Winners and losers from season 2 of Netflix' s 'Break Point'

The second season of the Netflix tennis docuseries Break Point is now available for viewing. For tennis fans, the docuseries is must-watch streaming. That may not be because the series is so fantastically well done, but simply because we do not get enough tennis movies and documentaries.

Season two is six episodes long. Unlike season one which was split - five episodes aired in January 2023 with another five in June 2023 - season two will only be the six episodes. While this leaves a viewer wanting a bit more that is because the episodes themselves feel a little bit disjointed and unfinished.

What Break Point gives us is not a documentary of an entire tennis year (we don't get a lot of Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz winning titles, for instance), but a focus on individual players. There is also a bit too much focus on American players (I am American and the focus on American players annoys even me). But the series is still a worthwhile watch.

Who came off well or poorly in the second season of Break Point from Netflix

Winner: Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka had an interesting 2023 where she won the Australian Open and rose to No. 1 on the WTA only to not win another Grand Slam and lose her top ranking at the WTA Finals. But while she has a couple of bouts of anger in Break Point, she comes across as completely human and one wants to root for her. Sabalenka also appears to be a down-to-earth person who if you didn't know she was a great tennis player, might appear to be someone who works in your office building.

Loser: Netflix

Netflix slams us from the very beginning about a made-up "Netflix curse" and how something bad happens to players they focused on in season one. This makes Netflix self-serving and, well...incorrect. Not all the players they showed in season one failed, and many of the players the docuseries does show were never Grand Slam winners anyway.

But Netflix also shows quite a bit of Alexander Zverev in episode four without even hinting at his off-court issues. Instead, we are led to believe we should want Zverev to win. Viewers who like the show but do not follow tennis religiously deserved better.

Winner: Taylor Fritz

Fritz is a lot like Sabalenka. He seems frail emotionally at times, but that only makes him seem like the rest of us. In other words, someone who grinds away to do their best but is not always able to achieve their goals and we learn to live with that.

Loser: Holger Rune

Rune is heavily featured in episode two. Most of us do not know him personally, of course, and maybe he is different in actual life. Otherwise, he appears to be a spoiled child who doesn't think twice about being arrogant and rude. At least, that is the way Break Point makes him seem.

Winner: Tommy Paul

Goodness, Tommy Paul. The next time you go fishing or play golf, you might want to double-check that the person you are next to is not top-20 player Paul. He seems to be free of ego and just one of the guys. Paul wants to win, I assume, but he seems like a good guy who might never reach greatness but you certainly want him to.

Loser: Daniil Medvedev

Watching the way Netflix films and narrates Medvedev's part of the series, one could easily believe the makers of Break Point know nothing about the player. Medvedev has an amazingly dry sense of humor who many find extremely funny and refreshing. But Break Point makes Medvedev look like a goon who might even cheat to win.