World No. 3 Casper Ruud would like to see the Netflix tennis docu-series Break Point look more at on-court competition, but Maria Sakkari was glad she opened up on the show.
“I hope that next season we will get a little bit more action on court and not maybe as much other things,” said Ruud, whose run to the French Open final last year was featured in one episode.
The Norwegian — whose opening match in Indian Wells is scheduled for this weekend — said he made a conscious decision not to reveal too much of his personal life before the cameras, but added that the show did capture the ups and downs players face — including a provoking moment at the French Open when grounds crew, fearing rain, would not let him warm up before his semi-final.
Photo: AFP
“I was quite angry,” he said. “They said that it was supposed to rain, it wasn’t raining when we arrived on court. That was the sort of hiccup and the argument that was ongoing.”
“I don’t know if it was good or not, but Netflix was there catching it all,” he said. “I was getting more and more frustrated because they just refused us to play even though it wasn’t raining.”
“I’d almost forgot that happened because it was a big week for me, a big tournament,” Ruud said. “I reached my first final at a Grand Slam, and that little hiccup was not what I was thinking about, you know, when the show was going to come out, but it was a little bit funny also seeing back on what can happen sometimes for us. It’s not always a smooth ride.”
He would have liked to see more of the tension he felt facing two Scandinavian opponents, including his comeback from two sets to one down in the third round to a Finnish foe.
Greece’s Sakkari, whose run to the Indian Wells women’s singles final last year was covered in one episode, was forthcoming about the difficulties of the mental side of the game and said she thought it was right to open up.
“I just felt like that if I do it, I want to do it the right way,” said Sakkari, who is back at the tournament in California this week. “I don’t want to hide anything. I don’t want to fake.”
She did say the producers “have some kind of charisma or a way to just make you feel, in a good way, like we are friends so you’re having a friendly chat.”
“Then once you get to know them a little bit more, then you open up and you feel comfortable just talking about your emotions and how you feel on the tour,” she said. “I just didn’t feel like there was any reason for me to hide and not be transparent and honest on how I felt last year because it was very challenging.”
Sakkari and Ruud both said that being on the show, which has been confirmed for another season, had raised their profiles.
Ruud recalled a woman at a grocery story in Florida, where he was training last month, telling him she and her husband had watched him the night before in the show.
“I haven’t been, like, an overnight worldwide superstar or anything, but I guess some more people in the world have seen the show,” he said. “It’s positive for us if more people know and are interested in tennis.”
On the courts, Taiwan’s Wu Tung-lin on Wednesday advanced to the second round at the BNP Paribas, while American Brandon Nakashima beat veteran John Isner 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 to set up a meeting with Daniil Medvedev.
Nakashima, 21, saved a set point in the first tiebreaker and stepped up his defense in the second to see off the big-serving Isner.
“Coming to this tournament, it’s always super exciting for me,” said Nakashima, who made his tour debut at Indian Wells in 2018. “Growing up here, close by in San Diego, it’s one of the tournaments where I grew up coming here as a little kid, watching all the top pros. So to be able to play here now against another top American on the center court here, is a super special feeling.”
Taiwan’s Wu, who is ranked 175th, earned his first ATP Tour victory after seeing off Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4.
He faces 10th seed Cameron Norrie of Britain in the next round.
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