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Zendaya Plays Tennis in Set Video From Her No Way Home Follow-Up Movie
A new video shows Zendaya playing tennis in preparation for her upcoming film Challengers. Challengers will be Zendaya's next film following her most recent appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Zendaya is one of the fastest rising actresses in Hollywood and will be leading the Luca Guadagnino directed Challengers. The film is a romantic sports drama that follows Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), the wife and coach of famed tennis player Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). Despite Art being in the midst of a losing streak, Tashi signs him up to compete in the Challenger event, only to find he'll be competing against a former lover of hers.
Challengers is currently filming and Zendaya, in addition to starring in the film, is also producing it. The film is expected to release on August 11, 2023. Not much is known about the film aside from its plot and Zendaya, Faist, and Josh O'Connor's casting. Meanwhile, it will mark one of two films Zendaya is anticipated to appear in 2023. The other film will be Dune: Part 2, which is expected to release in October 20, 2023. Filming for Dune: Part 2 is expected to begin by the end of summer, but for now Zendaya is in full tennis mode.
A new video shared to Twitter (via @DAYaforever_) gave viewers a sneak peak of Zendaya's tennis skills in Challengers. The video sees Zendaya playing tennis on the set of the film. Zendaya looks comfortable on the court, with a tennis racket in hand, as the video compliments her strong backhand. Check out the video below:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1541075313739894788
Zendaya already looks the part of a tennis pro in that short snippet. It's also very exciting to see her in a role quite unlike anything she has done before. Challengers most likely has required many hours of training for Zendaya to depict her tennis skills. Actor Jon Bernthal revealed he lost 30 pounds practicing tennis for the biographical sports drama King Richard. Likewise, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, who portrayed Venus and Serena Williams, respectively, also detailed extremely intense and rigorous training routines. While it's unknown if these training routines are comparable to those required for Challengers, it does give us a bit of an idea of the kind of work Zendaya might be putting in.
Extensive training is likely necessary for the role that Zendaya is taking on in Challengers. Her character, Tashi, isn't just a player, but an extremely effective coach who saw her own husband go from a mediocre player to a grand slam champion. She is someone who knows tennis inside and out and is perfectly at home on the tennis court. The role might seem daunting, but Zendaya is putting in the work and is bound to excel as she has done in all her previous roles. If Zendaya's skills look this good in just a brief clip, then viewers are in for a real treat when the full extent of her skill is shown in Challengers in 2023.
