Netflix “Break Point” Series — Engaging Enough, But Will it Create New Tennis Fans?
Netflix just launched its new “Break Point” series covering the world of professional tennis. When the series was first announced last year, it generated considerable buzz within the ATP and WTA pro tours as well as among tennis fans, many posting on social media, that they expected the show to help boost interest in the sport in a similar way as Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” series on Formula 1 racing did for that sport.
The first five episodes of “Break Point” covers the initial half of the 2022 pro tennis season. Each episode highlights a current or rising star on tour — specifically Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa, Matteo Berrettini, Ajla Tomljanović, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, and several more. While reigning tennis icons Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are mentioned and shown throughout, they are not the overall focus.
Having watched the initial series, here are my early thoughts.
So far, the series is balanced enough to engage dedicated tennis fans and those who have never seen the sport. In the first episode spotlighting the Australian Open and Nick Kyrgios, there’s an expected amount of background information expressly for the novice watcher on how tennis scoring works, how the tours work, the majors, the draws, and so forth. Dedicated tennis fans will likely find themselves fast-forwarding through this part, although how tennis scoring works is often the first question new watchers always ask.
The most compelling part for me is how the show gets the viewer behind the scenes access that most tennis fans never get — on the practice court, in the press room, in their hotel rooms, traveling to and from tournaments, and interviews with their family and friends, managers, trainers, etc.
While the Netflix Formula 1 series “Drive to Survive” emphasizes the roar and the speed of that specific racing car circuit, this tennis series focuses more on the isolation and singularity of being a professional tennis player rather than the well-shot match highlights.
I could imagine casual viewers thinking, “Why would anyone become a pro tennis player?” given the sport’s high stakes “eat what you kill” nature, especially for lower-ranked players. The series, in later seasons, should definitely focus some attention on those players, though the current emphasis on established stars makes that seem unlikely.
Also, to expect this series, after all the initial chatter, to immediately boost interest in the sport, like the Formula 1 series, is an unfair expectation. “Drive to Survive” has been around for several years and many seasons and has had time to build an audience. We’ll have to wait and see if this tennis series can do the same.
My final thought is that while Netflix and the series producers have created an inventive way to showcase the players, their lives, and their matches to viewers of this particular series, that is not, repeat, not, how professional tennis is shown today — whether on television or streaming platforms.
To reignite previous fans and engage new fans, how the sport is produced and presented week in and week out must also be reinvented, especially for today’s short-attention-span audience. But if that is something the ruling powers, and those employed by them are willing to do, it remains to be seen. That may be the key to driving new viewership of the sport once someone finishes watching “Break Point.”
“Break Point” is now streaming on Netflix.