Nick Kyrgios and Matchpoint Tennis Championships are a branding mismatch

James Richardson
July 13, 2022

The most interesting thing about Matchpoint: Tennis Championships is the choice of Nick Kyrgios as the cover star for the game.

Matchpoint is a perfectly serviceable tennis simulator, but it lacks the life and character that makes Kyrgios stand out on tour.

Outside of the big three, nobody in men’s tennis generates the level of interest that Kyrgios does and he may soon outstrip the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in terms of internet searches.

The Wimbledon finalist would have no real reason to say not to a company that wanted to pay him to put his face on their game.

Available to play on Game Pass from day one, it would be a huge surprise if this game moves many units either digitally or in the shrinking hard copy market.

Matchpoint is an alright game, with an easy-to-pick-up control system, but after a period of bedding in the challenge of the game fades and there is little satisfaction to be gleaned from grinding through the monotonous career mode.

While most of the tournaments included in the game have real-life counterparts, they are all unlicensed, and there is little sense of wonder involved in this game which is a shame as it represents the first major tennis simulator release available on the latest generation of consoles.

There is no benefit to playing the game on an Xbox Series X or S over the previous generation of console.

The size of the game file is an immediate warning that this game is, in its current form, exceedingly basic.

Player customisation options are minimal and also do not featured any licensed or recognisable tennis brands.

Sadly Matchpoint doesn’t test the capabilities of top gaming systems as a simulator and isn’t as fun as more arcade-style tennis games.

The monotony of the career mode might send you into a Nick Kyrgios-style meltdown, and you might want to take an indefinite break from the game to recover.

If you want to play a tennis simulator with absolutely no frills or personality, then Matchpoint is for you.

If you are looking for a tennis simulator worthy of Kyrgios you will be disappointed.

The creators have missed opportunities to make use of the uniqueness of Kyrgios to add elements similar to the ‘Tiger mode’ which helped the Tiger Woods game franchise revitalise golf simulators.

Matchpoint: Tennis Championships is not a bad game, but it isn’t a great one either and it probably won’t be a great boost to the genre.

The game is currently available on PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Nick Kyrgios