclear how the draw will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the venue will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the secondary venue

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

Entry Information

Any Australians - or international players who have signed up with the national federation - can compete in 'One Point Slam' events at their local tennis clubs

The champions of the local competitions will then go into a draw, with an everyday competitor from every region and area chosen to compete in the 'final competition' in a evening match on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a entry tournament in December which amateurs, lower ranked pros, well-known figures and sport stars can participate in

It starts on Monday, 12 January and the successful competitors will advance to the following day's 'final showdown' with the other eight amateurs and 10 professionals

"No matter your experience, the overall victor will receive the reward. Applications will start imminently at clubs across the country"

Event organizers said there were "further celebrities to be revealed shortly", while the official website indicated "famous personalities" would be participating