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Amateur players will have the chance to claim a seven-figure prize when they face tennis' top professionals - featuring leading player Carlos Alcaraz - in a one-point battle before the year's first major

Event planners of the Australian Open have revealed the Seven-Figure Quick-Fire Competition, which will pair a dozen non-professionals against elite athletes in a elimination competition at the tournament grounds

This Innovative Tournament Functions

Participants must play 'the classic hand game' to establish who gets to serve or return, and whoever wins the point will move forward to the subsequent phase

The champion of the event will take home £490,000

For comparison, players who reached the penultimate round of the primary tournaments in the previous year's tournament won over a million Australian dollars

Earlier Comparable Tournaments

The US Open organized a redesigned, standalone combined gender tournament in late summer which motivated top singles players to participate, with the victors receiving one million US dollars

The year's first major held its debut single-point competition in the current season, but the cash prize was a smaller amount and it generated little publicity

The Russian player was the sole elite competitor competing, and his run finished when he directed the one and only serve granted into the mesh in his last eight match

Competition Specifics

Organizers have not said exactly how the event will work, but it is expected to mirror a similar format to this year's edition

The elite players will be permitted to make one service and the non-professionals two times - as is the standard practice in traditional tennis

While it is not certain how the pairings will work, there will be several competitive phases and the site will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the secondary venue

The last matches will be held in a night session instead of midday timing

Participation Details

Local players - or international players who have enrolled with the governing body - can participate in 'One Point Slam' events at their neighborhood facilities

The victors of the community events will then go into a random pairing, with an everyday competitor from every region and area chosen to take part in the 'grand finale' in a night session on mid-January

There will also be a preliminary competition in December which non-professionals, lower ranked pros, celebrities and sports personalities can participate in

It begins on early January and the successful competitors will advance to the midweek 'championship match' with the additional everyday players and 10 professionals

"Regardless of your skill level, the overall victor will walk away with the prize. Applications will open soon at clubs across the country"

Tournament officials said there were "more big names to be unveiled imminently", while the official website indicated "celebrities" would be participating