Sport

Harry Styles offers tennis star Elina Svitolina new gig tickets after Wimbledon run forces her to miss out

Winning all round.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 11th July 2023

Harry Styles has personally reached out to one Wimbledon star after her successful run in the tennis tournament forced her to miss his gig.

Millions of fans in countless countries have had the chance to see the Cheshire-born singer live on stage as part of his major Love On Tour global tour over the last year or so – but unfortunately for tennis player Elina Svitolina, she wasn’t going to be one of them.

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with Wimbledon this year, the 28-year-old Ukrainian wildcard has been one of the unexpected stand-outs so far.

Just this past Sunday, Svitolina made it through to the quarter finals after beating 33-year-old Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in what was an undeniable three-set thriller on Court One, cementing her place as the talk of the tournament – but ahead of that fourth round match, the Ukrainian revealed that her successful run had come at a bit of a cost.

And that cost was missing out on seeing her favourite pop star Harry Styles live in concert.

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Svitolina took to social media to reveal that she had bought tickets to go and watch Styles in Vienna as his Love On Tour run arrived in the Austrian capital last Saturday, but due to playing one of the most important matches of her career so far the next day, she was unable to go.

“Hey guys!! I was supposed to go to see my fav @harrystyles concert in Vienna tomorrow,” Svitolina wrote on Instagram.

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“But Wimbledon changed my plans. Someone want to go? I have two tickets.”

Harry Styles on stage on the Love On Tour tour / Credit: Harry Styles (Credit:

After Svitolina’s impressive victory grabbed headlines, thousands of fans headed to social media to congratulate the former world number three on her success – but it appears it wasn’t just tennis fans that reached out.

Harry Styles also personally got in touch with Svitolina to offer her the chance to reschedule her previous gig plans before his tour is over.

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Commenting underneath a post about Svitolina missing his Vienna gig on the official Wimbledon Instagram account, Styles wrote: “Congratulations! We have four shows to go, you’re welcome at any of them.

“Good luck with the rest of the tournament. H.”

The remaining dates in Styles’ Love On Tour this month are Barcelona tomorrow (12 July) Madrid on Friday (14 July), Lisbon on 18 July, and Reggio Emilia in Italy on 22 July.

So if Svitolina gets all the way to Saturday’s women’s singles final, then Barcelona and Madrid are of course out of the question, but there’s a chance she could still catch Styles in Portugal or Italy if she takes the singer up on his generous offer.

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Could a surprise Wimbledon victory and a Harry Styles gig both be on the cards for Svitolina then? We imagine she’ll give it her best shot.

Featured Image – Elina Svitolina (via Instagram)

Sport

Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra is set to make his MMA debut very soon

Danny Jones Danny Jones Patrice Evra MMA debut fighter

In another somewhat left-field turn of events in the sporting world, ex-Manchester United star Patrice Evra is set to swap his boots for gloves as he prepares to make his MMA debut.

The retired Man United player and French international ended his playing days back in 2019 after a short one-year spell at West Ham, and has mostly worked as a pundit in recent years.

Evra, 43, stunned his millions of followers online and even more football and fight fans alike by announcing he would be trying his hand at combat sports earlier this week.

Hopping on social media to confirm the news, it’s fair to say he’s already relishing the challenge.

The former left-back made 379 appearances for the Red Devils, winning 14 trophies, but this will be his first in the European division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), the second-biggest promotion in MMA after the UFC.

As far as we know, Evra has little to no background in fighting of any discipline, even if he was used to the more physical side of the game as a defender.

Writing via X on Friday, 25 April, the 2008 Champions League and ’09 Club World Cup winner, said: “I’m officially training for my first fight with PFL Europe. They will pick my opponent… They asked who I wanna face. I said: Luis Suárez.

“I’ll pay out of pocket. He can even bite me.”

Suárez, still playing at 38, was not only found guilty of at least three instances of biting other players but was famously charged with racially abusing Patrice Evra back in 2011, with the two sharing a strong feud ever since.

