The mainstream UK media has jumped on the so-called ‘Drake Curse’ attached to the Canadian rapper’s historic betting form after he placed a $300,000 bet on Jannick Sinner to win the US Open.
Both The Guardian and the Daily Mail on Tuesday featured jinx-related headlines, the latter asking if Sinner “could be the next victim of Drake’s gambling curse.”
Drake’s six-figure bet on the Italian and current holder of the US Open crown stands to win him $507,000, as revealed by an image of his betting slip shared on X by The Tennis Letter:
On Drake’s side is the fact that Sinner has been in red-hot form this year, and has only dropped one set at this year’s Open. The Italian faces Lorenzo Musetti in the quarters next, with either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Alex de Minaur awaiting in the semis.
On the other side of the draw, it seems destined that Sinner will meet perhaps only the one man currently capable of testing his aura of invincibility, Carlos Alcaraz.
either Novak Djokovic or US crowd favorite Taylor Fritz awaiting in the semis
Sinner and Drake’s potential nemesis faces a trickier route to the final, with either Novak Djokovic or US crowd favorite Taylor Fritz awaiting in the semis.
The rapper’s widely cited betting jinx in tennis includes losing $210,000 on Fritz to beat Sinner in last year’s US Open final. The Guardian, however, cited a source tracking Drake’s publicized bets and ‘the curse,’ which states the five-time Grammy award winner “is down $115,000 on tennis after cutting his losses by successfully picking Sinner to win the Australian Open final in January.”
Drake won $345,000 on Sinner in Australia, so the man who in May admitted to being a “flawed” sports bettor while making light of the jinx ridicule, might just strike it lucky again closer to home.
