Niland down and out in Paris

Tennis: Conor Niland’s French Open dream was snuffed out at Roland Garros this morning as Germany’s Julian Reister defeated him in the second qualifying round (6-2, 6-4).

Reister, who also accounted for the Limerick man in a Challenger Tour event earlier this year, ended Niland’s run in the French capital.

Just three places separated the players in the ATP rankings, with Niland slightly higher at 169, but Reister dominated the opening skirmishes and raced away with the first set 6-2.

Niland made a better fist of things in the second, threatening to break his stubborn opponent on more than one occasion, but was ultimately powerless to avoid a straight sets defeat.

Niland’s exit ends Irish involvement in Paris after Louk Sorensen fell in the first round earlier this week.