SIZZLING TENNIS MOVIE THAT

Challengers

BEST bring a big cup of ice cubes and a fan along to Challengers, because this steamy tennis movie definitely brings the heat.

As a junior, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) was a dazzling and dedicated tennis prodigy with the world at her Adidassponsored feet, until an injury brutally knocked her out of the game.

Instead, Tashi channels her blazing ambition into coaching and then marrying US champion Art Donaldson (West Side Story break-out Mike Faist). ‘Do you know what tennis is?’ Tashi asks him. ‘It’s a relationship.’ And, it seems, an open one…

With Art now on a losing streak, Tashi enters her husband as a wild card into a regional tournament, aiming for an easy, confidence-boosting win. That strategy backfires when Art finds himself facing off against Patrick (Josh O’Connor, The Crown), a washed-up

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contender who was once Art’s best friend – and Tashi’s old flame.

Intensely focused around this love triangle, Challengers is electrifyingly erotic, yet surprisingly non-graphic. It’s only afterwards you realise that where the glossy sex scenes are surprisingly chaste, the sweaty tennis matches make you feel like you’re watching porn.

Plot is minimal. For these characters, for this story, nothing exists beyond the competition – both on and off the court. That’s a gamble, yet the young leads – each a rising star in their own right – are sensationally compelling.