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Everyday tennis enthusiasts are being offered the possibility to claim a seven-figure prize when they face tennis' top professionals - featuring world number one the Spanish champion - in a winner-takes-all point prior to the year's first major

Organizers of the Melbourne major have announced the Million Dollar One Point Slam, which will pit 10 amateur players against elite athletes in a single-elimination format at the Australian Open venue

How the Tournament Functions

Players will play 'the decision-making game' to decide who serves or receives, and whoever wins the point will advance to the subsequent phase

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

Contextually, players who made it to the semi-finals of the men's or women's singles in the previous year's tournament won A$1.1m

Past Related Competitions

The American Grand Slam organized a redesigned, separate mixed doubles tournament in late summer which prompted top singles players to compete, with the winners receiving one million US dollars

The Australian Open held its first-ever One Point Slam in the current season, but the total purse was A$60,000 and it had limited exposure

One top competitor was the sole elite competitor involved, and his run finished when he put the single service opportunity permitted into the mesh in his last eight match

Tournament Specifics

Planners have not specified precisely how the event will function, but it is expected to emulate a comparable structure to the previous version

The professionals will be allowed to serve once and the amateurs twice - as is the norm in conventional tennis

While it is uncertain how the pairings will work, there will be five knockout rounds and the site will be the primary court rather than the secondary venue

The concluding rounds will take place in a nighttime schedule instead of 1pm local time

Competitor Requirements

Any Australians - or overseas competitors who have signed up with Tennis Australia - can compete in 'One Point Slam' tournaments at their neighborhood facilities

The victors of the community events will then go into a random pairing, with a single non-professional from every state and territory chosen to participate in the 'final competition' in a evening match on the specified date

There will also be a entry tournament in late year which amateurs, lower ranked pros, celebrities and sport stars can compete in

It begins on Monday, 12 January and the successful competitors will qualify for the following day's 'grand finale' with the remaining non-professionals and elite competitors

"Regardless of your skill level, the ultimate winner will claim the award. Applications will begin shortly at venues throughout the nation"

Tournament officials stated there were "more big names to be revealed shortly", while the tournament site said "well-known figures" would be participating