A much-awaited sports film this year (and a major attraction for fans of Zendaya), Luca Guadagnino’s latest drama offers a novel perspective on the archetypal sports movie.
Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, is a steamy, cunning tale of three elite tennis players who tangle with one another in the most advantageous and detrimental ways imaginable. This new film has tennis as its backdrop and inspiration, which has some people thinking it might be based on real events.
One could assume that Challengers is based on a true story of sex, manipulation, and tennis at an era when award-winning biopics and true-life sports movies are commonplace. Is it, however, the case?
Is Challengers Based on a True Story?
No, the story of Challengers isn’t based on reality. It’s based on a script written by Justin Kuritzkes, who got the idea for the storyline while watching an intense real-life tennis match.
Challengers follows tennis player Tashi Duncan, who is compelled to become a coach after an injury ends her promising career.
In an attempt to boost her husband Art’s confidence, she enters him in a challenges tournament, but when they find out he’ll go up against Patrick, her ex-boyfriend and former closest friend, they become uneasy.
The characters in the story are fictional and unbased on any real-life individuals, even though the plot revolves around on-screen tennis stars. Not only is the game itself fictional, but so is the dynamic between Tashi, Art, and Patrick.
But Kuritzkes was inspired to write the screenplay—in the broadest sense—by one particular real-life tennis match.
Is Challengers Based on Carrie Soto is Back ?
In contrast to Call Me by Your Name and Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino’s film Challengers isn’t inspired by a novel.
As previously mentioned, screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes created Challengers.
If you’re thinking, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a big tennis novel come around,” you’re most likely thinking about Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “Carrie Soto Is Back.” The book, which was published in 2022, is unrelated to Challengers at all and is about a female tennis player who must protect her career.
Which Tennis Match Served as the Inspiration for Challengers?
The story of Challengers was inspired by a match that Justin Kuritzkes discovered during the 2018 US Open final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. Kuritzkes found this match while investigating the history of Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.
This was a very intense encounter, with Williams allegedly receiving coaching from the bench, leading to some contentious calls regarding code infractions. With Osaka, a 20-year-old underdog against her tennis idol, Williams, who had given birth a few months prior, the stakes were also incredibly cinematic.
Carlos Ramos, the match’s referee, flagged a code violation after he observed Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’ coach, giving her the thumbs up. There was speculation that Williams and Mouratoglou were exchanging messages via a code, a charge that Williams refuted.
Williams was later given another infraction for breaking her racket. Then, after Williams sought an apology from Ramos, another for “verbal abuse.”
Osaka prevailed in the match and, ultimately, the US Open women’s singles after multiple delays and disagreements between Williams and the referee. Kuritzkes’ mental cogs began to turn as a result, and Challengers was created.
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