Break Point (2023 TV series)

Last updated

Break Point
Break Point titlecard.png
Genre Docudrama
Directed byMartin Webb
Theme music composerTom Fuller
Composers
  • Edmund Butt
  • Tom Fuller
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producers
ProducerAnnie Tetchner
Editors
  • Itamar Klasmr
  • Kim Duke
  • Ben Hills
Running time43–52 minutes
Production companyBox to Box Films
Original release
Network Netflix
Release13 January 2023 (2023-01-13) 
10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)

Break Point is a documentary series produced in collaboration between Netflix, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to give a behind-the-scenes look at the players and tournaments of the ATP Tour and WTA Tour.

Contents

The first part consisting of five episodes and focusing on the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, Madrid Open, and French Open was released on 13 January 2023, while the second part consisting of five episodes and focusing on Wimbledon, Eastbourne International, Queen's Club, U.S. Open, WTA Finals, and ATP Finals was released on 21 June 2023. [1] [2] [3] In March 2023, the series was renewed for a second season [4] that was released on 10 January 2024. On March 8, 2024, Netflix cancelled the series. [5]

Cast

Season 1

ATP Tour

WTA Tour

Season 2

ATP Tour

WTA Tour

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally released
110513 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
521 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
2610 January 2024 (2024-01-10)

Season 1 (2023)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal release date
Part 1
11"The Maverick"13 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
Nick Kyrgios, whose reputation as tennis' "bad boy" threatens to overshadow his talent, fights to find joy on the court at the 2022 Australian Open.
22"Take the Crown"13 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
Novak Djokovic's ban from the Australian Open leaves an opportunity for a newcomer to rise to the top; Matteo Berrettini strives to step up.
33"California Dreaming"13 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
The Indian Wells tournament means big money and big names; for California native Taylor Fritz, it could mean a career-changing match against Rafael Nadal.
44"Great Expectations"13 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
Spanish player Paula Badosa feels the pressure of entering the Madrid Open as a hometown favourite, while Tunisia's Ons Jabeur looks to make history.
55"King of Clay"13 January 2023 (2023-01-13)
Félix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and Norway's Casper Ruud face reigning "king of clay" Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
Part 2
61"Belonging"21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
Wimbledon is the cathedral of tennis, and the oldest Grand Slam represents the pinnacle of the sport; Nick Kyrgios is ready to prove he can finally reach his singles potential; Ajla Tomljanovic seeks to overcome personal and professional heartbreaks.
72"Saints and Sinners"21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
Ons Jabeur pursues her first Grand Slam; Nick Kyrgios plays brilliantly amid a cloud of scandal; in the final, Jabeur's finesse comes under attack from Elena Rybakina's massive serve; Kyrgios goes head to head with defending champion Novak Djokovic.
83"Fairytale in New York"21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
New York City streets are abuzz; the 2022 U.S. Open is electric: Serena Williams announces she will retire at the end of the tourney; for Ajla Tomljanovic, this is a chance to prove she's found the mental strength to play up to her potential.
94"Under Pressure"21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
The young guns continue to shine at the U.S. Open; Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe reach the quarter-finals; the raucous crowd may throw Swiatek off her game; for Tiafoe, it's the chance to achieve a lifelong dream.
105"One Last Chance"21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)
The 2022 season draws to a close with the ATP/WTA Finals, in which the top eight men and women compete for a huge payday. Taylor Fritz gets a call to join the men's tournament in Turin, Italy and Aryna Sabalenka wants to end the year on a high note.

Season 2 (2024)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal release date
111"The Curse"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
The 2023 Australian Open kicks off, as Nick Kyrgios seeks payback, Aryna Sabalenka pursues a dream, and players from last season exit the tournament early.
122"The Future is Yours"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
Led by Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune, a new generation of young players looks to take down the old guard, starting with Novak Djokovic.
133"Friend or Foe"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
At the 2023 Indian Wells tournament, Taylor Fritz tries to defend his number one American title against friendly rivals Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul.
144"Unfinished Business"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
After a horrific injury at the 2022 French Open, Alexander Zverev attempts a comeback and faces a formidable opponent in Daniil Medvedev.
155"Now or Never"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
For perennial top 10 players Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari, it's time to put a win on the board; however, nerves and bad weather make for brutal matches.
166"Becoming the One"10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)
With pressure at an all-time high, Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe fight for greatness at the 2023 US Open.

