There will be no third season of Break Point after Netflix stopped production of the tennis documentary and world No 1 Iga Swiatek was asked for her opinion on the decision and the series.
With Break Point failing to live up to the hype and match the success of Formula 1’s Drive To Survive and golf’s Full Swing, Netflix confirmed last week that it had cancelled the series after just two seasons.
Many believe it was a missed opportunity for the sport as most of the big tennis stars like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Serena Williams (before she retired) didn’t take part.
There was also unhappiness with the storylines chosen as Netflix brushed over Djokovic’s deportation from Australia at the beginning of 2022 and instead focused on Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open doubles title.
Women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek did feature in Season 1 as she was the headline act of Episode 9 “Under Pressure” alongside Carlos Alcaraz during their 2022 US Open title runs.
But while the four-time Grand Slam winner feels it was a “great idea” to open up and share a part of her private life, there were some negatives too as she received a lot of “hate”.
“I was involved only in Season 1, and I gotta say that it was kind of a test for me if I’m going to be comfortable talking about my life and, like, opening up so much,” she explained.
“But I think it was a great idea, but I think we have many different and complicated stories that it’s hard to describe them in couple of episodes. On the other hand, like, in other sports it’s the same case. Honestly, it’s hard for me to compare why it didn’t work out in tennis but it did in golf and Formula 1.
“I can only speak about my perspective. I think that the Netflix guys were really nice and really cooperative but in the end there wasn’t much impact we had in terms of editing some stuff we didn’t like.
“I know I didn’t give, like, much access, as much as other players. I accepted that I may not have the final voice, but there were some stuff that were, like, misinterpreted. 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 criticise or something, but I also, saw some memes about editing and how, you know, Aryna [Sabalenka], there was a match – I think here, the final, Aryna’s and Elena’s [Rybakina], she was serving on deuce and then Elena was returning from advantage side. And I think anybody who knows tennis is going to notice.
“Yeah, it’s a shame that it didn’t work out.”
