Tennis Films To Watch Before Wimbledon 2021

Set just before the beginning of a much anticipated Wimbledon tournament, ailing tennis pro Peter Colt was once 11th in the world, as we fade-in, the journeyman sits at 119th. Colt is finished physically, depleted mentally, and hopeless romantically. Somehow, he squirms his way into the tournament's main draw through a wildcard and admits to himself that this is his last crack at grass-court success. Within this thought process, Colt understands he’s only a few poor games away from coaching at a prestigious tennis club, an incontrovertible undesirable well-known throughout the soon-to-be-ex-pro community.

Colt’s mindset changes when he meets rising American star Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) and the crackles of love fray the air between the two. As the connection between the two deepens, Colt finds he’s playing the tennis of his life, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament. However, Bradbury shockingly bails out of the competition, and what was once a promising key to happiness for Colt turns into another perceived failure as she leaves London for her American home. Meanwhile, American no.1 and arrogant-as-hell Jake Hammond (Austin Nicols) has smashed his way to the final. Colt, without the spurring Bradbury, finds himself miserably down 2-0. When rain delays the game's continuation, it’s up to love to find a way back.

Wimbledon is definitely a guilty pleasure of a watch. The pure-blood tennis fans might scoff at a few scenes, but most audience members will understand the dynamics of mindset and winning mentality and forgive the tennis faux pas. The dry British Rom-Com genre surprisingly suits the Wimbledon arena, and decent all-round performances make it a likeable and entertaining watch. 3.5/5

Match Point is perhaps the most non-tennis film on our tennis films list. However, it has enough tropes, metaphors, and upper-classity to emanate the sport. Woody Allen’s protagonist, Chris (Jonathon Rhys-Meyers), finds himself in the situation Colt was preparing for in Wimbledon, given that Chris finds his tennis career over, and his new economical venture coaching at a prestigious London tennis club. There’s a resonance of The Talented Mr. Ripley here, as Chris quickly finds himself adopted into an aristocratic family, and begins a relationship with Chloe (Emily Mortimer) the sister of his student Tom (Matthew Goode). It’s Tom’s fiancé Nola (Scarlett Johansson) who puts an unexpected spin on the ball of the narrative when Chris falls in love with her.

As their romance and desire build, the knots around Chris’ idyllic wealthy family existence are strained and, under pressure, Chris gives in to his wants and desires in a web of lies and culmination of violence. Woody Allen once more twists the wrenches of love, using the scope of morality, the longevity of sporting success, and lust, to accurately portray a very entertaining 2 hours with some solid dialogue and original narrative. Although tennis is hardly the main focus, the psychology of the protagonist is primed through the angst of finishing his pro career and having to settle for less. As the narrative unwinds, it becomes obviously apparent that settling for less is not in Chris’s behavioural repertoire. 3/5

If Match Point was barely tennis-filmable, The Battle Of The Sexes is the opposite. Yes, it still benefits and suffers from the biographical hi-jinx of Hollywood biopic dramas, but even the fact it is to some degree biographical embroils the film with considerably more tennis focus.

Based on true events, TBOTS is set on the backdrop of a 1970 US Lawn Tennis Association tournament, where the prize money for women is ? that of the men. When the 9 biggest female tennis players withdraw from the tour in favour of starting their own organisation (That would eventually become the now dominant WTA). One of the pioneers of this movement is Billie Jean King (portrayed by Oscar-winner Emma Stone) who is challenged by the executives of men's tennis and ex-pro turned gambler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell). After women's no.1 succumbs to defeat against the 55-year old Riggs, the Lawn Association's decisions for unequal pay seem justified. It’s up to Billie Jean King, to set that record straight.

The Battle of the Sexes utilises tennis in exactly the right way. The picture is tennis-focused, using an interesting part of the history of the sport to resurface important gender debates still occurring today. The argument is initially sparked by unequal pay, a debate that is still evident today, where women receive significantly less prize money than men in the majority of competitions. The story of Billie Jean King is one of the underdog, but it’s also one of pride, passion, dedication, and equality that has been expertly cannoned through the scope of tennis as a sport and as an organisation. With fantastic all-around performances and great costume, hair, and make-up design, it’s a must-watch ahead of the grass-court season. 4/5

There are sporting moments in every discipline that have been immortalised. It could be the sheer unlikeliness of the event (Leicester winning the premier league), the majesticness of the skill (THAT tiger woods putt that sent Nike shares through the roof) the expectations of a nation (Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky) seen in Pawn Sacrifice (2014) or, the collision of two personalities almost bigger than the sport itself. Within tennis, this came in the 1980 Wimbledon final, where American hothead John McEnroe battled against suave Swede Bjorn Borg in an epic showdown dubbed the ‘game of the century'.

Borg vs McEnroe stars Shia La Beauf as the yank and Sverrir Gudnason as the Swede, reviving the classic rivalry with the panache and iconography of all white polos and bushy, terry-cloth headbands. The film takes a Scandinavian-centric view, not through biases in the narrative, but due to a Scandinavian production process beginning with a script by Swede Ronnie Sandahl.

Like the contemporaries it diligently examines, the film is no-nonsense. It’s unequivocally about the tennis, and the players wielding the rackets. It’s as tennis-centric as a film has come and loses nothing of narrative value seen in more dramatic excursions. Perhaps we can owe this to the momentous and infamous match itself, but that would be unfair on the script, acting, directing, costume design, and editing of the piece, all of which are consistently good and sometimes superb. Naturally, Shia and Sverrir don’t resonate the years of tennis perfection evident in the real Borg/McEnroe, but at times it does a great job.

Borg McEnroe is a high-octane and very enjoyable watch. Shia’s delivery of McEnroe’s ‘You cannot be serious!?’ certainly sent tingles up the spine and it is the acting from both leads that inspires the rest of the film with the grit and intensity tennis fans have pleaded for in a motion picture. Both educational and entertaining, it’s likely to be the top seed for the best tennis films on the court right now. 4.5/5