Netflix tennis documentary Break Point lacks Drive to Survive’s … – iNews
To “Drive to Survive” something has become a verb in the sporting world. The success of the fly-on-the-wall Formula One documentary has been rampant, helping the sport crack America in a way it has always struggled to do before now. That success is now coveted by every sports administrator worth their salt.
James Gay-Rees, one half of the partnership behind DtS creators Box to Box Films, is a man in demand. Representatives of as many as 30 different sports have contacted him one way or another, asking to get the treatment they hope will lead to victory in the increasingly competitive race for eyeballs.
F1 has become an immovable annual fixture, golf is getting a DtS facelift and now tennis has a season in the books – Break Point. A second series of Break Point is, i understands, yet to get the green light.
But would the filmmakers do it again?
“We would love to,” Gay-Rees tells i, but the Oscar, Bafta and Emmy winning producer was unlikely to say anything else.
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The first half of Break Point will hit Netflix on 13 January, with five more episodes due to drop in June. How they are received will go a long way towards deciding whether Gay-Rees gets his wish.
The format of these things is familiar now: talking heads in an all-black studio, slow-motion match footage and an approach to the sport that makes it clear the producers are not that interested in attracting the purists. Voiceovers from Amazon Prime’s Catherine Whitaker explain that six games win you a set, and that men play best-of-five in the Grand Slams, while women only play best-of-three.
“Because [athletes] are so ubiquitous and sport is so ubiquitous we think we understand sport,” Gay-Rees adds.
“But I think when you really unpack it, and especially in case of these tennis players, I certainly had no idea going into it what was really required to be a sportsman or sportswomen of this calibre. I think that’s the fascination with the reality of being an elite sportsperson. It’s our job to show that to a wider audience.”
The facile approach to the sport is not particularly off-putting, but what the series really lacks is Box to Box’s signature unguarded moments. The very first episode is based around Nick Kyrgios’ attempts to win the Australian Open, but rather than an unpeeling of the complicated onion that is one of tennis’s biggest mavericks, you get the impression that he knows exactly where the camera is at all times. The teaser for the second half of the series promises a more “warts and all” portrayal, but episode one is bordering on a whitewash with its portrait of a misunderstood softy.
“I think the biggest challenge when you’re just thinking of approaching doing the series was the idea of access,” says showrunner Kari Lia.
“Tennis is notoriously difficult in terms of access, because the key places that you need to be as a filmmaker to really tell the story of these players… you’ve got to be in the hotel rooms and you’ve got to be in the locker rooms before and after a game. You’ve got to be there for those moments of loss because actually, for a tennis player, it’s all about losing.”
There are some revealing moments. Taylor Fritz damages his ankle during practice, hours before the Indian Wells final against Rafael Nadal. His coach and physio desperately try to talk him out of playing through the pain, explaining he will only be prolonging the rehab, but Fritz is stubborn, to the point of a row in the camp. In the end, he has several injections in his ankle and then beats Nadal to claim the biggest title of his career.
There are moving lows too, like Ajla Tomljanovic melting down outside the locker room after a particularly painful defeat, telling coach Diego Moyano she is ready to retire from the game altogether. Maria Sakkari reveals she actually did retire for four days after blowing a match point against Barbora Krejcikova in the French Open semi-final.
Her relationship with British coach Tom Hill, one of the youngest on tour, is interesting too. It offers some of the best insight into what tennis coaches actually do, as well as what they don’t, although “standing up” at a changeover in Sakkari’s eyeliner is rather overblown as a psychologic masterstroke.
That rather sums up the series – trying to make more of less. The top players are conspicuous by their absence, albeit bagging Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova is a shrewd move that pays off. Nevertheless, the biggest tennis story of the year, maybe the century, is barely covered, except for when Frances Tiafoe gets at text confirm Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the Australian Open after a protracted immigration battle.
“He’s out. Oh my God, this is fucking bonkers,” Tiafoe says.
“Well I mean… there’s one less person to worry about.”
Who is featured in Break Point?
This is a list of players who feature in the first series of Break Point:
- Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Paula Badosa
- Matteo Berrettini
- Taylor Fritz
- Ons Jabeur
- Thanasi Kokkinakis
- Nick Kyrgios
- Casper Ruud
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Maria Sakkari
- Sloane Stephens
- Iga Swiatek
- Frances Tiafoe
- Ajla Tomljanovic
- Stefanos Tsitsipas
The series also includes interviews with:
- Paul Annacone
- Chris Evert
- Patrick Mouratoglou
- Toni Nadal
- Martina Navratilova
- Andy Roddick
- Maria Sharapova
It’s not exactly Break Point’s fault: as Gay-Rees himself points out, the so-called Big Four have all made their own films, except Roger Federer.
“Listen, I would make it about Roger Federer tomorrow, that would be an incredible privilege,” he says.
“But I think that the timing is everything. And I think that we are now seeing, beginning with Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, these are players that are going to be around for a long time and win a lot of tournaments. I think we are seeing that changing of the guard. Our timing is good to be catching that wave.”
The Alcaraz and Swiatek episodes will follow in the summer. Tennis fans will hope they offer a little more insight.