Nick Kyrgios Reveals Drake Slid Into His DMs, Ending 10-Year-Old Beef
Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has had a truly bizarre life, and it just got even more interesting. Despite being sidelined for most of the year due to knee and wrist injuries, the 28-year-old recently shared that international music superstar Drake reached out to him on social media, seemingly responding to a 10-year-old feud.
Drake, known for his love of sports and infamous “Drake curse,” where his bets often go viral and he ends up losing, is worth an estimated $US250m ($A390m). The rapper reportedly brings in over $US70m ($A109m) a year.
In a surprising turn of events, Kyrgios revealed that Drake messaged him, saying, “When you said I was trash, it hurt me because you’re really my favorite player.” Kyrgios quickly clarified, “Haha, I didn’t say you are trash. I love your music, my bro… hope you are good.” Drake responded with, “We will link up soon” and “Speedy recovery, my guy.”
Kyrgios couldn’t believe his luck and shared the exchange on his Instagram Stories, captioning it, “Sometimes I think my life isn’t real.”
The origins of this interaction can be traced back to a comment Kyrgios made in 2014. After losing the first set of his third-round match at Wimbledon to Jiri Vesely, Kyrgios came back to win the match. In a post-match interview, he jokingly blamed Drake’s music for his slow start, saying, “Today was a bit of rap, actually. I came out really flat, so hopefully I won’t listen to that again. It was actually Drake. Didn’t do the job for me.”
Drake, however, didn’t take kindly to Kyrgios’ comment and expressed his desire to meet the tennis star. He said, “I also want to meet this guy that says that he lost because he listened to my music. I also want to meet that guy and look him in the eye and see exactly who he is as a man and size him up and then chop him right down. Nick whatever-his-name-is – because he didn’t win, so that’s how he’s going to be remembered: ‘Nick whatever-his-name-is’.”
Kyrgios quickly clarified his statement, tweeting, “Let’s be clear. I like @Drake – love his music, just said I was a little flat, ended up winning that match. No blame game here.”
Since then, Kyrgios has become one of the biggest draws in the tennis world. He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2022, becoming the first player in a decade to achieve this feat on debut. He is also an Australian Open doubles champion and has played in the Wimbledon Final.
Although Kyrgios has only played one competitive match this year due to his injury issues, he is nearing a return. Reports suggest that he has been in talks with the Brisbane International tournament director about participating in the event. Kyrgios previously won the tournament in 2018, and it is set to make a comeback in 2023 after being canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before his return to the court, Kyrgios will try his hand at commentary during the ATP Finals, adding another exciting chapter to his already fascinating life.