COURTING HOPE

She may not have won Wimbledon, but Elina Svitolina is a hero to millions in her war-torn country

- ROSS MICHAELS

SHE was so sure she’d bomb out in the opening week of Wimbledon she bought two tickets to Harry Styles’ concert in Vienna for the first Saturday of the competition.

After all, she’d been out of tennis for six months after giving birth and she’d had to fight hard to qualify for the famous grass court championships.

Once ranked third in the world, she’d slipped to 1 344th place – so it seemed feasible to expect an early exit in London and to plan to nip to Austria to see her idol on stage during his Love On Tour concert.

She never got there. Elina Svitolina became one of the darlings of Wimbledon and a hero to millions of Ukrainians when she stormed her way to the semi-finals, beating Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka and world No 1 Iga Swiatek along the way.

Her dream ended when she lost to Markéta Vondroušová – who went on to claim the title – but Elina received one of the biggest rounds of applause of the tournament when she waved farewell from centre court.

It was too late for the Harry show though. Elina had gone on Instagram a few days before lamenting the fact she wouldn’t make it. “Hello everyone! I was supposed to see my favourite Harry Styles concert tomorrow in Vienna,” she wrote. “ But Wimbl edon changed my plans. Anyone want to go? I have two tickets.”

She eventually donated the tickets to a Ukrainian compatriot and her young son.

Elina could comfort herself with the fact that Harry’s a fan of hers too.