The challengers have more than one mystery. Zendaya's latest movie, a tennis drama co-starring Mike Feist and Josh O'Connor, debuted at No. 1 at the box office, and all audiences could talk about was the ending, which made the film's central plot Unresolved. However, many fans are now asking another question. Challenger spoilers ahead .
When the movie begins, Tashi (Zendaya) and Art Donaldson (Fest) have been married for eight years and have a young daughter named Lily. But as is later seen, Tashi had a relationship with Art's good friend Patrick Zweig (O'Connor) in college, and after she married Art and became his coach, they still had occasional One night stand.
This history of infidelity left many viewers on social media wondering if Patrick was actually the father of Tashi's daughter and not Art. One viewer on Reddit pointed out that "Contenders" spent a lot of time specifically noting that Tashi and Patrick dated in Atlanta in 2011, speculating that her and Art's daughter might have been about 7 years old when the movie started in 2019.
"If she's actually pregnant, she probably doesn't want Patrick to know because he's a mess," the user added. However, Lily's age is not confirmed in the movie, so it's difficult to determine the timeline.
In a Reddit comment, one fan referenced the moment when Zahi told Patrick "Lily loves hotels," which could be a nod to the way she was conceived in an Atlanta hotel. Conversely, another user pointed out that in one scene when Tashi sneaks back to the hotel room, Art and Lily are sleeping in the same spot, which fans took to be a subtle sign that she is Art's daughter.
A fan on X (formerly Twitter) shared a photo of Faist and his on-screen daughter side by side to reinforce the argument, claiming "she looks the complete opposite of Art." In fact, her brunette hair suits Zendaya and O'Connor better than Feste's blonde hair. However, as some commenters said, the young actor looks more like Zendaya than anyone else.
Perhaps this was intentional, to keep her father's identity a mystery. It wouldn't be surprising if director Luca Guadagnino wanted viewers to question who Lily's father was and left the mystery unresolved, just as he ended the film without revealing who won the contest.
