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Challengersis so darn hot, you guys.
The stakes go far beyond a paltry tune-up tournament in upstate New York.
A marriage, at least one career, and Josh OConnors sexual prowess are all on the line.
Up Until the Final Scene, Whos Winning?
Folks, its very close.
The match is a best-of-three sets affair.
Patrick wins the first set, somewhat unexpectedly.
In terms of pure ability, technique, and fitness, Art is the better player.
But were also reminded several times throughout the film that Art has never defeated Patrick in an official match.
So it looks like Arts heart isnt in the match anymore.
Theres no getting around the fact that tennis scoring is dumb as hell.
Its persisted this long because tennis is a sport that values tradition to a psychotic degree.
But you oughta understand itjust a little bitto get the ending ofChallengers.
A tennis game is won by being the first to get to four points by a margin of two.
If you win a point while up 40-30, 40-15, or 40-0, you win that game.
Win six games (by a margin of two) and youve won the set.
This meant that matches could conceivably go on forever, or at leastfor three days.
Now, almost every tournament opts for a tiebreaker once the set gets to 6-6.
), they did away with the old 15-30-40 scoring system.
Instead, in a tiebreak, things are simpler: Each point is worth one point.
The first player to seven points (winning by two) wins the set.
Remind Me What the Ball-and-Racket Thing Means Again?
By resurrecting this secret code, Patrick is signaling to Art that he and Tashi had sex again.
Art, understandably, is not cool with that.
Patrick whips his serve past a rattled Art to get the score to deuce (40-40).
At this point, Art still looks really demoralized.
Hes angry, but a fed-up kind of angry.
He fires his first serve right at Patricks head.
Its what Patrick deserves, tbh.
So when Art serves again, its still the first point of the tiebreak.
And this is whenChallengersfully snaps.
In tennis, youre not ever allowed to touch the net.
Its safe to say Art lost that point, to go down 0-1 in the tiebreak.
Who won the match?
We wont ever know, because thats when the screen cuts to credits.
But ultimately, Art never came to New Rochelle to win a Challenger tournament.
More importantly, Art and Patrick and Tashi all achieved a kind of carnal clarity.
you’ve got the option to figure out where it goes from there.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated which player won the first set.
