Challengers Ending Explained: Who Won?

One of the greatest things that the internet has given us is the ability to confer with others over all of the great television, film, literature, and more, challenging us to think critically and consider big ideas from new perspectives. The critically lauded "Challengers" is certainly a film that inspires reflection, thanks to director Luca Gaudagnino's refusal to hold the audience's hands as they work through his plot and some excellent acting from the film's stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor. But while it's interesting to consider the many different potential meanings of various gestures and events, it's also nice to see if there are steadfast answers to certain questions.

"Challengers" leaves a lot of its resolution quite ambiguous, but the third act set piece — a fierce, tense tennis match between childhood friends Art Donaldson (Faist) and Patrick Zweig (O'Connor) — feels like it should have a definitive result, if only in the technical world of tennis. Art and Patrick's relationship could go anywhere or nowhere after the film ends, but there's no way the tennis officials surrounding the match don't have an idea of what that last volley between the two great players means for their technical rankings as professionals. There are many layers to the film's final scene, and we're happy to help audiences peel them all back.

"Challengers" is a film with a relatively straightforward plot and a lot of visual and aural nuance thanks to its precise cinematography and intense, energizing score. The film follows a contentious tennis match between two pros, Art and Patrick, throughout the course of the movie, interspersing scenes of their court-based battle with flashbacks to the evolution of their post-high school relationship as well as each of their connections to Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a mesmerizing, prodigiously talented tennis player (like, inspired-by-Serena-Williams levels of talented) who meets the boys at the junior division of the US Open and later injures herself before she can embark on a successful career in professional tennis.

At first, Tashi dates Patrick rather than Art because of his drive to win. Their relationship is intense and passionate, and it seems to appeal to Tashi because it creates in her a sensation that mirrors so closely the feeling she gets when she plays tennis. Unfortunately, that intensity leads Tashi to play too aggressively, and she's irreparably injured during play. After she is forced to say goodbye to tennis, Tashi starts a relationship with Art, who lets her coach him to a successful pro career. Art wants to retire by the time he and Tashi are married and have a daughter, but Tashi wants him to win a grand slam first. Patrick's career, meanwhile, has gone downhill since his estrangement from Tashi and Art, as the tennis pro finds himself living tournament prize to tournament prize.

By the time "Challengers" returns to the third act match between Art and Patrick for the final time, audiences have a much better understanding of their many interpersonal issues. Art, who has had a very successful career thanks to his willingness to work hard and accept Tashi's coaching, is still trying to find his confidence as a player as he recovers from a major injury. He wants to retire, but he's going to try for the Grand Slam (wherein a player wins all four major tennis opens in one year) one more time in order to make Tashi happy. Tashi reluctantly gives him an ultimatum the night before the match: If Art doesn't win against Patrick, she will leave him. Art feels that he needs this ultimatum in order to win.

After Art falls asleep, Tashi calls Patrick and, meeting him in person, demands that he throw the match to Art. Patrick is argumentative but ultimately seems to accept Tashi's request. The two of them also sleep together following their intense argument. At the match, Art and Patrick each win a set handily. Art is about to win the third when Patrick uses Patrick's secret code to communicate that he slept with Tashi. Art is furious and throws the match point, leading to a tie-break.

Art and Patrick both appear unburdened as they begin their final volley, which ends up being an example of the "good f***ing tennis" Tashi has been talking about since the beginning of the film. When Art attempts a power shot right at the net, Patrick opens his arms and catches Art rather than trying to hit the ball back. The two end the match in an embrace.

The ending of "Challengers" is not meant to be a definitive answer to any particular question. The movie is about an intense entanglement between three intense people, with each of them mistreating the others in their own ways at various points throughout the movie. That said, there is one aspect of the ending that could have a technical answer— specifically, who won the final match between Art and Patrick?

Director Luca Gaudagnino and other members of the cast and production team have made it clear that the decision to leave the ending ambiguous was intentional, with Gaudagnino telling Entertainment Weekly, "The audience [needed] to understand how much it meant for them not to win over the other, but to be back together, all of them."

