Zendaya‘s ruthless Tashi Duncan may be a fictional tennis champion in Luca Guadagnino‘s Challengers, but she’s garnered at least one real-life phenom’s approval. Four-time grand slam singles champion Naomi Osaka showed love to Challengers on TikTok in a post that has garnered over 133k likes.
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“No one: Me after watching Challengers,” reads the text on the 12-second video set to the thumping score from Challengers, composed by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Osaka begins her TikTok looking straight at the camera wearing black sunglasses, and then peers over the top of them, Tashi Duncan style. Then, wearing a brown monochromatic outfit, Osaksa serves in slow motion. She ends the video twirling her racket and tying her hair back.
“Naomi, you were definitely on the mood board for Tashi,” commented Tik Tok user @Cassandra, while another commenter cleverly referenced Zendaya’s hit television series, Euphoria, in their comment. “Is this play about us?” wrote @naná. The official Challengers TikTok also sent love back to Osaka, commenting one word on her post: “Iconic.”
Osaka isn’t the only tennis champion to share her Challengers love. 2023 U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff took to X to give Challengers her stamp of approval, simply tweeting “challengers was good” followed by clapping emojis. Gauff has added incentive to applaud Challengers: her coach, Brad Gilbert, served as the tennis consultant on the film. In any case, it’s nice that tennis divas approve of Challengers—but what about the tennis bros? Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe, it’s time to make a TikTok about Phil’s Tire Town in New Rochelle.
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