Rap superstar Drake has finally reached out to Bianca Andreescu to congratulate her after she called him out for not messaging her after winning the U.S. Open.
Earlier this week, Andreescu appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and recounted the congratulatory messages she had received from famous Canadians like Shania Twain, Steve Nash and Justin Trudeau.
However, she ended the interview by calling out Champagnepapi, Drake’s Instagram handle, saying she was waiting on him to pick up the phone.
“Drake messaged me by the way,” Andreescu said near the end of her press conference back in Toronto today.
“Here I am,” Drake said followed by a smiling emoji.
“Congrats, we are all so proud of you. I’ve been liking every post with you in it, lol I thought you would see,” Andreescu said reading off Drake’s private message on social media.
“I don’t even know what to reply to that,” she said laughing while referring to the Instagram message.
The 19-year-old became the first ever Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title with her win over tennis legend Serena Williams Saturday in New York and admits her return to Toronto “feels a little different”.
“Actually I went to Yorkdale yesterday. That was my first stop. I’ve definitely been getting recognized more than usual,” she said.
Williams was the favourite to take the title and Andreescu said that the more than 20,000 fans, most of whom had been cheering for Williams, was daunting.
“The crowd was crazy in New York,” she said. “But she came up to me after the match and said some really nice things.”
Following the win, the Mississauga resident shot up to the number five spot on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour’s world rankings released Monday—soaring from her 152 rank at the end of 2018.
As a result, Andreescu has been catapulted into a new level of fame on both sides of the border and said she’s happy to be a role model for young Canadians.
“One of my goals was to be an inspiration to many people, which means a lot to me,” she said. “If I step on the court and I show a good example, it can drive a lot of people to maybe pick up a racket.”
Andreescu will now return home to Mississauga where she said she hopes she can get a “good night’s sleep”. But it’s unlikely the downtime will last long. Mississauga’s Mayor Bonnie Crombie told reporters she plans to award the 19-year-old the key to the city and even passed a bylaw to add Andreescu's name to a list of possible names for upcoming streets.
On top of that, Toronto Mayor John Tory is proposing an event to celebrate the win, with some suggesting a parade is in order.
“Yeah. Why not? That would be pretty cool,” Andreescu said, in response to a reporter’s question about a parade.
