The glamorous tennis stars of Netflix sports documentary Break Point

That’s ACE! How the tennis stars in Netflix new sports documentary Break Point live the high life off the court – from ultra-glamorous holidays to fabulous outfits

Netflix’s new docuseries Break Point explores the world of professional tennis
Stars appearing in the programme include Ajla Tomljanović and Ons Jabeur
Meanwhile others to make appearance include Spanish player Paula Badosa
Read more: Nick Kyrgios is PERFECT star to open Netflix docuseries Break Point

It’s being touted as the new sporting docu-series which will offer a behind-the-scenes look at what the life of tennis stars is really like.

Buoyed by the success of their fly-on-the-wall program following drivers in Formula One, the same production team has followed 15 of tennis’ brightest stars through the ATP and WTA tours over the past season for Netflix series Break Point.

The first five episodes – focusing on Melbourne Park, Indian Wells, Madrid and Roland Garros – will be available from January 13. The season’s other five installments – which look at Wimbledon, Eastbourne, Queens Club, the U.S. Open, WTA Finals and ATP Finals – arrive in June.

Here FEMAIL reveals the ultra-glamorous athletes who appear in the new series by the streaming service.

FEMAIL reveals the ultra-glamorous athletes who will feature in the new Netflix series Break Point, which follows tennis players as they compete on tour (pictured, Paula Badosa)

Paula Badosa

Spanish

Player Paula Badosa may have been born in New York, but she moved to Barcelona as a child – and it’s Spain which she represents in tennis contests.

After committing herself to the sport, she quickly flew up the world rankings, becoming the junior world No. 8.

She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which she achieved on 25 April 2022.

Since 2021, Badosa has been in a relationship with Cuban model and actor Juan Betancourt.

US-born Paula Badosa may have been born in New York, but she moved to Barcelona as a child – and it’s Spain which she represents in tennis contests

She hit the headlines two years ago with her controversial comments about Australian Open quarantine.

Paula was one of the most outspoken critics among 72 players who were locked up in hotels for 14 days without being able to leave their rooms after arriving into Melbourne on the same planes as infected patients.

‘It was a nightmare. They treated me as if I were a criminal, they transferred me from one hotel to another escorted by police officers,’ Badosa told Spanish paper El Pais.

The Spaniard flew into Melbourne after playing in Abu Dhabi and tested positive for coronavirus on day seven of her quarantine along with her coach Javier Martí.

The world number 67 complained she ‘didn’t have a window to breathe a little’ in her hotel and told how she suffered from anxiety during her stint in quarantine.

As well as being a star on the court, Paula is somewhat of a language guru – she speaks Spanish, Catalan, English and French

Since 2021, Badosa has been in a relationship with Cuban model and actor Juan Betancourt (right, together)

‘In general, I have endured quite well but I have gone through many emotions and I have lived many moments of anxiety, because I am also very anxious and very active,’ she said.

Badosa said in normal situations ‘when you’re like this you go for a walk but in my case I couldn’t, it was horrible’.

The Spanish player said she did not have access to proper training equipment and said the strict quarantine had put her at a disadvantage against other competitors who were allowed out of their rooms for up to five hours a day to train.

‘How am I going to compete against those who have been training daily, two or three hours for two weeks?’ She questioned.

While it’s unknown what she will reveal in the series, the trailer teases it might be an emotional documentary for Paula. The world No 4 is seen wiping away the tears during a distressing moment behind the scenes

Her Instagram page, where she has 639K followers, is full of glamorous shots of her lavish lifestyle and passionate moments on the court.

At the end of last year, she shared snaps as she enjoyed a holiday in the Maldives, writing she was ‘disconnecting to connect.’

As well as being a star on the court, Paula is somewhat of a language guru – she speaks Spanish, Catalan, English and French.

While it’s unknown what she will reveal in the series, the trailer teases it might be an emotional documentary for Paula.

The world No 4 is seen wiping away the tears during a distressing moment behind the scenes.

Ons Jabeur

Tunisian

Trailblazing Ons Jabeur (pictured in The Maldives with her husband Karim) is the only Arabic woman ever to win a WTA title

Trailblazing Ons Jabeur, 27, from Tunisia, was the first North African player to reach a Grand Slam final and the only Arabic woman to ever win a WTA title.

