As the world adapts to spending more time at home, many are looking for ways to keep themselves entertained. But social distancing isn't so bad when there's a solid collection of tennis films available.
Here are some tennis movies as ranked by Midwest Sports!
1. Battle of the Sexes
The star-studded 2017 film is based on the famous 1973 match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. The storyline touches on many historically weighted topics included unequal prize money, the rise of the WTA and homosexuality in sports. A-list leads Emma Stone and Steve Carell will make you laugh and cry during this two-hour movie.
2. Borg vs McEnroe
This is a story about the dominating Swede Bjorn Borg and upcoming American tennis player John McEnroe. This story tells us about the historic 1980 Wimbledon final between the 2 rivals.
This match was regarded as the greatest match ever played. It featured an extremely long tiebreaker in the fourth set which was won by John McEnroe after saving 5 championships. However, he could not win the match losing the last set 8-6.
In the movie, the role of Bjorn Borg was played by Sverrir Gudnason and the role of John McEnroe was played by Shia LaBeouf. It was a good movie highlighting won of the most defining rivalries of tennis and is definitely one of the best tennis movies of all time
3. Venus and Serena (Documentary)
This was a documentary on the greatest pair of sisters in tennis – Venus and Serena Williams. This was released in 2012 and featured both players.
It is a documentary that looks at the inside lives of both tennis players and how tBenus Williams dealt with her health problems. She was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome which is an auto-immune disease causing joint pain and fatigue.
Despite such problems, both sisters have had extremely successful careers. They have together won 14 grand slams and 3 Olympic gold medals. This is a truly inspiring story.
4. Unmatched (Documentary)
This is a documentary which is about 2 of the greatest women’s tennis players – Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. This documentary covers their intense rivalry and their lifelong friendship.
Both players have won 18 singles’ titles. They have met 80 times which includes 60 finals and 14 grand slam finals. They were the 2 most dominating players at their time.
They were also best friends off-court. They would practice together, eat lunch together, and make plans to go to the tennis tournaments. This is a documentary that shows how you can be rivals and friends at the same time and is definitely a must-watch tennis movie.
5. Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
This documentary celebrates the life of the great tennis player Arthur Ashe. He was the first black man to be selected on the US Davis Cup team and he led them to their first title in 5 years. He won 3 Grand Slams throughout his career.
Arthur Ashe wasn’t just a tennis star. He fought against the system of Apartheid which was practiced in South Africa. He also raised awareness about HIV/AIDS which he had contracted. He set up the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to fight AIDS.