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Amateur players will have the chance to win one million Australian dollars when they face world-class athletes - featuring world number one Carlos Alcaraz - in a one-point battle prior to January's Australian Open

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have unveiled the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will pit 10 amateur players against top-ranked players in a single-elimination format at Melbourne Park

The Unique Competition Operates

Players will play 'rock, paper, scissors' to establish who serves or receives, and the player who wins the point will progress to the following stage

The winner of the event will earn a significant cash prize

By comparison, players who made it to the semi-finals of the main draw competitions in the previous year's tournament won A$1.1m

Past Related Competitions

The American Grand Slam organized a redesigned, independent combined gender tournament in August which prompted top singles players to compete, with the victors receiving a million-dollar prize

The Melbourne tournament held its debut quick-fire event in the current season, but the prize fund was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it had limited exposure

One top competitor was the sole elite competitor participating, and his campaign came to an end when he sent the one and only serve permitted failing to clear the net in his penultimate round

Tournament Specifics

Organizers have not specified precisely how the event will work, but it is expected to mirror a comparable structure to this year's edition

The professionals will be granted to have a single serve and the amateurs two times - as is the norm in standard play

While it is not certain how the bracket will work, there will be several competitive phases and the location will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the smaller Kia Arena

The final stages will be held in a night session instead of 1pm local time

Participation Details

Any Australians - or overseas competitors who have signed up with Tennis Australia - can compete in 'single-point competition' tournaments at their community centers

The winners of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a draw, with an everyday competitor from every geographic division picked to take part in the 'final competition' in a night session on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a qualifying draw in late year which non-professionals, lower ranked pros, celebrities and sports personalities can enter

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

"No matter your experience, the overall victor will walk away with the reward. Applications will open soon at facilities across the country"

Competition planners mentioned there were "additional stars to be revealed shortly", while the event portal mentioned "well-known figures" would be taking part