She first picked up a tennis racquet when she was just three years old after being introduced to the sport by her mother Samira.

Since then, Jabeur has become known as an artist of a player; a drop shot aficionado and one of the finest volleyers in the women’s game.

She has made history after rising throughout the ranks, becoming the first Arabic woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final – and today could mean another new record for Jabeur.

Speaking of her historic achievement, Jabeur said: ‘It is a dream coming true from years of sacrifice. Never give up, and believe always you can do it.

‘I’m not going to lie to you, I maybe thought I was never going to make it or never going to make a Slam title or a Slam final.

Jabeur emerged from a country and a continent with precious little tennis history. The 27-year-old is adored in Tunisia and after her matches here a group of fans has gathered to serenade her as she does her broadcast interviews

‘Playing tennis is tough, sometimes when you play every week and maybe you lose every week. This is an amazing feeling.’

Jabeur emerged from a country and a continent with precious little tennis history.

The 27-year-old is adored in Tunisia and after her matches here a group of fans has gathered to serenade her as she does her broadcast interviews.

Jabeur is African, Arab and a Muslim – three significantly under-represented demographics in tennis.

She is the youngest of four children and was raised in the seaside town of Sousse.

Showing signs she was a young prodigy, Jabeur first began training with a coach at the age of four.

During 2021’s contest, she made headlines after she vomited on court during one of her matches – before going on to win

However, tennis facilities in her town were scarce and she was forced to train on courts in hotels nearby.

Speaking to the World Tennis Association Jabeur credited her mother Samira and father Ridha for her success.

She said: ‘My parents sacrificed a lot of things – my mum used to drive me everywhere around Tunisia to go play the tournaments, and she encouraged me to go to a special school to study.

‘That was a big sacrifice to see her little girl going for a dream that, honestly, wasn’t 100 per cent guaranteed.

‘She believed in me and gave me the confidence to be there.’

As she has progressed in her career Jabeur has remained true to her roots.

Speaking at the Australian Open in 2020 she described herself as ‘100 per cent a Tunisian product’.

She came from humble beginnings but now tours all over the world competing in tennis tournaments

No matter the result, Jabeur is always cheered on by her number one supporter – her husband Karim Kamoun, whom she married in 2015 (pictured right)

She has also said she wants to see more African and Arabic players on the circuit.

As the tennis ace has smashed several records she has become something of an icon among other Arabic women.

She has featured on the front cover of an Arabic magazine, Sayidaty and in 2019, she won an Arab Woman of the Year award for her contribution to sport.

She also takes her role as the lone Arab woman in top-level tennis seriously and what a wonderful ambassador she is.

Speaking during last year’s contest, she said: ‘I hope that so many of the young generation are watching and I can inspire them,’ she said.

‘Hopefully one day I could be playing with a lot of players next to me. Sometimes you need someone to inspire you.’

And it seems Jabeur’s enthusiasm for sport is not confined to tennis – being a Real Madrid FC fan too.

Tweeting her support for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema last month, Jabeur appeared to pray he would win the Ballon d’Or award.

There has long been a question about when the 27-year-old might translate the prodigious nature of her junior career and subsequent tour successes — two titles this year, 11 in all — to the bigger stages.

In 2021, she made headlines when she found a quiet corner of Centre Court, discreetly vomited and returned to the baseline to serve out for one of her matches.

During the contest, she discussed winning the praise of Roger Federer, saying: ‘Andy Roddick is my idol,’ Jabeur said, ‘but I got congratulated by Roger after my match.

‘That he took the time to say congrats gives me the hunger to win more.’

Ajla Tomljanović

Australian

Glitzy jet-setter Ajla Tomljanovic was born in Croatia but represents Australia in contests across the world (pictured)

Glitzy jet-setter Ajla Tomljanovic was born in Croatia but represents Australia in contests across the world.

However as well as her tennis talent, she is also known for hitting headlines.

