Best Tennis Movies From Hollywood

Rising tennis star Chris (Dean Paul Martin) falls in love with Nicole (Ali MacGraw), an older woman, while competing in the Wimbledon championships. But Nicole’s already engaged — to a millionaire she doesn’t truly love. Nicole must choose if she wants to live a life full of love with Chris, or if she should stay with her fiance because of his financial stability. The film also features cameos from tennis players John McEnroe, Pancho Gonzalez, Guillermo Vilas and Ilie Nastase.

College freshman Steve (Chad Lowe) is a member of the school’s tennis team. After falling in love with fellow student tennis player Shelly (Gail O’Grady), Steve becomes distracted and is kicked off of the men’s team. Determined to continue playing and to become closer with Shelly, Steve disguises himself as a girl to play on the women’s tennis team. His plan goes awry when Stephanie, his female alter ego, becomes roommates with the object of his affection.

Vincent Van Patten plays Nick Irons, a disgraced tennis player banned from the pros after hitting another athlete during a TV match. Nick agrees to coach Joel (Ben Jogensen), though the teen’s father (Martin Sheen) asks Nick to discourage his son’s hope of one day becoming a professional tennis player. While Nick plans to follow the father’s orders, the reappearance of an old flame (Rae Dawn Chong) inspires him to take Joel seriously as a student after he sees his pure determination and passion for the sport.

The romantic comedy stars Kirsten Dunst as up-and-coming tennis player Lizzie Bradbury and Paul Bettany as privileged and unmotivated professional tennis player Peter Colt. After Peter earns a spot at the Wimbledon tournament as a wildcard competitor, he realizes that he is too old to continue playing tennis professionally. While at the tournament, Lizzie and Peter begin a relationship and fall in love. The relationship has a positive influence on his performance as a player, while her tennis talents begin to decline.

The 2005 psychological thriller from Woody Allen tells the story of former tennis pro Chris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). While working as an instructor at an upscale tennis club located in London, he befriends wealthy student Tom (Matthew Goode). After Chris begins a relationship with Tom’s sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer), he develops feelings for Tom’s fiancee Nola (Scarlett Johansson). In a desperate attempt to maintain his comfortable lifestyle with Chloe and his passionate relationship with Nola, Chris turns to murder. The film scored Allen an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.

The comedy stars Jeremy Sisto and David Walton as estranged brothers and former tennis partners. When Jimmy (Sisto) can’t find a partner to play in one last tennis tournament that can qualify the winning duo for the U.S. Open, he turns to Darren (Walton) for help. They know their days are numbered as tennis players, but the professional reunion might be enough to revive their relationship. 

The sports drama follows the famous rivalry between Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) and American tennis star John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf). While competing at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships, the two players go head to head at the men’s singles tournament championship match. While promoting the film at the Toronto Film Festival, LaBeouf told the media that playing the athlete infamous for his outbursts was “quite cathartic.”

The Fox Searchlight film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is based on the 1973 tennis match between Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) and Billie Jean King (Emma Stone). Riggs challenges all female tennis players to play against him in a televised match for a prize of $100,000. King accepts and they both have ulterior motives: Riggs is using the match as a way to be as relevant as he once was, while King’s goal is to close the large gender pay gap. Battle of the Sexes may be just a tennis movie on the surface, but it also deals with underlying social issues that were just beginning to be addressed at the time of the match.

King Richard stars Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, who is determined to turn them into tennis pros. Smith won an Oscar for his portrayal — though his win will forever be associated with his slapping presenter Chris Rock moments before Smith was announced as the winner —  while Aunjanue Ellis earned an Oscar nom for her portrayal of Oracene “Brandy” Price, mother of Venus and Serena, played by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, respectively.

Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 erotic thriller Challengers stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist as three young tennis stars caught in a love triangle.

After meeting and being entranced by Zendaya’s tennis phenom Tashi, O’Connor’s Patrick and Faist’s Art compete for her affections, with Tashi initially having a steamy romance with Patrick before an injury ends her athletic career and she winds up marrying Art and serving as his coach. The three are reunited and former best friends Patrick and Art face off at a “Challenger” tennis event in New Rochelle, New York, which Tashi enters Art in to boost his confidence amid a losing streak.

Written by Justin Kuritzkes and with a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers received recognition from a number of critics groups and awards organizations over the 2024-2025 Oscars season before it was completely snubbed by the 2025 Academy Awards.

In his review of the “smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension” film for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney writes, “The psychosexual power plays keep it pinging, as do the nuances folded into the protagonists by three magnetic actors at the top of their game. … Guadagnino smoothly interweaves the action over the non-chronological 13-year arc, steadily cranking up the electricity. He makes us aware of the extent to which the fierce athleticism of tennis comes to mirror the high-stakes competition of shifting interpersonal dynamics, yet never feels the need to overstate those parallels.”

Kimberly Nordyke and Hilary Lewis contributed to this story.