
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
There are $128$ players in a single-elimination tennis tournament. The tournament organizers have decided to give the top $32$ seeded players a bye in the first round, leaving $96$ players to compete initially. After the first round, the winners join the seeded players in subsequent rounds. The matches continue until only one champion remains. Determine the total number of matches played in the tournament.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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