Drake Loses Six-Figure Bet on US Open Final as 'Curse' Strikes Again

The ‘Drake curse’ fell upon the US Open tennis final on Sunday evening. The finale at Flushing Meadows saw home favourite Taylor Fritz take on current world number one Jannik Sinner at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Italy's Sinner has been surrounded by controversy since his two positive drug tests in March, but managed to put that issue to the back of his mind to reach the final.

Fritz, meanwhile, surprised many by putting together an impressive string of victories over well-respected opponents including, Frances Tiafoe, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud to reach Sunday's showpiece occasion. Fritz showed admirable heart, but this was not enough to challenge Sinner, who looked on top of his game and roared to his second career Grand Slam title. The American might well have had an uneasy feeling about the match beforehand if he was aware that Canadian rapper Drake had wagered a six-figure sum on him to emerge victorious.



For those that might have missed it, Drake has proven himself to be something of a bad luck charm for sports stars around the world. His apparent ability to jinx an athlete is so great that he even has a curse named after him. The ‘Drake curse’ has been known to occur in two situations - either when an athlete is pictured with Drake or when the star places a bet on an athlete to win an upcoming contest.

When Drake put his money down on the 26-year-old 12th seed to score the upset win, history suggested that he was likely to lose. Drake Lost in Excess of £150,000 by Betting on Taylor Fritz to Win the US Open Drake posted a screenshot of his $210,000 (£160,000) wager, backing Fritz to pull off the upset, which would have earned him a massive $808,000 (£616,000) had it come off. Fully aware of his reputation, the artist joked in the caption of his post: "Continuing my record as the most daring sports better in history with the most losses.

Going underdog @stake." True to form, Drake managed to well and truly put the mockers on Fritz, who ended up losing in straight sets (6-3, 6-4, 7-5). The American will be hoping that this past weekend marks the last time that the rapper decides to have a wager on him.

The 'Drake Curse' continues following Adesanya's defeat at to Du Plessis UFC 305. Former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya has been particularly badly affected by the curse of Drake. In total, the music star has lost almost £2 million betting on 'The Last Stylebender' in fights that he has lost.

Drake's biggest loss on the Nigerian fighter was the £1.24m he lost on his bout with Alex Pereira at UFC 281, although he did recover those funds by backing Adesanya to be successful in their rematch. However, Drake hasn't been able to resist staking vast sums on Adesanya's fights since - and has lost big following his defeats at UFC 293 and UFC 305 .

While the majority of his wagers are related to combat sports, Drake has never been afraid to venture into other major events - as he proved on Sunday night. Perhaps his most unlucky bet came in the 2022 World Cup final, where he invested £800,000 on Argentina to beat France in 90 minutes. Although La Albiceleste ended up lifting the trophy, they did so after extra time and penalties, meaning that Drake didn't win a penny.

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