Zendaya’s racy new tennis movie has created a craze around the game, as Gen-Z races to buy sporty outfits and gear to spend the summer on the court.
In the new film, Challengers, the 27-year-old Euphoria star plays Tashi, a former professional tennis player turned coach who helps her husband make his own comeback to the sport.
With an impressive 88 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a decent 76 percent from fans, the film has created a huge tennis frenzy for inspired spectators.
Young people are flocking to TikTok to show off their pleated skorts, sporty visors and shiny new rackets in videos accompanied by a dramatic song from the film’s original soundtrack.
Even tennis pros are jumping on the trend, uploading cinematic videos of themselves taking the court in their trendiest sporty ensembles.
Madison Appel, a division one professional tennis player who also coaches, posted a video to her nearly 100,000 followers of herself dressed in an ultra-fashionable pastel matching tennis set as she shows off her amazing skills
Gen Z is flocking to TikTok to show off their pleated skorts, sporty visors and shiny new rackets in videos accompanied by a dramatic song from the film’s original soundtrack
Zendaya’s racy new tennis movie has created a craze around the game, as Gen-Z races to buy sporty outfits and gear to spend the summer on the court
Madison Appel, a division one professional tennis player who also coaches, posted a video to her nearly 100,000 followers of herself dressed in an ultra-fashionable matching tennis set with pastel flowers as she showed off her amazing skills.
“They literally hit every ball so hard in the movie,” she captioned her TikTok.
Even Japanese world champion Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, uploaded one hilarious editing of herself humbly showing off her talent in a casual tracksuit, with the caption, “Nobody: Me after watching Challengers.”
Sebastian Genta TikTok uploaded a video compilation to TikTok of him getting dressed in his tennis gear for practice, with the caption, “I’m going to play tennis again.”
The anticipation surrounding the raunchy new drama led to a huge increase in interest in tennis-inspired outfits, according to Hello Magazine.
There was a whopping 75 percent increase in searches for “tennis outfit” on Pinterest in the past three months.
Specific searches such as “black tennis skirt outfits” have doubled, while searches for V-neck sweaters and tennis skirt outfits have increased by 90 and 50 percent respectively.
Depop, a second-hand fashion app, reports that searches for tennis skirts and polo shirts have increased by 52 and 53 percent respectively. Unroll.
Fashion labels are thinking of ways to capitalize on the new athletic trend and enlisting tennis stars to help them do so.
Even tennis pros are jumping on the trend, uploading cinematic videos of themselves taking the court in their trendiest sporty ensembles (photo: professional tennis player Naomi Osaka)
Japanese world champion Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, uploaded a hilarious edit of her humbly showing off her talent in a casual tracksuit
Sebastian Genta on TikTok uploaded a video compilation on TikTok of him dressing up in his tennis gear for practice
Tennis pro Madison Appel can be seen here in her very trendy tennis outfit as she enjoys practicing in the sun
Tennis star Emma Raducanu is an ambassador for Dior and Jannik Sinner, the highest-ranked Italian player in history, is working with Gucci. Carlos Alcaraz, the 2023 Wimbledon men’s champion, has been featured in ads for Louis Vuitton.
Designer brands like Miu Miu and Celine are exploring the new frenzy surrounding tennis style, but other brands are proving that racquet sports aren’t exclusive to those wealthy enough to play in their country clubs.
The American retail giant Target even released its own line of preppy tennis clothing in collaboration with the popular tennis clothing brand Prince.
Target is marketing the new line to pickleball players, including quirky rackets and colorful ball sets — but the clothes match the fashions of Zendaya’s new film, with pleated skirts, collared tennis dresses and sporty cardigans.
TikToker @xiaolongbby posted a video to her 261,000 followers about her Google search history after watching Challengers.
She jokingly shared searches like ‘tennis coaches in my area’, ‘tennis courts near me’, ‘tennis for beginners’, ‘how quickly can you join the tennis competition’, ‘how long does it take to get good at tennis’ and ‘where bisexual men hanging out.”
The final quest references a particularly raunchy scene in the film, centering on Zendaya’s love triangle with two men, in which the trio makes out in a steamy situation that almost leads to a threesome.
The audience went wild with the spicy scene. “Challengers was good, I want to join a threesome and play tennis now,” one user wrote on X.
Not only are audiences inspired by fashion and sexuality in Challengers, people even want to start their own tennis journey
Some TikTok users joked that Zendaya’s athletic body in the tennis movie inspired them to take up the sport
Searches for adult tennis lessons have skyrocketed by 245 percent globally, an analysis of Google search data shows
With an impressive 88 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a decent 76 percent from fans, the film has sparked a huge tennis frenzy for inspired spectators.
Not only are audiences inspired by fashion and sexuality in Challengers, people even want to start their own tennis journey.
Searches for tennis lessons for adults have increased by 245 percent worldwide, according to an analysis by Google search data.
“Tennis-centered films typically don’t generate significant box office revenue, but this film has turned that into a smash,” a spokesperson for Venture Smarter said.
‘And not only has it performed well financially, but it has also inspired the public to pick up a racket and play tennis, which is good for our mental and physical wellbeing.’
As of May 6, 2024, Challengers has grossed $30.3 million at the United States box office and $23 million in other territories.