If you thought the tennis action at this year’s Australian Open was too good to be true, then you might be onto something as tennis’ biggest stars are exposed as actors in a hilarious viral ‘episode’ shared by the ATP Tour.
“Well, I’ve been part of the show for 16, 17 years now… or ‘ATP Seasons’ as we call them,” 24-time Grand Slam winner ‘Novak Djokovic‘ says with an awry grin.
A viral video has caught the attention of sports fans all over the world as the biggest names in tennis are exposed as ‘actors’ in this hilarious fly-on-the-wall mockumentary-style series, reminiscent of Ricky Gervais’ iconic series The Office.
Served up by the ATP Tour, the first episode goes behind the scenes of the biggest tournaments of the year and reveals that the entire performance of tennis’ best players is nothing more than a fabricated narrative conceived of by a team of producers and writers.
WATCH The Tour: A Reality Show featuring Novak Djokovic below.
The series shows players such as Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Andy Murray fully immersing themselves into the roles of their prospective characters.
“Something that I’m really trying to evoke with this Novak character is not just the performance and the achievements, but a bit more of an essence – a bit more of a personality,” Djokovic, played by Bert Critchley, confesses.
“I try to have people relate to him. I want to bring truth to Novak. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? What would motivate him if he was a real person? It’s not easy but it works.”
The tennis players are joined by Americans Tayor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe as well as Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev who, fresh off the Australian Open circuit, show they can serve up more than just aces in this hilarious viral clip.