Niland's match postponed again

Tennis:CONOR NILAND'S Wimbledon qualification match against Mikola Mektic has been postponed for a second day following persistent rain at the Bank of England Club in Roehampton, West London.

Originally scheduled for Thursday following a women’s singles match that began at 11.00am, Niland never got on court as evening rain washed out the event.

The two players did get six games into the first set yesterday morning with the Irish number one a service break up and leading 4-2 but the rain arrived again and by mid-afternoon the tournament director again called a halt to what is the final round of five-set matches for direct entry to the first round main draw at Wimbledon.

The 29-year-old Niland, who hopes to be the first Irish man since Matt Doyle in 1984 to qualify for the men’s singles, has never played against 23-year-old Mektic before but at 184 in the world rankings is higher placed than the 274-ranked Croatian.

If the rain persists into Sunday, the tournament officials may have to play the final matches indoors to ensure players are available for the first round of the men’s singles which begins at the All England Club on Monday.

That option would be seen as an absolute last resort as this part of the season is specific to grass and all of the players have been practising on grass in anticipation of competing in the only Grand Slam event of the four to be played on grass.

If Niland wins the match his name will go into a hat with all of the 16 qualifiers and they will be placed in the draw according to how they come out.

The main draw for the singles took place yesterday and Andy Murray faces a potential Wimbledon semi-final rematch with defending champion Rafael Nadal.

However, that was not the rematch that sent the All England Club into a flutter following the draw for the 125th championships.

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will meet again in the first round of Wimbledon, 12 months after playing out the longest match in tennis history.

Last year, American Isner eventually won a marathon encounter 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7/9) 7-6 (7/3) 70-68 that lasted for 11 hours and five minutes, stretched over three days on Court 18.

There were immediately calls for the marathon men, who are in the bottom half of the draw along with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, to be put on Centre Court on Tuesday.

But surely a return to Court 18, where there is now a plaque dedicated to ‘The Longest Match’, would be more fitting.

Isner is ranked 46 in the world, 53 places above Mahut. The pair have become friends since their remarkable feat last year.

Even Murray’s immediate reaction was not about his own prospects, or the fact Nadal and Andy Roddick are in his half of the draw, but about the rematch.

“Isner v Mahut drawing each other in the first round after last year is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in tennis,” he tweeted.

Murray will open his campaign on Monday against Spanish world number 56 Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who he beat two years ago in their only previous meeting on the senior tour.

The British number one, and fourth seed, was beaten by Nadal in the semi-finals last year and by Roddick at the same stage in 2009.

Both men potentially lie between Murray and an appearance in his first Wimbledon final, with Roddick a likely quarter-final opponent. “It’s not worth thinking about Rafa and the semi-finals,” said Murray.

Second seed Djokovic and six-time Wimbledon champion Federer are on the other side of the draw and are due to meet in the semi-final.

Men’s Singles Draw

(involving top 10 players)

R Nadal (Spa) (1) v M Russell (US), M Fish (US) (10) v M Granollers (Spa), F Volandri (Ita) v T Berdych (Cze) (6), A Murray (Brit) (4) v D Gimeno-Traver (Spa), G Monfils (Fra) (9) v M Bachinger (Ger), Qualifier v A Roddick (USA) (8), D Ferrer (Spa) (7) v B Paire (Fra), M Kukushkin (Kaz) v R Federer (Swi) (3), R Soderling (Swe) (5) v P Petzschner (Ger), J Chardy (Fra) v N Djokovic (Ser) (2).

Women’s Singles Draw

(involving top 10 players)

C Wozniacki (Den) (1) v AP Santonja (Spa), S Stosur (Aus) (10) v M Czink (Hun), A Chakvetadze (Rus) v M Sharapova (Rus) (5), N Li (Chn) (3) v A Kudryavtseva (Rus), M Bartoli (Fra) (9) v Qualifier, A Rezai (Fra) v S Williams (USA) (7), F Schiavone (Ita) (6) v J Dokic (Aus), M Rybarikova (Svk) v V Azarenka (Blr) (4), P Kvitova (Cze) (8) v Qualifier, A Riske (USA) v V Zvonareva (Rus) (2).