Break Point (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Home sweet home.
It's that feeling in Madrid
for Paula Badosa
as the top seed at her home event.
It has been a meteoric rise. Now she finds
herself as the number-two player.
My name is Paula Badosa,
I'm 24 years old. I'm from Spain.
Over the past year,
I played the best tennis of my life.
And I just became world number two.
It's a drug. This sport is a drug.
It's super addictive.
The wins and the feeling that you get,
the adrenaline that it gives you,
you're chasing that all the time.
Good morning from La Caja Mágica.
It's that time of the year
when everybody
turns their attention towards Madrid.
And the start of European
clay court season.
The Madrid Open is
one of the biggest tournaments
of the season
on the men's and women's tours.
The distinctive red clay makes this a firm
favorite for fans and players alike.
Clay is more challenging
than other surfaces.
The balls get heavier.
It's way harder to hit a winner.
And you need to know how to slide.
You see a lot more players
using all the tools they have in their box
to try to win points.
Got to love clay, it's so dirty here.
All the top players are there.
The draw is absolutely packed.
And it's high pressure.
If you win Madrid, then you put yourself
in a significant position
for the rest of the season globally.
Thanks, Paula.
In the women's draws,
there are plenty of contenders
looking to lift the trophy,
which makes this year
particularly exciting.
On the one hand, you've got top players
like former Grand Slam champion
and Madrid winner, Simona Halep.
And Paula Badosa, who's current favorite
to win her home tournament.
But there are disruptors here
that could cause an upset,
like Maria Sakkari,
and you've got Jessica Pegula,
and Ons Jabeur.
None have had a big win
yet, so they're all hungry for a title.
So, tricky to call
who's going to be crowned queen of Madrid.
Hi, Paula.
Playing in Madrid,
having become recently number two
Does it add extra pressure
to you for the tournament?
It's totally different to be
number 70 than to be number two.
You are more exposed, the pressure is on.
So I have to learn how to manage it,
because in my case,
everything happened very fast.
Paula Badosa has been
an absolute rocket up the rankings
over the last year.
On top of that, she has that
kind of CoverGirl look about her.
Six feet tall,
about as perfect as you can get.
And she's got her supermodel boyfriend.
I saw her for the first time on Instagram.
I thought she was pretty,
she caught my attention
and I started following her from that day.
One of the qualities I like best about her
is that she is a strong person.
She is one of the strongest women
I have ever met.
What a present she gave me here.
She's always fighting for her dream.
I think a lot of people that
see me on social media, on Instagram,
they think that my life
and everything is perfect.
But of course it's not.
I'm living a dream.
But at the same time,
it's not easy to manage with all
the expectations, all the pressure.
The first ten minutes they're just
gonna show you around
- Okay.
- give you a tour of the space.
They did a big contest to see
one lucky person is going to get
to rally over a small net with you.
Some tennis coach won it,
but he wants to give it to
I guess there's some girl at his academy
that's a huge fan of yours.
- Okay.
- So, she's seven years old.
- So cute.
- She didn't sleep last night.
Really?
Hello.
Who's going to win?
Very good. Bye, champion.
I don't like that you beat me!
Sponsors and money.
It's important
because it brings this financial security.
Women tennis players are still striving
for equal prize money to men.
And they're still striving
to get equal airtime on TV.
I think women tennis players are striving
to just have that recognition
that male athletes have.
I need to live like,
so many things this week for
I've played several tournaments
where they're joint events
and I'm making significantly less.
Even I got people come up to me and say,
"O my God, you won that tournament
and they made that much and you only?"
You know, that's bullshit.
- How are you?
- Good.
Ultimately, the reason
you're getting these opportunities is
because you're a champion.
- Are you going to blow the balloon up?
- Yes.
You get a sponsorship and you think
it's forever, but guess what? It's not.
It's not forever unless you keep winning.
People don't realize how difficult
it is financially for tennis players.
When you come from a rich country,
the financial contract with the sponsors
are much bigger.
Because the market is bigger.
When you come from a little country,
it's a disaster.
- Aboullah, when are you arriving?
- When are you coming, Adel?
My name is Ons Jabeur. I am from Tunisia
and I'm 27 years old.
I'm a dreamer.
And my dream is to win a major title.
- Maybe after a while
- OK.
- I'll tell you later.
- Okay.
Ons.