Last year, she shocked the tennis world when she accused her losing competitor Jelena Ostapenko, 24, of faking an injury, lying and ‘disgraceful behaviour’ after telling the umpire she was injured and needed a medical timeout when down 4-0.

At Wimbledon last year, Miss Ostapenko was losing 4-0 to Miss Tomljanovic in the second set when she told the umpire she was injured and needed a medical timeout.

But furious Miss Tomljanovic raged to the umpire: ‘You know she’s lying, right? We all know. Are you taking into any consideration that she looked fine for an hour and 30 and now there’s an acute injury?’

Ajla often shares snaps with her Instagram fans as she enjoys life on and off the court (left and right)

The Latvian was assessed by the physiotherapist and left the court to receive treatment. She eventually returned and Miss Tomljanovic won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

But the dispute continued as the pair went to shake hands, with an offended Miss Ostapenko saying: ‘Your behaviour is terrible. You have zero respect.’

Her opponent replied: ‘You’re the one to talk,’ before Miss Ostapenko snapped back: ‘What? You’re the worst player on tour.’

The bitter falling-out continued in the press conferences as both outraged players traded insults.

Miss Tomljanovic insisted: ‘I have been in situations where players use that medical timeout to put their opponent off, usually when they are losing badly.

Ajla, who is among the stars to appear on the programme, often shares snapshots of her jetsetting lifestyle

‘She can say she was injured. I don’t think she was. There was nothing wrong with her the whole match, but then why on 4-0 she calls it? She just wanted to get me off my game.

Usually if you are dealing with an injury, you say, ‘Hey, can you call the physio on the next changeover?’ You don’t just go and sit down when your opponent is about to serve to go up 5-0.

‘There was nothing wrong with her. I know when someone is injured and when they’re not. Then to top it all off, for her to call me disrespectful at the end of the match — it’s laughable.

‘I think it’s disgraceful behaviour from a Slam champion, because kids look at her and, what, they see that?’

Potential legal ramifications if players are denied medical treatment has hampered attempts to address the issue of players sometimes abusing the medical timeouts.

Miss Tomljanovic added: ‘There definitely should be a rule where we prevent that from happening, because it happens way too much in the women’s game.

‘But I guess you cannot deny medical help to a player. The fact that she did it at 4-0 when I was about to serve, that’s disrespectful. It’s not what you do, especially at Wimbledon. It’s the pinnacle of sport. I’m just tired of seeing it happen. We can do better than that.’

Meanwhile she dated ‘tennis bad boy’ Nick Kyrgios for two years, before splitting due to his ‘partying ways.’

Miss Tomljanovic previously dated Canberra-born Mr Kyrgios, 26, for two years until his partying reportedly proved too much for her when he was pictured with two girls outside a London nightclub in 2017.

The women later insisted they had just been innocently drinking together with the now reformed tennis bad boy – but it is thought to have still meant the end of the relationship.

Miss Tomljanovic deleted all pictures of the two together from social media before meeting her 7th seed Italian boyfriend Matteo Berrettini.

Sloane Stephens

American

American tennis star Sloane Stephens, who has been hailed as the new Serena Williams, is another of the athletes who will be making an appearance in the Netflix series

The 28-year-old tennis star from Florida is ranked 66th in the world. She beat Serena Williams in 2013, won the US Open in 2017, and went on to become ranked third in the world after Wimbledon in 2018

American tennis star Sloane Stephens is another of the athletes who will be making an appearance in the Netflix series.

Previously hailed as ‘the next Serena’, Stephens was born in Plantation, Florida, to Sybil Smith and John Stephens, a former NFL running back who was killed in a car accident in 2009.

And Smith, as a swimmer at Boston University, became the first African American to be recognized as first team Division I All-American.

Her mother and stepfather introduced her to the sport that would win her prestige and fame at age nine and she began playing at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club in Fresno, California. Stephens made her professional debut in 2007 at age 14.

Stephens has previously spoken about her close relationship with her mother, saying in 2017: ‘We’ve been on such a journey together. My mom is incredible.

‘I think parents don’t get enough credit. When I was 11 years old, my mom took me to a tennis academy.

‘One of the directors there told my mom that I’d be lucky if I was a Division II player and I got a scholarship.

