{"id":94630,"date":"2024-05-03T03:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T03:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/03\/naomi-osaka-channels-zendaya-in-challengers\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T03:40:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T03:40:00","slug":"naomi-osaka-channels-zendaya-in-challengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/03\/naomi-osaka-channels-zendaya-in-challengers\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka Channels Zendaya in Challengers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Naomi Osaka<\/strong> is doing her best Zendaya<\/strong><\/a> impression.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a video posted to TikTok<\/a> on Thursday, May 2,\u00a0 the four-time Grand Slam champion, 26, paid playful homage to Challengers<\/i>, the hit romantic drama starring Zendaya as a tennis phenom caught in a steamy love triangle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo one: Me after watching Challengers<\/i>,\u201d Osaka captioned her post, in which she slid on her sunglasses, spun her racket and showed off her serve. For the background music, she chose the super-intense synth score from the movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, the movie\u2019s screenwriter, Justin Kuritzkes<\/strong>, said that he was inspired to write the script after watching Osaka beat her idol, Serena Williams<\/strong>, in an upset victory at the 2018 U.S. Open. Osaka was then 20 years old \u2014 a prodigy just like Zendaya\u2019s character, Tashi Duncan, though Kuritzkes did not base Tashi upon Osaka. Her famously riveting match with Williams, however, was another story.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Zendaya<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Zendaya’s ‘Challengers’ Red Carpet Looks<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tZendaya is bringing the drama from the tennis court to the red carpet while promoting her new movie, Challengers. The Emmy winner stars as Tashi Duncan in the drama, directed by Luca Guadagnino, a tennis prodigy whose career is cut short by an injury. She starts coaching, eventually turning her husband (Mike Faist) into a [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cImmediately, this struck me as this intensely cinematic situation where you\u2019re all alone on your side of the court and there\u2019s this one other person in this massive tennis stadium who cares as much about what happens to you as you do, but you can\u2019t talk to them,\u201d Kuritzkes said in a press conference last month, per Business Insider<\/i><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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@naomiosaka<\/a> <\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude01\ud83d\ude02 #challengers<\/a> #tennistiktok<\/a> #funnymoments<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c Challengers [MIXED] (Challengers Soundtrack) \u2013 Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross & Boys Noize<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The match was an infamously tense one, with Williams, the fan favorite, arguing with chair umpire Carlos Ramos<\/strong> for giving her three code violations. \u201c[Y]ou stole a point from me, you\u2019re a thief, too,\u201d she told Ramos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the game, which Osaka won 6-2, 6-4, the rivals stood next to one another while observers in the stands booed the result. Osaka covered her face with her visor and cried. Williams hugged Osaka, who told the crowd, \u201cI know that everyone was cheering for [Williams]. I\u2019m sorry it had to end like this. I just want to say thank you for watching the match.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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