Fortnite Summer Smash Comes to Australia’s Largest Tennis Event

Rather be playing Fortnite than watching tennis? The organisers of the Australian Open might just agree with you. This year, Australia’s largest tennis event will be hosting a Fortnite tournament alongside its normal matches. It’s the Fortnite Summer Smash. A two-day event with an open tournament followed by a celebrity and streamer event the next day.

It’s a strange place for a Fortnite tournament, but when the prize money is this high does it really matter? The Fortnite Summer Smash will carry a prize pool of $50,000. It’s a fraction of the amount Epic themselves have been providing for tournaments, but it’s still the largest E-Sports prize pool seen in Australia. Out of the money, only $40,000 is actually up for grabs to the winner. A charity chosen by the winner will receive the other $10,000. Giving a little good karma for the hoards of battle-bus passengers the winner will have killed over the course of the two-day event.

Fortnite Summer Smash will feature plenty of big-name streamers and players, but it’s open to all comers. If you think you can survive enough rounds of Battle Royale to make it through to the finales, you’re welcome to try. The first day will feature qualifying rounds before the winners move on, facing a second day of finals. These rounds will pit you against 99 of Australia’s best Fortnite players. Expect to see some familiar names, and hopefully some newcomers making a name for themselves.

Fortnite Summer Smash is using rules that will reward a few different styles of play. Of course, points will be given for winning a Battle Royale. You will also receive points for coming in second or third, or for achieving a certain amount of eliminations. Whether you like to aggressively peruse your fellow man or hide out and the storm do your work, this tournament gives you the chance to prove you’re the best in Australia.

Also featuring at Fortnite Summer Smash is a celebrity tournament. This will be a separate Fortnite tournament featuring big name streamers and celebrities. They will be competing for prize money for a charity of their choice. Loserfruit, Muselk, Lachlan, Lazerbeam and mrfreshasian are all already confirmed to be taking part in this tournament. Celebrities from the worlds of entertainment and sport will also be present Which celebrities will be involved is yet to be announced. It’s probably a safe guess to assume it will include some tennis players with varying awareness of Fortnite. It’s unlikely they’ll win, but it might make the game more accessible for your average tennis fan.

While this all seems like a lot of fun, it is still a very strange place for a Fortnite tournament to be happening. It’s likely the Australian Open is attempting to engage younger people in their sport. Apparently, this is just impossible with tennis, so they’ll have to do it with Fortnite. A lot of work seems to have gone into making this event as much fan for fans of Fortnite as fans of Tennis. Fortnite continues to break down barriers for E-Sports, hopefully, the event will be as much to watch as days upon days of tennis.