Netflix’s “curse” attacks tennis players at the Australian Open

The protagonists of breaking pointthe new series of Netflix which allows you to spy (and understand) what life was like for some of the best tennis players in the world in 2022, they can feel like in a horror moviein the style of Final destination. One by one, the members of the flyer with which the on-demand platform launched the first season on 13 January suffer elimination of the Australian Open, where only one remains standing.

It’s about Canadian Felix Auger-AliassimeArgentine executioner Francis Cerundolo in the third round of the Australian Open but was about to be eliminated in the previous match, when he beat Slovakian Alex Molcan in five sets, comeback included.

“And then there was one. #CurseNetflix”wrote journalist Bastien Fachan, author of the book “Big 3” on Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, published on November 3, 2022, on his Twitter account. “Looks like the movie Final Destination”a follower responded to the fact that Auger-Aliassime is the only one in the competition after the first week of the Grand Slam.

Seeded sixth in the tournament, the Canadian is no stranger to the “curse” being talked about. And this Casper Ruud, Ons Jabeur and Matteo Berrettini are some of the players who appeared in the Netflix series and fell at the start of the tournamentwhile Nick Kyrgios, Paola Badosa Y Ajla Tomljanovic They didn’t even play.

“My girlfriend showed it to me today, I didn’t know. I noticed there were some players who were losing, but didn’t think about it until he showed it to me this morning. I found it funny,” replied the 22-year-old Canadian after the match with Cerúndolo.

The most recent elimination took place in the last few hours, when Chinese Lin Zhu (87th in the world) surprised by qualifying for the round of 16 with an exciting victory over the Greek Maria Saccari (6th) for 7-6 (3), 1-6 and 6-4.

“I don’t know, I don’t think it’s related. Perhaps the players who have lost feel that there is some connection. I don’t think so, but yeah, it’s funny how things go sometimes‘said Auger-Aliassime, the tennis player who remains elusive of the ‘curse’ of breaking point.

What shows the new Netflix series

In the same format as “Drive to Survive”the success that documents the lives of Formula 1 drivers for several seasons, in breaking point the protagonists are the footballers who open the doors of their privacy so that the fans have the opportunity to understand all the vicissitudes that professionals go through.

The first half of the initial season features four tournaments. And he traces them through the experiences of different protagonists with cameras that accompany them far beyond the courts.

The first two chapters take place at the Australian Open, the one shaken by the decision of the Justice to expel a Djokovic without vaccines. There, through the action of Melbourne Park, we understand a little more of the infinite rebellion of the ineffable Kyrgios, who in those days was deciding whether or not to leave tennis with its ghosts of childhood obesity and its times of revelers, and his cable land, Kokkinakis, with whom he had an unforgettable doubles tournament.

There is also talk of the dreams and frustrations of a couple of tennis players, such as the Italian Berrettini and the Croatian-Australian Tomjanovic -who was later the “villain” who put an end to Serena Williams’ career.

The season continues at Indian Wells, the tournament that is played in the California desert and is considered the fifth Grand Slam. There, the American Fritz, who will eventually win the tournament, and the Greek Sakkari and her struggle to make great history take center stage. It’s also where “Break Point” begins to delve into an increasingly visible problem in high-performance sport: the mental health of athletes who push their psyche beyond its limits to improve their game.

Fritz and his decision to play in the final injured and Sakkari and his retirement from tennis for less than a week are perhaps the pearls of a series in the great debt is not having had more access to privacy than Nadal, Djokovic, Federer or Serenawho appear not to have been tempted by the production portfolio to reveal their secrets.

Tunisian Jabeur, the first African and Arab to be successful in the women’s group, and Spain’s Badosa, then number two in the world, are the leitmotif of the episode that takes place in Madrid.

The last leg of this first half of the series takes place in Roland Garros. And those who show themselves behind the scenes of the second Grand Slam of the year are the Canadian Auger-Aliassime and the Norwegian Ruud. Through them, “close enemies” of Rafael Nadal, it is relived how the Spaniard once again worked his magic with his resilient tennis to reach 22 crowns in major tournaments.