Casper Ruud wants more on-court drama from future ‘Break Point’ episodes

WATCH: Ruud partnered Ons Jabeur at Eisenhower Cup earlier this week.

Real tennis heads wanted one thing from Casper Ruud’s episode of Break Point, and the former world No. 2 sounded equally disappointed we didn’t get it.

“I honestly wish for the next part of the season and for next season, as well, that they will document a little bit more of what the draw looks like, and if there’s some fun matches where there’s history between players,” he said obliquely at his BNP Paribas Open pre-tournament press conference. “We didn’t get too much of that in the first part, I think.

“For example, in my Roland Garros run to the final, there were some interesting match-ups where I was down two sets to one in the third round and came back. In the second round, I played a fellow Scandinavian, a Finnish player, and in the quarterfinal, another Scandinavian, Rune, which was obviously had a bit of tension during that match that we didn’t get to see.”

There, right there. The diehard tennis fan’s heart sank when Netflix producers breezed past so-called “JA!”-gate, in which Ruud was alleged to have yelled in Danish teen Holger Rune’s face following their quarterfinal encounter.

To be clear, Ruud has denied the incident took place—and if it did, he was likely relieved that particular moment didn’t feature in the first five episodes of the tennis docuseries—but all can agree that his run to his first Grand Slam final was full of on-court drama that got left on the cutting room floor.

Ruud mused that the film crew may have been more interested in capturing off-court moments that he was hesitant to film.

“I didn’t invite Netflix to too many personal things because that’s not something I feel so comfortable with,” explained the Norwegian, who went on to reach a second major final at the US Open last summer, “like inviting them to my hotel room or having my girlfriend Maria talk on screen. It wasn’t something she felt so comfortable with, so there were many things we said no to. I feel like I could have been more on-screen if I wanted to, if I had let them come to my hotel room or if I had joined them for dinner, but for me, it was more about trying to document the tennis side.”

One tennis moment that did make it to air was a tense practice scene involving Ruud and father/coach Christian, who were held up from taking the court due to inclement weather.

“That’s something that I’d almost forgotten had happened because it was a big week for me, a big tournament where I reached my first final at a Grand Slam. That little hiccup wasn’t what I was thinking about when the show was going to come out. But it was also a little bit funny to see what can happen for us, how it’s not always a smooth ride.”

Though the success of Break Point was enough for Netflix to greenlight a second season, Ruud admitted he hasn’t exactly achieved celebrity status from his appearance.

“I was doing a week of training in Florida before going to Acapulco, and one lady came up to me in Publix and said, ‘My husband and I were watching you on TV on the Netflix show,’ so that’s one occurrence where I felt it. I haven’t become an overnight, worldwide superstar or anything like that, but more people in the world have seen the show.

“I’m still playing tennis, and that’s what I do as a profession, but it’s fun to have been part of something that Netflix has made, and being a part of this sports documentary series together with Drive to Survive and the golf series that came out recently. It’s fun, and let’s see what comes out in the next part, but it’s positive if more people know and are more interested in tennis.”

The second batch of Break Point episodes are scheduled to drop in June of this year, in time for the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.