And then there were none. Felix Auger-Aliassime’s fourth-round loss at the Australian Open means none of the stars of Netflix’s new tennis documentary ‘Break Point’ have made it through to the second week in Melbourne.
Such poor showing from the series’ stars has led to talk of a ‘Netflix curse’ as player after player crashed out of the tournament.
Canada’s Auger-Aliassime was the last one standing, but the sixth seed fell 6-4 3-6 6-7 (2-7) 6-7 (3-7) to the Czech underdog Jiri Lehecka.
The first five episodes of the documentary, which focuses on the next generation of tennis stars, was streamed earlier this month.
Its aim is to showcase the sport’s younger talent to the world, the ones tipped to step out of the shadows of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (and, at the time of filming, Roger Federer and Serena Williams as they hadn’t yet retired).
Maria Sakkari, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Matteo Berrettini, Ons Jabeur, Thanasi Kokkinakis have all been eliminated from the first grand slam of the year – which began on January 16 – while Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa withdrew before the start of the tournament because of injuries.
It means none of the show’s players, who have all featured in the world’s top 10 at some point in their careers, have made it to the quarterfinals.
Speaking earlier this week, Auger-Aliassime laughed off talk of a so-called curse.
“I thought it was funny,” he told reporters. “I don’t know; I don’t think it’s connected.
“Maybe the players that lost, maybe they do feel like it’s connected, somehow. I don’t think they do. I don’t think it’s connected, anyhow. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.”
The hashtag ‘NetflixCurse’ has been trending on Twitter, with many users writing that the “Netflix curse is now complete” following the Canadian’s exit.
Earlier this week, Netflix’s UK & Ireland Twitter account tweeted: “To clarify: this is purely a coincidence,” in response to a tweet about the so-called curse.
