Stars Weigh In On Upcoming Netflix Tennis Documentary Series
An upcoming Netflix series, which purportedly offers an unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at life on the ATP and WTA Tours a la the popular Formula 1: Drive to Survive, was all the buzz on Media Day at the Australian Open, with several players weighing in on news of its production.
“I was the first person to know about that before any of you,” Stefanos Tsitsipas told the gathered press with a grin. “I’m very privileged to be in it. I’ve watched Drive to Survive. I instantly became a huge fan of F1. I’m extremely happy they’re bringing this to tennis and making something similar in that sense.”
“I think it’s great thing for the ATP to try to promote the sport,” said Alexander Zverev. “I think tennis will gain younger fans through a Netflix documentary like Drive to Survive because [it] shows the inside of the sport, the pit lane, all that. I think the drama comes with it. I’m going to be very interested to see how it’s going to be with tennis because I am inside the locker room, I am inside with the players, so I know what it is like. It’s going to be interesting to see how much Netflix can show of that.”
World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev says he watched all three seasons of Drive to Survive and looks forward to the tennis equivalent.
“I liked Formula 1 before watching it, so it’s not like I watched it and now I’m a Formula 1 fan. It’s really cool. We can never know how it’s going to work out in tennis. We can only know after the first season is out. But I think it’s exciting,” Medvedev said. “It’s great to bring more fans to the sport, to try at least, a younger generation maybe. They can see the inside a little bit.”
The series is being produced by Box To Box Films with James Gay Rees and Paul Martin serving as executive producers. Filming is already underway in Melbourne.