A British tennis star has taken to social media to vent her frustration after an airline charged her to check in her racquets and subsequently delivered them destroyed.
Olivia Nicholls, the No 1 ranked British female doubles player, had travelled to Hobart, Australia to compete in the Hobart International tournament next week.
In doing so, the 30-year-old had attempted to bring her three racquets in a soft carry case onto the aeroplane.
In a post on Saturday she revealed that Australian low-cost airline Jetstar refused to allow her to take her equipment as carry-on luggage.
Instead, she was required to pay £80 ($160AUD) to check in her Babolat-branded bag and racquets.
However, upon later receiving her items Nicholls was shocked to see the bag ripped to pieces, and the racquets significantly damaged.
British tennis star Olivia Nicholls took to social media to complain after her equipment was ‘destroyed’ after flying with an Australian airline
The 30-year-old revealed she had been required to pay £80 to check her bag and racquets in
Nicholls shared photos of her severely damaged equipment after they were returned to her
‘This is unacceptable @JetstarAirways,’ Nicholls wrote on X.
‘160AUD to check in because I’m not allowed to take it as carry on, and you deliver my bag like this? How is this possible. My bag and rackets are totally destroyed.’
The tweet garnered over 4000 likes in the hours after it was posted and provoked a series of responses from fans.
One wrote: ‘Wow it’s not easy to break a racket. They must have really tried hard!’
Another added: ‘Oh wow. That’s terrible. They’ve been caught up in conveyer belt and left there for some time stuck.
‘I worked as a baggage handler, I saw that a lot. They can get caught up. But at least have the decency to say that and compensate for it.’
A third agreed: ‘There’s ‘heavy handling’ and then there’s wanton negligence and destruction….. Rackets don’t snap without a sharp impact.
‘I trust JetStar stump up their value fast and Babolat support you meanwhile with some replacements to prevent a hiatus in ability to train / compete.’
Nicholls is currently the ranked No 39 in women’s doubles having reached a career-high of 38 in 2024.
Alongside Slovakian Tereza Mihalikova, she reached the third Round of Wimbledon before being defeated by Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko.
