--- title: Drake Blamed for Serena Williams U.S. Open Loss: #BlameDrake description: The match wasn't the best she ever had. Maybe she wasn't charged up? canonical: https://time.com/4032042/blame-drake-serena-williams/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-11T20:08:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:07.444Z og:title: Why People on Twitter Are Blaming Drake for Serena Williams' U.S. Open Loss og:description: The match wasn't the best she ever had. Maybe she wasn't charged up? og:url: https://time.com/4032042/blame-drake-serena-williams/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7034a2a06e7ec5c/69885db92dce0117c19e4e74/480064128.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Celebrities At Wimbledon 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why People on Twitter Are Blaming Drake for Serena Williams' U.S. Open Loss twitter:description: The match wasn't the best she ever had. Maybe she wasn't charged up? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7034a2a06e7ec5c/69885db92dce0117c19e4e74/480064128.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why People on Twitter Are Blaming Drake for Serena Williams' U.S. Open Loss > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence [Watch (HLS stream): Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zdwprGtE.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2014-04-24. Serena Williams talks about the importance of family._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 11, 2015 8:08 PM UTC  Drake attends day ten of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at Wimbledon on July 9, 2015 in London, England Drake attends day ten of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at Wimbledon on July 9, 2015 in London, England Karwai Tang—WireImage  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 11, 2015 8:08 PM UTC Canadian rapper Drake and tennis star Serena Williams have been the [subject of](http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/serena-williams-and-drake-win-duo-of-the-summer.html) [dating rumors](http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/08/serena-williams-made-out-with-a-fan.html) for a few months now, but all that speculation took a negative turn after Williams lost to Roberta Vinci in a shocking upset at the U.S. Open. Twitter users started blaming Drake, who was at the game, for Williams’ loss using the hashtag #BlameDrake. How quickly the tables turn: earlier this summer, Williams rolled her eyes when asked if Drake was her [“lucky mascot”](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d00221ea1a19409ea3d31aa71a5494c7/latest-its-womens-semifinals-day-wimbledon) and said he was “just like family.” > [](https://twitter.com/DCampoamor/status/642421633093730304) > [](https://twitter.com/georgewrighster/status/642421573232627712) > [](https://twitter.com/freedomreeves/status/642419411614367744) > [](https://twitter.com/TaySweezy%5F/status/642419336028663808) > [](https://twitter.com/Saad%5Fsalaam/status/642420341835472896) > [](https://twitter.com/sauvblancpapi/status/642422477268774912) > [](https://twitter.com/MichelleDBeadle/status/642422245185462272) > [](https://twitter.com/TheViperEvolved/status/642422207768043522) > [](https://twitter.com/JBen%5FRadio/status/642422996007825408) > [](https://twitter.com/tgcowles/status/642438565209735168) ## Transcript The most influential person for me has always been hard just to name one single person, but I would say mostly my family. My mom, my dad, and my sisters. They just, we grew up in such an environment where it was all about family and all about, you know, supporting each other and just always making sure that we protected each other. So even to this day I still live with my sister. We still play tennis together. We do so, so, so many things and so, it's like a family unit for me that's just so important. Being on the Time 100 list is really exciting to be considered as one of the most, 100 most influential people, for me, it's great. I just try to do the best I can everyday. And I always try to stay positive through the ups and the downs and often try to keep a smile on my face, so hopefully I can influence people out there to just be the best that they can. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4032042/blame-drake-serena-williams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4032042/blame-drake-serena-williams/"},"headline":"Why People on Twitter Are Blaming Drake for Serena Williams' U.S. Open Loss","datePublished":"2015-09-11T20:08:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:07.444Z","description":"The match wasn't the best she ever had. 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