Beckham-inspired Nicholls stuns sixth seed at Wimbledon

By Will Jennings at Wimbledon

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

The Norwich star, 29, posted a picture of herself and the England football legend on her Instagram with the caption “so this happened” earlier this week.

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

Nicholls and Mihalikova, 26, dropped just four games to win 6-4 6-0 in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Court 7.

And that matched her best performance at SW19 as she replicated her feats alongside fellow Briton Alicia Barnett two years ago.

Nicholls, currently world number 69, has only reached the second round of a Grand Slam once before and will take great confidence from his impressive three-set triumph on Thursday.

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

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

For the latest news on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA Website