Aryna Sabalenka has expressed her confusion at Iga Swiatek's recent disappointment over editing choices made in Netflix's docu-series 'Break Point', saying players had the power to go back and change things they didn't like.
After her second-round win over Danielle Collins at the ongoing Cincinnati Open, world No. 1 Swiatek opened up about her dismay at some editing choices made in the documentary, which follows top-ranked players as they travel to Grand Slams, as well as ATP and WTA tournaments.
The 22-year-old spoke about the series leaving out her charity event 'Iga Swiatek and Friends for Ukraine', despite the Netflix crew filming it.
"They were in Krakow, and I think the atmosphere there was so great that it would be worth it to show it and also, you know, the other side of the kind of involvement that some players have with helping Ukrainians and Ukraine. So, yeah, it's shame that they didn't show it, but maybe it's better to ask them why," she said.
Swiatek also condemned the portrayal of an interaction with her longtime psychologist Daria Abramowicz, where it looked as though the latter was preventing the Polish player from choosing her own style when going for a haircut. This led to a huge social media backlash against Abramowicz, but Swiatek insisted that the scene was harmless in real life.
"There were some things that I thought they edited it, and people kind of misunderstood sometimes few situations in the episode. We already kind of spoke to Netflix about these things. I wish it could be done a little bit differently. When we watched before the premier, we couldn't have any influence on how they edited some stuff," she continued.
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Sabalenka defeated fifth seed Ons Jabeur to advance to the semi-final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. In her post-match press conference, she was asked about Swiatek's remarks on the docu-series, in which the Belarusian player also featured.
Sabalenka replied by revealing that players were allowed to see their episodes before they aired and make adjustments accordingly.
"I know before episode comes out, you watch it with Netflix on Zoom and you can make this adjustment like, I don't like this, this. You can change this, that or that. I don't know, like, why she couldn't do that when she was checking her episode. I don't know," she said.
The 25-year-old has also criticized her own depiction on the show in the past, saying that she had hoped she and her team would be characterized more positively, especially after her revelation in the second half of the series that she had contemplated quitting tennis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"I like my episode. I mean, probably was a little bit sad because I was crying watching it. Like, everyone was crying watching it. I was hoping they going to show more positive side of my team, myself," she said.
Loved being at @CincyTennis for a few days to shoot the @netflix Break Point Part 2 Reunion. It’s tough to execute, but this type of player interaction makes for some really authentic, insightful content - and a lot of laughs. 😂 Bonus: We had the best crew (& @graeters!)
