All of those featured in the first five episodes of the Netflix documentary series Break Point, which debuted days before the Australian Open, have since left the Grand Slam with the Netflix curse in tennis extremely real
Can you even believe this?
The “Netflix curse” that has struck Melbourne continues as all 10 tennis players who participated in the first five episodes of Break Point were knocked out from the Australian Open before the quarterfinal round. The behind-the-scenes documentary series was centred on the upcoming tennis stars as established players like Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer near the end of their professional careers.
What is the Netflix curse in tennis and its meaning as all Break Point stars crash out of Australian Open
Controversial Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa, two other series players, as well as Australian star Nick Kyrgios, who starred in the premiere episode dubbed “The Maverick,” were absent due to injury from the competition. Tomljanovic responded to the curse rumours by tweeting: “Please put an end to the Netflix curse. Just play some sports,”
Why is it called the Netflix curse?
When the tournament started, Matteo Berrettini, the 13th seed, lost to Andy Murray in straight sets and became the fourth victim. The British player then eliminated Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round in a five-set marathon of a match.
The curse then claimed its highest-seeded male competitor when world No. 3 Casper Ruud was defeated by up-and-comer Jenson Brooksby in the second round. Taylor Fritz, an eighth-seeded American, was questioned about the “Netflix curse” following his victory in the first round.
Fritz remarked, “I didn’t know that was a [thing]. Of course, I saw people withdrawing from the competition, but I had no idea it was a thing. Am I going to lose my first round because I’m in the Netflix show?” But Fritz was the next victim, bowing out of the competition in the second round following a five-set encounter against Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
The curse even affected the women’s draw.
The curse also affected the women’s draw, when World No. 2 Ons Jabeur lost against the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova and was eliminated. From the 10 featured players in the Break Point series, only Greek superstar Maria Sakkari and Felix Auger-Aliassime remained going into Friday’s matches.
The next victim of the curse was former world No. 3 Sakkari, who lost her third-round match to unseeded Chinese player Zhu Lin by scores of 6-7, 6-1, and 4-6.
The last man standing was Canadian sixth seed Auger-Aliassime, who lost to world No. 71 Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round. In response to the alleged curse, Netflix said on Twitter, “To clarify: This is merely a coincidence.”