Production

In January 2022, Netflix ordered a documentary series of a behind-the-scenes look at the men’s and women’s professional tennis players throughout the four Grand Slam tournaments. It is produced by Box to Box Films, who produced the Formula One documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive , with James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin as executive producers and Kari Lia as Showrunner. [8] In December 2022, Netflix announced that the series would be titled Break Point and would feature Félix Auger-Aliassime, Paula Badosa, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Ons Jabeur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Nick Kyrgios, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Sloane Stephens, Iga Świątek, Frances Tiafoe, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. [1] [2] On 7 March 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. [4]

Reception

Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 81% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 21 reviews. [9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 for the season, based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajla Tomljanović</span> Australian tennis player (born 1993)

Ajla Tomljanović is an Australian professional tennis player. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 3 April 2023, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32. On 5 January 2015, she peaked at No. 47 in the doubles rankings. Tomljanović was an accomplished junior player, having won the 2009 Australian Open girls' doubles title with Christina McHale. She reached a combined career-high junior ranking of world No. 4, on 30 March 2009.

Tie Break Tens is a short tennis format in which only tie-break matches are played. There are no games or sets, only tie-break matches and the winner is the first player to reach 10 points and lead by a margin of two. Most other traditional rules of tennis are the same. The winner-take-all charity prize money is US$250,000 for each tournament. It is a short-format version of tennis, similar to other alternative forms of traditional sports, such as T20 Cricket and rugby sevens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aryna Sabalenka</span> Belarusian tennis player (born 1998)

Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Sabalenka has won two major singles titles, at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens, and two major doubles titles at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, both partnering Elise Mertens. She has won 20 career titles in total, 14 in singles and six in doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matteo Berrettini</span> Italian tennis player (born 1996)

Matteo Berrettini is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in January 2022, and world No. 105 in doubles, attained in July 2019. Berrettini has won eight ATP Tour singles titles and two doubles titles, and produced his best major performance by reaching the singles final of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. He also became the first man born in the 1990s and first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four majors after earning his first Australian Open semifinal in 2022.

The 2018 Italian Open was a professional tennis tournament played on |outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy from 14 to 20 May 2018. It was the 75th edition of the Italian Open and it is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2018 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2018 WTA Tour.

The 2018 Kremlin Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 29th edition of the Kremlin Cup for the men and the 23rd edition for the women. The tournament was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2018 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2018 WTA Tour. It was the last tournament for now to be held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, from 15 October through 21 October 2018.

The 2021 WTA Finals, also known by its sponsored name Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara, was the women's championship tennis tournament run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2021 WTA Tour. It took place at the Panamerican Tennis Center in Zapopan, Mexico from 10–17 November 2021.

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Ashleigh Barty in the final, 6–0, 3–6, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2021 Madrid Open. It was her 10th career WTA Tour singles title, and her first on clay.

Iga Świątek defeated Karolína Plíšková in the final, 6–0, 6–0 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2021 Italian Open. It was her first WTA 1000 singles title, and the 13 points Świątek lost in the championship match is the fewest on record in a WTA 1000-level final. This was the first WTA Tour singles final to be resolved with a 'double bagel' scoreline since Simona Halep defeated Anastasija Sevastova at the 2016 Bucharest Open, and was just the tenth such final in WTA Tour history. With the win, Świątek broke into the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time. Both finalists saved match points in prior rounds – Świątek saved two match points in her third round match against Barbora Krejčíková, whilst Plíšková saved three match points in her quarterfinal match against Jeļena Ostapenko.

Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Anett Kontaveit in the final, 6–3, 7–5 to win the singles tennis title at the 2021 WTA Finals. It was her 10th and last career WTA Tour title.

The 2022 Sydney Tennis Classic was a tennis tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and 2022 WTA Tour. It was a combined ATP Tour 250 and WTA 500 tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This was the 128th edition of the tournament. The tournament took place at the NSW Tennis Centre from 10 to 15 January 2022.

The 2022 WTA Finals was the professional women's championship tennis tournament run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) from October 31 to November 7, 2022. It was the 51st edition of the singles event and the 46th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was held on an indoor hardcourt at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, marking the return of the tournament to the United States after 17 years, and was contested by the eight highest-ranked singles players and doubles teams of the 2022 WTA Tour.

Jeļena Ostapenko defeated Veronika Kudermetova in the final, 6–0, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships. She saved a match point en route to the title, in the quarterfinals against Petra Kvitová.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Iga Świątek tennis season</span> 2021 tennis player season

The 2021 Iga Świątek tennis season officially began on 1 February 2021 as the start of the 2021 WTA Tour. Iga Świątek entered the season as world number 17 in singles. The season saw the Polish player won two WTA singles titles and reached a career-high world number 4.

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open. It was her first major singles title. Sabalenka dropped just one set during the tournament, to Rybakina in the championship match. Rybakina became the first Kazakhstani player to progress past the fourth round, and the first player since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to defeat three consecutive major champions in a single edition of the Australian Open. By reaching the final, Rybakina made her debut in the top ten of the WTA rankings making her the first player representing Kazakhstan, male or female, ever to reach this milestone.

Defending champion Iga Świątek defeated Ons Jabeur in the final, 6–2, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2022 Italian Open. She did not drop a set during the tournament, and was the first player to win the title in Rome without dropping a set since Serena Williams in 2016. This was Świątek's fifth consecutive WTA Tour title, and she became the first player to win four WTA 1000 titles in a single season since Serena Williams in 2013. With the win, Świątek extended her winning streak to 28 matches – the longest on the WTA Tour since Serena Williams won 34 consecutive matches in 2013. This was also the first time in her professional career that Świątek defended a title. Jabeur was attempting to be the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to win consecutive titles in Madrid and Rome; she reached the final after saving a match point in her semifinal match against Daria Kasatkina.

Simona Halep defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final, 6–3, 2–6, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2022 Canadian Open. Halep's third Canadian Open title marked the first time in her career she won an event on three occasions and also earned her a ninth WTA 1000 title. Haddad Maia was the first Brazilian to reach beyond the quarterfinals and contest the final at a WTA 1000 tournament.

Caroline Garcia defeated Petra Kvitová in the final, 6–2, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters. It was her third WTA 1000 title, and her first since 2017. Garcia was the first qualifier to reach and to win the final of a WTA 1000 event.

The 2022 US Open described in detail, in the form of day-by-day summaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Aryna Sabalenka tennis season</span> 2023 tennis player season

The 2023 Aryna Sabalenka tennis season officially began on 4 January 2023 with the start of the Adelaide International.

References

  1. 1 2 Fendrich, Howard (14 December 2022). "'Break Point,' Netflix's 'Drive' for tennis, debuts Jan. 13". Associated Press . Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Morin, Natalie (10 January 2023). "Everything You Need to Know About the Tennis Docuseries 'Break Point'". Tudum . Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  3. ""Break Point" - Date Announcement - Netflix" (Press release). Netflix. 24 May 2023 via The Futon Critic.
  4. 1 2 White, Peter (7 March 2023). "'Full Swing' & 'Break Point' Sports Docuseries Renewed For Season 2 At Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. "Netflix cancels 'Break Point' tennis docuseries".
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Break Point – Netflix Tennis Show". ATP Tour . Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Break Point". WTA Tour . Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  8. Petski, Denise (14 January 2022). "Netflix Orders Tennis Docuseries From 'Formula 1: Drive To Survive' Producer". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  9. "Break Point: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  10. "Break Point: Season 1". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 21 January 2024.