Ireland’s number one tennis player, Conor Niland, has today announced his retirement from the professional game with immediate effect due to a persistent hip injury.

James McGee yesterday rose to the challenge of standing in for Louk Sorensen in the opening singles rubber of the Davis Cup showdown between Hungary and Ireland in Hungary, scoring a 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (7/9) 6-4 victory over his 316-ranked opponent.

2011 saw Conor Niland on the crest of a wave with qualification for Wimbledon and the US Open, however, the reality of daily life on the professional tennis tour can be far from glamorous. Ewan MacKenna reports.

SORRY.

DON’T ask me how — I can’t remember — but I read once about the prevalence of crashes amongst Korean airlines and how aviation authorities cut them out.*

FOR the second day in succession, an Irish tennis player was forced to retire from a US Open first round match as Louk Sorensen succumbed to injury against Rogerio Dutra Da Silva while losing 0-6 6-3 4-6 0-1 at the time.

Top seed Novak Djokovic barely had to break sweat to make it through the second round of the US Open as Irishman Conor Niland retired through illness while trailing 6-0 5-1 at the Arthur Ashe stadium.

CONOR NILAND and Louk Sorenson, Ireland’s top two-ranked tennis stars, last night qualified for the main draw of the US Open after victories in the third qualifying round at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Top Irish player Conor Niland has qualified for the US Open.

IRELAND’S Davis Cup team staged a dramatic escape from relegation to Group Three of the Europe-Africa Zone at David Lloyd Riverview last night.

THE home fans came along to see Wimbledon hero Conor Niland in Davis Cup action and weren’t disappointed.

JOHN TREACY has warned high-performance programmes will have to be dismantled and jobs lost if the current government continues the trend of its predecessors by shaving the budget for sport.

CONOR NILAND is to devote his focus to Ireland’s Davis Cup clash with Tunisia in Dublin next month in following his Wimbledon heartbreak.

WITH little enough to keep us going at all these days, weeks like the one Rory McIlroy and Conor Niland gave us mean all the more. But even in better times, the life-affirming rallies known as Irish sporting bandwagons have been good to us.

Ireland’s Conor Niland crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round after blowing a 4-1 lead in the deciding set against France’s Adrian Mannarino.

CONOR NILAND is trying to block all thoughts of Roger Federer from his mind as he prepares for his Grand Slam debut on Wimbledon’s grass today.

IRISH ace Conor Niland is set to face a dream clash against Roger Federer if he survives his Wimbledon debut tomorrow.

Irish tennis star Conor Niland has the glittering prize of a potential Wimbledon match-up with Roger Federer if the Irish number one overcomes the tough challenge of France’s Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the Championships which commences tomorrow.

Ireland’s Conor Niland was tonight celebrating reaching the main draw of Wimbledon after a straight-sets win in his final qualifying-round match.

Ireland will have a player in the Men’s Singles Championships at Wimbledon for the first time since 1984 after national number one Conor Niland finally came through the qualifying tournament this afternoon at Roehampton in London.

Conor Niland endured another frustrating day in London today when his quest for Wimbledon qualification was thwarted by heavy rain at Roehampton.

Ireland's No.1 ranked tennis player Conor Niland's fighting spirit was again in evidence in London yesterday when he fought back against the odds to keep his 2011 Wimbledon dream alive.

Irish number 1 Conor Niland came back from the brink of defeat this afternoon in the first round of the Wimbledon qualifying tournament at Roehampton, London.

EOIN REDDAN is proof positive that rugby players can look beyond their own sport, even in a week when all concentration is on Ireland’s bid to continue their challenge for a Triple Crown victory.

THE experience of American veteran Kevin Kim proved the deciding factor as Conor Niland disappointingly crashed out in the first round of qualifying for the Australian Open yesterday.

IRELAND Davis Cup supremo Sean Sorensen insisted that Conor Niland lacked nothing in determination during his crushing shock singles defeat by Laurynas Grigelis.

LITHUANIA yesterday unleashed a strong verbal volley ahead of this weekend’s Davis Cup showdown with Ireland in Dublin.

IRISH tennis sensation Conor Niland is targeting a spot in the top 100 in the world by the end of 2010.

Lleyton Hewitt will begin the defence of his US Men’s Clay Court title against Indian lucky loser Somdev Dewarman following a busy day of first round play in Houston, Texas.

LOUK SORENSEN was brought back down to earth yesterday following his Australian Open heroics.

LOUK SORENSEN collected the biggest pay cheque of his career following his 6-3 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 defeat by giant American John Isner in the second round of the Australian Open yesterday.

Louk Sorensen's unexpected victory in the Australian Open will be "life-changing", according to the chief executive of Tennis Ireland.

Ireland will have a player in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time since 1985 after national number one Louk Sorensen qualified for the Australian Open overnight in Melbourne.

IRELAND’S Conor Niland and Louk Sorensen have advanced to the final round of the Australian Open qualifying.

Ireland’s Conor Niland and Louk Sorensen are just one victory each away from making the main draw of a Grand Slam event for the first time after hard-fought three set victories overnight in the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open.

WIMBLEDON doubles champion in 2005, Wesley Moodie has confirmed his participation in the Shelbourne Men’s Irish Open tennis championships next month.

THE RISING stars of world tennis converge on Limerick Lawn Tennis Club this weekend.

Irish tennis player will be among the competitors battling it out on the courts of Limerick Lawn Tennis Club this week in the hope of making the grade for future Wimbledon tournaments by becoming one of the top 100 players worldwide.

WHILE Emma Murphy flies the flag for Ireland in the women’s individual championships and fellow Corkwoman Elsa O’Riain carries a fourth seeding into the doubles alongside Australia’s Melissa Anderson, Limerick’s Conor Niland is perfectly poised for a tilt at the NCAA men’s singles championship this week.

LIMERICK’S Conor Niland and Dubliner Yvonne Doyle lifted the top singles titles when the Spar sponsored Irish National Tennis Championships concluded at the Donnybrook club on Saturday.

LIMERICK’S Conor Niland got a huge shock at the semi-final stage of the Danone-sponsored National Irish tennis championships at Donnybrook last evening.