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Amateur players are being offered the possibility to claim a seven-figure prize when they face world-class athletes - featuring leading player the Spanish champion - in a winner-takes-all point prior to the year's first major

Organizers of the Australian Open have unveiled the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will pit 10 amateur players against 22 professionals in a knockout tournament at Melbourne Park

The Unique Event Will Work

Players will play 'the classic hand game' to establish who takes the serve or return position, and the player who wins the point will move forward to the next round

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

For comparison, players who made it to the penultimate round of the main draw competitions in the last edition won A$1.1m

Past Similar Events

The New York major organized a restructured, independent combined gender tournament in August which prompted top singles players to compete, with the champions receiving one million US dollars

The Australian Open held its debut single-point competition earlier this year, but the prize fund was a smaller amount and it had limited exposure

Andrey Rublev was the sole elite competitor participating, and his progress finished when he put the single service opportunity allowed into the mesh in his last eight match

Tournament Information

Planners have not said exactly how the event will function, but it is anticipated to mirror a comparable structure to the previous version

The elite players will be granted to serve once and the everyday players two times - as is the norm in standard play

While it is uncertain how the pairings will work, there will be five knockout rounds and the location will be the primary court rather than the smaller Kia Arena

The last matches will occur in a evening slot instead of early afternoon

Competitor Information

Any Australians - or foreign participants who have registered with the governing body - can participate in 'quick-match event' competitions at their neighborhood facilities

The champions of the community events will then go into a random pairing, with one amateur player from every region and area picked to take part in the 'final competition' in a night session on mid-January

There will also be a entry tournament in the final month which everyday players, lower ranked pros, well-known figures and athletic celebrities can participate in

It commences on the starting date and the two winners will advance to the midweek 'final showdown' with the remaining non-professionals and 10 professionals

"No matter your experience, the final champion will claim the prize. Applications will start imminently at facilities nationwide"

Competition planners stated there were "additional stars to be announced soon", while the official website said "famous personalities" would be participating