- Ons.
- Mumi.
I always believed that I could be
a professional tennis player.
But a tennis player coming from Tunisia,
that was a different thing.
Should I add more?
It's so good.
Ons coming from
and representing
the Arab and the African nations
is doing something
that nobody else has ever done.
People thought
that I would be quitting tennis,
that I would be a housewife.
But I always believed in my dream.
To come from nowhere,
without any resources,
without investments,
and getting past all the barriers
and the significance of what that means
for her country,
for herself, for her family
It's incredible.
When I was playing tennis with my friends,
she was telling me,
"Mom, you have to win. Do it."
I was such a wise child.
I was competitive
from the age of three years old.
I hate losing. I always wanted to win.
Even playing a card game.
She always wants to win.
To say that you want to win
a major title, people will laugh at you.
People will say, "No, you cannot do it."
So I need to believe even more in myself.
From the moment you start
your career, the clock is ticking.
And Ons is 27.
She has broken last year into the top ten.
Now she's world number eight.
Ons is at the stage of her career
where she really needs to win a big title.
Are they recording you or me?
- Both.
- Okay.
Give me the ball please.
Slice.
When you don't go for it, I take control.
Ons's team is made up
of her coach, Issam,
and her husband, Karim.
She really wanted to build out
a full Tunisian team.
But is that going to get
the best out of you?
Listen! Hit it hard.
I think people kinda thought,
"You're only going to get that
if you go to the countries
that have historically pumped out
the top-level coaches."
That's how you're going to find
your blueprint to success.
So people they did judge us
and they didn't believe in our team.
People didn't think
that we are a great team together.
They didn't believe in our capacity
to be top 30, top 20, top 10.
But Issam and Karim really get me.
And we have the same goals.
We want to break barriers.
- Can I use your pen?
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
We're like
the three musketeers from Tunisia.
I like to think that, you know.
One, two, three, yeah!
First day of the Mutua Madrid Open.
It's going to be a busy one here today.
Starting with this enticing encounter
between Badosa and Kudermetova.
Badosa knows
what she has to do.
There's a bit of pressure
on her shoulders.
There you go.
Everything's starting to click now.
- Come on, Paula.
- Come on, Paula.
She's on the doorstep. Match point.
What a performance
from Badosa in the second set.
She did not lose a point on serve.
You want to feel that feeling
of winning, winning and winning.
That's one of the reasons
that you keep playing,
because you want
that feeling all the time.
Thank you.
Up next, another first-round battle.
Jasmine Paolini
faces off against Ons Jabeur.
Ons has had a mixed season so far.
Let's see
if she can turn it around here today.
She's a breath of fresh air
in how she plays. Very imaginative.
Slice backhand.
Mixes it up, comes to the net, drop shots.
She's unpredictable.
That is what she does.
Opening set, Ons Jabeur.
When I look at Ons, I think,
that I wouldn't have matched up
well against her.
She would have been a nightmare
to play against.
Wow.
Creative genius.
Thank God I'm retired
because that slice, oh God.
I'd have nightmares about it.
When you go to a match
of Ons Jabeur,
you know that you're going to have fun.
Jabeur. Match point.
Oh. That's brilliant.
The number-eight seed
books a place in the round of 32.
This is his time to take revenge.
As a husband, not as a fitness coach.
Are you filming the torture?
For a player like Ons,
the journey has been
extremely challenging.
Because if you don't have enough money
to pay for a coach,
there's no way you can compete.
Ons was struggling a little bit
with the fitness coaches
and it was costing a lot of money for her.
She told me,
"Can you please travel with me
and help me with the fitness side?"
So I said, "Okay."
I need to help my wife.
Her dream is my dream.
Let's see what the future is bringing.
- Now you're cheating.
- Did you hear that?
It was a big risk to take to mix
professional and personal life together.
We struggled a lot at the beginning.
For example, I threw the medicine ball
just a little bit far from her.
He threw the medicine ball
like this far from me.
I complained about it.
She said, "Don't tell me what to do."
"Catch it? No, don't tell me to catch it."
I was like, "You can't throw."
He's like, "You can't catch."
It was a mess. We stopped
even the training because of that.
"Okay Ons, stop. We need to discuss.
We need to have like a small meeting."
It's not going to work,
so we put like rules.
Ladies and gentlemen, here we have
Ons Jabeur on the screen, sorry.
