Niland crashes out of Aussie qualifying

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.

The Irish No. 1, seeded 16th and ranked 130th in the world went down to his 32-year-old opponent, currently at number 262 in the world.

The California right-hander has played in the main draw of the Australian Open on three occasions, reaching the third round in 2005, and the fourth round of the French Open in the same year.