🔗 Share this article

Amateur players will have an opportunity to win A$1m when they take on elite players - featuring leading player the Spanish champion - in a single-point showdown prior to the Australian Grand Slam

Organizers of the year's first Grand Slam have revealed the Seven-Figure Quick-Fire Competition, which will pair a dozen non-professionals against elite athletes in a elimination competition at Melbourne Park

The Unique Tournament Functions

Players will play 'rock, paper, scissors' to determine who gets to serve or return, and whoever wins the point will progress to the next round

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

For comparison, players who reached the penultimate round of the men's or women's singles in the last edition won substantial prize money

Earlier Similar Events

The New York major organized a redesigned, separate mixed doubles tournament in late summer which encouraged top singles players to compete, with the winners receiving $1m

The year's first major held its debut One Point Slam earlier this year, but the total purse was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it generated little publicity

One top competitor was the sole elite competitor participating, and his campaign finished when he sent the sole serving chance allowed into the mesh in his penultimate round

Tournament Details

Organizers have not detailed exactly how the event will function, but it is anticipated to emulate a comparable structure to the most recent iteration

The professionals will be permitted to have a single serve and the everyday players two times - as is the norm in traditional tennis

While it is uncertain how the draw will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the location will be the primary court rather than the alternative court

The concluding rounds will occur in a nighttime schedule instead of midday timing

Competitor Information

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

The winners of the community events will then go into a random pairing, with a single non-professional from every state and territory chosen to compete in the 'championship round' in a night session on Wednesday, 14 January

There will also be a preliminary competition in late year which amateurs, aspiring competitors, celebrities and sports personalities can participate in

It begins on Monday, 12 January and the pair of champions will go into the following day's 'grand finale' with the remaining non-professionals and elite competitors

"No matter your experience, the final champion will claim the reward. Entries will start imminently at venues nationwide"

Competition planners stated there were "more big names to be announced soon", while the official website said "well-known figures" would be participating