Even during his early tennis years, Nick Kyrgios has never shied away from making all sorts of controversial statements.
One provocative claim was in the aftermath of his third-round win at Wimbledon in 2014, leaving Canadian rapper Drake with a bitter taste in his mouth for nearly a decade.
Kyrgios lost in the first set in a match against Jiri Vesely and would later blame it on Drake’s mellow jams. The Aussie eventually overcame a slow start and won in four sets.
Later on, in the post-match press conference, he said, “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.”
The Canadian rapper didn’t take it too kindly upon hearing Kyrgios’ comments. Feeling disrespected, Drake fired back, saying, “I also want to meet this guy who 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 — ’cause he didn’t win, so that’s how he’s going to be remembered: Nick whatever-his-name-is.”
Kyrgios rubbed the famous singer incorrectly and was conscious of his statement. The Australian maverick, who was 19 then, took to Twitter to retract his original statement, admitting he loved Drake and his music and was a “little flat” performance-wise.
The 28-year-old, who is currently on an injury hiatus, revealed that he was recently contacted by the Canadian on Instagram and shared a screenshot of their private chat. Drake wrote, “When you said I was trash, it hurt me cause you’re really my fav player.”
Kyrgios responded, “Haha, I didn’t say you are trash. I love your music, my bro… I hope you are good.” Drake then finished the conversation, saying he wanted to “link up” with Kyrgios and wished him a speedy recovery.
