Team Patrick Zweig

He just wanted his throuple to stay intact. Is that a crime?

British actor Josh O’Connor as Patrick Zweig in Challengers (2024)

I just finished watching Challengers for the fifth time. I get something different from the movie every time I watch it. Despite dysfunction seeming more and more apparent with each watch, I wanted to write about the least fallible character in this love triangle. Throughout the movie, secrets are kept, kisses are given and promises are broken by all three, but Patrick Zweig did all he could to keep the two loves of his life in his life. Patrick mediates and stands up for himself rather than stir the pot and create messes like Art and Tashi did. In my opinion, Patrick spent a lot of the movie trying to win and keep the affection of Art and Tashi and in the end, he was a winner.

From the beginning of this movie, I got the sense that Patrick was a yearner for both Art and Tashi first, and a tennis player second. We’re first introduced to Patrick as one half of “Fire and Ice,” the tennis duo he is in with his best friend, Art Donaldson. Patrick and Art have been bunkmates since they were 12 years old and we learn that Patrick taught Art how to masturbate. After Art and Patrick win a doubles match in the U.S. Open, Art asks Patrick if he’ll let him win their singles final tomorrow. Patrick agrees because it’s no sweat off his back, but Art is confused because Patrick seemed really excited to win that doubles match (and he was). That was the clear first sign that Patrick would do anything for Art. When it comes to Patrick and Tashi, Patrick first introduces Tashi to Art as the “hottest girl he’s ever seen” and wanted to talk about anything but tennis when all three first got together at the Adidas party. Back to Art and Patrick, in the hotel room the beds are pushed together and Patrick puts on Art’s green and white striped shirt we see him wearing after winning that doubles match before Tashi enters the room. He was first to get up when Tashi sat on the bed and told them to get up there with her, and most importantly, he was the one to win the singles match to get Tashi’s number. Tashi wanted to see some “good fucking tennis” and Patrick wanted Tashi’s love on top of Art’s.

Time passes and Tashi and Patrick are now dating and being intimate. We see Art get upset at this. He goes and twists Patrick’s words by telling Tashi that Patrick doesn’t love her. Even though Tashi projects an air of indifference when in front of Art, that hurt is still there when we see Tashi and Patrick making out in her Stanford dorm room. Tashi starts talking about Patrick’s on tour tennis performances, and Patrick couldn't care less. Because Tashi feels as though a rejection of her love for tennis is a rejection of her, she starts a misplaced argument. The two start arguing but Patrick doesn’t understand why they’re arguing at all. All he knows is it seems like Tashi wants to control him and he’s not going for that. He, rightfully, stands up for himself and leaves. For Tashi, these negative feelings are now building on top of each other. All culminating into Tashi snapping her leg during the game and ruining her tennis career forever. When Patrick goes to see Tashi in the stadium’s doctor’s office, both his best friend and girlfriend shun him. Oh, I was heartbroken. What exactly did he do to deserve that? Art wanted what Patrick had and Tashi just wanted to play/see some good fucking tennis. They both tossed Patrick to the side like he was nothing.

Even more time has passed. We don't see Patrick for a while while Art and Tashi get closer (training, Applebee’s date, marriage and a child) until Atlanta and New Rochelle. In Atlanta, Tashi and Patrick have their first face-to-face interaction since Stanford. They have the briefest amount of small talk and Patrick immediately goes, “I missed you” which Tashi doesn’t respond to. They start making out and disappear when Art comes into the room. Whether they disappeared on purpose or just coincidentally, we’ll never know. In New Rochelle, Patrick asks Tashi to coach him and make him the best tennis player he can be. I took this whole alley conversation not as Patrick finally accepting that he doesn’t give a fuck about tennis, and always wanted Art and Tashi in his life. At this point he’s devaluing himself by asking for Tashi to coach him when at Stanford, he was the complete opposite. She tried giving him pointers and he brushed them aside. Yes, it is a tiny bit manipulative, but he’s been hurting and he just wants what he had back again. Tashi, again with this air of superiority, tells him to quit and that he looks like shit, but we later see her contact Patrick in the middle of the night behind Art’s back. She asks Patrick to lose the Challenger on purpose. They have a similar high-strung argument similar to the one at Stanford in Patrick’s car, but this time Tashi comes back and attacks much more aggressively than the previous time, bruising the soft part of Patrick’s elbow. Patrick talks about how Tashi thinks too highly of herself and secretly wants to fuck him. She denies and then they end up having sex in the back of his car. After the sex, Patrick still hasn’t agreed to whether or not he’ll let Art win the New Rochelle Challenger. When Tashi asks how she’ll know if he’ll do it, Patrick responds, “You won’t.” In my mind, Patrick fully intends on letting Art win. This may be the last time he ever sees Art and Tashi for a while, and he still has this need to please in hopes of receiving some love from his two favorite people. There was no way he wasn’t going to do it. Finally, the racquet scene (you know the one). Why do I think Patrick did it? It was a callback to their friendship. The last time Art and Patrick shared something that was just theirs. Even if it is a sign about the woman who put a wedge between them. This way, Patrick gets on Tashi’s good side (losing on purpose) and Art’s (a reminder of their close friendship). Remember Tashi has no idea what the ball in the neck of the racquet means. If someone has an essay defending Art, I’d love to read about why you believe Art fell into his arms in the end despite knowing Patrick has slept with his wife and the mother of his child.

So, who do I think won the Challenger? Art. I fully believe Patrick’s yearning for Art and Tashi is so strong, he let Art win. We already saw a little bit of that when Patrick served the ball into the net and smirked after Art scored a point and immediately looked at Tashi. Patrick spent this whole movie trying to keep the people he loves around him at all times and despite his best efforts, it blew up in his face. The sauna scene is a good example of this as well. When Art tells Patrick, he doesn’t matter to even the most obsessive tennis fan in the world, before that Patrick asked Art if he mattered period. Patrick notes that he wasn’t talking about tennis, but Art quickly rebuts with “What the fuck else do I have to talk to you about?” I think here Patrick has internalized the idea that tennis is a relationship, even before Tashi introduced him to that concept, but Art has not. All in all, Patrick Zweig did nothing wrong. He was just trying to live his best life.

(Side note: During my fourth watch, I noticed there were so many moments when the camera cuts to Patrick and he’s looking down/miserable/dejected. Those looks always come after Art and/or Tashi has dismissed his bid for attention or he knows he’s losing their affection. It’s truly not fair. Justice for Patrick!)