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Everyday tennis enthusiasts are getting the chance to earn a seven-figure prize when they compete against world-class athletes - featuring world number one the Spanish champion - in a winner-takes-all point prior to the Australian Grand Slam

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have unveiled the Seven-Figure Quick-Fire Competition, which will match 10 amateur players against elite athletes in a knockout tournament at the Australian Open venue

How the Event Will Work

Competitors are set to play 'the classic hand game' to decide who takes the serve or return position, and whoever wins the point will move forward to the following stage

The victor of the event will earn £490,000

By comparison, players who made it to the final four of the men's or women's singles in the last edition won A$1.1m

Earlier Similar Events

The US Open hosted a redesigned, separate combined gender tournament in August which prompted top singles players to take part, with the winners receiving one million US dollars

The year's first major held its inaugural single-point competition this year, but the total purse was a smaller amount and it received minimal attention

Andrey Rublev was the sole elite competitor involved, and his run finished when he directed the sole serving chance granted into the net in his last eight match

Competition Information

Organizers have not specified precisely how the event will function, but it is projected to mirror a comparable structure to the previous version

The top competitors will be granted to have a single serve and the non-professionals twice - as is the usual procedure in standard play

While it is not certain how the pairings will work, there will be several competitive phases and the location will be the main stadium rather than the alternative court

The final stages will be held in a nighttime schedule instead of 1pm local time

Participation Requirements

Domestic competitors - or foreign participants who have enrolled with the national federation - can participate in 'single-point competition' tournaments at their neighborhood facilities

The champions of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a selection process, with an everyday competitor from every geographic division picked to participate in the 'final competition' in a evening match on Wednesday, 14 January

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

It commences on Monday, 12 January and the pair of champions will advance to the midweek 'grand finale' with the additional everyday players and top-ranked athletes

"No matter your experience, the final champion will walk away with the reward. Entries will begin shortly at facilities throughout the nation"

Tournament officials mentioned there were "more big names to be unveiled imminently", while the official website said "famous personalities" would be taking part