- Are you sure you're having me?
- Yeah, you're on the screen.
Ons, I have a question for you.
- No cameras, please.
- Wait. I have a question.
Tell me more about babies.
I know that you like kids and babies.
And I know that
you are in love with your niece.
Yeah. I love babies. We both do.
- And hopefully one day we can have a
- A child of our own.
- A mini Karim or a mini Ons.
- Little Ons.
- Uh, we both cannot wait for that day.
- Okay.
It will be a victory for both of us.
Okay. Do you think
you will put her on tennis?
I want to let her
Why her? I want a boy.
He's trying to trick me.
No, but it's a
It's one of our goals.
- Hopefully, after
- After a good career.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. One step at a time.
Women do a lot of sacrifices.
If you want to have a child,
you can't just go and have a child.
You have to sacrifice that.
You have to sacrifice something you love.
A family for a career.
I wish I was a man.
Just, "I want to have a baby." Done.
I have a better angle here. Okay, Ons.
Oh, now he knows about the angles. Wow.
Such a heavy camera.
- Ready for tomorrow?
- I don't know. We'll see.
Yes. Always positive, Ons Jabeur.
Women's tennis is incredibly physical.
You can't just hop back on tour
and everything's the same.
Your body has changed.
In the history of tennis, only three women
have been able to have kids
and then come back and win Grand Slams.
So it's a really big decision.
- Paula Badosa. How are you?
- Hi, how are you?
She's world's number two in tennis.
It's a dream come true
to be among the two best in the world.
Next is number one.
Of course.
But let's start with number two.
Of course. What's your goal in Madrid?
I have a dream. I'd love to win in Madrid.
I'll fight and give it my all.
At least I've got this chance.
There's being a favorite at a tournament
and there's being a favorite
at your home tournament.
Everyone has a different way
of handling pressure.
I could never be overly confident.
It never worked for me.
I wanted to show up
as if I had never won anything.
That's the way
that I was able to function.
Coming up next,
second-round coverage
of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Thirty-two women will
compete for a place in the next round.
Simona Halep and
Paula Badosa clash for the first time.
There's a lot of things
that affect you
when you're going to go to play.
You're the home favorite,
you have expectations.
The Romanian, Simona Halep.
Grand Slam champion Simona Halep
has two Madrid titles
under her belt already,
and she'll be looking to add a third.
She's a tough player. She's a fighter.
So it's a big challenge.
Paula Badosa.
Bit of a home court
advantage in many ways for the Spaniard.
She said, "I feel a bit of the pressure."
But I'm expecting a lift,
particularly tonight
against the former world number one.
Is Badosa gonna have
enough power to overpower Helep?
She's playing unbelievable.
But I'm playing on a good level as well.
She's come back from a
two-love deficit to move ahead three-two.
I'm nervous.
Maybe a little bit more than usual.
Set point.
A quality start for Simona Halep.
When you're playing as a favorite,
you play with pressure,
so maybe
you don't play at your best level.
She's feeling the pressure from Halep.
She's suffocating.
Mentally I'm blocked.
I'm struggling so much.
I just can't find my level.
I really want to leave the court.
I have so many negative voices in my head.
"You're a bad player."
"You're not able to do this."
It's very tough to turn it off.
It's tough seeing her suffer so much.
She is at the limit of her emotions,
stress, everything.
But there's nothing else you can do.
She's having
a hard time just holding on to her tears.
Halep has been
unrelenting. Looking to snuff out Badosa.
Match point.
Game, set and match
If you want to beat
the elite, you have to bring your best.
Six-three, six-one.
And Simona Halep
has upended the world number two
in an hour and 16 minutes.
She dismisses Badosa 6-3, 6-1.
It's tough. Very tough for me.
In Madrid, in my hometown.
Very emotional.
Fuck.
This has happened to me before.
I've been struggling for years
with a lot of depression.
When I was 17,
I won the Junior French Open.
This is a lot of motivation
winning a tournament like this.
It's amazing for me.
- Okay. Thank you.
- Thank you.
People were talking about me
like I was the next big thing,
the next Maria Sharapova.
I felt like, "Wow, now I have
to be a legend."
"Maybe next year
I have to be a top-ten player."
So for me it was a lot of pressure.
Paula Badosa
had early success as a junior,
but she struggled to kind
of break through, struggled to get wins.
