#Zendaya Plays a Seductive Tennis Star in ‘Challengers’ Trailer

Zendaya stars as a former tennis prodigy turned coach in the steamy first trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, which was released on Tuesday ahead of a Sept. 15 theatrical release.

Zendaya appears as Tashi Duncan, who is the center of a tense love triangle on and off the court in the romantic sports drama. She is married to a champion on a losing streak, played by Mike Faist.

To jolt him out of his slump, Tashi sets up a match against a washed-up player, Patrick (Josh O’Connor). Not coincidentally, Patrick is her husband’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.

“I’m playing for both of us, Tashi,” Patrick tells Zendaya’s character at one point in the trailer, leaving her to question to what lengths she will go to win as three players who knew one another as teenagers collide to show who comes out on top in later life.

Guadagnino also directed the cannibal drama Bones and All, which starred Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell, and Call Me by Your Name, which starred Chalamet with Armie Hammer.

The Euphoria star also appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Dune. O’Connor won an Emmy for his portrayal of Prince Charles in Netflix’s acclaimed drama The Crown. And Faist generated buzz for his performance as Riff in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

The tennis-themed Challengers is produced by Amy Pascal and her Pascal Pictures banner, as well as Guadagnino and Zendaya. The script, by playwright-singer-author Justin Kuritzkes, was featured on the 2021 Black List, a ranking of the best non-produced script in Hollywood.

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