The year of Tenniscore: How the 'Challengers' effect transformed tennis fashion in 2024

Call it timeless style or call it the ‘Challengers effect’, but tennis has been having a major moment in fashion this year. And if trends are anything to go by, that’s not changing anytime soon.

Tennis and fashion go hand in hand: From standout on-court style like Naomi Osaka’s over-the-top US Open kit or Marta Kostyuk’s viral wedding-inspired Wimbledon dress, to high-fashion crossovers like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s photoshoot for Louis Vuitton and Jannik Sinner’s signature Gucci bags.

But this year, the sport’s biggest style serve didn’t come from a player—it came from someone who played one on the big screen.

Read More: 'Challengers' star Zendaya says players have thanked her for 'making tennis cool'

Tenniscore has been the name of the game since the release of Challengers, a romantic drama directed by Luca Guadagnino that features the highest and lowest rungs of professional tennis as a backdrop. Zendaya, one of the buzziest actors in Hollywood, plays a retired player-turned-coach with a killer game and personal style.

Read More: Serena Williams delivers her verdict on 'Challengers' movie: 'I want more'

"I've had a couple tennis players say, 'Thanks for making tennis sexy,' or 'making tennis cool,'" Zendaya told Entertainment Weekly. "And I was like, I feel like tennis has always been cool and sexy, but I'll take it.”

The film received overall positive reviews from moviegoers, as well as a tip of the hat from tennis fans for its meticulous attention to detail. Off the screen, Zendaya’s wardrobe was making waves too as she leaned into tenniscore, a fashion aesthetic that blends classic sporty style into everyday outfits.

Styled by Law Roach, Zendaya was spotted at Challengers press junkets and sitting courtside at matches in Indian Wells and Monte Carlo looking the part—by taking inspiration from the sport in sometimes unexpected ways.

“I wanted to be literal, I wanted to have this cultural moment and bring tenniscore back to the masses,” Roach told LA Times. “It becomes another way to add interest to the movie.”

The looks served ranged from a traditional white dress inspired by Althea Gibson, to a cozy Louis Vuitton courtside combo, to a custom Loewe fit featuring a silver glitzy dress with a pleated skirt and stilettos with tennis balls speared through the heels.

The best part of tenniscore is that you don’t need to splash out to attain the look—and if you’re a regular player, you might already have a few of the staples like polo shirts, pleated skirts, and clean white sneakers.

Think of it as paying homage to the history of the sport through fashion: Both Rene Lacoste’s polo shirt and Stan Smith’s classic Adidas shoes started out performance gear for tennis, and then over the years became lifestyle pieces and eventually vintage.

Have we hit peak tennis fashion yet? Has the post-film hype already died down? If statistics are anything to go by, all signs are trending up: Dubbed the *Challengers* effect, searches for “adult tennis lessons” skyrocketed 245% worldwide this summer after the film’s release, while “kids tennis classes” jumped by 205%—three times higher than the average.

That means in a few years, we could see even more players’ signature style get adopted into future ‘tenniscores’, like Lacoste and Smith. As influential fashion houses and big-name brands continue to partner with global tennis stars, expect this aesthetic trend to keep evolving too.