Toronto run ends in semi-finals for Olivia Nicholls

beehiveweb.co.uk editorial team 2026-08-13 17:07 Updated: 11:31 2 min read

Two female tennis players in white outfits confer on court during a competitive doubles match.

By Beehiveweb Sports Desk
13 August 2026

Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova have exited the National Bank Open women’s doubles at the semi-final stage in Toronto, ending their best WTA 1000 campaign of 2026.

The British-Slovakian pair lost 6-1, 7-5 to top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Shuai Zhang in one hour and 20 minutes, LTA Tennis News reported. After a difficult opening set, Nicholls and Mihalikova pushed the second set to 7-5 but could not force a decider.

Toronto run ends in semi-finals for Olivia Nicholls

Top seeds end the Toronto challenge

Nicholls and Mihalikova were bidding for a place in the final of one of the tour’s premier events, but Siniakova and Zhang converted their top-seed status into a straight-sets win.

It was the pair’s first appearance in the last four of a WTA 1000 tournament since the Wuhan Open in 2025. The Toronto run also stands as their strongest WTA 1000 result of this season, giving them a significant sequence of matches against leading doubles opposition before the next event on the hard-court swing.

Wins over established doubles opponents

Their route to the semi-finals began with a comeback from a set down against Cristina Bucsa and Eudice Chong in the opening round.

Nicholls and Mihalikova then beat reigning US Open champion Erin Routliffe and Aldila Sutjadi 6-3, 7-5 in the second round. Their standout result came in the quarter-finals, where they defeated sixth seeds Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4.

Those victories meant the pair arrived in the semi-finals having beaten both a recent Grand Slam champion and a seeded team. The loss to Siniakova and Zhang ended the run, but the results underline a productive start to the American hard-court season.

Ranking rise before Cincinnati

The Toronto performance has lifted Nicholls and Mihalikova three places in the live WTA rankings, leaving them tied at world No. 25.

It follows a successful grass-court campaign in which they won the HSBC Championships WTA 500 title in London. They also made the Indian Wells final in 2025 and finished runners-up in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, providing further recent hard-court evidence for the partnership.

Attention now turns to the Cincinnati Open, the next combined WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 event, which begins on 13 August. LTA Tennis News did not provide draw or opening-match details for Nicholls and Mihalikova in Cincinnati.

Source: LTA Tennis News

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This report follows the match result, tournament route and live-ranking update published by the Lawn Tennis Association.

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