Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina is moving onto the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but to get there, she had to make some sacrifices – including giving up Harry Styles tickets. Fortunately, someone wants to help her make it to a show: Styles himself.
After she advanced in the tournament last week, Wimbledon posted a message from Svitolina on Instagram: “Hey guys!! I was supposed to go see my fav Harry Styles concert in Vienna tomorrow… But Wimbledon changed my plans. Someone want to go? I have two tickets.”
As the caption of the post reads, “You win some, you lose some.” She couldn’t make it to Sunday’s concert, but she won her match against Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka and will go on to play against Iga Swiatek, who is ranked number one, on Tuesday.
Wimbledon and Svitolina’s post about the concert made it to Harry Styles, who left a comment for the tennis star: “Congratulations! We have four shows to go, you’re welcome at any of them. Good luck with the rest of the tournament.”
Styles, a three-time Grammy winner, has been on his “Love on Tour” for more than a year. The widely popular world tour included a 15-show residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City and a 15-show residency at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
He is wrapping up his tour with shows in Barcelona on July 12, Madrid on July 14, Portugal on July 18 and Reggia Emilia, Italy, on July 22. Wimbledon ends July 16, so hopefully Svitolina can take Styles up on his offer and attend a concert.
Svitolina is ranked number 79 among women’s tennis singles players, but has beat out American player Venus Williams, Belgium’s Elise Mertens, America’s Sofia Kenin, and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon.
“After giving birth, this is the second happiest moment of my life,” said Svitolina, who had a baby in 2022, after winning Sunday. She said that during the match she thought about the people back home in Ukraine watching and cheering for her.
Azarenka was booed on Sunday after Svitolina beat her. The pair did not shake hands, but that was Svitolina’s choice. The Ukraine native decided last year she would not shake the hands of Russian or Belarusian players after Russia invaded Ukraine and Belarus supported the attack.
Azarenka said the booing from the stands was unfair. “There’s nothing to say. She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people,” Azarenka said during a post-match news conference. “What should I have done? Stayed and waited? There’s nothing that I could do that would have been right. So I did what I thought was respectful toward her decision.”
