Tennis players reflect on ‘Break Point’ legacy as cancelation report hits Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—Reports that the Netflix docuseries Break Point was unlikely to return for a third season didn’t come as a surprise to the players and former cast members competing at the BNP Paribas Open. The camera crews that had trailed a cadre of the ATP and WTA tour’s best and brightest for the last two years have been conspicuously absent since the 2024 tennis season began in January.

“I enjoyed filming with them,” said a wistful Aryna Sabalenka, whose rise from contender to champion was captured over both seasons. “They were super nice. I think they did a great job. I don't know. Seems that people loved watching Netflix. But, yeah, I will miss the crew.”

Casper Ruud’s run into his first Grand Slam final capped off the first batch of episodes that dropped on the streamer in 2023. Already ambivalent about the series’ future in the wake of its debut, the Norwegian confessed to feeling unimpressed by the final product, eschewing the second season entirely after feeling overwhelmed by the demands of producing a reality program.

“It didn't catch my eye when I watched it so I actually never watched any of the other episodes,” Ruud said after reaching the fourth round at Indian Wells.

“You had to kind of invite them to do these things if you want more screen time. That's not me. It just took too much time of my day and hours that I'd rather spend on playing golf or doing what I feel is better for my life, my career.”

I sat down and watched my part together with kind of the guys who made it, and, you know, no offense to them, but I wasn't really impressed with the show...it just demanded too much of my time, because they want you to do this and they want to do this, and everything was a little staged in my eyes. Casper Ruud

Holger Rune was an obvious choice to participate in Break Point, appearing at the first season’s premiere in Australia, and was soon seen with a camera crew in tow. Where Ruud’s episode lacked in content, Rune’s, which he shared with childhood rival Carlos Alcaraz, delivered a panoramic view of his acclimation to life at the top of the men’s game.

“I can't speak on behalf of all the players, but I think as a player to have the camera in the back, [it] could be disturbing but it wasn’t,” said Rune. “They were very discreet. That was nice, and I think obviously there are a few things that you can learn from by watching yourself from the outside, which is great also.”

Tommy Paul was equally grateful for the experience, his episode an example of all the docuseries aspired to be: an unvarnished look at an ex-teen phenom who reclaimed his career after a “party phase” threatened to derail it entirely.

“I did my best to give a lot of access and behind-the-scenes stuff,” said Paul, whose episode was supported by insight from his coach, mother and girlfriend Paige Lorenze. “It was a really cool experience. Leaving the house I'm renting here this morning, a guy was walking his dog. He was like, ‘What's your name? Tommy? I saw you on Netflix!’ I think he came to my match today.

“I mean, it's been cool. Sucks that it's not coming back, but yeah, the whole experience was nice for me.”

When the news first broke of Break Point’s cancelation, the Times of London reported one of the main reasons the series wasn’t moving forward was due to a lack of access to top-ranked players—and indeed, none of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal nor the Williams sisters were ever directly part of the show.

The highest ranked players to participate were Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, who confirmed she wouldn’t take part in the second season last summer at the Cincinnati Open, feeling disenchanted by how she and her team were portrayed.

“I accepted that I may not have the final voice, but there were some stuff that were, like, misinterpreted,” she said this week. “My appearance in this series kind of caused some hate towards me and my team. So I just wanted to, you know, live my life peacefully and do my job, so that's why I didn't get into the second season.

“I don't know why it didn't work out. Honestly, I don't want to criticize or something, but I also saw some memes about editing from—I think here, the final, Aryna's and Elena [Rybakina]'s. She was serving on deuce and then Elena was returning from advantage side. And I think anybody who knows tennis is going to notice.”

In addition to a few editing snafus, fans took particular umbrage with a second-season episode that made the decision to give cast member Daniil Medvedev what is known in reality television circles as “the villan edit:” framing his various on-court antics as both antithetical to the sport’s spirit of fair play and intentional efforts to unnerve his opponents.

It’s unfortunate, because as tennis players, we had huge hopes for Break Point. After the Drive to Survive success, we were thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s so cool. Now Netflix is coming to tennis and we’re going to explode and blow up. Everyone will start to play tennis, like they all got into chess after Queen’s Gambit.’  Unfortunately, it didn’t go the same way. Daria Kasatkina

“The series is not real life,” Medvedev famously said of his portrayal at the Australian Open after the episode aired in January.

Medvedev’s countrywoman Daria Kasatkina was the loudest critic of the move, one she took personally given her own efforts to document life on tour with the popular YouTube channel she co-produces with girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako.

“I watched the first season, and after I didn’t watch the second one. That probably says a lot,” Kasatkina explained bluntly in a small press conference on Monday. “I don’t have to say anything. I did hear that the second season was better, but still, people who are in tennis and love tennis, know everything about it, if it didn’t catch them, then probably something was wrong.”

Where Break Point evidently struggled to find an audience, What The Vlog? boasts video views in the six figures and over 40,000 subscribers, getting a boost when Kasatkina took advice from good friend Daria Savile and used a pre-interview at the 2023 US Open to promote the channel.

“We are not looking into drama,” Kasatkina said of her casual interview style. “We are more funny content, with a little bit of drama!

“I think it’s funny how we actually don’t talk too much about tennis, only in funny ways. Normally we talk about off-court things, which helps you understand the person better. We talk about tennis everywhere. Outside the court, we’re just human beings talking about burgers, ice cream and all this stuff.”

Among their biggest fans is reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff, whose interview is teased in an upcoming episode; in it, Gauff admits she asked to be on it. By contrast, Gauff’s appearance on Break Point appeared more sleight of hand, with no on-camera interviews supplementing the episode that tracked her arrival on the Grand Slam stage.

Still, Kasatkina was loath to consider her vlog competition to a Netflix production—“Our camera is like this,” she jokes, “not three huge ones!”—and took no joy from the streamer’s exit from the space, feeling it was ultimately hindered by an inability to draw authentic moments from its cast.

“It’s unfortunate, because as tennis players, we had huge hopes for Break Point. After the Drive to Survive success, we were thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s so cool. Now Netflix is coming to tennis and we’re going to explode and blow up. Everyone will start to play tennis, like they all got into chess after Queen’s Gambit.’ Unfortunately, it didn’t go the same way.

“Now we have to look to something else: watch our vlog!”