They were ten. None qualified for week two of the Australian Open. These ten players featured in the new series break pointfrom Netflix, all had an early and unpredictable end to the tournament.
Nick Kyrgios, Paula Badosa and Ajla Tomljanovic withdrew before the start of the tournament due to injuries.
Matteo Berrettini (13) was shown the exit door in the first round against the immortal Andy Murray.
The Scot also knocked out Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. Taylor Fritz (8), Ons Jabeur (2) and Casper Rudd (2) also lost in their second game.
Maria Sakkari (6) was knocked out in the third round.
Félix Auger-Aliassime (6) was the last to fall, in the fourth round, against Jiri Lehecka.
In the first five episodes of break point unveiled on January 13, Netflix highlights these ten athletes. All of these players had a legitimate chance to go a long way in the first grand slam tournament of the season.
By launching the series just days before the start of the tournament, the producers certainly wanted to see one of their stars lift the precious trophy. This will not be the case. It’s the curse of Netflix.
These players have in common their youth, their potential and their hopes. We had to expect the release of some good players. Never, however, could we bet on the absence of the whole group in the second week.
A historic tournament
Neither of the top two seeds, on the men’s or women’s side, will be quarter-finalists of a grand slam tournament for the first time since the start of the modern era in 1968.
Rafael Nadal and Casper Rudd weren’t up to it. Iga Świątek and Ons Jabeur were beaten by stronger than them.
Our first reflex would be to call into question the parity and the effervescence of the new world tennis. Rather, we need to put things into perspective.
The talent gap between players in the top 10 and those of the rest of the ranking are diminishing visibly from year to year. Today, most gamers top 50 can compete with those of the elite. A trend observed in both sexes.
However, on the men’s side, neither Nadal nor Ruud would have been identified as one of the top two seeds if everything had gone smoothly.
PHOTO MARTIN KEEP, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Casper Ruud
Under suspended points at the last Wimbledon tournament, the winner of the tournament, Novak Djokovic, would be the first player in the world ranking. He must however settle for being the fourth seed.
Thus, his closest pursuer, the young Carlos Alcaraz, would be the second favorite. The Spaniard, however, had to withdraw due to injury before the tournament.
Nadal and Ruud are extremely well positioned in the standings, with good reason, but they inherited these advantageous positions by default and they failed to take advantage of them.
On the women’s side, favorite Iga Świątek faced Elena Rybakina (22) in the fourth round. The Kazakh of Russian origin points to 25e world rank. However, she won, like Djokovic, the Wimbledon tournament last summer.
Due to all the controversy surrounding the absence of the Russian athletes, the ATP and the WTA had decided to suspend the awarding of points for this edition. Thus, if she had been able to benefit from the 2000 points usually allocated, the 23-year-old player would be ranked eighth in the world.
This situation puts Rybakina at a great disadvantage, as she has to face much higher ranked opponents earlier in the tournaments. In Australia, the odds turned against Świątek, as she had to end the week playing against a player of the caliber top 10 instead of facing a player who is actually outside the top 20.
At least Rybakina had the opportunity to prove what she was truly capable of. His title at Wimbledon was not a misstep or a flash in the pan. She is truly one of the best players in the world. She is lucky to be able to show the full extent of her talent in Melbourne. With this momentum, she will finally be able to sit on a ranking that is more representative of her performance and her abilities.
Djokovic on a mission
Coming back to Netflix, the production has chosen to look forward. The tennis of today is no longer that of the famous Big Three. And yet. The best player in the world remains Djokovic.
Since the beginning of the week, he has been flying over the Australian surface and humiliating his opponents.
With the many surprises that have arisen over the past week, the picture is wide open for the Serb. Most pundits believed before the tournament that Djokovic would win his 10e Australian Open title and his 22e Grand Slam tournament title.
The road will finally be even simpler than expected.
Motivated by the revocation of his visa last year and his stolen points at Wimbledon, Djoko is on a mission. And that’s not good news for his opponents.