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.

But having composed himself on his chair for a few seconds, he got to his feet and applauded the supporters who had done so much to spur him on over the course of the four hours.

Needless to say, they returned his gesture with interest following an extraordinarily spirited effort from their man.

But while Niland deserves platitude after platitude for the determination, skill and stamina he showed over the course of a draining match, it is difficult to return any other verdict than, at 4-1 up in the final set, serving to make it 5-1, he somehow contrived to hand victory on a plate to an opponent who had blown hot and cold all afternoon. It is the kind of scenario that might pervade his thoughts as he attempts to get to sleep over the next few nights.

“I don’t think I was complacent,” Niland said afterwards, trying to explain what happened. “I’ve played enough tennis matches to know that such a lead in a big match like that can sometimes get away from you. And I didn’t feel that nervous either. But I definitely started to make more unforced errors. He played a good game at 4-1 which gave him a little bit of momentum but I stopped playing the way I had been.”

The great pity lies in the fact Niland deserved to win. This defeat might have been easier to take had he been beaten all the way back to Limerick in three sets. But if anybody was in command of a match that meandered one way, and then the next, it was Niland.

He took the first set with comparative ease, eventually breaking Mannarino’s serve in the final game of the set to win out 6-4. So far, so easy but the tide began to swing. Niland lost the second set 6-4 having served poorly throughout and the malaise continued into the third set where, in the blink of an eye, Mannarino found himself 5-3 up, and 0-40 to the good. “Terrible Conor, terrible,” Niland admonished himself after one point but the fightback wasn’t long in coming.

He scrambled impressively to hold his serve in that particular game, and then broke Mannarino’s serve to level matters at 5-5 with a double-handed cross-court backhand seemingly dug out from the grass. Niland pumped his fists and his supporters in the crowd pumped theirs. It was some noise. With the momentum on his side, Niland held his own serve to take a 6-5 lead but then came the start of his regrets as he squandered three set points in the next game to allow Mannarino the escape of a tie-break. In that tie-break he had two further set points, at 6-5 and 7-6, but failed to take either. The Frenchman then took the only one that came his way.

Yet Niland composed himself brilliantly and didn’t allow those dropped set points to bother him. He won the fourth set 6-4 courtesy of a break in the first game of the set, and rode on the back of that momentum to take that 4-1 lead in the final set. As for what happened next, as the throngs crowded around Court 17 desperate to catch a glimpse of the action, Niland is bound to have few regrets. The kind he can only put right by ensuring his first Wimbledon is not his last.

Niland targets top 100 place

CONOR NILAND has vowed to work his way into the top 100 players in the world to ensure that his participation in Grand Slam events is the norm, not the exception, following his agonising five-set defeat to Adrian Mannarino at Wimbledon yesterday.

Despite the obvious disappointment of coming so close to a famous victory, the 29-year-old made it his aim to be back at Wimbledon again next year as of right, without having to work his way through qualifying rounds.

“I’d like to think that I’ll be okay and bounce back,” said Niland afterwards. “When I lost the last round of qualifying in Australia at the start of 2010, it was the most disappointing loss of my career and I ended up having a great year. So hopefully I can use it as a springboard to get my ranking up and hopefully I’ll be here next year, by being in the top 100.”

All that fighting talk, however, doesn’t stop Niland from leaving Wimbledon with a bagful of regrets, alongside the memories.

“It was the biggest match of my career, and to have it so close, I’ll think about over the next few days. Closing out matches is the most important thing about the sport and I do feel I let myself down a little bit.

“But it’s still a great experience. The last whole week has been amazing apart from the last 15 minutes, which kind of spoiled it. I will try and not let that kind of affect the whole memory of it too much but yes, it’s a pity.”

Picture: WAVING GOODBYE: Ireland’s Conor Niland salutes his fans following his defeat to France’s Adrian Mannarino at Wimbledon yesterday. Picture: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire