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Everyday tennis enthusiasts are being offered the chance to claim one million Australian dollars when they compete against tennis' top professionals - featuring top-ranked the Spanish champion - in a one-point battle leading up to the Australian Grand Slam

Tournament officials of the Australian Open have unveiled the $1 Million Single-Point Tournament, which will match a dozen non-professionals against 22 professionals in a elimination competition at the Australian Open venue

This Innovative Event Will Work

Participants must 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 winner of the event will receive a significant cash prize

Contextually, players who advanced to the semi-finals of the main draw competitions in the 2025 Australian Open won substantial prize money

Previous Comparable Tournaments

The New York major hosted a redesigned, standalone combined gender tournament in late summer which encouraged top singles players to compete, with the winners receiving a million-dollar prize

The year's first major held its inaugural One Point Slam earlier this year, but the prize fund was sixty thousand Australian dollars and it had limited exposure

Andrey Rublev was the sole elite competitor participating, and his campaign finished when he directed the one and only serve allowed into the mesh in his penultimate round

Competition Information

Organizers have not said exactly how the event will function, but it is anticipated to follow a comparable structure to the previous version

The professionals will be permitted to serve once and the non-professionals on two occasions - as is the usual procedure in standard play

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

The last matches will take place in a night session instead of 1pm local time

Competitor Information

Local players - or foreign participants who have registered with the national federation - can participate in 'One Point Slam' tournaments at their neighborhood facilities

The champions of the local competitions will then go into a selection process, with an everyday competitor from every region and area picked to compete in the 'championship round' in a nighttime event on the specified date

There will also be a preliminary competition in December which everyday players, aspiring competitors, celebrities and sport stars can enter

It starts on Monday, 12 January and the two winners will advance to the following day's 'grand finale' with the additional everyday players and elite competitors

"Regardless of your skill level, the final champion will receive the reward. Registrations will begin shortly at venues nationwide"

Competition planners mentioned there were "further celebrities to be announced soon", while the event portal said "famous personalities" would be participating