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Titled 'California Dreaming,' Episode 3 of Netflix's tennis documentary Break Point focuses on two stars -- Taylor Fritz and Maria Sakkari, and their respective runs at the 2022 Indian Wells Open.
While Fritz, a California native, made history at the tournament by becoming the first American to win the men's title since Andre Agassi in 2001, Sakkari made it to the biggest final of her career, losing to Iga Swiatek in the summit clash.
The episode opens with Taylor Fritz talking about the difficulties of life on the professional tennis tour, pointing to how losing is a fundamental part of the game and how taxing it is on players, both physically and mentally.
"It's tough to be happy in tennis because every single week everyone loses but one person. You get used to losing. It's pretty non-stop. Minimum 30-something weeks of the year traveling. It kills you," Taylor Fritz said. "You just want to keep working, keep improving. And since all I'm thinking about is just like doing absolutely everything that I can possibly do to like deserve to belong with these guys in the Top-10."
Taylor Fritz then goes on to talk about taking to tennis as a child, recalling how his father used to be his coach at the time and predicted that he would be winning Indian Wells someday. The World No. 9's girlfriend Morgan Riddle and coaches Michael Russell and Paul Annacone also get a lot of screen time, giving insight into how Fritz's mental side works during different stages of a tournament.
Meanwhile, Maria Sakkari speaks about being inspired by her mother Angeliki Kanellopoúlou, a former Top-50 tennis player herself, and her relationship with her coach Tom Hill.
As Fritz and Sakkari rack up the wins in the early rounds - Fritz beating Jaume Munar, Alex de Minaur and Miomir Kecmanovic; Sakkari beating Petra Kvitova, Daria Saville and Elena Rybakina - the focus shifts to the last-4 matches.
In the semifinals, the American took on Andrey Rublev, while the Greek locked horns with defending champion Paula Badosa. Despite not playing at his very best, Taylor Fritz secured a spot in the final, much to the delight of his entourage.
"You didn't play great today and you figured it out. That's a sign of someone who's going to win," Annacone says to Taylor Fritz when the go over the match.
Maria Sakkari, on the other hand, is at an all-too familiar stage, having reached one semifinal after another without ever reaching the final. She recalls that struggle in detail, revealing that the loss against Barbora Krejcikova at the 2021 French Open from being match point up hurt so much that she told her coach that she was retiring.
Thankfully, the "retirement" lasted only four days before the World No. 6 started practicing again.
"I was just struggling because I could see the finish line and then I wouldn't win the match. My mind would go so far in a match that I just couldn't close it out. I was too excited. I was nearly there but not there at the same time. And there are a lot of losses that hurt even today. Like the loss in Paris last year. I lost that match from being match point up. I didn't know how to handle that situation, couldn't sleep for three days."
"I was just lying in bed and trying to sleep but I was so nervous and so sad. It was tough for me to handle and I told my coaches that I want to retire from tennis. I retired for four days. And then, I was on a Greek island. I just called Tom and I said, "Okay, when can we start practicing again?" Coming back from retirement - that's how we've been calling it," Sakkari said.
The clash against Badosa turned out to be a tense affair, with Sakkari being stretched to her limits emotionally before wrapping up the win in three sets. On the day of the final against Nadal, however, Taylor Fritz injures his ankle in practice and fans are treated to the first-ever look at what went on that day.
"The biggest match of my life and I'm going to have to pull out" - Taylor Fritz on what went through his mind after his ankle injury ahead of the final
Warming up with a couple of rallies from the baseline, the World No. 9 suddenly experiences a sharp pain in his right ankle, which immediately causes him to fall to the ground and stop training.
Revealing what went through his mind immediately after the injury, Fritz recalls:
"I'm thinking, "That's it. The biggest match of my life and I'm going to have to pull out. I can't even play," Taylor Fritz said.
In the women's final, meanwhile, Maria Sakkari is full of hope and adrenaline before the start of the match but gets completely outplayed by Iga Swiatek despite a bright start. The emotional win over Paula Badosa in the semifinals could have been the reason for the loss, believes Sakkari, stating that it took too much energy out of her. Nonetheless, the Greek promises to keep fighting with what she learned over the last couple of weeks.
"All the pressure I had all these years, it just came out. It was horrible. I just want to cry. It's embarrassing. You're not yourself. I was not the Maria I was for the entire two weeks. That emotional win against Paula in the semifinals just took away a lot of energy from me," Sakkari said.
Back to the men's final, Taylor Fritz and his team meet the doctor on site for a consult, who prescribes that the 25-year-old take some time off and skip the match. His coaches also encourage the American to do the same, but the American remains stubborn.
Despite the threat of worsening the injury, Fritz insists that he go out and see what he can do, declaring that he would never be able to stop thinking about the moment if he decided not to show up for the final. Reluctantly, his team concede, following which the World No. 9 delivers the performance of a lifetime.
A straight-sets win gives Taylor Fritz the championship, his first Masters 1000 title. He runs over immediately to celebrate with his family and friends, who greet him with bright smiles. Looking back on the moment, the former World No. 8 is happy for his father in particular, stating:
"I've never seen my dad cry from being happy. He's so proud of me. For all the late nights and the long days when we were on the tennis court, we did it. I won Indian Wells," Taylor Fritz said.
Overall, 'California Dreaming' does a very good job highlighting the mental aspects of two of the biggest fighters in the sport at the moment, giving a lot of insight into their team dynamics and why they play tennis the way they do.
