The Rise of Carlos Alcaraz, Ashleigh Barty’s retirement: Five Things ‘Break Point’ missed

WATCH: Djokovic has still not been cleared to compete in North America due to current COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

Professional tennis is underway 11 months out of the year and often takes place across multiple time zones. Comprehensive coverage is nearly impossible, but Netflix made an impressive effort with the first five episodes of Break Point, its highly-anticipated docuseries premiering Friday.

Some things were nonetheless left on the cutting room floor. Here are some of the biggest moments from the 2022 season that Break Point missed:

Novak Djokovic’s Deportation from Australia

This got a brief mention at the start of Episode 2’s “Take the Crown,” but Break Point undersells the magnitude of the presumptive favorite for the 2022 Australian Open getting summarily bundled out of the country for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

It was unclear in the weeks leading up to the first major of the season whether Djokovic could compete; the nine-time Australian Open champion had been open about his vaccine skepticism and reports from the Australian government suggested that no one could enter the country without a completed vaccine series.

Still, Djokovic posted his intent to fly to Melbourne on Instagram, claiming he had received a vaccine exemption. The federal and local government were in disarray for hours as the world No. 1 was en route. While his team was able to make it through customs, Djokovic was held back for improperly filled paperwork and an exemption—that he had recently contracted COVID-19—that did not guarantee him entry into the country.

Djokovic was relegated to a refugee hotel, and though his visa cancellation was briefly overturned on procedural grounds, he was detained for a second time less than a week later and formally deported following a second hearing.

Djokovic’s opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine also ruled him out of all North American tournaments, including the BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open, and US Open, and though he is set to compete in Australia this year, he may yet be prevented from returning to North America until vaccine requirements change.

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty’s shock retirement

This is another story that Break Point breezed past, suggesting Barty’s impending retirement was only a rumor. The then-world No. 1 had been off the court since winning her third Grand Slam title at home in Melbourne, but few saw her decision coming.

Barty had famously retired from tennis back in 2014, overwhelmed by the pressures of trying to meet the high standards she had set as a successful junior, but returned to action two years later and slowly worked her way back up the rankings before her 2019 surge.

It was that year that she won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros; two weeks later, she topped the WTA rankings for the first time and held onto the ranking essentially uninterrupted for the next three years.

A homebody at heart, Barty played a relatively limited schedule but regularly peaked at the tour’s biggest events, winning a second Miami Open title in 2021 and shaking off a Roland Garros injury to win her second major title at Wimbledon.

With no comeback in sight, Barty has seemed to enjoy her time away from tennis, marrying longtime partner Garry Kissick and announcing the impending birth of her first child earlier this year. But Barty’s retirement did pave the way for another major 2022 storyline…

Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak

No sooner was Barty out of the picture did Iga Swiatek swiftly ascend to take her place. The Polish youngster had shown signs of a dominant streak when she stormed to her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2020, dropping just 28 games in seven matches, but it wasn’t until early 2022 that Swiatek proved capable of that high level on a consistent basis.

From February to June, Swiatek won six straight titles and 37 total matches, including a rare Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine Double,” four total WTA 1000-level tournaments, and a second Roland Garros title over American Coco Gauff.

Though the streak came to an end against Alizé Cornet at Wimbledon, Swiatek picked up where she left off in the summer, winning a first US Open title and an eighth title overall in San Diego.

Playing solid tennis at United Cup to start 2023, Swiatek shows no signs of slowing down and is a big favorite to win a fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open next week.

The Rise of Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz is shown as a young foil to Matteo Berrettini in the second episode of Break Point, but his 2022 story was only just beginning after his Australian Open defeat to the Italian.

The Spanish teenager, tagged by many as the next Rafael Nadal, grew stronger with each passing week, pushing Nadal to the brink of defeat at the BNP Paribas Open and securing his first Masters 1000 title in Miami less than a month later.

His true breakthrough came on clay, when he scored back-to-back wins over Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win his home title in Madrid, making him an odds-on favorite to win his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

Though that quest ended in the quarterfinals, Alcaraz bounced back in time for the US Open, where he showed off his immense physicality and impressive shotmaking through seven matches to win his first major title in Flushing Meadows.

Injuries have haunted Alcaraz in the months since, forcing him out of both the ATP Finals and the forthcoming Australian Open, but his star continues to rise: the 19-year-old was recently made the new face (and body) of Calvin Klein.

The Roland Garros drama between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune

The final episode of Break Point is light on drama as Félix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud each try (and ultimately fail) to up-end Nadal at his favorite tournament, but the docuseries unfortunately glazed over Ruud’s most dramatic match of the fortnight when he came up against Danish teen Holger Rune.

Rune was in the midst of a career breakthrough, having stunned 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Awaiting him there was Ruud, who had rounded into form after a slow start to his clay swing and was looking to make his first major semifinal. The evening match quickly grew contentious as Ruud tired of Rune’s histrionics, culminating with an infamous eye-roll from the usually placid Norwegian at net.

The conflict allegedly spilled into the locker room as Rune’s mother Aneke accused Ruud of yelling “JA!” (or “Yes!”) in her son’s face. Ruud and his father/coach Christian denied the allegations, but it made for a very bizarre news cycle that will likely come back should the two face off again in 2023.

Click here for the official Baseline review of Break Point, now streaming on Netflix.