1835 The magnitude of the task that Conor Niland faced this afternoon can be overstated. The world number 181 was facing an opponent seven years his junior and 126 places ahead of him in the world ranking.
Adrian Mannarino has earned $624,500 in a career still very much in its infancy, while Niland has had to scrap long and hard in the tennis wilderness (known as the Challenger and Futures tours) to bring in just $196,637.
The supposed chasm in class between the two players never became apparent and the vanquished Niland will receive plenty of plaudits - and hopefully more sponsorship - after his exploits this afternoon.
1815 Niland’s Wimbledon dream ends in heartbreak as Mannarino capitalises on his first match point of the encounter. Niland can think himself unlucky to have suffered from an agonising net cord in the final point of the match. His final shot of the championship was a volley that sailed just long.
Mannarino bt Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-4
1811 Mannarino toughs it out to hold, albeit in unconvincing fashion. Niland would now give anything to do the same.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 5-4
1808 Mannarino breaks back for a second time in the set as Niland hits an errant forehand to the left and wide of the line. Niland’s advantage in the set has been eroded.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 4-4
1803 Mannarino seemed likely to hold in emphatic fashion, leading 40-0 at one stage, but Niland managed to fight back to 40-30 before framing the ball out of the court. Mannarino is growing increasingly agitated, let’s hope he implodes in the final game of the match.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 3-4
1759 Commentator's curse… Mannarino has made the perfect response with a break of his own.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 2-4
1757 Niland continues to finds the lines and earns yet another break point on the Mannarino serve. The initial danger is averted, but Niland makes the breakthrough with, you guessed it, a crosscourt backhand winner. It should really be a formality from here.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 1-4
1747 Niland holds with an impressive ace hammered down to seal the game.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 1-3
1745 An unforced error from Mannarino - he’s dumping the ball into the net again - earns Niland a break point and the Limerick man seals the break with an incredible backhand down the line. The high-risk shot was executed perfectly.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 1-2
1740 Niland’s ultra-aggressive tactics sees him commit a number of unforced errors and fire in some impressive winners, but it’s enough to unsettle Mannarino and claim his first game of the deciding set.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 1-1
1733 Mannarino is still the favourite to advance to the next round. He trades at a little over 1-2 on Betfair. His backers will be encouraged by his hold in the opening game.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 1-0
1731 Niland completes one of the biggest holds of his career, the highlight of which was a delicate drop shot at the net. We’re going the distance.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6
1728 Niland registers two points on the Mannarino serve, but can’t make the break.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-5
1723 Mannarino makes inroads on the Niland serve, earning a break point. A solid first serve and a strong approach shot sets up a smash, which Niland dispatches with aplomb. That takes Niland to deuce and the Limerick man defends a couple of break points, before hammering home a couple of huge forehands to seal the game.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 3-5
1715 Mannarino bounces back with a hold of his own.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 3-4
1712 Niland slips and slumps to the ground during his service game, but emerges unscathed as he motors through another accomplished service game. Mannarino is starting to look all at sea, despite his lead in the match.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 2-4
1707 Mannarino arrests his slump with a hold, but he’s still chasing a break to stay in the set.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 2-3
1707 Niland appears to be growing in confidence as he completes a convincing hold. The stats reveal that Niland has hammered home more winners and made less unforced errors than his higher ranked opponent. Rankings, smankings.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 1-3
1704 Niland makes another huge impression on the Mannarino serve. All the momentum appears to be with the Irish number one as he breaks again.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 1-2
1659 Niland hammers down his seventh ace of the match in an impressive hold. Are we in for a five-set epic? Here’s hoping.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 0-2
1657 Niland wins the opening point of the fourth set and should have stretched his advantage to 0-30, but a makeable lob is poorly executed. Mannarino fights back to 30-30, but Niland earns a break point with a fine passing shot that Mannarino reaches but can’t return. An unforced error from the French player ensures Niland makes the perfect start to the set.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 0-1
1652 A dramatic tiebreaker begins with a mini-break for Mannarino on the Niland serve, but the Irish number one responds with a mini-break of his own. A couple of unforced errors from both players saw the breaker levelled at 4-4, but an ace from Niland and a double fault from Mannarino hands the Irishman set point. The first opportunity is spurned, while a second - which would have been a certain winner - just fails to clear the net. Mannarino then goes into overdrive and an agricultural backhand from Niland flies wide to hand the breaker to the Frenchman on a 9-7 scoreline.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7)
