Summary Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor were all trained by Olympic bronze medalist and former tennis champion Brad Gilbert for Challengers, impressing viewers with their on-screen tennis skills.
While Mike Faist played tennis in high school, neither Zendaya nor Josh O’Connor had played tennis before Challengers.
Brad Gilbert spent the most time training with Zendaya for a total of three months.
Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor are all such naturals onscreen in Challengers, their convincing performances have prompted curiosity about whether they’re actually playing tennis in the romantic sports drama. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers enters the world of professional tennis through a heated love triangle between Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan, her husband Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), and his ex-best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor). Although Challengers is not based on a true story, Kuritzkes was inspired by the controversial championship match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka at the 2018 U.S. Open.
Zendaya, Faist, and O’Connor are seen hitting the racket a ton at different points in the film. Given how much focus is put on the skills of each player and the details in each match, particularly the high-stakes match between Art and Patrick that frames the story, it was important for the tennis playing in Challengers to look authentic. Luca Guadagnino’s movie definitely succeeded in this regard, so much so that it raised the question of whether the main cast of Challengers was really playing tennis in the movie.
Challengers was released in theaters on April 26, 2024.
Related Challengers Ending Explained Challengers sees the ups and downs of intense relationships within the tennis world. We break down the film’s biggest ending developments and more.
Zendaya Did Learn To Play Tennis For Challengers
Zendaya Did Three Months Of Tennis Training To Prepare For Challengers
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While all three of them did have body doubles, Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor were really playing tennis in Challengers. The trio were trained by Olympic bronze medalist and former tennis champion Brad Gilbert, who served as a tennis consultant on Challengers alongside his wife Kim. Gilbert spent the most time training with Zendaya and developing a signature game style for her character Tashi, a former tennis prodigy who was one of the top juniors in the world before retiring and switching to coaching after a career-ending injury. Prior to Challengers, Zendaya had never played tennis before.
Gilbert’s wife Kim also sent Zendaya a bunch of videos of different tennis players to study in order to get into the mindset of both a player and a coach.
Per his interview with Today, Gilbert trained with Zendaya for a few hours a day, five days a week, for roughly three months total: six weeks in Los Angeles before the shoot and six weeks during the shoot in Boston. During the preparation period in L.A., Gilbert took Zendaya to a few college tennis matches, starting with Pepperdine vs. Arizona State men’s teams, followed by Pepperdine vs. UCLA women’s teams.
Did Zendaya & Her Co-Stars Really Play Tennis For Challengers?
