Tennis, much like golf, does very little for me. I can sit through five days of a Test Match but struggle through a set of tennis.*

I did not, however, bring my low-care factor for tennis into this movie. I know that the great sports films—like Rocky, The Natural, Any Given Sunday, A League of Their Own and, of course, Happy Gilmore**—transcend the sport they depict. They tap into our inherent desire to compete and evoke primal, intense and raw emotions, leaving us breathless and adrenalised. Or, at least, that’s why they do for me. 

Challengers didn’t have that effect on me. But then, it’s not a traditional sports movie. It’s actually a love story (or love triangle) that uses sport—in this case, tennis—as its vehicle. This is not a negative. Rather, Justin Kuritzkes’s smart script and Luca Guadagnio’s dynamic direction use the stakes of a single tennis match to chronicle the heated, fraught relationship between Tashi, Art and Patrick.

Who are these people, you might ask? Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is a junior tennis star who turns to coaching after a career-ending injury. Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) is the tennis champion Tashi is coaching. They are married. Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) also plays tennis. Back in his youth, he and Art were besties, both utterly mesmerised by the athletic prowess (and overall hotness) of Tashi Duncan. Back then, it was Patrick who “got the girl.” But after she is injured, Tashi falls into the arms of Art. Now Patrick, who lives in his car, and Art, who is very rusty and coming back from injury, are playing off in the final of an ATP Challenger Tournament. More is at stake than just winning the game. 

I love that the match that frames this film isn’t for a major championship, but one of the many tour matches played across the year. So, in one sense, the stakes are very low (at least for Art, who doesn’t need to qualify for the US Open). But in another sense, they are massive, Art could lose his marriage, while any chance Pat has, having spent a decade as a pro, of making it seems to rest on winning this game and maybe, just maybe convincing Tashi to coach him, not her husband. All this is played out both in the match, where Guadagnio uses all the tricks to display tennis at its most frenetic***, and the multiple flashbacks that explain how we got here.

Based on the trailer and the marketing, I was surprised at how tame the film was. The sex scenes—the few we see—are very vanilla. I wasn’t expecting scads of full-frontal nudity, but for a movie with wall-to-wall sexual tension, not much eventuates.**** Still, I forgive all that for the last ten minutes and the final scene, which did make me smile while not leaving me adrenalised and breathless like most sports films.

*I will watch if an Australian is involved, and it’s a final because I love getting on a bandwagon.

**Or Caddyshack—you choose.

***Although, some of the rallies go on for tooooo long. Like longer than any rally naturally should.

****My wife has thoughts on this, which I will not repeat other than to say she was very disappointed.