Well, the Netflix documentary team has done it again. I don’t know if I should post in this thread or the TV thread, but their new documentary series Break Point, following a couple up-and-coming tennis stars in 2022 was excellent!
This is now the second time that Netflix has sucked me in and made me care about a second tier sport that I previously had no interest in.
After F1: Drive to Survive, and now Break Point, I’m on board for whatever Netflix does next, whether it’s professional bowling, curling, cricket, whatever. They seem to have figured out the magic formula to make compelling television out of sports.
It’s a good show, and I say that as a tennis fan. They certainly got lucky in the tennis players they chose to follow in the various tournaments, to catch the players who had good results in 2022.
Hilariously, the Netflix Curse caught up with all the players featured so far, and today the last of them was knocked out of the Australian Open. I mean, three didn’t even make their first match due to injury.
I really hope the Netflix crew were following other players too, or else next year’s Australian Open show is going to be very disappointing.
Apparently this is only Part I of the 2022 tennis season, and in June, Netflix will air Part II, another 5 or so episodes on the second half of the season.
Iga Swiatek keeps breaking records, and although they are weird or obscure records, they all seem to end with “beating even/the best since Graf/Evert/Navratilova”. It’s clear she’s the most dominant player in a looong time.
Sure, she only played three matches to win the Qatar title with only five games dropped, but her next two games in the tournament this week? 6-1 6-1 and 6-1 6-0. Against good players!
Her big winning streak started in Qatari last year, and lasted until Wimbledon in the summer, and I honestly can see her doing the same this year.
That’s just Medvedev being Medvedev, meaning he’ll complain all the way until winning the title. I hope he doesn’t change because he’s one of the most entertaining “I hate slow courts” guy on tour at the moment.
There hadn’t been a final between the top two ranked women players since 2017, and now it’s happened two tournaments in a row! I’m very much here for the burgeoning Swiatek Sabalenka rivalry!!!
Iga retakes the world number one spot in the last WTA tour match of the year, also taking the year-end number one, and winning the year end finals for the first time too. Maybe next year, Sabalenka and/or everyone else!
I don’t know if this should be in Tennis or cheating. I believe we discussed the match fixing gambling scandal before. Five players have been banned after the investigation.
