Zendaya swaps her high-school essentials for a tennis racket in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film “Challengers,” set to release on April 26. In the movie, she portrays a tennis prodigy who later transitions into a coach mentoring younger players.

Given this thematic overlap with the world of tennis, it’s fitting that for her joint Vogue and British Vogue cover story, Zendaya engaged in a conversation with Serena Williams. Williams, a tennis legend and filmmaker herself, recently executive-produced “King Richard,” a film depicting her own upbringing. However, rather than focusing solely on tennis-related topics (with the film’s tennis scenes being digitally enhanced), the duo delved into their shared experiences of starting their careers as young individuals.

“I don’t know how much of a choice I had,” Zendaya said. “I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor. We’ve seen a lot of cases of it being detrimental. …

And I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, ‘Oh, okay, wait a minute: I’ve only ever done what I’ve known, and this is all I’ve known.’” The actor, who got her start on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up when she was 14 years old, added that becoming her family’s breadwinner so early altered her ability to appreciate career wins.

“I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try shit,” she added. “And I wish I went to school.”

Williams commiserated, sharing that she had to find those options later in life by going to design school and launching her venture-capital firm. When “Z” asked for advice, Williams joked, “Ask someone else.” “I’d love to pick your brain about life and business.

I think I need more mentors and community and people around,” Zendaya said at the end of their call, which the star pitched to Vogue. Could this interview — nay, perhaps this entire tennis-centric movie — all be a long con to become friends with Serena Williams? If so, it’s entirely worth it and apparently working. The ball’s in Williams’s court.