Netflix Break Point producer on Netflix curse, Kyrgios, Osaka & more

Netflix released the second season of hit tennis docuseries Break Point on 10 January. 

ATPTour.com caught up with Executive Producer James Gay-Rees to discuss the series. In part one of the conversation, Rees spoke about the infamous Netflix curse, the involvement of Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka, and plenty more.

What were some of the big lessons you learned from the first season that you took into this one?
I'm very proud of season one, actually. I really enjoyed it. And I think it's a really good series. I think that we were just mindful to not sort of make the same show again, because that show very much focussed on the grind of the Tour, and the potential loneliness of the sport. I mean not entirely, but there definitely was an aspect of it, because I think we did need to show that side of tennis.

I don't think people understood that side — tennis — just what a tough thing it is to do with your life. We wanted to make this series a bit more playful and a bit lighter and show a different dynamic in it. And tennis is still a very challenging thing to do with your life, but I think we just wanted to show more of the upside and kind of the fun of the Tour, if that's the right word. That was that, really.

And then, in terms of production, it was sort of the same process, really. We maybe followed slightly fewer players in a slightly more focussed way. But that's quite common when you do these shows. Season one, you tend to go a bit too wide. And then you narrow down in season two, so you've got more focus.

When did you start hearing about the so-called Netflix curse? What did you think about it at the time?
I can't remember when we first heard about it, I think it was probably during the Australian Open when a lot of our featured players were struggling to advance through the tournament. So yeah, it's kind of funny, isn't it? If you're in my position, you really didn't want there to be a Netflix curse because you didn't want it to affect people's participation in the process. But it's just a construct. It then became a bit of a gift because it was a great way to come in and come out of the gate with a different sort of episode one. I love that.

That was a very conscious decision to frame it as a sort of a teen slasher [for lack of] a better expression, because it was a thing, it was widely reported. It just gave us a different “in” to the narrative for episode one, which is really welcomed because these shows do need those points of difference when you can find them.

You still had Nick involved, you had Naomi Osaka involved. What was it like having those global stars in it? Did you know you wanted to go to them to have them pitch in?
We're very close with them both as players, and they've been fantastic participants already. So it was just a question of Nick, especially [because of his injury], but it's just a question of them wanting to keep a presence in the show, us wanting them to stay associated with the show. Nick speaks really well about what those players are going through and so did Maria Sharapova, for example.

But Nick has just been in the mix and he's lived it very recently. And so he's just a very kind of convincing, compelling contributor, I find, just in terms of that player mindset, but what a player's going through.

Nick spoke about Holger Rune. I'm sure he spoke about a lot of people that didn't make it but he spoke about Holger and then you have the whole Holger episode. What was the most interesting thing to you about him that you learned?
I wasn't that familiar with Holger. I knew his name and stuff but before we spent a lot of time with him, I didn't know that much about him. I just think it must be so interesting to be coming through at the same time as Alcaraz. They're both amazing players, with amazing futures. Carlos just popped so big and so early and there's not much between them, so it's just interesting to see what it's like to have him on that parallel journey, and then just see your friend pull away a tiny bit.

But Holger is clearly going to be around for a long time and do amazing things. So it's getting fascinating to see his journey. But it's interesting to see it in the context of his friendship with Carlos. But listen, it's great for tennis, because I think the next generation is coming through really, really strongly. And it needs to. It's going to be great to see these guys make their mark, create their own legacies, tell the right stories.

They're all such different characters. That's what I love about Carlos and Holger, not that I know either of them personally. But they both seem like very different characters. So they'll have different ways of treating that journey. It's going to be fascinating, but really interesting guys, and just really great for the future of tennis, I think. And I hope they both continue to put it together and to make a big dent in the rankings and stuff.