Netflix’s Break Point tennis docuseries: Australians Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Ajla Tomljanovic among stars
Which side of Nick Kyrgios will Netflix’s latest big budget sports docuseries reveal — the combative, combustible character we see on court, or the considered, contemplative we’re told about off court? One thing is for certain … a ratings winner looms, and Aussie stars are at the forefront.
New balls please! After basketball (The Last Dance), football (All or Nothing), Formula One (Drive to Survive) and rugby union (All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks), tennis is the latest sport to get the streaming documentary series treatment.
Break Point, whose first five episodes premiere on Netflix this week, follows the young bucks of the ATP tour as they try to topple Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and the like in early 2022.
Like The Last Dance and Drive to Survive, the series uses slickly edited personal stories to attract new fans to the sport. Hence why they explain that it takes six games to win a set and that you get two serves after a let.
Game. Set. Match. Meet the next generation of tennis giants.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 5, 2023
From the producers of Formula 1: Drive To Survive; Break Point, Part 1.
13 January, only on @Netflix x @NetflixUK x @NetflixANZpic.twitter.com/DgFJLP1iZT
On-court action is interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage of players including the smouldering but slightly dull Italian star Matteo Berrettini and the Australian player Ajla Tomljanovic, then his girlfriend, whom we see watching The Holiday on a laptop on their hotel bed.
At the other end of the scale there is Nick Kyrgios, the talented bad boy of the tour, whom you may remember for his abusive tirades at Wimbledon. He and his doubles partner, Thanasi Kokkinakis, give off strong Beavis and Butt-Head vibes. When Kokkinakis starts addressing the camera too soon he raises his eyebrows and says, “Premature? Used to it!” to loud sniggers from Kyrgios. Fortunately their tennis is better than their banter, especially Kyrgios’s behind-the-back trick shots.
And there are moments of clarity from Kyrgios, who speaks of the pressure he faces from his country and his fans.
“The expectation for me to be the next big thing is unbelievable,” he says.
Judging by Kyrgios’ recent tweets, however, he’s not feeling any pressure about being the star of Netflix’s latest big budget sport docuseries.
Haha so after all this, all the media, journalism saying how bad I am for the sport, disrespecting the game & just a pure villain, I am going to be the number 1 episode on Netflix… to grow our fan base, basically trying to put tennis on the map again ðŸ¤
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) December 29, 2022
And essentially putting more money in everyone’s pockets that’s involved with tennis, you all look really ridiculous now ðŸ¤ðŸ¤£ your apology should be as loud as your disrespect was.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) December 29, 2022
Part one of Break Point covers the Australian and French Opens while part two, due in the summer, takes in Wimbledon and the US Open, and if the series follows the same formula as Drive to Survive we may see the big guns then.
Before that, here are ten more riveting sport documentaries.
