Two Tennis Movies for your Christmas Stocking
Posted on October 14 2018
Some people love it, some people hate it, but everyone has to do it: Christmas shopping. I don’t know about you, but our Kollectaball family love to receive tennis related gifts and gadgets, so we thought we’d help you out with your shopping with a few simple reviews.
To start out, we’ve checked out one of the easiest stocking fillers there is, movies!
In the past, tennis movies have largely been romance movies with some fairly iffy tennis action in the middle, but in the last couple of years, Holywood has upped its tennis game with some big hitting movies.
Battle of the Sexes
Emma Stone and Steve Carell star in the portrayal of the famous Battle of the Sexes match up in which Billie Jean King, (Emma Stone) beat an outspoken Bobby Riggs in three sets 4-6 6-3 6-3. The match drew a huge audience with over 90 million people worldwide tuning in to watch what was dubbed as ‘the battle of the exes.’
Who was Bobby Riggs you’re asking yourself? Riggs was 55 at the time of the match but was one of the best tennis players in the world during the 40’s, having held the number one spot in the world and winning six majors. The matchup against King was preceded by Riggs beating another former number one in the world, Margaret Court, 6-2 6-1.
What was initially a publicity stunt turned into a milestone for women’s sports which now has the same prize money as men for the Grand Slam events. The match also helped pave the way for improved numbers of girls taking part in sports in general and helped cement King as a legend and pioneer for women’s tennis.
The movie itself is a feel-good winner and one the whole family can watch. With great performances from Emma Stone and Steve Carell, this movie will give you a little introduction to some important tennis history, whilst keeping everybody entertained.
Borg vs McEnroe
The Borg v. Mcenroe story doesn’t need much of an introduction for anyone remotely involved in tennis. It is one of the greatest, if not the greatest rivalry in tennis and in sports in general.
The depth of this rivalry is not solely based on tennis, but also the two players' opposing personalities and the somewhat sad ending to both players careers.
Featuring Shia LaBeouf and Severrir Gudnasson, the movie does an excellent job of portraying the true nature of the rivalry and received a good score of 7 out of 10 on IMDb.
If you're looking for some easy gift ideas for your tennis-loving friends then why not check out these movie offerings?