Serena Williams vs Drake might be considered one of the more unusual sporting rivalries, but now Coco Gauff has weighed-in on behalf of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Williams, 42, and her husband Alexis Ohanian have become embroiled in a verbal feud with the rap star, who is also in the midst of a public spat with fellow musician Kendrick Lamar.

US Open champion Gauff is currently in Rome for the Italian Open, and on Thursday beat Magdalena Frech in straight sets to reach the third round. And in her post-match press conference, one journalist went off on a tangent by asking for her views on the war of words that’s dominating the news in American show business.

“To be honest, yeah, I like Kendrick’s songs more. Yeah, I think pretty much everybody I know is leaning towards him,” said Gauff, 20. “I do like Drake as an artist, as well. But, yeah, as far as like the rap battle that’s going on, the rap beef, I think definitely Kendrick is winning.”

And referring to the previous fallout with Williams, she added: “Also Drake, like, dissed Serena so I have to go with Kendrick. Kendrick defended her. So, yeah, I have to go with him.”

The tennis icon previously shared a close friendship with Canadian rapper Drake, with the pair even romantically linked back in 2010. But after she married Ohanian in 2017, the Canadian seemingly aimed a jibe at the couple in his track ‘Middle of the Ocean’.

The 37-year-old rapped: “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie, he claim we don’t got a problem but no, boo, it is like you comin’ for sushi.” The line was perceived as being a dig at Internet entrepreneur Ohanian, implying he followed his wife around like a fan.

Ohanian responded humorously, posting a picture of X of himself with the couple’s five-year-old daughter Olympia during one of Williams’ tennis matches. He captioned the image with “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife and daughter.”

That didn’t deter Drake though, who then created more lyrics and suggested he would be good enough to beat Williams, 42, albeit if she was using her weaker side. “I’m with my whole set, tennis matches at the crib, I swear I could beat Serena when she playin’ with her left,” he sang.

Williams retired from the professional game following the 2022 US Open. In the second round, she had become the oldest woman to defeat a top-three ranked player when she knocked out world No.2 Annette Kontaveit, before losing to Aila Tomlianovic.