SportsTennis

Is there an Australian Open tennis player Netflix curse?

During the Australian Open, there is tongue-in-cheek talk of a “Netflix curse” in tennis, linking the streaming service’s new docuseries about the sport to the recent misfortunes of Season 1 stars.

On Saturday, only one of the ten players featured extensively in the five episodes published in the week prior to the start of play at Melbourne Park remains in the singles competition: Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, 22 years old.

The No. 6-seeded Auger-Aliassime, a 2021 U.S. Open semifinalist, claimed he was unaware of this topic of conversation until his fiancée informed him on Friday.

“I thought it very humorous,” he remarked after advancing to the fourth round by defeating the 28th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. “I don’t know; I don’t believe there is a connection…. Perhaps the losing players do perceive a connection in some manner. I do not believe they do. I don’t believe there is any connection.”

Well, of course it isn’t.

In the realm of sports, there is no such thing as a “curse,” although people love to invent and discuss such. The Curse of the Child, to name one. The curse of the Sports Illustrated cover was another.

Notably, no one makes a comparable absurd connection between active participation in the filming of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” on Netflix, which was produced by the same executive producers as “Break Point,” and F1’s on-track performance.

Consider that Lewis Hamilton has participated in interviews and won the driver’s championship in each of the series’ first three seasons. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen avoided the Netflix cameras and obtained the previous two titles.

Nonetheless, for amusement’s sake, let’s list what has been leaked from “Break Point”:

— Episode 1: Nick Kyrgios (withdrew from the event due to needing left knee surgery); Thanasi Kokkinakis (lost to 35-year-old Andy Murray in the second round in a five-setter that lasted 5 hours, 45 minutes and ended at 4:05 a.m. on Friday)

— Episode 2: Matteo Berrettini (lost to Murray in a five-set match that lasted 4 hours and 49 minutes in the first round) and Ajla Tomljanovic (withdrew before the tournament because of an injured knee)

— Episode 3: Maria Sakkari (lost in three sets against 87th-ranked Zhu Lin in the second round on Friday); Taylor Fritz (lost to 113th-ranked Australian wild-card entry Alexei Popyrin in the second round in a five-setter)

— Episode 4: Ons Jabeur (lost in three sets against Marketa Vondrousova in the second round); Paula Badosa (withdrew before the tournament with an injured thigh)

— Episode 5: Auger-Aliassime (faces Jiri Lehecka on Sunday in the fourth round) and Casper Ruuud (lost to Jenson Brooksby in the second round)

Yes, one of these is distinct from the rest.

Sometimes it’s funny how things turn out, remarked Auger-Aliassime.

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