"From the first episode I thought it was horrible" - Reilly Opelka explains why tennis documentary 'Break Point' fell short of F1's 'Drive to Survive'

Reilly Opelka has opined that Netflix's tennis docuseries 'Break Point' failed to reach the heights of F1's 'Drive to Survive'.

The first part of the 'Break Point' documentary was released on January 13 and it covered the noteworthy events that took place in the initial half of the 2022 tennis season. Nick Kyrgios, Paula Badosa and Taylor Fritz were some of the players featured in the series.

Speaking on The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, host Shapiro questioned Opelka on his discontent with the news that the show would be returning for a second season. The American noted the lack of transparency as the main failing of the series and ranked it last behind the Netflix documentaries on F1 and Golf.

"I mean you look at the few sports that have done Netflix series now F1, golf, tennis. Tennis finished third by a mile," Opelka said.

He said that the show failed to capture his attention from the first episode itself.

"It’s not a crazy radical thought that that was a boring show. I thought from the first episode I thought it was horrible," he added.

When asked why the series was monotonous in his opinion, the American posited that the series over-simplified the tennis aspect too much. He also suggested that the show was too hesitant to share any controversial moments in comparison to the transparency shown in the F1 series, 'Drive to Survive'.

"It was very basic. They really dumbed it down too much in the tennis aspect. They weren’t controversial. I was surprised to the extent they shared in F1. You really get an inside look. It’s as transparent as it can be and it’s as censored as you can imagine in tennis," he opined.

Opelka added that the format of the two series differed so much that it was difficult to ascertain that they were created by the same people.

"That these are the same people that brought out the drive to survive, you wouldn’t know. It’s a completely different format," he added.

'Break Point' did not garner as much popularity as 'Drive to Survive' on Netflix, failing to reach the global top 10 in its debut week.

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Reilly Opelka reveals that he filmed a part for Netflix's 'Break Point' which did not make the show

Reilly Opelka giving an interview.

Reilly Opelka revealed that he had filmed a feature for the docuseries 'Break Point' for the episode which focused on Taylor Fritz winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2022 BNP Paribas Open. However, the feature did not make the cut for the show.

"I had a little feature in the Fritz part but it didn’t make [the show]," he shared.

Opelka expressed his desire to see the second season of the show focus on the more exciting players on tour. He named Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff as the players to watch on the WTA side. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz were his picks on the men's side.