"Close to the best thing possible for tennis as a sport" - Tennis fans cautiously optimistic as Netflix reportedly bids for streaming rights for professional events

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Netflix has submitted a proposal for the streaming rights to major sporting events and is contemplating putting money into live tennis streaming.

Executives at Netflix are also rumored to have also spoken about obtaining less well-known leagues. They reportedly negotiated to acquire the World Surf League, but those talks fell through because the two parties couldn't settle on a price.

According to WSJ, Netflix acknowledges that because of the magnitude of its platform, it has the potential to grow little sports like surfing into major franchises and create new competitions and events.

Before withdrawing, Netflix suggested acquiring streaming rights for the ATP Tour for various nations across Europe. In response to Reuters' request for comment, however, Netflix declined to comment.

Tennis fans on Twitter flocked to talk about Netflix's bid for streaming rights for tennis, showcasing their excitement. One fan noted that given that it will be on Netflix, it would be a great platform to take tennis to a larger audience, writing:

"Given the Netflix show, it would be a great platform to take the sport to a larger audience imo."

Another user believes that Netflix has the right vision to merge its sports documentary content with live tournaments and claims that this could be big for the sport, commenting:

"Sounds as if they like the product they have from all documentary footage accumulated. Nice for someone to have vision in terms of marrying up the documentary type content w/live tournament play. Can be big for sport!"

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

Tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic on her Netflix documentary: "People will see that not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time"

Ajla Tomljanovic and Storm Sanders sealed a 2-1 victory against Slovakia

Ajla Tomljanovic, now playing in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with Australia, is one of the tennis players being followed throughout the season by Netflix cameras. Australia made a solid start to their campaign as Ajla Tomljanovic and Storm Sanders sealed a 2-1 victory against Slovakia on the tournament's opening day.

In a press conference after the match, Tomljanovic stated that she already knows what her documentary will be, which promises a lot to talk about and even guarantees engagement with the public. She also commented on how it felt while being followed and recorded by a team of professionals.

"I had a big think about it when it came up. I think this kind of stuff only works if you're really honest and you are yourself 100%. That's why I really had to think about it, because I feel like I did let the cameras in a lot. So I guess we'll see. I had fun with it, because I think it's fun for the people to see that it's not just sunshine and rainbows all the time," she said.

"There are so many things behind the scenes that happen that people don't get to see because we were just on the court and then we get off I think it will be fun for whoever is a tennis fan or a nontennis fan just to see how we do it," Tomljanovic claimed.

Tomljanovic assured that Netflix never influenced her when she was asked if there was a connection between her results in 2022 and being part of the documentary, adding that her goals and dreams were bigger even before that.

"Look, you don't really know -- I didn't think once that, you know, when I'm winning, Oh, my gosh, this is going to look cool on Netflix. It's a bonus. It's great," she added.

"Well, if it's out of motivation, great. I have thought, you know, if I don't have a big tournament where I do well, I won't have maybe that moment on camera where they're going to highlight it. But at the same time, I mean, I started playing tennis way before Netflix came around. My goals and dreams are bigger than that, but it's cool that I had some good moments this year that they captured," she concluded.