Today is the biggest day in the career of Irish tennis player Conor Niland. The Irish number one walks out on Court 17 as the first Irishman to play Wimbledon in 31 years.

By William Nestor

At around 2pm this afternoon, weather permitting, Niland will battle it out with France's Adrian Mannarino for a chance to take on the great Roger Federer.

We’ll be tracking the match right here at JOE.ie but as a teaser here’s more on the Limerick man who has put Irish tennis on the map.

He's the first Irishman to play Wimbledon in 31 years (not 27)

Niland battled his way to Wimbledon through a series of qualifiers after being rejected as a wildcard applicant – even Andy Murray reckoned it was a disgrace Niland wasn’t given a shot.

Nonetheless, Niland has gone about it the hard way to cause a racket. After three days of rain-interrupted play he beat Nikola Mektic in straight sets to become the first Irishman since Sean Sorensen in 1980.

Some say the last Irishman to play Wimbledon was Matt Doyle in 1984, a player who had qualified many times, but we're not really counting him - he didn’t become an Irish citizen until 1985. Either way, it will be an historic moment when Niland takes the court today.

It's fourth time lucky

This is Niland’s fourth crack at qualifying for Wimbledon; the only times he’s ever shown up at the famed courts were as a spectator and to watch his sister, Gina, play in the junior tournament when he was a kid.

He has never beaten today's opponent...

That may be a bit unfair on him - they've only met once, in a Challenger Tour event in Spain in 2006, when Mannarino edged through in a deciding set.

 

... but he has got the better of Federer

Okay, it was in an under-14 tournament but still, it’s nice to able to say it, right? Should Niland advance to the second round it’s not recommended that looks back on that particular game for any clues of how to beat one the best there's ever been.

He's been inundated for tickets

Imagine Wexford reaching an All-Ireland football final and what a player would have to do to get his hands on tickets for every friend and family member. That's just a scratch compared to what Conor has to deal with right now. Still, though, it seems the Limerick folk are among the more crafty sets in Ireland.

He said, "I’m resting a little bit and trying to organise tickets for people. The Limerick people don’t need me at all though, they’re very sly about it. They’re able to wrangle their way in."