This week marks the start of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, held annually in New York City, so tennis is on the brain — and on ESPN. This is likely the final tournament in which one of the greatest players of all time, Serena Williams, will compete in her career, so no doubt, eyes will be glued to the hard court for the next few weeks. Tennis is an incredibly cinematic sport, so if the tournament inspires you to do some more watching, here are some tennis movies to keep the volley going.
First up, a new documentary about the legendary, and legendarily hot-headed, John McEnroe. This new film, “McEnroe” streams on Showtime on Friday, Sept. 2, and premieres on air on Showtime Sunday, Sept. 4, in the thick of U.S. Open season. Directed by Barney Douglas, this intimate documentary portrait is set over one night with McEnroe, and delves into the psychology that powered his famously fiery outbursts on the court. The film also includes previously unseen archival footage of some of McEnroe's matches, as well as his home videos.
For more McEnroe, another documentary, “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” was released in 2018, directed by Julian Farault, and taking a more expressionistic approach to understanding the player’s perfectionism. That film is available to stream on Kanopy or for rent on digital platforms. In 2017, Shia LaBeouf played McEnroe in the thrilling “Borg vs. McEnroe,” directed by Janus Metz. The rivalry between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg was legendary, and Metz captures all their differences, and the sizzling tennis that erupted between them during their famous faceoff. Stream it on HBO Max.
