Elina Svitolina’s great run at Wimbledon, where she made it to the quarterfinals for the second Grand Slam in a row, did not come for free.
The 28-year-old Ukrainian had the toughest draw of any player at this year’s Championships. She beat Venus Williams, a five-time winner, in the first round, Elise Mertens, the 28th seed, Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, and former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the second round. And she did all of that just to get to her second Wimbledon semifinals.
But in order for her to keep going in the game, she had to give up her tickets to see Harry Styles in Vienna on Saturday night. Styles is nearing the end of his tour of Europe, and Svitolina wanted to see one of her favorite singers while she still could, but she was too busy getting ready for her match against Azarenka.
That work to get ready paid off. Svitolina had never beaten Azarenka before Sunday. She came back from being down a set and a break to beat the two-time major winner in a match-tiebreak, even though it seemed impossible at the time.
Styles did, in fact, look. The pop star joined in and said he would buy the former World No. 3 if he could. “Congratulations!” Styles put a message on Instagram. “We still have four shows, and you can come to any of them. Have a good rest of the tournament.”
