Although many tennis fans are divided on the new tennis-based movie; Challengers, WTA legend Serena Williams considers the Hollywood endeavor to be a hit.
Challengers features Hollywood star Zendaya, who plays a retired tennis pro bent on catapulting her husband, who is also a tennis player, to superstardom. The film has received mixed reviews, achieving commercial success but failing to impress avid tennis fans.
Williams approves of movie dynamics
In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Williams delivered her verdict on the film. The 23-time Grand Slam champion stated she enjoyed the movie, but was not satisfied with the ending.
"I thought it was good!" said Williams. "I wanted there to be more of an ending. I told Zendaya, 'Listen, is there more? Like, I want more. Did they win?' I don’t want to give away the ending."
Furthermore, the former World No.1 said she enjoyed the interpersonal dynamics, highlighting the movie's accuracy when compared to actual tennis players on tour.
"I thought it was pretty accurate," admitted Williams. "Sometimes you can become really connected to whoever you’re with, or “codependent” is a better word. I feel like I was codependent with Venus. So I actually felt like there was so much accuracy in there about things that we don’t think about as tennis players or even talk about as tennis players. There’s definitely a lot of co-depending. You can also be a loner in tennis, so I don’t know. ... I liked the movie. That’s all I can say."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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