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An Impossible Job (1994)
The tragicomedy that gave us the immortal dugout phrase “Do I not like that”, uttered by the England manager Graham Taylor as qualification for the 1994 World Cup evaporated before his eyes. Taylor agreed to do the film before the team’s fortunes nosedived and it captures his implosion with merciless hilarity. By the time the referee fails to send off the Dutch defender Ronald Koeman in a vital match, all semblance of restraint has gone. Taylor tells a linesman: “The referee has got me the sack. Thank him ever so much for that, won’t you?” YouTube
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When We Were Kings (1996)
Revisiting the Rumble in the Jungle of 1974 between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, this Oscar winner has it all: wildly contrasting adversaries in the charismatic Ali and the taciturn Foreman, a febrile backdrop in Mobutu’s Zaire, live music from James Brown and BB King, and vivid commentary courtesy of George Plimpton, Spike Lee and Norman Mailer. Plimpton elevates an extraordinary bout to supernatural levels, gasping, “The succubus has got him!” as the tide turns against Foreman. Amazon
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Living with Lions (1999)
This raw fly-on-the-wall account of the British and Irish Lions’ victorious tour of South Africa in 1997 belongs to an era when media access was thrillingly laissez faire. The pre-match speeches are spine-tingling and the extra-curricular stuff is gloriously off-message, from the head coach Ian McGeechan downing a shot of whisky to the 6ft 8in second row Simon Shaw dressed as Freddie Mercury. “That video had a huge impact on me,” said Paul O’Connell, who captained the Lions in 2009. “It genuinely made me fall in love with rugby.” DVD
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Fire in Babylon (2010)
The evolution of the West Indies team of the Seventies from laid-back “calypso cricketers” to intimidating world-beaters is the juicy subject of Stevan Riley’s film. Shaken up by the fast bowling of Australia, the West Indies’ captain, Clive Lloyd, assembles his own ferocious pace attack which, allied to the belligerent batting of Viv Richards, ushers in a period of dominance that stretches to the Eighties. Riley features the infamous interview in which the England captain Tony Greig, when asked about the West Indies, said, “I intend … to make them grovel.” He came to regret that. Amazon, Sky
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Senna (2010)
Asif Kapadia’s film about Ayrton Senna gave birth to a subgenre of documentaries that did away with talking heads and authoritative commentary in favour of collages of existing footage. It’s a powerful, organic way to tell the story of the Brazilian maverick who won the F1 world championship three times and died after his car hit a wall when he was leading the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Amazon, Sky
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Icarus (2017)
Two extraordinary films in one. In the first the director Bryan Fogel investigates doping in an amateur cycling race, recruiting the Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov to help him to take banned drugs without testing positive. In doing so he uncovers a far bigger and more explosive story, as Rodchenkov reveals that he oversees a state-sponsored doping program in Russia. It’s a breathless thriller of cover-ups, death threats and repercussions - Rodchenkov’s brave whistleblowing was instrumental in Russian athletes being banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics. Netflix
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Free Solo (2018)
In June 2017 Alex Honnold attempted the first free solo (unaccompanied and using no equipment) ascent of El Capitan, the 2,300m granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. A mistake would mean death. Even if you know whether or not Honnold pulled off this feat, the Oscar-winning film about it is nerve-shredding. The ridiculous level of peril is brought home when his climbing buddies, stationed on the wall to film him, can barely watch. Amazon, Sky
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Cheer (2020-22)
Apologies for the dearth of entries about women’s sport in this list – there just aren’t many truly great documentaries. Hopefully that will change given the growth of women’s football, rugby and cricket in particular – the Euro-winning Lionesses would be a cracking subject. In the meantime, lap up the stirring story of the Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team from Corsicana, Texas. Coached by an inspiring matriarch in Monica Aldama, they defy a string of broken bones to become the top team in what has become a billion-dollar sport. This ain’t about the pompoms. Netflix
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The Last Dance (2020)
The series that set the template for the in-depth Netflix sports doc, a gripping exploration of the great Michael Jordan’s last season with the multiple championship-winning Chicago Bulls team of the Nineties. Even basketball novices were engrossed by the saga of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Jordan, whose competitiveness was so extreme that he concocted feuds with opposing players to motivate himself. Netflix
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McEnroe (2022)
A portrait of John McEnroe that lacks the sycophancy of so many sports documentaries. There’s plenty of appreciation – some of it from the man himself, not one for false modesty - but it’s tempered with an awareness of his flaws. “I’m the greatest player that’s ever played at this point,” he says of his mid-Eighties heyday. “Why did that not feel that amazing?” That and the infamous tantrums are linked to McEnroe’s intimidating father, and interviewees include Bjorn Borg, whose early retirement McEnroe calls an “absolute f***ing tragedy”, and McEnroe’s second wife, Patty Smyth, who thinks he is on the autistic spectrum. There’s only one star, though, and he’s candid, insightful and hugely likeable. Amazon, Sky
THE TIMES
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