Amid Challengers movie release, Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert believes actors share traits with tennis players

Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff's coach, remarked that actors share the same DNA as tennis players following the premiere of "Challengers" in Los Angeles, starring actress Zendaya.

Gilbert, one of the most prominent coaches in history, having worked with three former world No. 1s: Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray, as well as former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori. He continues to work with Coco Gauff, under whose tutelage she clinched the 2023 US Open.

Attending the premiere of the tennis-themed movie "Challengers," set to release on April 26 in the United States, Gilbert spoke about the actors' skills in portraying professional athletes. "All three of them have good skills. Mike was the only one who had a little bit of a tennis background, he played in high school. Zendaya has a lot of athleticism in dancing," Gilbert said.

"Actors have a lot of the same DNA as tennis players – a lot of focus, a lot of determination, to really turn what they’re doing into something on screen. They worked incredibly hard, and it was a great pleasure to work with all three of them," he added.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff shared her thoughts on the "Challengers" movie during a press conference at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart: "I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'm excited. I think people shouldn't go into the movie critiquing the tennis. I think really that's just not what the story is about. So he [Gilbert] did tell me that," Gauff said.

"He [Brad Gilbert] said the movie was a little out there for a 60-year-old man with the threesome and everything like that. He did say that. But he said ‘I just wanted to focus on the tennis and not the storyline’," she added.