What a pity.
It was very tough for me. because
I didn't know what to do in that moment.
Life didn't have a lot of sense.
Because ever since I was seven years old,
my dream was to be
a professional tennis player.
It was very bad.
I didn't want to go on a tennis court.
I started to try to find solutions to work
on it, with mental health professionals.
So yeah, that helped for sure.
I've been very, very open in the press
and everywhere
about my mental health struggles
because even the best athlete
in the world can feel this.
Hello, Paula.
We'll start with questions
I'm in a position right now that
if I talk, maybe I can help other people.
Paula Badosa was one of the first players
to really openly discuss really
how difficult depression was in her life.
And that really makes her
one of the trailblazers in this space.
I think it shows
an incredible amount of bravery.
You're in a position where you don't want
to show weaknesses to other players.
You want to seem completely impenetrable.
A lot of people don't talk about it
because they think
that they're going to be weaker,
but I think it's totally the opposite.
Welcome home.
I'm fighting a lot mentally
to try to find myself again.
My team, they're with me 24/7.
Thank you so much.
Thanks. See you.
Every time that I'm thinking about
something negative, I have them.
"You missed doing 100 more squats
before the game, damn it!"
"For fuck's sake."
They help me on and off court.
If I'm not having that good day
or mentally I'm struggling,
they're there for me.
I was very concerned.
Hm.
Um, right now, from 0 to 10
How are you?
It depends on the moment.
You know the angel and the devil?
Well, that's where I am.
With that internal fight Constantly.
When I'm okay,
I feel like home on those courts.
And I feel like this is my place.
But I go from that to
''Get me out of here, I want to die.''
Pau, with what you're saying
The next time this happens, we must stop.
Let's make this experience useful
for the future to say,
"At this point
it is better not to compete."
Just go home, take a break.
- Be
- It's my own fault.
My mistake for thinking, ''If there's 1%
chance to win, you never know.''
We're a team for the good and for the bad.
- We will always be there, right?
- Yeah.
I'm really grateful
to have good people by my side.
They care about how I am
before the player that I am.
I'm going to fight to be
one of the best players in the world.
And I hope one day we can all make
our dreams come true.
Welcome back to quarter finals day
at the Aranxa Sánchez Stadium
here in Madrid.
With home favorite Paula Badosa
out of the draw,
the competition is wide open.
Come on, guys.
Just going to continue and keep pushing.
I'll try my best here
to compete with the great champions.
Ons will now face
former Grand Slam champion
Simona Halep in the quarter finals.
Simona is a great player, you know.
She's never easy to beat.
And she just knocked out Paula Badosa,
number two in the world.
So definitely it's going to be
a difficult match.
Jabeur gets things
underway for a spot in the final four.
Nothing's going to come easy.
To win a point,
you have to really go for it.
Ons Jabeur. Mighty.
She has the best drop shot in the game.
It's a thing of beauty.
Jabeur finishes strong
to take the opening set.
Just marveling at her ability.
It feels like something's clicked.
Match point.
Jabeur sees off two-time Madrid champion
Simona Halep in straight sets.
You guys are good luck.
Always when you come, I win.
Congratulations on your win
against a very formidable opponent.
The Tunisian
Ons Jabeur, the player to avoid.
- Good luck tomorrow.
- Thank you.
You've had
an amazing run. How does it feel?
Honestly, a dream coming true.
She's now meeting
Yekaterina Aleksándrova
in the semi finals.
The Tunisian,
right now, is at the height of her game.
Match point.
And there you have it.
The talented Tunisian finds her way
to the final in Madrid.
How about this? For the first time,
the continent of Africa
now has a woman reach a WTA 1000 final.
Her name? Ons Jabeur.
Next.
Well done!
Next. Who's next? No?
The final is a big day for me.
I think they're here.
I'm playing one of the biggest matches
of my life.
The family is here.
Oh God!
My family is here to support me.
How are you?
Mino.
Come here. Wow, come here.
Give me a kiss.
I play the final tomorrow.
Being surrounded by my family,
seeing my niece, is unbelievable.
She takes the stress a little bit away.
The last day in Madrid.
Just two remain.
Ons Jabeur will now be facing
Jessica Pegula in the women's final.
Ons, congratulations.
First African player
to ever reach a 1000 final.
You must just be elated.
