Angelique Kerber has 'drama queen' beef with 18-year-old who beat her twice in one week
Angelique Kerber, the No. 4 ranked women’s tennis player in the world, has lost twice in the last week to 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu. And in news that will shock no one, the 31-year-old Kerber really, really didn’t like it.
Kerber first lost to Andreescu at Indian Wells in mid-March, going down in three sets. Andreescu came into Indian Wells as a wild card, and Kerber was seeded 8th. On Saturday, just six days later, Kerber again lost to Andreescu in three sets at the Miami Open.
When Saturday’s match was over, Andreescu and Kerber met each other at the net for the traditional postgame handshake. And Kerber decided that was an opportunity to tell Andreescu, “You’re the biggest drama queen ever” while giving her a lame, half-hearted handshake.
You can watch here at the 7:33 mark:
Andreescu took it in stride, shaking the hand of the official, waving to the crowd and soaking up her win over one of the best tennis players in the world.
Why did Kerber call Andreescu a drama queen? It seems to stem from a medical timeout that Andreescu took seven games into their Miami Open match. She received treatment on her arm for an injury that she’d been dealing with since at least Indian Wells, and the trainer came out to tend to her a few other times during the match.
It didn’t appear to be a stalling tactic. Andreescu was getting treatment for an actual injury, which is why the medical timeout exists. But Kerber seemed miffed and out of sorts, and it spilled out when the two met at the net.
Kerber started taking heat for her postgame comment to Andreescu almost immediately. The next day she posted a congratulatory tweet in an attempt to control the damage.
Tough battle out there last night @miamiopen! Congrats to Bianca @Bandreescu_ for a great performance and a well deserved win. 👍 pic.twitter.com/IpXzAJRNpi
— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) March 24, 2019
Fellow tennis player Nick Kyrgios wasn’t buying Kerber’s well wishes.
Bruh you said she is a drama queen and then post this 😂😂😂😂
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 24, 2019
Taking a medical time out for an actual injury isn’t drama-queen behavior. But calling someone a drama queen for taking a medical timeout? That certainly seems like drama-queen behavior.
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