No fairytale finish as Niland edged in epic

AS THE cheering from Court 17 got louder, so did the crowds in its environs.

Inside, as Conor Niland’s first foray into Grand Slam tennis against Adrian Mannarino came to a conclusion yesterday at teatime, sat men and women in Irish rugby jerseys, Munster shirts, leprechaun hats, tricolours and even ‘Team Niland’ t-shirts, all extremely vocal in their support of the Limerick man. But outside, there were many more people desperately attempting to see what was going on as the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of the final set echoed around the grounds.

Ultimately, however, those watching from both inside and outside were left unfulfilled. There was to be no historic victory for Niland, no match-up against Roger Federer in the second round. At the end, which arrived all too swiftly, Niland stood at the net, his head bowed struggling to take it all in following his 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-4 loss on Court 17 in an epic encounter which lasted exactly four hours.