Niland - just two wins away from Australian Open

LIMERICK tennis pro Conor Niland is two wins away from qualifying for the Australian Open.
The 28-year-old is this week taking part in the qualifying rounds for the first Grand Slam of the New Year in Australia.
This Tuesday night Niland, with a superb display, beat Finland’s Henri Kontinen 6-4, 6-4 to advance to round two.
The tournament proper gets underway on Monday next and the 288-ranked Limerick man will have to win two more matches to get into the 128-man main draw.
Next up for Conor Niland is a tough encounter against American Jesse Witten.
The American is over 100 places ahead of the Irish star in the world rankings.
Earlier this week Limerick tennis duo Niland and teenage Sam Barry joined forces to complete their preparations for the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open.
Earlier this week Conor Niland and Sam Barry practiced together in Melbourne.
Barry’s efforts to qualify for the under-18 event won’t commence until next week.
One of the biggest obstacles facing the Limerick pair are the current temperatures of over 30 degrees celsius.
Niland brought good recent form to Melbourne.
In his only competitive outing of 2010 he went tantalisingly close to qualifying in the $1,024,000 Exxon Open in Doha, Qatar.
After overwhelming Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round of the qualifying series, the 288-ranked Limerick man suffered a heartbreaking 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) defeat by Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Conor Niland will break from the ATP Tour in late February when he will return home to lead the Irish team in Davis Cup action against Turkey in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club from March 5 to March 7.

Jerome O’Connell