Fritz Discusses Tennis' Rising Popularity Through Netflix Show Break Point

Wednesday, 02 August 2023 at 03:45

byZlatko Vodenicharov

Taylor Fritz was part of the first season of Netflix's Break Point, which followed the American during a couple of solid runs.

The American has been one of the players that benefited from the exposure as it raised his social media profile, among other things. He's also getting more recognized by fans in the United States, which he should because he's the highest-ranked player on the ATP Tour in the country, ranked number 9th overall right now.

Besides elevating his own profile, Fritz is of the opinion that it increased the popularity of tennis. He spoke about it at the 2023 Citi Open in Washington, noting that he's seen the impact of the show on his own profile and more generally.

I think that it's helped grow the fan base. I think, you know, there has been times, more so when I'm in the U.S., where I'm definitely not used to anyone recognizing me ever, and if they do, I assume that person is a really, really big tennis fan (smiling).

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There has been times where people have obviously not been tennis fans, and they don't know me as, I guess, the tennis player. They know me as the person that's on the show. So I think that's cool, because that's all people that, you know, might pay attention to tennis or get into tennis now that previously weren't

Those are some of the things the sport wanted to see out of the show after they saw what it did for Formula One, which was the precursor to Break Point. The show was renewed for a second season which should elevate the sport even further.

So it's been cool to see and have some of those interactions, because it's telling me that there are maybe people being converted into tennis fans, which is great.

Some players have already been confirmed. Russian tennis phenom Mirra Andreeva will be part of it.