sport news Break Point sees Nick Kyrgios take centre stage as Netflix aim docuseries at ... trends now
Nick Kyrgios is the nearest thing tennis has to a Tyson Fury kind of personality – complex, contradictory and sometimes outrageous.
And the makers of the new Netflix documentary series coming out this week, Break Point, are clearly not of the view that the mercurial Australian is somehow bad for the game.
Kyrgios is seen more as its trump card, and he dominates the first of five episodes being launched this week in a racket-wielding version of F1's Drive to Survive.
Nick Kyrgios is seen as tennis' trump card in Netflix's new documentary series Break Point
'People really don't understand how different I go about my tennis and my life compared to every other player,' he tells this camera.
Whether this comes as news even to those with just a cursory knowledge of the sport is debatable, but then it should be stated that this show is aimed squarely at the unconverted.
Among that very large constituency appears to be the Australian's girlfriend, Costeen, to whom he seems devoted.
One scene early on has Kyrgios's agent sitting in the stands at the Australian Open, talking her through the most rudimentary aspects of the sport's scoring system.
That is one of many tennis explainers along the way, and it makes clear the objective both of the series' British directors and the tennis governing bodies, who gave full support and tournament access to the project.
There is a big focus on the Australian's relationship with girlfriend Costeen Hatzi (pictured)
The result, based on the first five editions, is something very much at entry level. Its aim is to entice the many millions of sports followers who have a casual interest in the world's highest profile racket sport, but whose knowledge pretty much ends at the ageing or departed Federers, Nadals and Williamses.
Beautifully shot and often visually stunning, Break Point delicately scratches at the surface of the tour without ever revealing much of substance about the players upon who it focusses.
It should hook in some new fans. Judging by this initial offering, however, it is unlikely to do what Netflix did for another mainly European enterprise in the United States, elevating F1 to the height of sexiness.
Little new emerges about Kyrgios, a compelling character capable of dropping truth bombs amid sometimes snarky and unpredictable behaviour that has held back an extravagant natural talent.
Kyrgios comes across as expected: a remarkable talent held back by unpredictable behaviour
He takes centre stage in the opener which focusses on the Australian Open of 2022. His eventual run to the doubles title receives massive airtime while the biggest story of
