March 4, 2024, 4:15 p.m.
Maybe it’s just me, but since Netflix announced in December that it would broadcast the exhibition between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz live In Las Vegas my head started imagining all kinds of fantasies. One of the largest platforms for audiovisual content, “the kings of drama”, at the controls of a match between two players who are pure spectacle. Nothing could go wrong. The other way around.
I imagined much more than a tennis match. Cameras inside the locker room in the previous moments, players microphoned, extravagant rules in the style of the Kings League by Gerard Piqué and some Netflix surprises. Even somewhat scripted. Like when a series takes you to a dead end and suddenly, boom, a script twist blows everything up and hooks you forever. I wanted to see something different, something groundbreaking, so much that my expectations were through the roof..
When I saw that former athletes such as Pau Gasol, Mike Tyson, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick were going to be at the Michelob Ultra Arena, I assumed that we would see one of them interrupting the game. An Alcaraz-Tyson doubles against Nadal-Gasol. Wow, what a delight.
There was a moment when the match was stopped due to a health problem of someone in the stands and when I saw Nadal and Alcaraz get up from their chair towards a corner – then I didn’t know what was happening, forgive me – my head thought of a new plot. Now yes. But after a few seconds, the Spanish tennis players returned to their seats and the match continued until the 3-6, 6-4 and 14-12 final for Alcaraz.
Netflix, the home of impressive productions such as Stranger Things, the Squid Game or La Casa de Papel, had a luxury opportunity to punch the table and offer something never seen before in a tennis broadcast. It is true that the sport of racquet is one of the most restricted there is: the camera shot is what it is and does not leave much room for imagination and creativity. That’s why, The flexibility that an exhibition gives and the fact that Netflix was at the controls made my imagination fly.
In the end I was left wanting. Maybe soon Netflix will surprise us with a Behind the scenes of the event that will make me sit in front of the television with some popcorn, but what was seen on television on Sunday was just another exhibition. Yes, it is true that The gray color of the track, the lighting and the presentations gave a different aroma. And yes, I am a megafan of the moment when Isabel Forner sat down with the protagonists on the bench to talk. But beyond that, I didn’t find the Netflix seal.
I expected even one step further the Making Cupthe competition that has hit the nail on the head of what tennis has to be. Created by Roger Federer -and in which he played that legendary last doubles with Rafael Nadal-, the Laver did represent a before and after: he pitted a team from Europe against the rest of the world, he placed the benches right behind the chair rest and He put cameras and microphones everywhere, in the hallways, in the locker room, in the dining room… He captured the drama like no one else. Federer 1, Netflix 0.
2024-03-04 15:15:11
#Netflix #lot #learn #Federer #drama #Relief
