TENNIS NEEDS A DOCUSERIES, BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE DIFFERENTLY

Daniil Medvedev displays one of the most entertaining personalities in tennis. (Getty/Alberto Gardin)

Sitting in Madrid, catching up on Full Swing season three during the nationwide power outage, I couldn’t help but feel that tennis is missing a huge opportunity in the docuseries space.

The Netflix-PGA collaboration series delivers a captivating behind-the-scenes look at professional golf. Akin to Formula 1: Drive to Survive, it continues to thrive and engage a new market of fans.

Meanwhile, tennis, the sport with the most documentable tour, is failing to capitalise and falling behind.

Why tennis is perfectly suited

The professional tennis tour is unparalleled: an eleven-month whirlwind of competition spanning every habitable continent.

No other sport immerses its top athletes in such a diverse array of cultures and destinations each year, with 35 countries hosting top-line events in 2025.

And having experienced this first-hand across five continents over the past four months, the global passion is undeniable.

This relentless worldwide journey also sees the sport uniquely intersecting with world events, creating moments ripe for documentary content. In my most recent three tournaments alone, I’ve seen Marrakech in Morocco pause for Eid celebrations, Madrid halt play due to a national power outage, and next week, Rome will clash with the papal conclave; each adding a distinct backdrop to the tennis narrative.

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And with top players representing more nations than any sport outside football, tennis is perfectly positioned to highlight the varied journeys athletes take to reach the ATP and WTA tours. South America, for instance, boasts 11 top-100 players despite lacking a major tournament, and the region's No.1 player, Francisco Cerúndolo, told The First Serve their journey is worth highlighting.

"For us, I think it's much harder (to reach the top); a lot of travel, sacrifice, long periods away from home," the Argentinian said.

"Bringing a documentary from South America would be awesome…it would show a totally different perspective to European players. People could see the unique challenges that players face to climb the rankings."

While Full Swing doesn’t (and couldn’t) capture this level of cultural variety, it masterfully highlights the relentless grind of weekly losses – a reality just as pronounced in tennis.

Though tennis tournaments are easier to win than golf events, all but one player leaves with the sting of a direct head-to-head defeat, and for half a tennis draw, the tournament ends on day one, with no chance to redeem your week.

Even beyond this intense competition and global richness, tennis brims with elements that, if thoughtfully crafted, could elevate a docuseries above the likes of 'Full Swing' and 'Drive to Survive'.

With parallel men’s and women’s tours, authentic rivalries, and a physically demanding game, tennis is primed for compelling visual storytelling, but it must be done right.

Make tennis the focus

Tennis' previous docuseries foray with Break Point, which covered the 2022 and 2023 seasons, leaned heavily on players’ personal lives and families, often overshadowing the sport itself.

Daniil Medvedev – who featured in season two of the series – told The First Serve that the filming process became intrusive for him.

"Once you give your permission to them, they want more," the 2021 US Open champion revealed.

"They want to film your daughters, your wife, ask them questions. They want to ask you more about your personal life."

Medvedev – one of men’s tennis’ most vibrant personalities – realised he needed to protect some aspects of his life.

Referencing an interview with American singer Jack Harlow, he remarked, "People around you, not your friends, like fans and everyone, they want to know everything about you: who you date, what you have for dinner, if you take a shower for five or 15 minutes," he said.

"But you need to keep something for yourself, otherwise they take all your life away."

For the former world No.1, who is as open and insightful with the media as any, the thought of constant intrusion now feels overwhelming.

"I saw how Carlos' docuseries (Carlos Alcaraz: My Way – also a personality-heavy series) was done. It's cameras all over you, all through the day. That's not for me," he said.

While he left the door slightly ajar, suggesting he’d "never say never" to another documentary, the Russian’s stance was clear: any potential filming must respect his boundaries.

I believe Medvedev’s perspective highlights a critical point: a tennis docuseries will best succeed if it centres the sport – its intensity, rivalries, and global reach – rather than personal voyeurism.

If someone as charismatic as Medvedev felt intruded upon, the approach was flawed and should instead focus on the game of tennis.

Combine the niche elements of the sport: the chaos of the draw, the perfectly crafted scoring system, the fairytale stories added with the global diversity of the tour, and we have immense storytelling potential.

Tennis is primed for a docuseries done right, and it’s time to seize the opportunity.

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