Recently, Coco Gauff talked about how she could relate to Zendaya’s character in the recently released film “Challengers,” making light of the fact that, like Tashi Duncan, she would not relish the thought of marrying a “scrub” on the tennis circuit.

In the movie, Zendaya portrays a former tennis prodigy who later takes on the job of Art Donaldson’s coach and assists him in reaching his career grand slam, as played by Mike Faist. The film is set during Donaldson’s penultimate event prior to the US Open, where he struggles with form and faces off against Patrick Zweig, a former buddy turned rival (played by Josh O’Connor).

Having recently seen the movie, Gauff gave her impressions of it—and especially of Zendaya’s character—to the media during her pre-tournament news conference at the 2024 Italian Open. As Zendaya-Faist-O’Connor create a complex throuple relationship in the film, Gauff joked that she was neither in a throuple nor personally knew of any on the tour.

Nonetheless, Gauff acknowledged that she could identify with Tashi Duncan’s mindset on the court and that it drew her in. The American quipped that she informed her partner after seeing the film how appreciative she was that he was not a tennis player because she could not have tolerated dating a dishonest player.

“No [throuples] that I know of are on tour. Most likely, there are, but I’m not one of them. My name isn’t Tashi Duncan. I’ve never met a Tashi Duncan. Though not everything that happened off the court, I could connect to her mindset on the court. Gauff remarked, “I did relate to that of just, like, that.”
“There’s also a scene in the movie where I say to my partner, ‘Thank God you’re not a tennis player. She’s correct, I wouldn’t want to date a scrub on tour,’ laughing. I can only relate to that aspect of Tashi; aside from that, her treatment of her husband is not admirable,” she continued.

“I thought it was a great movie, I enjoyed the romance.” – Coco Gauff on ‘Challengers’

Coco Gauff went on to say that she thought the tennis section of the film was done fairly well and that she personally liked the romantic parts of “Challengers.” She also complimented the primary cast on their acting, stating that the tennis moments on screen were better than she had anticipated.

“I felt the movie was excellent. I liked the romance, the double predicament, and the incredibly distinct characters. The tennis was played fairly well, in my opinion. Was it faultless? No. However, every sports film does it, according to Coco Gauff.
“I felt the performers performed admirably on their own. Because they seemed to be downplaying it a lot in their interviews, I was anticipating it to be less well done. Overall, I think they did a terrific job,” the woman continued.

World No. 3 did, however, save her greatest compliments for the film’s set designers, highlighting how realistic the signage and logos were.

“I firmly believe that the set designers deserve MVP status.” In terms of the signage, logos, and other details, I believe that was the most true. Naturally, the story was pretty nice, and the performance was amazing,” Coco Gauff remarked.
“I think the more you deep dive into the movie, the more enjoyable the movie becomes,” she said.

Coco Gauff will face either Magdalena Frech or Ashlyn Krueger in the second round of the 2024 Italian Open after receiving a bye in the first round.