Tennis star Ben Shelton had a silly excuse to dislike the Challengers movie but liked its popularity

As one of the top young American tennis players in the world, it was fascinating to hear what Ben Shelton thought of Challengers (2024).

The 21-year-old tennis star, who currently holds the No. 13 men’s singles ranking, was asked to share his opinion on the popular sports film starring Zendaya that was released earlier this year.

Shelton told Interview Magazine that although he had seen the movie, he “wasn’t the biggest fan” of it. He admitted that while they did a “great job” with the tennis sequences, the plot didn’t really work for him.

Warning: Some potential spoilers for this movie are mentioned.

Ben Shelton kicks off his US Open today. Here's what he thought of Challengers. https://t.co/VEjRHZX9a4 pic.twitter.com/IQABMwNaW6

— Jake Nevins (@jhnevins) August 26, 2024

According to Shelton, it looked realistic when the ball was moving.

But he said that he struggled to “understand” the plot of the film. For example, was Zendaya’s character actually in a love triangle with the two guys?

Meanwhile, he also had some trouble with the ending. Without giving away too many spoilers, Shelton struggled with who won the final match between the two male leads. He wondered why they embraced instead of depicting an actual winner.

Despite these complaints, though, he was still happy that “a lot of people liked it” likely because it gave increased attention to his sport.

Shelton is currently competing in the US Open in New York City.