First released in January of 2023, the hit Netflix show ‘Break Point’ highlighted the difficulties of the pro tennis tour and offered a fresh perspective to tennis fans and the common public alike.
Many top players on both the men’s and women’s tour agreed to be starred in the show, including Ons Jabeur, Nick Kyrgios, Carlos Alcaraz, Paula Badosa, and many more. While playing tennis on the world’s biggest stages seems easy, many miss the harsh realities behind the scenes, and Break Point allowed for a detailed look into players’ lives. With the lives of many elite players’ being portrayed as easy and fruitful, as you watch the show you begin to realize the intense internal and external pressures that players face, especially at the peaks of the season, at the four Grand Slam tournaments, which can change lives and become the highlight of a career.
Starting at the Australian Open, many young and emerging young stars look to breakthrough at the biggest tournaments and solidify their spots at the top of the game, but many things get in their way, such as depression, media pressure, and a phenomenon by the name of the Netflix Curse.
Many players highlighted in the show are top 10 players and have been for long periods of time, yet are unable to come through and win a Grand Slam, which to many, is a milestone of greatness and the piece of fulfillment in a career. However, besides providing great insight and perspective to fans, the show poses a challenge to many of the players’ it stars.
Many are further reminded of the stresses, pressures, and expectations that come with being an elite tennis players, and in my opinion, is the biggest contributor to the Netflix Curse. The term originated from social media, after many fans started to recognize a pattern which saw many top players expected to perform at a high level at Grand Slams suddenly suffer great losses in big moments almost as soon as they are featured in the show.
Just to give an example, top ranked Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz fail to make it past the third and second rounds, respectively. Australian talent Nick Kyrgios is unable to compete in his home slam due to a knee injury. It all seems like a case of overthinking and magnification of the struggle on the part of the players, yet the ‘curse’ is not fully convincing to some.
Aryna Sabalenka, a player who has firmly cemented her spot in the top ranks of the women’s game had yet to breakthrough at a Slam, and the show highlighted the great pressure she faced from the media as well as the heavy burden she carried to fulfill her father’s dream and make him proud. She struggled with mental health and often lost her cool on court, yet through her resilience she was able to break the barrier in front of her and win the Australian Open. In 2024, she even backed up her previous success and defended her title to win the Aussie Open a second consecutive year.
Each player has a different a different approach, and with many different players from different background being featured allowed us to see different things. Many American also faced great pressure to end the Grand Slam title drought, and the longtime hopefuls of Tiafoe and Fritz were not the ones to come close. Tommy Paul, often living in the shadow of Fritz and Tiafoe put more of his energy and focus into refining his game, and defeated young countryman Ben Shelton to reach his first semifinal at a Slam. However, as the show went on and as expectations grew, both seemingly fell in the early rounds, to not only their opponents, but also the Netflix Curse. Both Paul and Shelton fell in the third round despite holding two sets to one leads and lowering hopes for the breakthrough of an American man. Being aware of the patterns made if difficult for many players to perform their best and ultimately led to more evidence to prove the curse true.
Lastly, while may players accepted the potential reality of the phenomena, one young, brave player by the name of Holger Rune decided that the curse wasn’t real and that he didn’t believe it. Of the world’s top players with an astonishingly quick ascent, Rune became on the favorites to win a maiden Grand Slam out of the pool of talented, rising young players, including Felix Auger-Aliassime, Carlos Alcaraz, and himself. But no. Rune suffered a short-lived campaign with a second round loss, and instead, one of the only young talents not featured on the show, Jannik Sinner, emerged victorious. If you see any promising young star or older veteran and are looking to bet, you can find reviews of all the top betting sites for tennis wagering at Bookies Bonuses US here.