Praise the Tennis Gods, 'Break Point' Will Return
When we last left tennis’s newest generation of superstars in Break Point—a five-episode Netflix docuseries, streaming now—they were competing on one the grandest stages of the sport. Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Men’s Doubles Final at the 2022 Australian Open, Matteo Berrettini nearly defeated Rafael Nadal, Ons Jabeur was leveling up in Madrid, and the young Félix Auger-Aliassime was making a name for himself at the 2022 French Open.
Split into two parts, Break Point will return with another five-episode arc covering 2022's Wimbledon and US Open tournaments—but it won’t hit viewers’ screens until this summer. And quite a lot will have happened in the meantime. The pseudo-antagonist of the series, Rafael Nadal, not only won both the 2022 Australian Open and French Open tournaments featured in the series so far, but he was finally bested by the American Frances Tiafoe at the US Open back in September. Hell, he was even just eliminated in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open by an unranked American player named Mackenzie McDonald. In that timeframe, we also saw Roger Federer and Serena Williams retire, Naomi Osaka announce that she was pregnant with her first child, and 2022 US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz claim a new No. 1 ranking.
By the way, many fans watching at home believe there might be a Netflix curse for those who starred in the series, according to Tennis.com. Before this month's Australian Open kicked off, Break Point stars Nick Kyrgios, Paula Badosa, and Ajla Tomljanovic all pulled out from the tournament entirely with a hamstring injury. A week later, Matteo Berrettini was eliminated in the first round. “Obviously, a little bit [has] changed since then, but it's part of my life. It's part of what I experience,” Berrettini told Tennis.com. “I don't know what they're going to show in the second part, but hopefully it's going to be good, as well.” Still, many other players featured in the series, such as Ons Jabeur and Félix Auger-Aliassime, have advanced.
Break Point also explored the mental and physical toll that playing at such a high level has on athletes, especially as younger players speak out more about their mental health. “I think the Netflix series is a great introduction for fans to see how hard the sport is,” Leylah Fernandez, a 20-year-old Canadian player who was the runner-up in the 2021 US Open finals, told WTA. “I think some young athletes, young students can relate to us and can see that they are not alone, that we are also going through that, and that maybe if they see us succeed or figure something out in these moments, they won't feel like they are defeated. They can get through it, too.”
As much as I was screaming at my television for Break Point to just continue auto-playing instead of waiting for the summer, hopefully the series will provide even more riveting behind-the-scenes footage from last year’s biggest moments. The Netflix series will return with five more episodes this June.
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