Felix Auger-Aliassime enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022, winning his first four ATP Tour titles and qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.
The Canadian's success was documented by the crews of Netflix's Break Point, which will premiere on 13 January. ATPTour.com caught up with Auger-Aliassime to speak about the experience of filming the show, the 2022 moment that gave him "a mixed feeling", and what he has been watching on Netflix.
What was the whole experience like with the cameras and everything involved with filming?
It was very natural. They were very [good at] making us at ease. [It was] on our schedule and [we were] doing it at the time we wanted, so for me it was easy to adapt. It wasn’t too difficult. I think it’s going to make a great show, and I think we gave them some good content.
For me the main goal is that it can help tennis. It can help tennis overall. That would be amazing if we could see a rise in the number of fans and attention for our sport by airing this series.
You are a very easy-going guy, but were there ever any times when you wished the cameras weren’t there?
When they were, it felt good. It was not like I ever didn’t want them there. I tried to be also true to myself, before matches and after matches, but it kind of felt like it was just a bird watching, or somebody watching from the outside and you were just doing your thing, being yourself, staying natural.
And at some point, you just forget about it also, and I think that’s the whole point: showing the fans, the viewer something raw and authentic, not anything staged.
[ATP APP]
Is there a moment you are excited to watch back from your season?
The Australian Open was a good run. It was kind of the start of it all. I think the Grand Slams are always special. For me, the French Open. It’s kind of a mixed feeling, that match against Rafa was an amazing match, but it’s going to be funny to see those images again. It was a special day.
Then, just images with my team, see how we come out on TV, but kind of seeing all of us sharing good moments is going to be good to see as well.
What was the most surprising thing about the whole experience?
Seeing the behind the scenes of how they do shows, the set up for the interviews and how everything is run. That’s kind of cool, because I’ve watched many shows.
I recently watched the Drive To Survive show, which was kind of the inspiration for this show. It’s cool from our perspective to see the behind the scenes of what they do.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Which player are you most interested in seeing the behind the scenes of?
I know not all players have done it, so I don’t know who exactly has done it. But the behind the scenes, not anybody in particular. Just overall.
I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like from all players, but I think it’s always nice to see the families, a bit of a story of where they’ve come from, what they’ve been through, and stuff like that. See what perspective they have on their career, on tennis in general. I think all of that from many players, I’m looking forward to seeing it.
What’s your favourite Netflix show?
I’ve had a couple over the past few years. A couple of years ago, El Chapo. I really thought it was interesting, kind of entertaining. And then Casa del Papel, that was nice. It was huge a couple of years ago, that was really good. It’s tough to name one. Currently, I’m watching some different shows not on Netflix, but yeah, I’ve had a couple of good ones over the past few years.
Are you going to binge the tennis show when it comes out?
I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get hooked and be excited to watch everything when you know so much about behind the scenes and you know so many players personally. You kind of feel like you want to watch it all right away when you really like a show, so I’m thinking that’s what might happen.
The Canadian's success was documented by the crews of Netflix's Break Point, which will premiere on 13 January. ATPTour.com caught up with Auger-Aliassime to speak about the experience of filming the show, the 2022 moment that gave him "a mixed feeling", and what he has been watching on Netflix.
What was the whole experience like with the cameras and everything involved with filming?
It was very natural. They were very [good at] making us at ease. [It was] on our schedule and [we were] doing it at the time we wanted, so for me it was easy to adapt. It wasn’t too difficult. I think it’s going to make a great show, and I think we gave them some good content.
For me the main goal is that it can help tennis. It can help tennis overall. That would be amazing if we could see a rise in the number of fans and attention for our sport by airing this series.
You are a very easy-going guy, but were there ever any times when you wished the cameras weren’t there?
When they were, it felt good. It was not like I ever didn’t want them there. I tried to be also true to myself, before matches and after matches, but it kind of felt like it was just a bird watching, or somebody watching from the outside and you were just doing your thing, being yourself, staying natural.
And at some point, you just forget about it also, and I think that’s the whole point: showing the fans, the viewer something raw and authentic, not anything staged.
[ATP APP]
Is there a moment you are excited to watch back from your season?
The Australian Open was a good run. It was kind of the start of it all. I think the Grand Slams are always special. For me, the French Open. It’s kind of a mixed feeling, that match against Rafa was an amazing match, but it’s going to be funny to see those images again. It was a special day.
Then, just images with my team, see how we come out on TV, but kind of seeing all of us sharing good moments is going to be good to see as well.
What was the most surprising thing about the whole experience?
Seeing the behind the scenes of how they do shows, the set up for the interviews and how everything is run. That’s kind of cool, because I’ve watched many shows.
I recently watched the Drive To Survive show, which was kind of the inspiration for this show. It’s cool from our perspective to see the behind the scenes of what they do.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Which player are you most interested in seeing the behind the scenes of?
I know not all players have done it, so I don’t know who exactly has done it. But the behind the scenes, not anybody in particular. Just overall.
I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like from all players, but I think it’s always nice to see the families, a bit of a story of where they’ve come from, what they’ve been through, and stuff like that. See what perspective they have on their career, on tennis in general. I think all of that from many players, I’m looking forward to seeing it.
What’s your favourite Netflix show?
I’ve had a couple over the past few years. A couple of years ago, El Chapo. I really thought it was interesting, kind of entertaining. And then Casa del Papel, that was nice. It was huge a couple of years ago, that was really good. It’s tough to name one. Currently, I’m watching some different shows not on Netflix, but yeah, I’ve had a couple of good ones over the past few years.
Are you going to binge the tennis show when it comes out?
I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get hooked and be excited to watch everything when you know so much about behind the scenes and you know so many players personally. You kind of feel like you want to watch it all right away when you really like a show, so I’m thinking that’s what might happen.