Is there a Netflix curse on Australian Open tennis players?
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Tennis is abuzz with tongue-in-cheek talk about a "Netflix curse" during the Australian Open, drawing a line from the streaming service's new docuseries about the sport to the recent rough times for Season 1 protagonists.
Tennis is abuzz with tongue-in-cheek talk about a "Netflix curse" during the Australian Open, drawing a line from the streaming service's new docuseries about the sport to the recent rough times for Season 1 protagonists.
Of the 10 players featured prominently across the five episodes released last week, right before the start of play at Melbourne Park, only one remains in the singles competition heading into Saturday: Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 22-year-old from Canada.
The No. 6-seeded Auger-Aliassime, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2021, said he wasn't aware this was even a topic of conversation until Friday, when his girlfriend clued him in.
"I thought it was funny," he said after beating 28th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round. "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."
Well, of course it isn't.
There is no such thing as a "curse" in the world of sports, although folks sure do love to concoct and discuss them. The Curse of the Bambino, for one. The Sports Illustrated cover jinx was another.
It is worth noting that no one is drawing any sort of similar silly connection between active participation in the filming of Netflix's popular "Formula 1: Drive to Survive" -- made by the same executive producers as "Break Point" -- and F1's on-track results.
