Tennis is one of those sports that those that love it will watch all year round, whilst everyone else will just pay attention to it when one of the Grand Slam events comes around.
In the United Kingdom, for example, the various public tennis courts up and down the country become incredibly busy when Wimbledon is being shown on the BBC, but soon go quieter again once the finals have been played.
Still, it is a sport filled with intrigue and stories, which is encapsulated in the numerous top-class documentaries about it that you can watch, with the following being some examples.
Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker
It isn’t exactly outrageous to suggest that Boris Becker might be one of the most intriguing characters that tennis has ever thrown up. In Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker, we chart the rise of the German player who set the tennis world alight when he won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old.
From there, we see how he ended up going through numerous divorces, before eventually suffering the ultimate indignity of serving time in prison due to tax evasion. The two-part documentary, made by Alex Gibney, sees his rise through the tennis ranks charted in the first part.
The second part looks at his downfall, which we are given hints about in the first part thanks to the conclusion that the traits that caused Becker to be one of the sport’s greats would also lead to his downfall.
Made as a co-production between Ventureland and Jigsaw Productions and financed by Lorton Entertainment, the film not only explores Becker’s personality but also offers exclusive access to the man in the three-year build-up to the point at which he was handed a prison sentence for hiding assets. The title references his ‘Boom Boom’ nickname as a big server.
Andy Murray: Resurfacing
To some, Andy Murray is a dry and humourless Scottish former tennis player who is perhaps better known thanks to the existence of his overbearing mother. To others, he is one of the greatest British players of all time, who was incredibly unlucky to be at the height of his game at the same time as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Regardless of the side that you come down on, it is difficult to watch Andy Murray: Resurfacing and not find yourself moved at least slightly. That is thanks to the fact that the film is a behind-the-scenes look at his recovery from hip surgery.
My last thought on the cancellation of Break Point is that if you’re looking for a documentary focused on a player’s fight for survival in the sport of tennis and that doesn’t treat viewers like they’re idiots, Andy Murray’s Resurfacing is available on Amazon Prime. pic.twitter.com/W45mLiYPUT
— Scott Barclay (@BarclayCard18) March 9, 2024
Having grown up in the Scottish town of Dunblane, Murray was a student at the local primary school when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils as well as their children in the March of 1996, hiding in the headmaster’s study until it was over.
Tennis, it transpired, allowed him to escape the numerous traumas that he suffered in his younger life, which is why the three-time Grand Slam winner found it so difficult when he thought his career was coming to an end. The documentary follows him not just through the surgery but also his return to success, winning the ATP title less than a year later.
Love Means Zero
This 2017 documentary might seem a little past its time nowadays, but in reality, the exploration of the tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and his relationship with Andre Agassi remains fascinating. It offers genuine insight into the world of coaching at the highest level, showing how one man’s relentless desire to win can cost him so much.
That man was Bollettieri, who had helped to develop players like Jim Courier, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, but it was his relationship with Agassi that caused him the most upset. He was Agassi’s coach between 1986 and the Wimbledon tournament of 1993.
He coached ten world number ones during his life, seeing Agassi win Wimbledon in 1992 as well as make it to the final of the Australian Open twice and the US Open once. He once said that he loved Agassi like a son, but he chose to call time on working as his coach, doing so via a letter rather than face-to-face.
In Love Means Zero, Bollettieri sits down with the filmmaker, Jason Kohn, to discuss what happened, as well as look back over the highlights of his remarkable career. Far from a ‘conventional sports documentary’, this delves deeply into the motivation behind becoming one of the world’s best.
Break Point
As soon as Drive to Survive became such a massive hit, it was fairly obvious that other sports would soon try their hand at the same thing. Could a documentary series about rugby drive as many new supporters to it as had gone to Formula One on the back of the Netflix show? How about golf?
In the case of tennis, the show in question was Break Point, which lasted for two seasons before being cancelled on the eighth of March 2024. If you want to get a real insight into the sport, however, then it is absolutely worth going back and taking a look at the footage that was put together.
The show followed several members of the Association of Tennis Professionals as well as the Women’s Tennis Association, with the first part following the goings-on at the 2022 Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, Madrid Open and French Open. In the second part, Wimbledon, Eastbourne International, Queen’s Club, U.S. Open, WTA Finals and the ATP Finals became the focus.
A second season was then released in 2024, introducing us to the worlds of players like Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz and Jessica Pegula. For an insight into tennis, this is an ideal introduction.
Federer: Twelve Final Days
If you want to watch a documentary about one of the true greats of the sport, Federer: Twelve Final Days might just be about the best that you can hope for. As the title suggests, it follows Roger Federer during the climax of his long and illustrious career, with both the man himself and members of his family, as well as some of the top players ever to play the game, offering their thoughts.
Directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, the film opens the door on the emotional toll that the decision to retire took on Federer, as well as his wife, Mirka.
Goodbyes are never easy. Federer: Twelve Final Days is streaming on @PrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/unHgNsg33r
— Amazon MGM Studios (@AmazonMGMStudio) July 8, 2024
It is a solid reflection of Federer’s personality that when he played his final game during the Laver Cup in the September of 2022, the people that hoisted him onto their shoulders were the same men that had been trying to defeat him for close to two decades. That many of them had failed to do so is a sign of just how good a player he was.
It would be untrue to say that this film looks at the nitty-gritty of his life or goes into any real depth about him, but in truth you don’t really need that to enjoy a celebration of one of the best ever people to pick up a racket and hit an ace or two.
Seven Days in Hell
Ok, this is a slight cheat for the list given the fact that it isn’t actually a documentary. Instead, it is a mockumentary that looks at the match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, which took place during the Wimbledon Championship in 2010.
It went on to become the longest match in history and whilst the film obviously puts punchlines at the top of its agenda, it does actually explore some interesting parts of tennis as a sport. In a way that only comedy can, it holds a mirror up to the ridiculousness of it all, as well as the pomp and circumstance that surrounds Wimbledon in particular.
Starring Andy Samberg and Kit Harrington as the two leads, as well as names such as Lena Dunham, Karen Gillan and Michael Sheen, it is narrated by Jon Hamm and was directed by Jake Szymanski and written by Murray Miller. If you’re worried about giving up too much of your time to a film that isn’t even a real documentary, then you needn’t be; the entire thing is only 45 minutes long.
If you want to watch something that will make you laugh as well as take a look at one of the sport’s more ridiculous moments, however, then you would do well to check out Seven Days in Hell.
