Trailer for ‘Challengers’ Shows Tennis Pro Zendaya Caught in a Romantic Triangle


MGM released the first trailer for Challengers on Tuesday. It shows the actress Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor as three young tennis players whose lives become sexually intertwined as teenagers and then get back together years later to watch a match between the two men.

In the sports comedy-drama, Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a talented tennis player who Patrick (O’Connor) and Art (Faist) notice in the video.

The three of them start dating, but Tashi’s career is ruined when she gets a bad leg injury on the court. She marries Art and becomes his coach in the following years.

Tashi is “a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court,” according to the official logline.

The logline says, “Married to a champion on a losing streak, Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick — his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself: What will it cost to win?.”

In October, director Luca Guadagnino told Variety that Zendaya, O’Connor, and Faist all trained for three months to look like real pro tennis players in the movie.

“We edited the movie, and we almost actually don’t use any of her double,” the director said of Zendaya’s act, “She’s so good.”

Challengers will be in theaters starting September 15.