Challengers ending explained: Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on that epic final scene

The film then spends the majority of its runtime volleying back and forth between different timelines to reveal how rivalries and tensions have developed between the trio – and raising the stakes for the epic Challenger match.

So, who ultimately wins? Read on for our full rundown of the ending of Challengers, as well as writer Justin Kuritzkes' take on its meaning.

**Spoiler warning for the ending of Challengers**

Challengers ending explained: Does Art win?

It remains unclear who wins the tennis match and the heart of Tashi Duncan – if anyone can ever really win in either.

In the final scenes of Challengers, the non-linear narrative reveals that Tashi had a sexual encounter with Patrick and asks him to throw the game and enable Art to win.

Tashi reasons that Patrick's career is over and that he comes from money and will survive no matter what, while Art needs this win if he is to end his career in any satisfying way.

This comes after Art admitted to Tashi that he no longer enjoys the sport and longs to quit after a final playing season. At the same time, Patrick had also asked Tashi to start coaching him to ensure he continued to grow in a career when Art no longer had a hunger for it and he does.

The pair had their sexual encounter in a car the night before the big match and amid hurricane-like winds. This also followed much reminiscing about the friendship between Patrick and Art, which was lost when the latter went to college with Tashi and they pursued a romance and later marriage, while Patrick pursued an immediate professional career and hedonism to less success.

As the match came around, for a large portion of the playing, Patrick had Art rattled and soon took the lead but the game took a turn when Art rebounded.

During the final stretch, Patrick used a 'tell' of Art's playing style that he had previously used to signal he had slept with Tashi when they were teens to once again signal to Art that he had slept with Tashi – placing the ball in the throat of the racket.

The glares and stares between the trio betrayed the flurry of emotions in play and soon, Art rebounded for a tense stand-off as they fought to the bitter end, neither backing down.

However, as match point arrived each got closer and closer to the net until Art leapt up to tae the final hit but Patrick leapt up too and the two embraced over the net.

Tashi screamed in jubilation at the win as the two former friends happily embraced in a moving and cathartic final shot of the film.

It is unclear who ultimately wins and what exactly Tashi wanted the outcome to be, but their friendship being mended is the major takeaway from the film and perhaps the real love story.

Speaking about the final moments, screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes said: "That was one of the first things I knew about the movie before I even started writing."

He added: "Yeah, I had that image in my head really early on, you know, we went through a process with the ending of calibrating it exactly right. Without saying too much. But no, it feels pretty close to what I originally imagined, which I'm really happy about and it's probably a bit surreal, as well."

What did the ending of Challengers mean?

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Luca Guadagnino previously said: "They are acting out for 13 years the possibility of going back to that hotel room to find again that beautiful moment of burgeoning desires and innocence.

"And at the same time, to feel at ease with one another, the way they were there. So, throughout the entire arc, that's what they're trying to do. And finally, with the rivalry at that heightened level, the triangle finally found itself sitting in the same place, but now on the court."

However, he won't go into the answers of the ending any further: "I needed to get this very, very visually amped up and really immersed for the audience to understand how much it meant for them not to win over the other, but to be back together, all of them."

Zendaya admitted the ending might be “confusing” to some in a recent interview with The New York Times.

“My mom read the ending so different,” Zendaya explained.

“My mom is like, ‘She’s pissed because they realize that they don’t need her anymore.’ I was like, ‘But I smile a little bit at the end!’ My mom was watching it behind me and every time my character does something bad or cheats on her husband or whatever, she’s like, ‘Why do you do that?’ She’s so angry with Tashi, she’s so upset.

"But it’s interesting, I was like, ‘What? I don’t know where you got that from.’ I’m in the movie and I feel like I have a good sense of what I thought this ending was supposed to be, and she was like, ‘No. This is what it is. So sorry.’"

Guadagnino responded “I like that reading” of the ending, before adding: “Tashi’s a director. She’s like Lermontov in The Red Shoes, she makes things happen. And maybe your mom is right, maybe Tashi wants them to find each other … I like what your mom says, because it adds another level that goes beyond our intentions. For me, she smiles at the end, if you’re going to freeze frame.”

Faist went on to describe the ending as “interpretative,” while Zendaya admitted that it’s “confusing".

Read more:

• Is Challengers based on a true story? Zendaya film explained
• Zendaya bonded with her Challengers co-stars in tennis training
• How to watch Challengers - can you stream the new Zendaya film?
• Challengers proves Zendaya is the modern Hollywood icon of a generation
• Challengers soundtrack: What music features in Zendaya tennis drama?
• Challengers writer reveals how Serena Williams helped inspire new Zendaya film
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Challengers is out now in cinemas.

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