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It’s been pretty hard not to be captivated by the viral rise of Haliey Welch—the internet sensation most people know as “Hawk Tuah Girl”—but tennis star Nick Kyrgios doesn’t seem to get the hype based on what he had to say after she popped up at the Jake Paul-Mike Perry fight over the weekend.
I can only assume it’s only a matter of time before we’re treated to a peer-reviewed academic paper attempting to unpack the fascinating rise of Haliey Welch, the 21-year-old from a small town in Tennessee who was dubbed “Hawk Tuah Girl” after a clip of her dishing out some bedroom advice went viral at the end of June.
Based on what Welch has had to say about her meteoric rise to internet fame, she’s one of the many people who doesn’t fully grasp exactly why she transformed into the phenomenon she’s become. With that said, she’s taken full advantage of her moment in the spotlight.
Welch wasted no time linking up with an apparel company that produced the “Hawk Tuah” hats that drummed up $65,000 in sales in the course of a few days, and she reportedly raked in $30,000 in appearance fees while showing up at a few events during the Fourth of July weekend.
On Saturday, she was in the crowd when Jake Paul stepped into the ring to face off against Mike Perry in Tampa in a bout where the former walked away with a TKO victory in the sixth round, and it would appear there’s at least one notable name who couldn’t have cared less about her presence: Nick Kyrgios.
On Sunday, Kyrgios—who has hinted he could be on the verge of retiring from tennis due to the injuries that have kept him sidelined for over a year—hopped on Twitter to make it clear he’s one of the many people confused by Welch’s ascension due to her fame not stemming from her “actually being decent at something.”
No correlation between fame and actually being decent at something anymore 🤣
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) July 21, 2024
Welch hasn’t responded to the jab as of this writing, and while I have a feeling that will continue to be the case, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very here for a potential Kyrgios vs. Hawk Tuah Girl beef.