Did Zendaya and the cast of 'Challengers' actually play tennis in the movie?

Tennis players and actors have similar DNA, Brad Gilbert, former tennis champion, Coco Gauff's current coach and the man behind Zendaya's killer moves in Challengers, tells TODAY.com.

The Olympic bronze medalist explains that both actors and athletes have an undeniable dedication to their craft and a desire to improve. And he should know.

Gilbert has won 20 professional singles titles, coached greats like Andre Agassi and Andy Murray and was responsible for making Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor look like tennis pros despite their limited knowledge of the sport.

There's an early scene in Challengers where Art (Faist) and Patrick (OConnor) fawn over Tashis' (Zendaya) intense and mesmerizing punches as she defeats one of her greatest opponents. As viewers get to know the rising star, the two young tennis players are impressed by her powerful play on and off the court.

Tashi and her skills become the object of Art and Patrick's desires over the course of a decade, creating a twisted love triangle. But the film's intimate, steamy scenes are as important as any tennis match, especially the one that frames the entire story, pitting Art and his coach, Tashi, against Patrick.

Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes said the film was inspired by a 2018 match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka and the controversial call that Williams had received coaching from the stands.

In parallel, I became a real tennis fan and started watching so-called Challenger events, which are at the lower level in the world of professional tennis tournaments. I thought it would be an interesting place for two guys who hadn't seen each other for a long time to meet again,” Kuritzkes said in a statement underscoring the importance of making the tennis scenes look authentic.

Gilbert became involved with the film after his daughter Zoe Gilbert (an assistant to producer Amy Pascal) read the script and suggested her father as a tennis consultant. His wife, Kim Gilbert, was also hired. Thus began a three-month process to make the cast of “Challengers” look like professionals.

While Faist played in high school, Zendaya and OConnor were new to the game.

You can't go from not having played to being a pro in three months, says Brad Gilbert, 62. But it was all about doing our best in a short time to make their games believable for the parts.

Below, Gilbert explains the process of training the actors and answers whether Zendaya, OConnor, and Faist Real played tennis in the movie.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

You said the characters had already been fleshed out by screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, but did you have anything to say about their tennis styles?

The only style that really wasn't really written was Zendayas, other than being a good player, one of the best juniors in the world. It was more or less written that Mike's character was a classic one-handed backhand, perhaps modeled after a (Roger) Federer or a Pete Sampras. Josh's character had a flashy performance. There were things that were written. So I was working with the context of what the writer wrote.

How long did the actors' training process take?

I worked with Zendaya longer, maybe six weeks before, and then we had three months in Boston. We had about six weeks of practice and training while they were doing their lines and getting ready, it lasted about three months.

We were on the field five days a week, a few hours every day. Mike had to gain a lot of weight from where he was, and he was on a crazy diet. He had to eat five or six times a day. They trained twice a day with a trainer, not to mention acting and reading in the afternoon. So they had long days. The most important thing then was that they learned the movements of their bodies twice, so that they could walk in sync, learn their swings and their movements.

All three of them (had body doubles), and I spent a lot of time with all three of them as well. My wife consulted with me. Kim found all the body doubles and many players and worked tirelessly to get that many people, real referees and lines.

Let's break down the strategy for each actor. What were Zendaya and Tashi's biggest challenges and strengths? Have you mirrored her skills to anyone in the real world?

We had already spent about three or four weeks in Malibu and rehearsing in Beverly Hills. I took her to a college game. First we went to a men's game between Pepperdine and Arizona State. She watched and understood what was happening. When the game was decided, I thought, 'Okay, let's go,' and she wanted to stay.

A few days later we went to Pepperdine Women's vs. UCLA Women's, where they were both ranked in the Top 10 in the country, and I think she was fascinated and just watching the dynamics of the players competing. From the coaching to everything, you could just see how she was taking it all in.

Kim sent Zendaya a bunch of videos of players for her to study, watch, or idea about because she had to be a player and a coach. So she needed two different mentalities.

Me and Zendaya have a little 'seven degrees of separation'. We were both born in the same hospital in Oakland, California. I'm obviously a lot older, but we were born in the same hospital. And literally in our early years we both grew up in the same city.

She is truly an amazing person and so dedicated. And now that I coach Coco Gauff, they have a very similar mentality, focused on getting better, and they work hard. (They are) very hard workers. Sometimes people think things are just given to you. They are not given to you. They are earned through hard work.

Have you implemented any of your coaching style into that?

She was around me a lot. So I'm sure there was some of that, but she also studied a lot. She had a lot of videos and things that she put together.

When it came to Patrick, I felt like he was a rough and tough tennis player.

Let me tell you: (O'Connor's) a cool dude. He's quite erratic. He came every day, early in the morning. He came straight from a set in Italy, straight to Boston. He hadn't played and we had to get him up to speed, and then they wanted him to lean over. In addition to two hours on the track, he had to go straight to the gym. They had long days, but he has an incredibly great attitude.

Josh also had a great bond with his body double. They became really good friends.

When it came to art, Mike had experience and knew a thing or two about tennis. Did you have to come to terms with his previous playing style?

From the author we had a pretty good idea of ​​what his game style should look like: this classic, beautiful game. The hard part is that he was only one of three who had played, and he played in high school, but he had a two-handed backhand. So suddenly it seemed like he had to learn something else all over again. A one-handed backhand is very difficult to learn.

We started working on that, then we had his body doubled, and it learned their style and piece by piece together to get similar strokes. Then continue copying each other.

I think it helped all three of them because then their acting takes over copying someone like, 'Oh, this is what their swings look like.'

What is the biggest difference between coaching tennis players and actors?

I have coached at the highest level. I've worked with kids, I've worked with some club players, and the biggest thing is it's a different kind of way to prepare someone for something.

I would say the most important thing: you help someone with the preparations. When I coach Coco, we get ready for a tournament. We are preparing for an event, we are thinking about something. So in this case it was the same. We're peaking to get ready to be able to film and do what we need to do to do what we do.