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Nick Kyrgios will kick off Netflix’s new Drive To Survive-style documentary as the streaming giant unveiled the trailer for his behind-the-scenes tennis series, Break Point.
Buoyed by the success of their fly-on-the-wall program following Formula One drivers, the same production team has followed 15 of tennis’s brightest stars across the ATP and WTA tours over the past season. .
The first five episodes, focusing on Melbourne Park, Indian Wells, Madrid and Roland Garros, will be available starting January 13. The other five installments of the season, looking at Wimbledon, Eastbourne, Queens Club, the US Open, the WTA Finals and the ATP Finals. – Arrives in June.
Nick Kyrgios takes center stage after Netflix released trailer for his tennis docuseries
The 27-year-old Australian will appear alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis in the new series.
On Wednesday, Netflix released its first look at the new series. The first episode will chart the incredible run of Kyrgios and his close friend Thanasi Kokkinakis towards the Australian Open doubles title.
The 50-second trailer shows Kyrgios smashing his racket on the court, before kissing his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi away from the court.
Kyrgios’ bitter rival Stefanos Tsitsipas also appears in the series along with several big names including Women’s World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Men’s No.3 Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime, along with Women’s No.2 Ons Jabeur.
The series will also include interviews with tennis legends such as Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova and Chris Evert.
The fly-on-the-wall program will follow 15 of the best players in the world throughout 2022
Surprisingly, neither Rafael Nadal nor Novak Djokovic appear on the new show, with the streaming giant aiming to chart a ‘changing of the guard’ in tennis.
Meanwhile, world number 4 Paula Badosa is seen wiping away tears during a harrowing moment behind the scenes.
“It is hard to imagine another sport that has been so dominated by a handful of individuals for so long. But they are at the end of the cycle, except, obviously, Novak and Rafa, up to a certain point. The changing of the guard is happening,” said executive producer James Gay-Rees.
‘And so the timing was also really good. Because I love tennis, but I’m like, “Who is Tsitsipas?” You know what I mean? In all honesty,’ he said.
“But really, you realize, ‘My God, he’s No. 5 in the world. He’s a very, seriously, good tennis player and he’s a really interesting guy. And I’d like to know more about him.’ Because all I’ve heard for the last 15 to 20 years is, “Roger, Roger, Roger. Serena, Serena, Serena.” For a reason, right?
World number 4 Paula Badosa was seen wiping away tears during a harrowing moment.
‘Obviously we are not discussing that, because they are legends and icons. But I think it was really exciting to enlighten a new generation.”
The fourth season of ‘Drive to Survive’, released in March, drew its biggest audience yet and made Netflix’s top 10 TV shows list in more than 50 countries. He is widely credited with helping to increase interest in Formula One racing.
“Obviously you want to keep the main audience, the tennis enthusiasts, happy, but if we’re doing our job correctly, then the show should appeal to people who have no interest in tennis at all,” Gay-Rees added.
‘Some people might have described Formula One’s pre-‘Drive to Survive’ demographic as rather masculine, pale and musty. And I think the program, along with a few other factors, has contributed to the significantly younger demographic shifting to that sport, which is obviously manna from heaven if that was your goal.
However, tennis legends like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal do not participate in Break Point.
Martin acknowledged that some might think of other sports-based series as what he called ‘Drive to Survive for XXX’, but said the characters and the way a tennis season is structured give ‘a completely different feel’ to ‘ Breakpoint’.
He believes it shows “the physical aspect, the mental side, the rivalries, the pain” that you see in tennis.
Which are all connected with the name of the show and its double meaning. Although it wasn’t made public until Wednesday, Martin said “Break Point” was the working title for Day 1.
“We always felt like we were going to find something better,” he said. ‘The honest answer is that we didn’t. And it just seemed to work.