Zendaya’s bold new tennis film has created a craze around the game as Generation Z rushes to buy sports clothes and equipment to spend the summer on the court.
The new film, Challengers, stars the Euphoria star, 27, as Tashi, a former professional tennis player turned coach who is helping her husband make his own return to the sport.
Having earned an impressive 88 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a decent 76 percent from fans, the film has started a massive tennis frenzy for inspired audience members.
Young people are flocking to TikTok to show off their pleated skorts, sports visors and shiny new rackets in videos accompanied by a dramatic song from the original film soundtrack.
Even tennis pros are getting in on the trend and uploading cinematic videos of themselves hitting the court in their trendiest sports outfits.
Madison Appel, a top division professional tennis player who also trains, posted a video to her nearly 100k followers of herself dressed in an extremely trendy pastel floral matching tennis outfit while showing off her stellar skills.
Generation Z is flocking to TikTok to show off their pleated skorts, sports visors and shiny new rackets in videos accompanied by a dramatic song from the original movie soundtrack.
Zendaya’s bold new tennis film has created a craze around the game as Generation Z rushes to buy sports clothes and equipment to spend the summer on the court.
Madison Appel, a top division professional tennis player who also coaches, posted a video to her nearly 100,000 followers of herself dressed in an extremely trendy pastel floral matching tennis outfit while showing off her stellar skills.
“They were literally hitting every ball so hard in the movie,” he captioned. Tik Tok.
Even Japanese world champion Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, went up a hilarious edit of herself humbly showing off her talent in a casual tracksuit, with the caption “No one: me after watching Challengers.”
Sebastian Genta in Tik Tok He uploaded a compilation of videos on TikTok of him dressing in his tennis clothes to practice, with the caption “I’ll play tennis again.”
Anticipation surrounding the raunchy new drama has sparked a huge spike in interest in tennis-inspired ensembles, according to Hello magazine.
There was a whopping 75 percent increase in searches for “tennis clothing” in the last three months on Pinterest.
Specific searches like “black tennis skirt sets” have doubled, while searches for V-neck sweaters and tennis skirt sets have increased by 90 and 50 percent, respectively.
Depop, a second-hand fashion retail app, reported that searches for tennis skirts and polo shirts increased by 52 percent and 53 percent respectively, according to Launch.
Fashion brands are finding ways to capitalize on the new sports trend and are recruiting tennis stars to help them do it.
Even tennis pros are getting in on the trend, uploading cinematic videos of themselves hitting the courts in their trendiest sports outfits (pictured: professional tennis player Naomi Osaka).
Japanese world champion Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, uploaded a fun edit of herself humbly showing off her talent in a casual tracksuit.
Sebastian Genta on TikTok uploaded a compilation of videos on TikTok of him dressing up in his tennis clothes to practice.
Professional tennis player Madison Appel is seen here in her very trendy tennis outfit as she enjoys practicing in the sun.
Tennis star Emma Raducanu is a Dior ambassador and Jannik Sinner, the highest-ranked Italian player in history, works with Gucci. Carlos Alcaraz, 2023 Wimbledon men’s champion, appears in Louis Vuitton advertisements.
Designer brands like Miu Miu and Celine are exploring the new frenzy around tennis style, but other brands are proving that racquet sports aren’t exclusive to those rich enough to play at their country clubs.
American retail giant Target even launched its own line of preppy tennis clothing in collaboration with popular tennis clothing brand Prince.
Target is marketing the new line aimed at pickleball players, featuring extravagant rackets and colorful ball sets, but the clothes fit the fashion of Zendaya’s new movie, 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.
Jokingly, he shared searches like “tennis coaches in my area”, “tennis courts made by me”, “tennis for beginners”, “how fast can you enter a tennis competition”, “how long does it take to get good at tennis” and “where bisexual men hang out.
The latter quest alludes to a particularly raunchy scene in the film, which focuses on Zendaya’s love triangle with two men, in which the trio kiss in a steamy situation that almost leads to a threesome.
The audience went crazy with the spicy scene. “Challengers was good, I want to join a trio and play tennis now,” wrote one X user.
Not only are audience members inspired by the fashion and sexuality in Challengers, but people really want to start their own journeys in tennis.
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 245 percent worldwide, according to an analysis of Google search data
Having earned an impressive 88 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a decent 76 percent from fans, the film has started a massive tennis frenzy for inspired audience members.
Not only are audience members inspired by fashion and sexuality at Challengers, but people really want to start their own journeys in tennis.
Searches for adult tennis lessons have skyrocketed 245 percent worldwide, according to an analysis by google search data.
“Movies focused on tennis don’t usually generate significant box office revenue, but this film has smashed them,” a Venture Smarter spokesperson said.
“And not only has it done well financially, it has also inspired the public to pick up a racket and play tennis, which is fantastic for our physical and mental well-being.”
As of May 6, 2024, Challengers has grossed $30.3 million at the US box office and $23 million in other territories.