The rules of tennis, however, tell us a little more about the match's victor. Because Art falls down onto the net (Patrick's good catch notwithstanding), he is guilty of a violation. In a standard set, this would mean that the point actually goes to Patrick. Unfortunately, that one point that Patrick might have won doesn't mean that Patrick won the set and, therefore, the game. In tennis, a tiebreaker can only be won if one of the players reaches 7+ points while he is two points ahead. If Patrick won the point because of Art's violation, they'd still only be 6-7, which means the match would need to continue until Patrick gets another point or Art manages to get ahead.

The real meaning of the ending of "Challengers," the one that doesn't have anything to do with tennis rules, is far more complex and ambiguous. It's important to note that Tashi is not the villain of "Challengers." She may have done wrong, but Art, Patrick, and Tashi have all hurt each other in their own ways. The film is about the trio's connection and how their relationships are intrinsically linked to tennis. It's not about winning, and that's why the cast and crew are so serious about not speculating on the ending of the film. Mike Faist told EW that audiences "actually are coming out of the theater engaged in a conversation about the story," so the star is clearly happy that the ending's ambiguity played out so successfully.

Unsurprisingly, director Luca Gaudagnino spoke beautifully about the dynamic between Tashi, Art, and Patrick as it pertains to the film's ending. Speaking to EW, Gaudagnino explained that throughout the movie, "they are acting out [...] the possibility of going back to that hotel room to find again that beautiful moment of burgeoning desires and innocence. [...] with the rivalry at that heightened level, the triangle finally found itself sitting in the same place, but now on the court." In other words, Tashi, Art, and Patrick are all ecstatic at the end of the film despite the many ways they've done each other wrong because they've finally recovered that incredible feeling that comes with experiencing something extraordinary alongside people you love.

As said, the cast and crew are passionate about the film's ambiguous ending. Mike Faist loves that there is no clear winner at the end of the movie because it inspires continued discourse around "Challengers" even after people have seen it. "The exciting thing about this film," Faist explained to EW, "is that people are going to have an opinion, a very visceral one," but there are no right or wrong answers. Josh O'Connor emphasized the connection between Art, Tashi, and Patrick, indicating that their outcome as a trio is the endgame in the film that matters. "In the end, despite the messiest way of navigating themselves there, Patrick realizes in a moment that he's got both of them there, forgets everyone else in the stadium," O'Connor offered as an interpretation of his character's motivations.

Zendaya has noted that the end of the film is definitely a little confusing considering her own mother had a totally different interpretation of Tashi's behavior in that final scene. Indiewire reported Zendaya's incredulity, with the star stating, "[M]y mom read the ending so different. My mom is like, 'She's pissed because they realize that they don't need her anymore.'" Zendaya said she responded to her mother with shock, "I was like, 'But I smile a little bit at the end!'" Validating the star's reaction to her mother, many Reddit users have discussed the ending, with most coming to a conclusion closer to that of Zendaya and the other cast and crew.

There are a lot of questions that the trio will need to answer in their fictional tennis world. Firstly, Art and Patrick will have to finish their match and see who wins the third set and thus the game. If Art wins, it'll help establish a winning streak again for the noted pro, and if Patrick wins, he'll take home a sizable prize and have a better chance of qualifying for participation in prestigious tournaments. It's clear that Art and Patrick don't really care who is going to win because they've finally rediscovered the love they have for each other through tennis. For her part, Tashi seems ecstatic that Art and Patrick are able to capture a spark of real tennis during their match.

Interpersonally, Tashi has a lot to answer for. She doesn't know about the signal that Art and Patrick devised for Patrick to surreptitiously indicate to Art that he and Tashi had sex. Thus, she doesn't know that Patrick has told Art about their tryst — a tryst that occurred despite Tashi's marriage to Art. She sees that something happens to enrage Art before the volley over the third match's game point, but it seems unlikely that she would guess exactly what it was, especially when Art may have many reasons to be angry with Patrick. On these questions audiences can only speculate, though, as it is highly unlikely that there will be a sequel to "Challengers."