Major title hopes, Queen’s victory & a strong run in Toronto – Olivia Nicholls reflects on her season ahead of the US Open
• 3 minute read
Coming off the back of her best run at a WTA 1000 event this season at the National Bank Open in Toronto, British No.1 Olivia Nicholls is riding high heading into this year’s US Open.
Alongside her long-standing Slovakian doubles partner Tereza Mihalikova, the world No.25 made it through to the semi-final before bowing out to top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Shuai Zhang.
It adds to an impressive few months for the 31-year-old Brit, who also made history over the summer, winning the women’s doubles event at the HSBC Championships, Queen’s Club.
Now with New York and the final Grand Slam of the year on the horizon, Nicholls is setting her sights on bigger prizes going into the backend of the season.
“We’re working towards deeper runs in the slams and a 1000 title,” Nicholls said. “We know we can beat any team on any given day, it’s just about bringing our best level of tennis at the back end of the big events.
“It was great to have a strong start to the hard court swing coming off the back of a bit of a break post Wimbledon.
“We’re both playing really well at the moment and a semi-final run in Toronto gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the swing.”
That was certainly the case at the HSBC Championships this summer, where the duo won their second WTA 500 title on grass in as many seasons.
Any title on the WTA Tour is a significant achievement – but lifting a trophy on home soil, at a tournament that inspired you growing up, is something that only very few can relate to.
“I’m very proud to have won a tournament as prestigious as Queen’s,” she said. “It was a tournament I grew up watching as a kid, so just to compete there was special; winning it was beyond anything I could’ve ever dreamed of.
“Lifting the Queen’s trophy was an incredible feeling and definitely one of the biggest achievements and highlights of my career so far.
“I had all of my family in the stands supporting me, along with about 20 friends. Everyone who was there has played a huge role in my tennis journey. My parents and my Nan, my coach Tom Kiesel, who helped develop my game so much at Loughborough, and my best friend Amy, to name a few.
“The celebrations weren’t too crazy as we had a flight to Berlin the following day for the next tournament! But we did go to the pub in Southfields to celebrate with my team and friends!”
The HSBC Championships trophy has been the crowning jewel in an otherwise positive year for Nicholls and Mihalikova.
Coming off the back of a 2025 season, in which they won the Berlin Open and made their first WTA 1000 final in Indian Wells, they have both cemented their place inside the world’s top 30 and are a permanent fixture in the world’s biggest tournaments.
In addition to the Queen’s triumph, they’ve reached finals at the Abu Dhabi Open and the Catalonia Open, as well as semi-finals in Toronto and Bad Homburg.
“Overall it was a strong grass court swing despite Wimbledon not going how we would have hoped,” she added.
“It’s been a good season so far. We had a great year last year, but it was much more up and down with good weeks and bad weeks. I feel this year we are playing well more consistently, which is reflecting in our results.
“We are very lucky to have the support of our coach Craig Veal, who travels with us almost every week of the year. We are all working very hard together to get the most out of our games and achieve our goals.”
Amongst the jam-packed calendar, Nicholls has managed to get some well-deserved time off, including a trip to Italy for one of the biggest off-court tennis events of the summer.
Nicholls joined many of her former Billie Jean King Cup teammates at Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur’s wedding in Tuscany.
Along with Heather Watson, Jodie Burrage, Katie Swan, Freya Christie and more, it gave Nicholls a chance to get away and celebrate with many of her best friends in the game.
“I was very excited to go to Tuscany for the wedding,” Nicholls said. “It was so nice to be with everyone away from tennis and just enjoy ourselves for a few days; we don’t get to do that often!
“It felt like a real opportunity to enjoy the weather, switch off for a few days and join in the celebrations.”
Nicholls will team up with Mihalikova again at the US Open this year from 30 August – 13 September.
