When many of us think of the best sports movies, iconic football movies like Rudy or Remember The Titans or great basketball movies like Hoosiers or White Men Can’t Jump may come to mind. But there are a slew of other cool topics to dive into out there, and if you dip your toes a little deeper into the world of sport cinema, I think you’ll find a wide variety of great stuff out there, including flicks for sports like hockey and even tennis.
One thing I like best about tennis movies is that they really do have offerings across myriad topics and genres and featuring a wide variety of characters. From great rom-coms to solid biopics, from movies about men in tennis to movies about the women who have dominated the sport – such as the record-breaking Williams sisters – there’s a lot to choose from. Take a look at the best tennis movies, below.
Best Romantic Movies About Tennis
Wimbledon - 2004
Kirsten Dunst has made plenty of genre movies, but outside of Spider-Man, her charming 2004 rom-com opposite Paul Bettany features one of her best romantic performances. Playing an up-and-coming tennis rock star, she romantically falls for a former highly-ranked tennis player, and they both work to support one another and level up their games in the process, all while serving up a little drama, of course.
Pat And Mike - 1952
An old school romance starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Pat and Mike features mobsters, romance, and a slew of cameos from some famous tennis names at the time. Don Budge, Gussie Moran and Alice Marble all appear in the film, as do golfers Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Betty Hicks, and Helen Dettweiler. Hepburn’s the athlete in the film (a golfer and a tennis player), and she and Tracy would go on to star in a whopping nine movies together, becoming one of the most notable rom-com couples of all time.
Game, Set, Love - 2022
More of a TV classic, Game, Set, Love came out on Hallmark in 2022. Davida Williams and Richard Harmon are in a classic meet-cute, with a twist. She’s a former tennis pro; he’s tennis’ resident bad boy. Will she be able to tame him or have her heart tamed in the process? (It’s Hallmark, so I bet you can guess the answer.) Still, while the ending is a tad predictable, the film's cute premise totally deserves to be seen by tennis fans, or at least tennis fans who also love rom-coms.
Best Biographical Movies About Tennis
King Richard -2021
Will Smith notoriously won the Oscar for his work in King Richard, but I think it’s worth adding a notice about how great the rest of the cast, particularly Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, is too. The movie is about the work Serena and her sister Venus Williams put in to become pros, despite the odds. It’s a feel-good movie, but one about dedication, drive, determination, and an unwillingness to quit, too.
Battle Of The Sexes - 2017
The story of Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs duking it out on and off the court was notorious back in the seventies, but it wasn’t made into a film until 2017 when Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris gave it a big screen polish. Both lead actors are excellent in their respective roles, and it’s an empowering story about the role King played in the rise of women’s tennis in the U.S. Though it underperformed at the box office, Battle of the Sexes was well-reviewed, and worth a watch even years later.
Best Documentary Movies About Tennis
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice - 2011
Chronicling one of the fiercest rivalries in tennis history, HBO's Fire & Ice gets into tennis in the late seventies and early eighties, focusing on the rivalry between the outspoken John McEnroe and the superstitious Björn Borg, who met numerous times over the course of their careers and played a famous match at Wimbledon. A second movie specifically about the American player called McEnroe also came out in 2022 on Showtime.
Strokes Of Genius - 2018
Along with having a clever name, another of the better tennis documentaries is also about a big rivalry. Fans of Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal can find a lot to like about Strokes of Genius, but anyone casually interested in tennis tournaments and how they play out can find a lot to like here. The documentary looks at the 2008 Wimbledon tournament and how it played out, but if you are a Federer fan a 2021 documentary was also released simply titled Roger Federer. The Reunion.
Best Comedies About Tennis
7 Days In Hell - 2015
Hotly anticipated from the moment the first 7 Days In Hell trailer came out, the HBO film follows Andy Samberg and Kit Harington as Aaron Williams and Charles Poole, two pro tennis players. Created in a documentary style, the two go on to play the “longest match in tennis history,” a funny premise for this sort of comedy. It also has one of the wildest endings I can remember for a sports movie. Go ahead, give it a watch.
School For Scoundrels - 1960
Set up around two notable tennis matches, School For Scoundrels' main plot features Terry-Thomas’ Delauney stealing his acquaintance’s lady and then promptly trouncing him at the racket sport. Meanwhile, this acquaintance, Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) enrolls in “The College of Lifemanship” where he learns the skills to beat Delauney at tennis and earn his girl back. It’s a funny and memorable film, and it was well-liked enough that director Todd Philips remade it back in 2006 with Billy Bob Thornton in the titular role.
Great Movies With Tennis Scenes That Aren’t About Tennis
Bridesmaids - 2011
Bridesmaids may not really have anything to do with tennis, but it has one of the funniest tennis scenes in the history of film. From Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig's characters verbally sparring before play to Carol trying to poach, missing, and being told to "get her s--t together," the scene is a gold standard and has me in stitches every. single. time.
Match Point - 2005
More a murder mystery than a story about tennis itself, Woody Allen’s Match Point stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a former pro tennis player and current teacher who finds himself entangled in a messy affair. Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer and Matthew Goode also star in this very memorable movie, which CinemaBlend’s review of Match Point called a “breath of fresh air.”
The Royal Tenenbaums - 2001
The Royal Tenenbaums is kind of like Match Point in that a main character is notable for playing tennis but the movie is really not about playing tennis. However, like Bridesmaids, it also has a very funny scene in which said character, Luke Wilson's Richie Tenenbaum, totally has a meltdown in the middle of a tennis match. He takes off his shoes and socks while the announcers mention things like it being the "worst tennis of his life." The best part is at the end when he just gives up and throws his racket. It's a classic movie scene.
So there you have it. There are actually a slew of other movies that were close to making this list, but I combed through ones with high rankings from fans and sprinkled them in with a few personal recommendations. Hope there were a few you tennis lovers out there haven't checked out yet, and with upcoming movies like the Zendaya vehicle Challengers hitting the schedule in 2024, there's likely only more to look forward to.
