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Felix Auger-Aliassime has become the tenth and final star of the new Netflix series to walk out of the Australian Open.
The Canadian sixth seed was defeated in four sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-7, by underdog Czech Jiri Lehecka on Sunday morning UK time.
Auger-Aliassime was the last man standing after the nine tennis players in breaking pointincluding the injured Nick Kyrgios, American ace Taylor Fritz and Maria Sakkari were knocked out of the Melbourne tournament.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has been knocked out of the Australian Open, losing to Jiri Lehecka
The Canadian sixth seed lost in four sets – 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-7 – against Czech underdog Jiri Lehecka
He becomes the 10th and final player to appear in Netflix’s new documentary series Break Point to be knocked out of the Melbourne Grand Slam early, with some tennis fans calling it a “curse”.
Streaming giants Netflix are calling it a “coincidence” but fans are convinced the gamers featured in the docu-series are cursed after Auger-Aliassime and Sakkari became the ninth and 10th gamers on the show to suffer an early exit from the Australian Open.
Airing on the eve of the Melbourne Grand Slam, the 10-part documentary series focuses on the lives of some of the biggest names in tennis during the 2022 season.
But for the 10 that appear in the first five rounds, it’s been a rocky start to 2023 with three missing from the tournament injured, six more knocked out in the third round and now Auger-Aliassime knocked out in the fourth.
Heading into Friday, Sakkari was one of two survivors of the dreaded ‘Netflix curse’ and was unable to escape its clutches when she lost 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 to Zhu Lin in what was the first time of the Chinese star. The top 10 win.
Maria Sakkari became the latest big name to fall victim to the ‘Netflix curse’ sweeping tennis
Netflix’s social media team was quick to call the players’ unfortunate shape a “coincidence.”
Sixth seed Sakkari appeared to have regained control in a dominating 6-1 second set, but the Greek soon lost her way again and was just the latest early casualty for the stars of the Netflix series.
Before the Melbourne Slam began, three players – Nick Kyrgios, fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic and Spain’s Paula Badosa – withdrew due to injuries sustained in the run-up.
The 13th seed Matteo Berrettini was the first competitor to fall, losing an epic 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6 (10-6) match to the superstar Scottish Andy Murray.
From there, Casper Ruud, the number 2 seed, was knocked out in four sets by American rising star Jenson Brooksby.
In the first five episodes of the new Netflix documentary Break Point, 10 players were featured
Already, with five players out, tennis fans began simulating graphics showing the ‘curse’ as players lost one by one.
American star Taylor Fritz, who represented the USA’s best chance of winning a men’s singles title in Melbourne, chafed when, after his first round win, he was brought up with the idea of Netflix’s ‘curse’ .
‘Actually, I didn’t know it was a [thing]’ Fritz said sarcastically before their second round match.
“Obviously, I noticed people withdrawing from the tournament, but I didn’t know it was something like, am I going to lose my first round because I’m on the Netflix show? I didn’t think about that.
Two of the stars, Paula Badosa (left) and Ajla Tomljanovic (right), had to withdraw due to injury.
He left Auger-Aliassime as the only player to succumb to the ‘curse’, but now he is also out.
He may have paid more attention to it, as he would join the rest of the Netflix team in retiring early with title hopes snuffed out by local favorite Alexei Popyrin.
But more drama would follow on Thursday when the top No.2 in the world, Ons Jabeur, crashed, losing to the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova.
Murray later claimed his second Netflix victim by eliminating Thanasi Kokkinakis in the longest match of the Scotsman’s career, an epic battle spanning over five hours.
That left only Sakkari and Auger-Aliassime, and now both have succumbed to the dreaded ‘curse’.