At the Australian Open, the so-called "Netflix curse" is a topic of conversation.

Of the ten protagonists of the first five episodes of the new tennis documentary "Break Point" on the streaming service provider Netflix, only Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime is still represented at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

All other players have either already been eliminated or were not able to play due to injury.

"My girlfriend showed me that, I wasn't even aware of it," said Auger-Aliassime after his third round win on Friday against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo: "I think it's funny.

Maybe the players who lost think it's somehow related.

I don't think so." But it is "funny how things sometimes develop".

Netflix also wrote on its Twitter account for the UK and Ireland: "To be clear: this is pure coincidence..."

Formula 1 as a model for tennis

The sixth-seeded Canadian meets the Czech Jiri Lehecka in his round of 16 on Sunday.

In the second round, the 22-year-old almost got it too, but after being 2-0 down in sets he successfully fought back against Alex Molcan from Slovakia.

All other protagonists were less fortunate.

While Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa were injured and unable to serve at Melbourne Park, Casper Ruud, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari were all eliminated early.

This is not good news for those responsible for world tennis, after all, it was not by chance that they started the Netflix documentary shortly before the first serve at the Grand Slam tournament in Australia.

The creators of the documentary had already made the series "F1: Drive to Survive" a huge success and gave Formula 1 access to a new target group.

Now new fans and sponsors should also be addressed in tennis.

It was necessary to "allow more glimpses behind the scenes," said ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi in July.

The feedback on the format was mixed, however.

Despite a little moment of shock, young star Holger Rune reached the round of 16 in Melbourne.

The ninth-seeded Dane beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) on Saturday and will face Russia's Andrei Rublev in the round of the top 16 players.

The sixth in the world rankings also had hardly any problems in the 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 3 victory against Brit Daniel Evans.

Rune had slightly sprained his ankle early in the second set at the John Cain Arena and fell on his wrist but obviously didn't injure himself seriously in the fall.

The 19-year-old is the youngest player in the round of 16 at the Australian Open since 2012. In the first three rounds of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the tenth in the world rankings has not dropped a single set.

"He's a young and super talented boy," 25-year-old Rublev said of Rune.

He expects a balanced match with slightly greater pressure on the opponent because he won the first direct duel.