Irish OpenBefore this week Conor Niland had never won a match at an ATP Challenger event but, evidently, he's cracked the code. Last night at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club the Limerick man won his third match in as many days, beating Sweden's Bjorn Rehnquist 6-4, 6-3, to reach the semi-finals of the Shelbourne Irish Open.
Earlier, Irish number one Louk Sorensen was beaten in straight sets by Martin Pedersen of Denmark, making Niland the sole home representative in the last four, where he will play India's Rohan Bopanna today (6pm).
Having already beaten two players this week ranked well above him, Niland was up against a man just 16 places higher in the world list, but when Rehnquist broke him in his opening service game and then held his own with ease the gap between the pair seemed considerably greater.
But Niland upped his game spectacularly, injecting his ground strokes with an aggression that Rehnquist simply could not match, and after taking 10 points in a row, breaking Rehnquist to love in the process, Niland was in control - and remained so until the end.
He broke again at 5-4 for the set and after failing to convert three break points in the fourth game of the second set, made no mistake when two more opportunities came his way at 4-3, before he served out, to love, for the match.
Sorensen, though, struggled to reproduce the sparkling form he showed earlier in the week, losing the first set 4-6, before spurning a set point in the second when the Dane was serving at 4-5. Pedersen held serve, broke Sorensen in the next game and then held again to oust the Irishman.
QUARTER-FINALS:M Pedersen (Den) bt L Sorensen (Ire) 6-4, 7-5; C Ebelthite bt A Jones 7-6, 6-4; R Bopanna bt M Zverev 6-7, 6-4, 6-3; C Niland bt B Rehnquist 6-4, 6-3.
TODAY'S ORDER OF PLAY:Semi-finals: Pedersen v Ebelthite, 1pm; Niland v Bopanna, 6pm.