‘I think any parent that ever supports their child. You could be me one day. So parents, never give up on your kids. If they want to do something, always encourage them.’

Aryna Sabalenka

Belarusian

Number two seed Aryna Sabalenka, 23, from Belarus is one of the more vocal (think screams and grunts) women players

She has won whopping £6 million with her successful career so far, landing 10 singles titles, regularly sharing glam selfies on her Instagram page with fans (left and right)

Number two seed Aryna Sabalenka, 23, from Belarus is one of the more vocal (think screams and grunts) women players.

She previously revealed how she started playing tennis as a child in Minsk, saying, ‘One day, my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and on the way he saw tennis courts.

‘So he took me to the courts. I really liked it and enjoyed it and that’s how it was. That’s how it started.’

She has won whopping £6 million with her successful career so far, landing 10 singles titles.

Meanwhile it’s doubles where she really excels – she was named world number 1 in the doubles with her partner Elise Mertens in 2021.

And while she’s yet to win a grand slam title, she has sponsorships deals with Wilson and Nike.

Her Instagram is packed full of glam selfies (in front of the Eiffel Tower, of course), where she regularly delights her 223,000 Instagram followers with snaps.

The star is also known among tennis fans as ‘The Tiger’ – due to a large tiger tattoo she has on her arm.

Maria Sakkari

Greek

Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari is another star set to make an appearance in the Netflix series

The athlete, who has ranked as high as Number 3 in the world, was born into a family who were passionate about the sport

Meanwhile, with her star on the rise, the athlete regularly shares snaps of her life on and off the court with her 382K followers

Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari is another star set to make an appearance in the Netflix series.

The athlete, who has ranked as high as Number 3 in the world, was born into a family who were passionate about the sport.

Her mother Angelikí Kanellopoúlou is a former top-50 tennis player, while her grandfather grandfather Dimitris Kanellopoulos was also a professional player.

Last year, she spoke of her joy at breaking into the top five players for the first time.

She told iNews: ‘I am one of the best players in the world.

‘I got to No 3, now No 5. If there’s no pressure now, when is it gonna be? The better you do, the more pressure and the more expectations people are gonna have from you.’

Meanwhile, with her star on the rise, the athlete regularly shares snaps of her life on and off the court with her 382K followers.

Shots include her training regime in the gym, as well as high points winning matches on the court.

Nick Kyrgios will kick off Netflix ‘s new Drive To Survive-style documentary as the streaming giant unveiled its trailer for their behind-the-scenes tennis series, Break Point

Nick Kyrgios will kick off Netflix’s new Drive To Survive-style documentary as the streaming giant unveiled its trailer for their behind-the-scenes tennis series, Break Point.

On Wednesday last week, Netflix released its first look of the new series. The first episode will chart Kyrgios and close friend Thanasi Kokkinakis’ incredible run to the Australian Open doubles title.

The 50-second trailer shows Kyrgios smashing his racquet on court, before giving his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi a kiss away from the court.

Kyrgios’ bitter rival, Stefanos Tsitsipas, also features in the series alongside several big names like women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek, men’s No 3 Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime, alongside women’s No 2 Ons Jabeur.

The series will also feature interviews with tennis legends such as Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova and Chris Evert.

Surprisingly, neither Rafael Nadal nor Novak Djokovic appear in the new program, with the streaming giant aiming to chart a ‘changing of the guard’ in tennis.

‘It’s hard to imagine another sport which has been so dominated by a handful of individuals for so long. But they are at the end of the cycle – barring, obviously, Novak and Rafa, to some extent. The changing of the guard is happening,’ executive producer James Gay-Rees said.

‘And therefore, the timing was really good, too. Because I love tennis, but I’m like, “Who is Tsitsipas?” Do you know what I mean? In all honesty,’ he said.

‘But actually, you realize, “My God, he’s No. 5 in the world. He’s a really, seriously, good tennis player and he’s a really interesting guy. And I’d like to know more about him.” Because all I’ve heard for the last 15-20 years is, “Roger, Roger, Roger. Serena, Serena, Serena.’ For a reason, right?

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