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Amateur players will have the possibility to claim a seven-figure prize when they take on world-class athletes - headed by top-ranked the Spanish champion - in a one-point battle prior to January's Australian Open

Organizers of the year's first Grand Slam have revealed the Seven-Figure Quick-Fire Competition, which will match a dozen non-professionals against 22 professionals in a elimination competition at the Australian Open venue

This Innovative Tournament Functions

Participants must play 'rock, paper, scissors' to establish who takes the serve or return position, and the player who wins the point will advance to the subsequent phase

The champion of the event will receive a significant cash prize

Contextually, players who reached the semi-finals of the men's or women's singles in the previous year's tournament won over a million Australian dollars

Earlier Similar Events

The US Open hosted a restructured, standalone combined gender tournament in the eighth month which encouraged top singles players to take part, with the victors receiving $1m

The Melbourne tournament held its debut quick-fire event this year, but the total purse was a smaller amount and it generated little publicity

The Russian player was the single high-ranked athlete competing, and his run finished when he sent the sole serving chance permitted into the mesh in his quarter-final

Tournament Specifics

Officials have not said exactly how the event will operate, but it is anticipated to mirror a comparable structure to this year's edition

The top competitors will be allowed to serve once and the non-professionals two times - as is the usual procedure in traditional tennis

While it is unclear how the draw will work, there will be multiple elimination stages and the location will be the main stadium rather than the smaller Kia Arena

The final stages will occur in a night session instead of midday timing

Participation Details

Local players - or foreign participants who have signed up with the national federation - can compete in 'single-point competition' events at their neighborhood facilities

The champions of the local competitions will then go into a draw, with a single non-professional from every geographic division selected to take part in the 'final competition' in a night session on the specified date

There will also be a preliminary competition in late year which everyday players, developing professionals, celebrities and sports personalities can participate in

It begins on Monday, 12 January and the successful competitors will advance to the midweek 'final showdown' with the additional everyday players and 10 professionals

"Regardless of your skill level, the ultimate winner will receive the award. Applications will begin shortly at venues across the country"

Event organizers mentioned there were "further celebrities to be revealed shortly", while the event portal mentioned "celebrities" would be taking part