A `Challengers' challenge: Getting tennis right

shifting to close-ups to show emotional and physical strain along with montages that feel cliche.

In “7 Days in Hell,” the tennis, such as it is, exists outside of criticism. This riotous Andy Samberg mockumentary parodies the longest match in tennis history, a three-day Wimbledon battle between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut that finished with the score of 7068 in the final set. Samberg's Aaron Williams ups his game by snorting cocaine he had hidden in his water bottle and the court's lines. In this never-ending match, Williams and Kit Harrington's Charles Poole have a lengthy rally at the net while both are prone after diving for shots. It's as far from realistic as possible but it works perfectly on its own terms.

Ultimately, the greatest tennis film of all time is “King Richard,” directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. In telling the story of Venus and Serena Williams and their father, Green featured more drilling and match play than any other film. He also frequently shot the tennis with a low camera angle from behind the players, allowing the viewer to see the action in a way that, say, “Wimbledon” did not, while still creating a sense of immediacy and urgency.

And in the final match at the end between 14-yearold Venus and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, he repeatedly mixed in midrange shots with long shots while giving the points time to build dramatically as they would in a real tennis match. While the teen loses that match, it is fitting that when it comes to tennis movies, the undeniable champ features the unsurpassable Williams sisters.

It's not hard to tell the tennis doubles from the actors (Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf) in “Borg vs.McEnroe,” though the 2017sports drama manages to portray credible play before losing its focus on the reason it exists: the pair's epic tiebreaker at the 1980 Wimbledon final.

METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES VIA AP Attraction and tennis are at the center of new movie “Challengers,” and while actors Mike Faist, left, Zendaya and Josh O'Connor will likely portray the former convincingly, it remains to be seen whether they can manage the latter.

COURTESY OF LAURIE SPARHAM Kirsten Dunst's 2004film “Wimbledon” was a primer on how not to construct tennis scenes, employing quick cuts, distracting camera movement, close-ups and other tactics that feel like shortcuts and undercut authenticity.

CHIABELLA JAMES — WARNER BROS. PICTURES VIA AP “King Richard” set the standard for tennis movies, with Demi Singleton, left, Saniyya Sidney and Will Smith.

COURTESY OF SF STUDIOS