Lots of people are watching real life Challengers (a.k.a. the French Open) this week
Can't get enough of the Luca Guadagnino phenomenon? Put the score over a Coco Gauff match
If you were one of the many, many people that tweeted something along the lines of “Challengers was so good, I wish tennis was real” last month, do we have some news for you. Art, Tashi, and Patrick’s favorite game doesn’t just exist in the real world, but is actually happening on your screen right now. If you’ve seen an uptick in Challengers content over the past week, it might be because the French Open—the first major tennis event since we all starting seeing the sport as a metaphor for sex—is currently underway in Paris, with finals scheduled for later this weekend. None of them have kissed (yet), but still—if the Luca Guadagnino phenomenon taught us anything, it’s that we have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes.
To this end, people who may have never watched a tennis tournament before are tuned in and on the lookout for any ball-in-racquet gestures or stray longing glances towards the stands. And frankly, Roland Garros is delivering on almost all fronts.
Even when the material isn’t as obviously, let’s say relevant, people are learning in real time that putting the film’s infectious Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score over pretty much any random footage has the exact same effect.
@rileykelleher1 French Open 2024 #paris #paristravel #challangers #challangerstiktok #tennis #frenchopen #frenchopen2024 #tommypaul #parisian #paristennis #pariscafe #traveltiktok
♬ Challengers (Challengers Soundtrack) – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
It’s not just real tennis. If you’re hunting for that extra cinematic touch that live sports don’t always provide (although there’s been plenty of Challengers-esque racquet smashing at the tournament this year), people have also been adding the score with to clips from films like Katherine Hepburn’s Pat And Mike, Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany’s Wimbledon, and even their own niche CBBC shows. It works every time.
If watching real life Challengers on TV still isn’t enough, here’s a wild idea: you can also go out and actually play tennis. According to a Venture Smarter survey (via Tennis), Google searches for “adult tennis lessons” are up 245% worldwide since the film’s April 26 release. Searches for “kids tennis classes” are also up a whopping 205%. You might not find a throuple situationship to ruin your life at your local court, but then again, you never know unless you try! At the very least, you’ll be able determine for yourself whether or not Patrick serves weird, which is almost as good.