'Homeless' Pironkova Gets Upscale Embassy Shelter

Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria serves to Vera Zvonareva of Russia during their semi final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 01 July 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

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Surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova almost found herself homeless in London as her stay at Wimbledon proved delightfully longer than ancitipated.

But her helpful Bulgarian embassy stepped in to offer her family a flat in posh South Kensington in which to stay.

The 22-year-old, who lost in the final-four round to Russian Vera Zvonareva, explained the situation, which occurred after she only booked a few days in a London hotel at the start of the fortnight.

After never passing the second round of a Grand Slam, the number 82 had little hint she was about the play the tournament of her life.

"There was no place that I could stay because the hotels at this time of the year are very busy, no one had rooms."

Pironkova said that after speaking with the president of her federation, the official then got the embassy onto the case. That solved the housing problem in record time.

"Of course. No problem. They gave us one apartment in one beautiful area here in London, South Kensington. We've stayed there for almost 10 days now."

Pironkova added that after her breakthrough performance, she will be booking a longer stay for next year's championships.

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