Beckham-inspired Nicholls stuns sixth seeds at Wimbledon

By Will Jennings at Wimbledon

Olivia Nicholls warmed up for Wimbledon by bumping into David Beckham and continued riding the crest of a sporting wave by stunning the sixth seeds in the first round of the women’s doubles.

The Norwich star, 29, had posted a picture of her and the England football legend on her Instagram with the caption ‘so this happened’ at the start of this week.

And three days later, she joined forces with Slovakian star Tereza Mihalikova to breeze past higher-ranked duo Luisa Stefani and Demi Schuurs and book her place in the second round.

Nicholls and Mihalikova, 26, dropped just four games as they waltzed to a 6-4 6-0 victory in front of a supportive Court 7 crowd.

And that equalled her best ever run at SW19 as she emulated her exploits alongside fellow Brit Alicia Barnett two years ago.

Nicholls, the current world No.69, had only once before reached the second round of a Grand Slam and will take considerable confidence from Thursday’s impressive straight sets triumph.

Her and Milahikova reached a grass-court final in Rosmalen last month before being beaten at the LTA’s Rothesay Classic in Birmingham back on home soil.

And returning to the prestigious grounds of the All England Club, they will next face either Romanian duo Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian or Magda Linette and Peyton Stearns in the next round as they bid to keep their unlikely SW19 dream alive.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website