TIFF 2017: Shia LeBeouf and Sverrir Gudnason's 'Borg/McEnroe' to kick start the festival

This year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will court love of tennis fans all around the world with sports drama Borg/McEnroe opening the cinematic extravaganza.

The 42nd edition of the fest, which starts from September 7, will showcase one of the most fascinating stories from the sports arena at Roy Thomson Hall.

Directed by Janus Metz, the film stars actors Shia LeBeouf as American tennis champ John McEnroe and Sverrir Gudnason as his Swedish counterpart Bjorn Borg.

Talking about the film opening the gala, Piers Handling, director-CEO of TIFF said, "Borg/McEnroe has a powerful tension about it that is on par with the electric energy of Toronto on opening night. The story of this nail-biter match-up changed the sport of tennis forever, and the outstanding performances from LaBeouf and Gudnason will be a spectacular way for festival- goers to kick things off."

While Metz said he was "extremely honoured" by TIFF's gesture for selecting the movie to kick off the event.

"It is a great celebration and recognition of everyone in the cast and crew who worked so hard to make this film what it is. We had very high ambitions for this project and have come such a long way together. I'm very excited that we can finally let the film out into the world, and I couldn't dream of a better way of doing this."

Apart from the film, which has been penned by Ronnie Sandahl, Battle Of The Sexes is the second tennis movie that will be presented at the festival.

It stars actors Steve Carrell and Emma Stone.

TIFF runs through September 17 this year.