Um, I know
The smile coming on your face
when you're talking about the final.
I'm going to put all the effort,
every great drop shot that I do,
every great forehand in the match.
You're not only going
for the biggest title of your life,
but it would be historic.
And you're doing it with style.
We cannot wait to watch you
- Thank you.
- in that final. Tremendously well done.
I feel like all the
players like Jabeur, fans, journalists,
everyone's kind of rooting for her
to do this.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
She's a hell of a player, Pegula.
She hits so clean. It's incredible.
She's very, very dangerous.
On one shot, she can put you
two meters away from the ball like that.
What is most tricky about playing Ons?
She's very unorthodox.
She plays different than other girls.
Some girls you can play over and over
again. Their strategy is kind of similar.
But she's definitely
not going to roll over.
Ons Jabeur has been
forging a path, producing numerous firsts.
First-time achievements
for players from Tunisia,
players from Africa and for Arab women.
This is the first time
that she reached the final
of such a big tournament.
Jessica Pegula!
Jessica Pegula
has been yearning for this chance
for the championship.
Ons Jabeur!
The 27-year-old who has
captured the tennis world with her smile.
I'm so stressed.
They don't know how much I'm stressed.
I tried to not show it to her,
but inside I'm having a heart attack.
Ready.
Play.
Oh. Jabeur virtually
owns the drop shot.
But Jessica's not bad at it herself.
She's playing really well.
Very aggressive.
I am starting very slow.
Four-one down in the first set.
It's really starting
to get under the skin of Jabeur.
Maybe putting
too much pressure on herself.
Focus on your game. Go.
Good work. Well done, Ons.
Much better from Jabeur.
Then I find my rhythm.
Game, Jabeur.
Just amazing. Look at that smile.
Good turnaround this from Ons Jabeur.
Marvelous.
Ons Jabeur takes the opening set.
Pegula is injecting
more power into her strokes.
Pegula leads by two games to love.
She starts playing amazing.
Like boom, boom, boom, you know?
Pegula being very aggressive right now.
She's putting every ball in
and that kinda bothered me a lot.
The game is going
very, very fast.
She's killing me.
She's not playing the way she has
since the beginning of the tournament.
You don't recognize her.
It's not Ons anymore on the court.
- What more can I do?
- It's okay.
Things have gone
just inexplicably haywire in this set.
I don't want
to see her struggling.
She's not only my player.
She's also my wife.
I don't want to see her like this.
- Go, Ons!
- Go, sister!
You are the boss. Attack without fear.
Last set.
Play.
This is not happening.
My family didn't come
all the way for this.
Bravo, Ons. Go ahead.
Karim didn't do all this for nothing.
Jabeur is like,
"I am not losing this match."
I pressed the reset button.
Two games away.
If I have the slightest opportunity,
I try to take it.
Six points in a row lost by Pegula.
Ons Jabeur
with a chance now
to be the first Arab woman
to raise the trophy
at a tournament of this magnitude.
Serving for the glory in Madrid.
Game, set and match, Jabeur!
I can't believe it.
Things have gotten real
in Madrid for Ons Jabeur. Champion!
It's crazy.
I'm just so happy.
I wanted to scream so loud.
I really want to thank my team
for the hard work you've been doing.
Thank you, guys, for always believing
in me and pushing me forward.
I'm thankful for my family
who came here to support me today.
Lifting that trophy.
See the joy on Ons Jabeur's face.
Again, a reminder for the woman
who has done so much for Tunisia
and for the Arab world
and women across the globe.
Ons Jabeur blazed a trail to victory.
It's something unbelievable.
It's like something very magical.
Getting this title is all I've worked for.
This is a big, big step that will make me
believe more in myself,
and makes me believe
that I can win a Grand Slam.
Welcome to Roland-Garros.
The second Grand Slam of the year.
Thirteen-time Roland-Garros champion.
The King of Clay.
Who even has the potential
to stop Rafa at Roland-Garros?
I believe I have what it takes
to win Grand Slams
and be number one in the world.
You eat tennis, you drink tennis,
you shit tennis.
Félix is a prodigy,
but he needs to find something
to take him to the next level.
I'm Rafael Nadal's uncle.
I like being a teacher.
Very good.
Félix Auger-Aliassime
is going to be coached by Toni Nadal.
It's the Uncle Toni Derby.
Who's he cheering for?