Niland fights back to progress in Wimbledon qualifier

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.

The Limerick native, currently ranked 187 in the world, saved five match points against the talented Frenchman Josselin Ouanna.

Niland emerged victorious on a 6/3, 4/6, 8/6 scoreline but had to come back from 2/5 down in the deciding set.

Ouanna served for the match at 3/5 forcing Niland to save three match points.

The Irishman saved a further two match points at 4/5 before breaking serve at 6/6 to help close out the match and put himself through to the second round.

In his next match Niland will face either Paolo Lorenzi, the world ranked 128 from Italy, or Australian Greg Jones.

A win there will set Niland up for a final qualifying round match with the prize being a place in the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships which starts next Monday, June 20.

Niland, who has yet to qualify for one of the four ‘Majors’, is in fine form on grass courts.

Last week he went agonisingly close to qualifying for the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, losing another three-set encounter in the deciding match, this time to Australian Matt Ebden.