Harry Styles has given tennis ace Elina Svitolina tickets to see him perform after her surprise run at Wimbledon meant she missed his concert in Vienna.
The tennis star, who was a wildcard entry to the Championships after she gave birth to her first child in October last year, revealed on Friday that she had tickets to see her “favourite” star in concert on Sunday.
But as the Ukranian player, 28, defeated the US’s Sofia Kenin in straight sets on Friday, it meant she was unable to attend the Styles show as she faced Belarusian Victoria Azarenka on Sunday for a place in the quarterfinals.
Svitolina wrote on social media: “Hey guys. I was supposed to go see my fave Harry Styles’s concert in Vienna tomorrow – but Wimbledon changed my plans. Someone want to go? I have two tickets.”
The official Wimbledon Instagram account shared the former world number 3’s dilemma with fans, writing: “You win some, you lose some.”
But thankfully, Harry himself saw the post and quickly offered the star some tickets – writing online: “Congratulations! We have four shows to go, you’re welcome at any of them. Good luck with the rest of the tournament. H.”
Svitolina, who has a child with French pro Gael Monfils, gifted the ticket to a fellow Ukrainian: Anna Tilniak, and her young son David.
On Sunday, tension was sparked on Court One when Azarenka left the court to a chorus of boos after losing to Svitolina.
The crowd had been overwhelmingly behind Svitolina throughout and produced a deafening roar when she clinched a victory.
Svitolina had been booed at the French Open for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents. But when Azarenka put her hand up to acknowledge Svitolina before leaving the court she received loud jeers.
It was unclear whether the fans thought it was she who had snubbed her opponent and Azarenka gave a long, lingering stare before banging her fists together as she walked off.
Svitolina said in her post-match press conference: “I heard a lot of Ukrainian people in the crowd so that was really special. The crowd was amazing, it was one of the best atmospheres that I ever played in.”
Azarenka said tennis fans who booed were perhaps “drunk”.
The 33-year-old said: “I feel like it’s been pretty consistent for the last 18, 19 months. I haven’t done anything wrong, but keep getting different treatment sometimes.
“But what can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say. She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited?”
