The Australian Open is giving amateur tennis players the chance to play Carlos Alcaraz for a jackpot of £500,000 at an enhanced one-point tournament in January.
After a successful trial of the new concept at Melbourne Park this year, it was announced on Tuesday that the event will now be known as the Million Dollar One Point Slam. Due to take place in the week leading up to the grand-slam tournament, ten amateurs will be given a spot in the mixed male and female draw alongside 22 professionals.
The commitment of Alcaraz to headline the entries is a significant boon for organisers, offering amateurs the unprecedented chance to face the world No1 and six-times grand-slam singles champion from Spain at the Rod Laver Arena. Qualifying tournaments will be held at tennis clubs across Australia over the coming months, with the regional state winners going through to the “grand finale” on Melbourne’s main 15,000-capacity show court on January 14.
The single-point format gives amateurs the hope that they can beat the likes of Alcaraz. While it is unlikely an amateur would win a baseline rally, an example of a quick defeat for a top player came at the inaugural event this year when Andrey Rublev hit his only serve — no second serves are allowed — into the net during the quarter-finals.
The news comes after the US Open successfully introduced a new mixed-doubles format, which featured Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
To determine who will serve or receive, players will play rock, paper, scissors. Whoever wins the point will then progress to the next round of the elimination draw in a quickfire session, with players standing beside the court waiting for their turns. With 32 players involved, the overall champion will need to win five points.
The top prize of £500,000 is a considerable improvement on the £29,400 that was offered at this year’s trial edition. It is so high that a professional player would have had to reach the semi-finals of the men’s or women’s singles at this year’s Australian Open to earn more (£540,000).
The trial was won by Omar Jasika, an Australian player ranked No180 in the world at the time, although it was a 56-year-old father of three who stole the show. Paul Fitzgerald, from Melbourne, beat three professionals — Dane Sweeny, Matthew Dellavedova and Alex Bolt — by using his powerful swinging serve before losing to Priscilla Hon, then ranked No163, in the semi-finals.
“Whether you’re an amateur or a pro, the ultimate winner will walk away with the prize,” Craig Tiley, the Australian Open tournament director, said. “Entries will open soon at clubs across the country, and during opening week, finalists will compete for a chance to face the pros on Rod Laver Arena.”
The enhancement of this one-point event is another sign of the increasing attempts by grand-slam tournaments to make more of what was traditionally the qualifying week before the main event. The US Open successfully introduced a new mixed-doubles format this year, which gave top players including Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek the chance to warm up for the singles while competing for a $1million (£750,000) prize.
Although the Australian Open will stick with the traditional mixed event for doubles players, organisers are advertising a whole host of exhibition matches, live practice sessions and concerts during the build-up week. Wimbledon chiefs are also keen to do more in the future, but are focusing for now on clearing legal hurdles surrounding the plans to expand into the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf Club.