Fresh from his first Challenger Tour victory in almost two years, Irish number one tennis player Conor Niland goes into the coming week’s French Open qualifiers in good heart.

By Shane Breslin

It may not have caused many ripples even in sports bulletins, but the events of last weekend were a big deal in the career of Ireland’s tennis number one Conor Niland.

The 28-year-old came from a set down to overcome Thiago Alves and win the Israel Open, continuing his rise up the game’s seemingly interminable ladder. When the ATP rankings were announced on Monday, he had climbed 57 places to a career high of 165.

Melbourne misery

Such progress is no flash in the pan, either. Niland has improved steadily since returning to fitness following a four-month lay-off at the end of 2008, and came agonisingly close to qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open in January, losing in the final set despite being a set and a break up at one stage.

“I had won two rounds so I was in the last round of qualifying," says Niland. "I’d won the first set 6-1 and was 4-3 serving, with a point to make it 5-3, so I was effectively within five points from getting to the main draw."

“If I’d got there I would have played Lleyton Hewitt on Rod Laver Arena, but I lost so it was a pretty tough few weeks after that.”

Mental aid

Reflecting on the manner of that defeat, and pointed in the direction of the Motiv8, the sports psychology firm headed up by Armagh’s All-Ireland winning footballer Enda McNulty, Niland has found ways and means to continue his ascent up the rankings.

“What happened in Australia kind of motivated me. It showed me how close I was to getting there, and if I keep pushing on I could make the next step. But going to Kevin Clancy in Motiv8, who has worked in a couple of tennis academies in Florida, really helped too.

“It’s simple enough stuff really, just focusing on goals. It’s made a difference. I’ve always had routines but I’ve tried to focus on those a little bit more between points - so much of tennis is about how you react to the last point, whether you’ve won it or lost it. I have some keywords that I use, just to help me focus on my aggression or the location of my serve.

I’d been saying for a few years, any chance I got, that I was doing this completely on my own, with no help from anybody

“On a more practical level, we’ve worked a bit on my goals. I wanted to finish this year inside the top 150 of the world so Kevin got me to work out exactly how many ATP points I would need to do that, how many semi-finals I’d need to make, how many finals I’d need to get to. Those things helped me to get to grips with exactly what I needed to do.”

Training boost

Outside the mental stuff, other aspects have come together to put Niland in a good position to realise his potential, most notably the introduction of a senior training schedule at the National Tennis Centre in Dublin City University.

“There are seven or eight guys training full-time out there and when I started in 2006 there was just me really. I play two or three tournaments at a time and come back here, so it’s good to have a base where I know I can go and get some work done.

“A couple of years ago I didn’t really have that. The juniors had been training in DCU for a couple of years but there was no set-up for the seniors. I’d been saying for a few years, any chance I got, that I was doing this completely on my own, with no help from anybody. Within the last 18 months or so they’ve given the seniors a schedule where we can train there as well, and that’s made a big difference.

I feel like if I play well, I’d run most guys in the world close

“Things have improved. We have a couple of guys in the top 100 in the junior ranks. One of them is Sam Barry, who trains with me in DCU, the other guy John Morrissey has been training in Belgium for the last couple of years. Irish tennis can't really take much credit for Louk Sorensen’s success, as he doesn’t train in Ireland and has never lived here, but it raises the profile of the game here too."

French target

Having improved in both the physical and mental stakes, Niland is looking to deliver another major boost to Irish tennis in the French Open qualifiers over the next week or so, when he will attempt to win his next three matches (the pre-qualifying tournament starts on Tuesday, 18 May) and book a place in the main draw of the Grand Slam event at the famed Roland Garros.

“I feel like if I play well, I’d run most guys in the world close, but I’m not taking anything for granted either. I’m not going over there expecting to cruise through qualifying by any means, but I’m confident that I can win a few matches, especially after winning last week.”

How does the clay surface suit his game?

“I play most of my tournaments on hard courts and I don’t have any access to red-clay courts in Ireland but I can play on it. I’ve won a couple of Future events on clay and if I get a few days on it and get a decent draw, I’d be very hopeful.

“It wouldn’t be my best surface and there are a number of clay-court specialists out there who’ve grown up on clay, train on it and play nearly all their tournaments on it, and my preference would probably be a hard court. But it’s still possible for me to qualify for the French, and that’s what I’ll be trying to do.”