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Amateur players will have the chance to claim one million Australian dollars when they take on world-class athletes - including leading player Carlos Alcaraz - in a winner-takes-all point before the Australian Grand Slam

Organizers of the Melbourne major have announced the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will pit a dozen non-professionals against 22 professionals in a knockout tournament at the tournament grounds

This Innovative Competition Operates

Participants must play 'rock, paper, scissors' to establish who gets to serve or return, and the player who wins the point will progress to the subsequent phase

The winner of the event will take home approximately half a million pounds

For comparison, players who reached the final four of the men's or women's singles in the previous year's tournament won A$1.1m

Past Related Competitions

The New York major staged a restructured, separate combined gender tournament in August which prompted top singles players to take part, with the victors receiving $1m

The Melbourne tournament held its first-ever single-point competition in the current season, but the cash prize was A$60,000 and it generated little publicity

Andrey Rublev was the single high-ranked athlete involved, and his run finished when he put the sole serving chance allowed into the mesh in his last eight match

Competition Details

Officials have not said exactly how the event will operate, but it is expected to mirror a comparable structure to the previous version

The elite players will be granted to make one service and the everyday players twice - as is the standard practice in traditional tennis

While it is uncertain how the bracket will work, there will be five knockout rounds and the site will be the Rod Laver Arena rather than the secondary venue

The final stages will occur in a evening slot instead of early afternoon

Entry Details

Any Australians - or foreign participants who have registered with Tennis Australia - can enter 'single-point competition' events at their community centers

The victors of the local competitions will then go into a random pairing, with an everyday competitor from every state and territory chosen to compete in the 'championship round' in a nighttime event on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a preliminary competition in late year which non-professionals, lower ranked pros, celebrities and athletic celebrities can compete in

It starts on early January and the pair of champions will advance to the midweek 'championship match' with the additional everyday players and elite competitors

"Regardless of your skill level, the ultimate winner will receive the prize. Entries will open soon at clubs throughout the nation"

Competition planners said there were "further celebrities to be unveiled imminently", while the official website said "famous personalities" would be taking part