written by Peter White, Deadline
Netflix is continuing to serve up tennis docuseries with Rafael Nadal as its latest subject.
A month after revealing his retirement from the sport, Nadal has signed up for a series with the streamer, produced by Skydance Sports.
The untitled series joins Break Point, which ran for two seasons on Netflix before it was canceled, as well as its upcoming Carlos Alcaraz: My Way series.
It comes nine months after Nadal and Alcaraz went head-to-head for The Netflix Slam, a live event exhibition match.
The series will spotlight Nadal’s career as well as his life off-the-court, showcasing never-before-seen material from Nadal’s personal archive and featuring full access with the star, his family and his close circle of coaches and advisors including during his comeback to competitive play in the 2024 season after sitting out much of 2023 due to injury.
Nadal won 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including a record 14 French Open singles titles and is only one of three men (alongside Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic) to win a Career Grand Slam – all four majors and an Olympic gold medal. He also won all of the sport’s major events, including four U.S. Open titles, two Wimbledon championships, two Olympic gold medals, and two Australian Open crowns.
It will be directed by Zach Heinzerling, who directed Oscar-nominated doc Cutie and the Boxer, Hulu docuseries McCartney 3, 2, 1 and Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult at Sarah Lawrence.
David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jason Reed, and Jon Weinbach will exec produce for Skydance Sports, which is also behind upcoming series Aaron Rodgers: Enigma.
Rafael Nadal said, “I never thought I’d do something like this, but I got a call from David Ellison and with his words together with an amazing project they put in front of my eyes it really convinced me this was the right thing to do. Everyone will be able to see how my life has been during my tennis career and particularly in this vey last year I had. It will also show how my life and my tennis career developed through the years. I am sure the final product, the docuseries, will be amazing and that it will be seen around the world. My thanks to David Ellison and his team at Skydance for creating and believing on this project. To my family and my team for allowing being filmed this past year, I know it was not easy for all of us. To my colleagues and peers who have given time to put themselves in front of a camera for some time. And thanks to the tournaments around the world that facilitated the work, it wasn’t easy.”
“Rafael Nadal stands as one of the most influential and greatest figures in the history of sports. We are excited to present his remarkable story to our members, offering an intimate glimpse into his journey to cement his legacy to become the legend he is today,” added Diego Ávalos, Netflix’s VP of Content for Spain, Portugal, and the Nordics. “Partnering with our friends at Skydance to celebrate Nadal’s unequivocal career is a true honor.”
“Rafael Nadal is truly one of the greatest players and inspirations in the history of tennis,” said David Ellison, Founder and CEO, Skydance. “Beyond that, he is a friend and working with Rafa, Zach, and Netflix to tell his story is both an honor and a privilege.”
Featuring Cinematography from Adam Uhl
