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Everyday tennis enthusiasts are getting an opportunity to win a seven-figure prize when they take on tennis' top professionals - featuring leading player Carlos Alcaraz - in a winner-takes-all point leading up to January's Australian Open

Event planners of the Australian Open have revealed the Seven-Figure Quick-Fire Competition, which will pair everyday competitors against 22 professionals in a single-elimination format at Melbourne Park

This Innovative Event Will Work

Competitors are set to play 'the classic hand game' to establish who serves or receives, and the player who wins the point will advance to the following stage

The champion of the event will earn approximately half a million pounds

Contextually, players who advanced to the semi-finals of the primary tournaments in the last edition won A$1.1m

Earlier Related Competitions

The New York major hosted a redesigned, separate mixed doubles tournament in late summer which prompted top singles players to take part, with the winners receiving a million-dollar prize

The Melbourne tournament held its inaugural One Point Slam in the current season, but the total purse was a smaller amount and it had limited exposure

The Russian player was the single high-ranked athlete participating, and his progress finished when he directed the sole serving chance granted into the mesh in his penultimate round

Event Information

Officials have not detailed exactly how the event will function, but it is anticipated to emulate a similar format to this year's edition

The elite players will be permitted to have a single serve and the non-professionals on two occasions - as is the norm in traditional tennis

While it is unclear how the draw will work, there will be several competitive phases and the site will be the primary court rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will take place in a evening slot instead of early afternoon

Competitor Details

Any Australians - or foreign participants who have signed up with the national federation - can participate in 'One Point Slam' tournaments at their neighborhood facilities

The victors of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a random pairing, with one amateur player from every geographic division chosen to take part in the 'final competition' in a nighttime event on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a qualifying draw in late year which non-professionals, lower ranked pros, well-known figures and sport stars can enter

It commences on the starting date and the pair of champions will qualify for the following day's 'championship match' with the remaining non-professionals and 10 professionals

"Regardless of your skill level, the overall victor will walk away with the reward. Registrations will open soon at venues nationwide"

Event organizers said there were "more big names to be unveiled imminently", while the tournament site mentioned "celebrities" would be participating