To get ready for her upcoming sports movie Challengers, Zendaya spent a lot of time playing tennis. Now that the comedy-drama hits theaters in April, she has reentered the tennis world. Zendaya and her boyfriend, Tom Holland, watched the 2024 BNP Paribas Open finals in Indian Wells, California, on March 17, and though she wasn’t on the court, she was serving.
Tennis, Anyone?
Zendaya plays a tennis prodigy whose career is derailed by an injury in Challengers, and she worked with former pro Brad Gilbert to prepare for the role. Gilbert also happens to be the current coach of 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff, who was eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open during the women’s semi-finals on March 15. While Gauff didn’t make it to the final, Zendaya and Holland did, and they were captured arriving in “Tennis Paradise,” where they watched Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeat Greece’s Maria Sakkari, and then Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz best Daniil Medvedev.
Zendaya’s Louis Vuitton tenniscore ensemble was a nod to the event: She wore a zip-up collar pullover, top, pleated skirt, and tennis shoes, plus carried a match-inspired monogram bag. As one fan commented on Tennis Channel’s Instagram video showing her arrival, “She’s dressed to play!”
Caught On The Fan Cam
Although the on-court battles were the real show, cameras zoomed in on Zendaya and Holland at multiple points during the matches. The two could be seen singing Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” in between games during the women’s final. “They’re a perfect couple. Stay with someone who loves same songs as [you],” one fan commented on Instagram. Another added, “She just made a tennis movie. He is one of the most athletic humans to walk the earth. They belong.”
The Women’s Tennis Association shared more footage of the couple on Instagram. The two could be seen noticing themselves on the big screen and smiling before Zendaya’s expression started to indicate she was ready for the camera to move on. “Glad you could join us,” the WTA’s caption read.
Promoting Challengers
Zendaya only recently finished her Dune: Part Two press tour, which was full of futuristic outfits that seemed inspired by the movie. Challengers is getting its time in the spotlight now, before it hits theaters on April 26. (The film was originally supposed to debut at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2023, but its release was postponed amid the SAG-AFTRA strike.) Based on Zendaya’s Indian Wells outing, more tenniscore looks are coming our way in the lead-up to the movie.
As the Challengers team put it recently, “Let the games begin.”
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