Olivia Nicholls and Jonny O’Mara believe their partnership is continuing to get better and better after an impressive win at Wimbledon saw them reach the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles.
After an opening round victory, the all-British pairing were drawn in a tough contest against fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Leylah Fernandez – both players that have been in Grand Slam finals.
But in an enthralling encounter, it was Scotland’s O’Mara and Norwich’s Nicholls who dominated the deciding set, sealing a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory in impressive fashion.
“We’re feeling great,” said Nicholls, who is supported by the LTA’s Pro Access Programme.
“It was a really good win, they’re obviously tough opponents. Wes has been world No.1 and Leylah is a Grand Slam finalist, so we knew it was going to be tough out there. I’m just really pumped to get through to the quarters of Wimbledon.”
O’Mara added: “It was good fun. I think we got off to a good start, conditions were tough. I think we were a break up in the second set, but it was never going to be easy – they’re a great team.
“But I think we managed to bring a good bit of energy at the right time at the end of the match just to sneak it.”
Things don’t get much easier for the British duo next, with fifth seeds Matt Ebden – finalist in this discipline a year ago – and Ellen Perez waiting in the next round.
And though it was an impressive victory on Monday, O’Mara is refusing to dwell too much on any one match as the duo look to build their partnership as a whole.
He commented: “I think all the pairs are pretty decent in this event. At this sort of level, you’re playing the best of the best – it’s the highest ranked men, the highest ranked women.
“There’s obviously seedings but any of the pairs can probably win the mixed, so I don’t think it gives us any more confidence than we already have.
“But it’s good to get another win under our belts and another match playing together, so we started to gel a bit better and hopefully in the next round we’ll improve again.”
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