cinema shots and games of slow motion and accelerated

January 15, 2023

101

Read Time:6 Minute, 11 Second

“Break point”: after “Drive to Survive”, Netflix offers a successful immersion behind the scenes of tennis
The series will be broadcast in two stages: five episodes will be available on Friday, the remaining five next June. Enough to shed light on world tennis two days before the start of the Australian Open (January 16 to 29).
An unprecedented dive into the world of world tennis. After immersion in the paddocks with the successful documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and before the release of the highly anticipated one on the Tour de France, Netflix is re-adapting this format in the little yellow ball version. Directed by the same producers as Formula 1, James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin, this documentary from the global subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform shines a light on the new generation of players.

Through ten episodes – the first five available from January 13, the last five will be available in June 2023 – the series immerses the viewer in the daily life of actors and actresses on the world circuit, to the rhythm of the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000, which follow one another without interruption throughout the year. And the cast is enticing: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Paula Badosa, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Ons Jabeur, Nick Kyrgios, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Iga Swiatek, or Stefanos Tsitsipas to name but a few. Although the gratin of world tennis has lent itself to the exercise, we can only regret the absence of the Big 3 – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – who do not intervene. Especially since the new generation must deal with them and their exploits to try to exist.

In the retro of the 2022 season
Netflix has thus followed the players throughout the 2022 season, with privileged access. And that is the strength of this series. The film crews accompanied them during training, in their hotels, with their loved ones, sometimes even in their city, in the dressing rooms in full competition, and even in the corridors leading to the entrance of the stadium, which for some are a post – match decompression valve. So many moments that humanize them when they are too often seen as winning machines. “I just want the fans to see what we go through every day to remember that we are only human beings after all,” explained Tunisian Ons Jabeur, world number 2 at the ATP for the promotion of the series.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur with her mother in Tunis. Excerpt from the documentary “Break point” on Netflix. (Courtesy of Netflix)
Each episode is centered on a player, his challenges, his successes and his failures. The first part thus returns to the Australian Open 2022 of Nick Kyrgios, the terrible child of tennis, however talented. Through its prism, we perceive the pressure suffered by the players and the feeling of loneliness felt by some, because of their constant trips to tournaments all over the world.

The psychological aspect of discipline, the solidity of which is undoubtedly the basis of all success, perhaps more than in any other sport, is tackled from the second and third episodes through Matteo Berrettini and Taylor Fritz. If the management of emotions is essential in matches, it is just as important to hold on to the season. “It’s hard to be happy in tennis, says Taylor Fritz in front of the camera. Every week, we all lose, except one person. We get used to losing.” Before adding: “We spend 30 and a few weeks a year traveling, it’s exhausting.”

“I have only one thing in mind, to do everything possible to deserve the place in the top 10 with the others.”

Taylor Fritz, American player, 9th at ATP Netflix
But it is perhaps Maria Sakkari’s mother, former professional player Angelikí Kanellopoúlou, who says it best. “Players don’t just lose against their opponents, they also lose against themselves.” The addiction to the feeling of victory, the intrinsic desire to win a Grand Slam title and to become world number 1 are also addressed by all the players on the circuit. A common passion and inseparable from their career.

Australian players Thanasi Kokkinakis (left) and Nick Kyrgios (right) during an on-camera interview in Netflix’s ‘Break Point’ documentary. (Courtesy of Netflix)
Australian players Thanasi Kokkinakis (left) and Nick Kyrgios (right) during an on-camera interview in Netflix’s ‘Break Point’ documentary. (Courtesy of Netflix)
This documentary series, with a scenography specific to Netflix, between cinema shots and games of slow motion and accelerated images that lend themselves perfectly to tennis, will appeal to those who wish to better know and understand this universe, sometimes too confidential, but will bring together also court enthusiasts, who will observe their favorite sport from another point of view.