Young guns, tour veterans, and established stars attempt to break the mould in Netflix’s latest behind the scenes look into sporting worlds, as the team behind F1: Drive to Survive attempt to pull back the curtain on all things Tennis.
Landing next Friday (on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the year) Break Point plays its hand much like the first season of its F1 counterpart, laying out more than enough entertainment to enthral, surprise, entertain, and most crucially, convert the unconverted.
The show kicks off with arguably its most well-known asset, one who even those not wrapped up in week to week Tennis will know. The enigmatic, controversial, and undoubtedly entertaining (and necessary for the sport for my money) Nick Kyrgios. His episodes dives into his life off the court as well as showcasing the fireworks he produces on it (spot the Andy Murray cameo in that one).
In fact, one thing each of the five episodes does well is pack a great deal into a short run time, with the two hander episodes that flip between players doing so as to not lose the emotional investment and storylines. Though you’d struggle to lose that anyway given those who allowed access, with titles, agonising losses, shock injuries, and major upsets all covered in this opening batch of episodes.
Disclaimer here that anyone wishing to see the fireworks from Wimbledon and beyond will have to wait until June with these five only covering from the Australian Open to the French Open.
A decision I would argue against. A dosing of all ten episodes now would have allowed newcomers to the sport to follow their favourite personalities for an entire season, especially considering some of those Netflix tailed are not present in these first five, and given what they missed out on in the opening portion of the year (the cameras were not there to capture Women’s World Number One Iga Światek’s incredible 37 match winning run that included a Grand Slam title).
That said, it still skilfully delivers on capturing life on the tour for a player, and all the elements that come with being a tennis pro, from the isolation, to the constant travelling and beyond.
I can hear you shouting, ‘BUT WHAT ABOUT FEDERER, NADAL & DJOKOVIC’. Rest assured, even though not directly involved in the show, Djokovic’s early season exit from Australia (the country not the tournament) is addressed, while Nadal’s incredible start to last season is a looming presence over many of the episodes, with many of those followed forced to lock horns with the great Spaniard.
But despite the lack of its ‘stratospheric stars’ including the injured Federer and Serena Williams, the show is a wonderful advert for tennis’ next chapter, and should be proof enough (especially when the final five episodes are released in June) that the sport will be just fine when all of those mammoth legends hang up the racquet for good, and these up to now lesser known players and personalities rise to the surface. I challenge anyone to come out of this show with their love for Ons Jabeur not higher than it already was. While ‘Berrettini/Tomljanović’ will almost certainly top the google (and Instagram) searches.
Verdict
Despite its lack of on court legends of the game, Netflix wisely chooses to lean on a few familiar faces as talking heads, to give an overview of the players and tournaments on show, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick to name but two. While those extremely engrained in the sport will recognise coach Patrick Mouratoglou who makes an appearance because well…of course he does.
A show well worth a shot for new or old fans of the sport, and five episodes that deliver a lot while promising much more. Another sporting success for Netflix.
