Faults instead of Aces? Why Ireland has failed to make a mark on the tennis world

How can a sport that has over 180 clubs spread across every one of the 32 counties, a community with thousands of playing members and a history on this island stretching back to the 19th century, not be deemed eligible for grants from a high-performance purse that is open wider now than ever before?

Conor Niland and Louk Sorensen brought the number of Irish players, male or female, who had made a Slam in the professional era to just eight. And eight it remains.

If it isn't Dublin buses then it's Irish tennis players. Ireland had waited a quarter of a century for someone to make another Grand Slam when Louk Sorensen and Conor Niland went and qualified for four between them inside two seasons. They even made it to the same US Open stage when pitching up together at Flushing Meadows in 2011.

Neither would complete their first-round games. Niland had to retire ill when a set and 5-1 down to world number one Novak Djokovic on the Arthur Ashe court. Sorensen followed suit, injury stalling his challenge against Rogerio Dutra Silva with the Brazilian 2-1 up in sets and 1-0 to the good in the fourth.