Good tennis cannot save a bad movie like “16-Love,” an insipid 2012 teen romance featuring Lindsey Shaw and Chandler Massey. Massey was cast partly because of his tennis skills and Shaw’s rival was played by Susie Abromeit, who had been a top-ranked junior but a weak script and poor directing renders all that irrelevant.

There is plenty of skin, sweat, close-ups of muscly thighs and smoldering looks of lust and hate in this deliriously over-the-top psychodrama. But get that image of Josh O’Connor,Zendaya and Mike Faist sitting together on the bed out of your mind. Most of this action takes place on the tennis court.

The tennis match that begins, ends, and provides the central narrative framework for Challengers, the vibrant new film from director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All, Suspiria) at first strikes the viewer as implausibly high-stakes for a match at a shabby New Rochelle,

I don’t want to be a homewrecker,” Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) says in “Challengers.” A budding tennis star on her way to Stanford, Tashi isn’t addressing a married man but two boys — also aspiring pros — who are openly courting her at the same time.

Mike Faist as Art, Zendaya as Tashi and Josh O’Connor as Patrick in Challengers. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures A tension-filled narrative interlaced with sweat and fervor, Challengers takes viewers beyond the boundaries of a traditional sports movie.

Challengers, featuring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor, has debuted in the US. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, this romantic sports film portrays a tennis champion's comeback aided by his wife, a former prodigy,