Photo by Greg Doherty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

**Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King’s historic Battle of the Sexes match was given the Hollywood treatment in 2017. **

Academy Award-winning Emma Stone portrayed King, while Riggs was played by The Office legend Steve Carell.

The Hollywood actors were given extensive tennis training so they could replicate the feats of Riggs and King.

Retired American tennis star, Vince Spadea, was enlisted to help the two stars improve their tennis for the film.

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

How Vince Spadea turned Emma Stone and Steve Carell into tennis stars

Spadea competed on the ATP Tour throughout the 1990s and 2000s, reaching a career-high of World No. 18 in 2005.

The American taught Carell and Stone the basics of tennis for the movie, and even acted as Carell’s double for the more athletic moments.

Speaking to Culture Map about his time working on the film, he said: “I went to Steve Carell’s house a bunch of times to work out some of the tennis sequences, but mainly my job was to make Emma Stone a believable Billie Jean King.

“I don’t think Emma had played any tennis at all before this project. I wasn’t going to turn her into a competitive player, a real-life Billie Jean King, overnight.

“Instead we concentrated on helping Emma imitate Billie Jean’s athletics, her demeanor, how she held her racket, how she hit her strokes.”

“We worked on technique and set-up, where Billie Jean’s hands and legs and eyes were when she hit the ball, how high she took back her racket, where her shoulders were, her follow-through.

“It was more about nuance and geometry, grips, and racket angles. Plus, we hit tennis balls repetitively for several months.”

What did Emma Stone say about working with Vince Spadea

Stone garnered rave reviews for her portrayal of King, and she made sure to thank Spadea for his coaching.

In an interview with ESPN, Stone said: “If this had been a movie solely about tennis, I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it.

“I had a great coach in [tennis choreographer] Vince Spadea and a great body double, and I trained a lot with my trainer.

“But for the most part I was really focused on the story and everything that was going on personally for BJ at that time and the struggle she was experiencing.”

Stone and Carell received Golden Globes nominations for their portrayals of the tennis giants.