Now, since the Uruguayan striker is still playing professional football over in the MLS, alongside the one and only Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, we wouldn’t hold our breaths.

Nevertheless, it seems as though he will be fighting someone on 23 May, once an opponent is selected in the coming weeks.

Evra has been training with Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist and friend, Cédric Doumbé, a former kickboxing specialist and now an established fighter in the welterweight class.

Joking aside, although there are a lot of controversial moves that are legal in MMA, biting isn’t one of them – not that it ever stopped the former Liverpool forward in the past.

Let’s just say old habits can die hard…

Speaking in an official press conference, Evra said: “I’ve performed on the world’s biggest stages, won every major trophy in football, but PFL Europe Paris will be an incredibly special night for me.

“I’ve been training alongside the best in the world for years, and they’ll also tell you I’m ready for this. I’m going to put on a show at the Accor Arena on 23 May, so come watch the spectacle.”

As out of the blue as it may seem, he obviously isn’t the only former athlete to have swapped one sport for another after calling time in their first career.

In fact, he’s not even the first United player to change lanes.

Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan starts his professional tennis career next month
Evra is set to take on his first MMA fight, and Forlan has already taken to the pro court.

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Featured Images — Professional Fighters League Europe (press shot)/Ian C (via Flickr)

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Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce earns new contract after impressive season

Danny Jones Danny Jones Phallon Tullis-Joyce new three-year contract Man United

Manchester United Women’s goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce has signed a brand-new contract with the club following an impressive campaign in the Women’s Super League.

The American international, who earned her international debut for the USWNT earlier this month and has kept 13 clean sheets in 19 WSL games so far this season, hasn’t just been one of the most impressive Man United players this year but one of the best in female football full stop.

Faced with the not-so-insignificant challenge of having to replace former club icon and Lionesses number one, Mary Earps, who left the club last summer, Tullis-Joyce has more than risen to the occasion and quickly become a fan favourite.

Having played an integral role in another impressive domestic display from the Reds, including a third consecutive FA Cup final for Marc Skinner’s side, securing her signature for a few more years was pretty much a no-brainer.

Penning a new three-year contract with United Women, this new deal sees the number 91 extend her stay at Leigh Sports Village until 2028.

With just nine goals conceded all season, fans will be hoping that’s until 2028 at the very least.

Speaking via the official club announcement, Phallon said: “I am really grateful to have this opportunity to continue the exciting journey we are on. All of us in the team have ever-growing dreams of what we can achieve together.

“We want to keep making history and I am so proud to keep wearing the Manchester United badge.”

The 28-year-old stats speak for themselves.

It was only back in February that manager Skinner, who also recently extended his stay at the club, proclaimed her as “one of the world’s best”; meanwhile, the club’s interim head of women’s football, Matt Johnson, described her a “exceptional” both on and off the pitch.

He went on to add that “This [new deal] shows the ambition of the club that we can retain one of the best goalkeepers in the world here at Manchester United.”

She also managed to pick up ‘Goalkeeper of the Year’ at the first-ever Festival of Women’s Football Awards this week.

With a healthy catalogue of highly athletic shot-stopping like this to her name and making a half century of saves in goal for MUWFC, it’s no surprise, really:

With other important players such as Maya Le Tissier, Millie Turner and Jayde Riviere having also signed new deals until 2028, Man United Women are looking to rebuild a strong core following some big departures in the last couple of years.

The men’s team, on the other hand, looks to be facing numerous obstacles.

As mentioned, the Women’s FA Cup final against an ever-dominant Chelsea side is taking place next month (18 May, 1:30pm), and a fantastic performance from Phallon Tullis-Joyce will no doubt be key in deciding who goes home with the trophy.

Do you fancy their chances of retaining it?

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Featured Images — Taylor Vincent (via Wikimedia Commons)/Manchester United (via X)

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