The second season of Netflix's tennis documentary, Break Point, featured a host of new stars, including World No. 5 Jessica Pegula.
A full episode titled "Now Or Never" is dedicated to the American and Greek star Maria Sakkari, who both feature intermittently on the show. It takes a deeper look at Pegula's background, coming from a billionaire family but having to earn every penny thanks to a culture of discipline instilled by her parents.
For Pegula, permitting access to the camera crew and appearing in this behind-the-scenes documentary almost never happened. She was hesitant at first glance, but as reveleaed in an interview with WTA Insider a few of her friends who were not fond of the sport of tennis changed her mind.
"To be honest, I didn't really want to. I was going back and forth and then a couple of people that I knew who aren't really in tennis were like, 'Are you kidding me?' You got to do it. You may never get a chance to do something like that again. You can always look back on it, or rewatch it, or you can show your kids or the rest of your family."
The crew and producers followed Pegula at key events last season, most notably at Wimbledon, where she reached her sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal and came within two games of beating eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova.
But she was undeterred by being profiled and televised in an esteemed documentary, which did not hinder her performances. She won her second WTA 1000 in Montreal and reached the championship match at the WTA Finals in Cancun.
"You kind of forget that they're there, especially during the matches. During warm up and cool down, it can be kind of weird, but at the same time, you're still doing the same things that you usually do."
"If anything, you might be doing it better because you don't want to look lazy. I did hear some of the guys tried a little harder," she said, laughing."
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