05 Feb Conor Niland in quarter finals of $50,000ATP Challenger Kazan Kremlin Cup in Russia
Conor Niland in quarter finals of $50,000ATP Challenger Kazan Kremlin Cup in Russia
Irish Davis Cup stalwart Conor Niland makes the quarterfinals of $50,000ATP Challenger Kazan Kremlin Cup in Russia. He defeated Sergei Bubka (UKR) 6-3 6-3 in his second round match yesterday afternoon.
Bubka was a member of the Ukraine Davis Cup team, which defeated Ireland in the July 2008 tie in Fitzwilliam LTC, Dublin.
Niland’s next challenge is no. 7 seed Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS) who also competed in the Australian Open Qualifiers but was defeated in the first round by Thierry Ascione (FRA).
Conor Niland had a 6-3 6-2 win over Anton Manegin (RUS) in the first round of the mens singles on Tuesday. Niland previously defeated the Russian 6-1 6-2 at the Saransk Challenger event last August.
He also competed in the mens with partner Gero Kretschmer (GER). They faced German duo Tobias Kamke /Julian Reister and were unfortunate not to proceed suffering a 6-4 4-6 10-2 defeat to the Germans.
This is Niland’s first tournament since the Australian Open where he achieved a place in the final round of the mens singles qualifiers.
Niland’s Davis Cup team mate, Louk Sorensen also took part in this tournament. He faced Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) in the first round and was unfortunate to suffer a 6-2 6-4 defeat to the Moscow native.
Sorensen, who has a ranking of 213, advanced from the Australian Open mens singles qualifiers to the second round of the main draw. Last week, he received a wildcard into the mens singles main draw at the ATP Heilbronn Challenger in Germany.