Zendaya’s Challenges in Learning Tennis for Movie ‘Challengers’ Revealed

Emmy-winning actress Zendaya recently opened up about her first impression of tennis while working on her latest movie, Challengers. The tennis-themed film has garnered a lot of attention from both the media and the tennis community, with stars like Venus Williams and Coco Gauff praising Zendaya’s efforts.

Despite the accolades, Zendaya admitted that learning tennis for the movie was a challenging experience. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she shared her initial fear and respect for the sport, saying, “I have such a respect for the game…naturally you look at someone like ‘yeah I can do that’ and you get up there and it’s not that.”

Zendaya also revealed her nerves while filming tennis scenes, even though the balls were not real. She confessed, “The more I had to pretend to do tennis in front of a camera with an audience, the more terrified I felt.” Despite her fears, Zendaya’s hard work paid off, with renowned coach Brad Gilbert and the film’s director praising her tennis skills.

Gilbert, who coached Coco Gauff, compared Zendaya to the young tennis prodigy, saying, “Believe it or not actors got a lot of the same DNA as tennis players…working with Zendaya kind of really maybe was an impedance for good experience for working with Coco.” Director Luca Guadagnino also commended Zendaya’s dedication, revealing that they hardly used a stunt double for her tennis scenes in the movie.

Zendaya’s journey to embody a tennis player on screen was not easy, but her commitment and talent impressed everyone involved in the film. Despite her initial trepidation, Zendaya’s hard work and determination shone through, proving that she is a force to be reckoned with both on and off the screen.