 | |
| Country (sports) |  Ireland |
|---|---|
| Residence | Limerick,Ireland |
| Born | (1981-09-19)19 September 1981 (age 43) Birmingham, England |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro | 2005 |
| Retired | 2012 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $247,686 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 10–16 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 129 (6 December 2010) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | Q3 (2010) |
| French Open | Q2 (2010) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2011) |
| US Open | 1R (2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–1 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 770 (23 August 2010) |
| Last updated on: 3 December 2021. | |
Conor Niland (born 19 September 1981) is anIrish former professionaltennis player. He was born inBirmingham, England, and grew up inLimerick, Ireland. He attended St. Nessan's National School in Mungret,Limerick, before moving on toCrescent College Comprehensive inDooradoyle,Limerick. He was the highest ranked Irish tennis player during his career.[1] He played for theIreland Davis Cup team from 2000 to 2012.[2] He officially announced his retirement from tennis on 12 April 2012 due to a recurring hip injury.[3] In a statement Niland said: "I am today sadly announcing my retirement from professional tennis. I have been suffering fromlabral tears in both hip cartilages and this has resulted in pain and restricted movement for the past nine months."
Niland spent most of his career on theFutures andChallenger circuits, although he has played a handful ofATP World Tour tournaments. As of 6 March 2010, he played in 25Davis Cup matches forIreland with a record of 15 wins & 10 losses (12–9 in singles & 3–1 in doubles). After 4 previous defeats, he won his first everGrand Slam qualifying match on 26 August 2009 when defeating Australia'sJoseph Sirianni 6–0, 6–4 in the first qualifying round of theUS Open, but in the end he failed to qualify for the main draw.[4]
In January 2010, he lost in the last qualifying round of theQatar Open inDoha, and in the first major of the year, he defeatedHenri Kontinen (6–4,6–4) andJesse Witten (2–6,6–1,6–4) in the first 2 qualifying rounds for theAustralian Open to leave him one game away from the main draw.[5] However, he lost toRicardo Hocevar (6–1,4–6,3–6) in the final qualifying round. InHouston, Texas, at theU.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, he qualified for his first ATP main draw but lost in the first round.[6] His improvement during the year continued when winning theIsrael Open title,Rainer Schüttler among his highest-ranked victim.[7] The win pushed him into the top 200 for the first time in his career, lifting him to 165 in the world, and he reclaimed his place as Irish No.1 fromLouk Sorensen. In November 2010, Niland won another ATP challenger event, this time theATP Salzburg Indoors in Austria, lifting him to a career high ranking of 129.[8]
After an encouraging start to 2011 saw Niland reach the quarter-finals of theHeilbronn Open in Germany, he struggled throughout the first half of the year with illness and injury and fell to a ranking of 184 by June. He came into great form for the grass court season, however, and picked up 4 straight wins to qualify for theAegon Trophy inNottingham and also defeat 96th-rankedDonald Young in the first round. AfterTatsuma Ito ended that winning streak, Niland turned his attention to theWimbledonqualifying rounds. He successfully negotiated all 3 rounds, defeatingJosselin Ouanna,Greg Jones and finallyNikola Mektić, to qualify for his first everGrand Slam event.[9][10]In doing so, he also became the first Irishman to reach the main draw at Wimbledon sinceSean Sorensen in1977 and1980. He faced FrenchmanAdrian Mannarino in the first round where he lost in five sets, having led 4–1 with a double-break in the fifth set. Had he won, Niland would have faced six-time championRoger Federer in the second round.[11][12]
Niland participated in the2011 US Open. In the first round of theSingles Qualifying, he facedPavol Červenák and won 6–1, 6–4.[13] In the second round, Niland defeatedTsung-Hua Yang 6–2, 6–3[14] In the third round, Niland beatMatwé Middelkoop 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 for a place in theMain Draw.[15] This was Niland's second time in a row to qualify for the main draw of aGrand Slam. In the first round, Niland retired against World No. 1,Novak Djokovic, whilst trailing 0–6, 1–5, due to food poisoning.[16][17]
On 12 April 2012, Niland announced his retirement due to a recurring hip injury which resulted in pain and restricted his movement for the previous nine months.[18] He was considering having hip surgery but was "advised of a lengthy recovery time without any guarantee of a successful outcome." Niland thanked those who had helped him achieve his success. He said: "I would like to thank my family, in particular my parents, for their phenomenal support throughout my tennis career. I would not have been able to achieve the things I did without them."
In June 2024, Niland published his "underdog's memoir" of his tennis career,The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%.[19]
Although Niland was born in Birmingham, his parents moved the family back to Limerick when he was 2 years old.[20] He stayed there until the age of 16, when he went toMillfield,[21] the public school inSomerset that is renowned for its sporting prowess. After three years there, Niland went to study English atUniversity of California, Berkeley, before leaving to focus on playing tennis professionally in 2005.[22] His father, Ray, played atcorner back for theMayo seniorGaelic football team, while his sisterGina is a former Irish No.1 tennis player.[23]
Niland lives in Dublin with his wife and two children.[24]
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Aug 2006 | Great Britain F12,Wrexham | Futures | Hard |  Riccardo Ghedin | 6–3, 2–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Oct 2006 | Great Britain F16,Glasgow | Futures | Hard |  Richard Bloomfield | 3–6, 6–7(5–7) |
| Win | 2–1 | Mar 2007 | Croatia F4,Vrsar | Futures | Clay |  Kornel Bardoczky | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Apr 2007 | Croatia F5,Rovinj | Futures | Clay |  Marko Tkalec | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Sep 2007 | Great Britain F17,Nottingham | Futures | Hard |  Martin Fischer | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Apr 2008 | Great Britain F6,Exmouth | Futures | Carpet | Josh Goodall | 4–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Win | 3–4 | May 2008 | Great Britain F7,Bournemouth | Futures | Clay |  Pierre Metenier | 7–5, 6–0 |
| Win | 4–4 | Jun 2008 | Ireland F2,Limerick | Futures | Carpet |  Harsh Mankad | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 5–4 | Aug 2008 | New Delhi, India | Challenger | Hard |  Tomáš Cakl | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 5–5 | Oct 2009 | France F18,Saint-Dizier | Futures | Hard | Antony Dupuis | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Loss | 5–6 | Nov 2009 | USA F27,Birmingham | Futures | Clay |  James Lemke | 6–4, 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 6–6 | Nov 2009 | USA F28,Niceville | Futures | Clay | James Lemke | 3–6, 6–4, 6–0 |
| Win | 7–6 | May 2010 | Ramat Hasharon, Israel | Challenger | Hard |  Thiago Alves | 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–3 |
| Win | 8–6 | Nov 2010 | Salzburg, Austria | Challenger | Hard |  Jerzy Janowicz | 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win% | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | Q1 | Q3 | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||||
| French Open | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||||||||||
| US Open | A | Q2 | Q2 | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% | ||||||||||||||||
Media related toConor Niland at Wikimedia Commons