1640 An exquisite drop volley from Niland sets up two set points on the Mannarino serve, but the Frenchman gets out of trouble with some big serving to reach deuce. A sublime inside-out forehand and an error from Mannarino earns Niland another set point but the Frenchman holds his nerve to, erm, hold.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 6-6
1632 Niland holds and a break in the next game would complete a miraculous comeback. Mannarino’s propensity for dumping the ball into the net of his backhand is both amusing and enjoyable to watch.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 5-6
1628 Niland puts in a gargantuan effort in his attempt to break Mannarino and save the set and it pays off as he capitalises on the second of two break points. His trusty crosscourt backhand is the shot that saves the set and maybe this match.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 5-5
1620 Mannarino tests Niland’s mettle again but the Limerick man proves more than equal to the challenge. The highlight of a trying hold was a Federesque forehand that curled back inside the line after appearing to be heading out.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 5-4
1617 Niland made the perfect start to Mannarino’s service game, winning the first two points on the Frenchman’s serve. However, he fails to capitalise as Mannarino fights back to deuce before taking the game.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 5-3
1613 Mannarino breaks Niland with ease. The Limerick man doesn’t appear to be moving around the court with the same athleticism he exhibited earlier in the match. His court coverage is a massive part of his game and he can’t afford to lose anything in this department.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 4-3
1610 The French southpaw holds to love in emphatic fashion.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 3-3
1607 Niland stops the service rot with an important hold.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 2-3
1603 Niland breaks back with some exceptional play. He’s clearly got every shot in the locker and he illustrates that here with some terrific variety, his blend of power and touch eventually undoing his French opponent.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 2-2
1559 Niland fights back from 0-30 to 30-30, but a wild forehand from the Limerick man at 30-40 hands Mannarino the break. Niland has been really going for his shots and has been attempting to hit the lines with some low percentage play, but he’s not a Nalbandian, and he may benefit from a slightly more conservative approach. Mannarino’s career has been on a meteoric rise for some time, but he doesn’t look at home on this surface and the gulf in class between the two players hasn’t become apparent as yet.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 2-1
1553 Niland replies with a gutsy break of his own, the highlight of which was a fine crosscourt backhand passing shot on break point. The approach shot from the Frenchman could have been better, but Niland’s clinical response was impressive.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 1-1
1548 Niland has to defend a number of break points and Mannarino eventually converts one of his break points when Niland slips in pursuit of a Mannarino forehand. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have made the shot even if he had remained on his feet.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4 1-0
1540 Niland pulls off a huge forehand, but Mannarino displays a few big groundstrokes of his own and executes a deft lob to hold and level the match at a set each.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 6-4
1534 Niland is broken for the first time in the match. Poor serving and a couple of overambitious shots cost the 29-year-old dear.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 5-4
1531 Mannarino holds with the loss of a single point. That came from an unforced error on the backhand side - not his first of the match - and it’s an area Niland would do well to target.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 4-4
1527 Niland cranks up the serving to hold to love. The importance of getting a first serve in on this surface really can’t be overstated.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 3-4
1525 Mannarino shows Niland how it should be done with a comfortable hold.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 3-3
1520 Niland makes a shaky start, losing the first two points of his service game and trails 15-40 at one stage. But the Limerick man shows massive kahunas to get back to deuce. His backhand down the line was a thing of beauty, but a double fault hands Mannarino advantage and break point. Niland shows great composure to fend off a couple of break points to complete an unlikely hold. That will have given Niland a massive fillip and will have seriously demoralise Mannarino. A criticism and it’s a small one, Niland needs to make more first serves if he is to avoid a future break.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 2-3
1509 Niland benefits from a fortunate net cord, but Mannarino hold with the loss of just the one point.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 2-2
1508 Niland throws in a double fault in his service game, but it doesn’t prove costly for the 29-year-old as Mannarino registers just two points in his attempt to break.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 1-2
1506 Niland fails to make an impact on the Mannarino serve as the Frenchman hold with ease.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 1-1
1504 Niland makes the perfect start to the second set when his French opponent dumps a straightforward backhand into the net. He repeats that error before failing to execute a makeable volley and the Limerick man closes out the set to love.
Mannarino v Niland 4-6 0-1
1500 I'll hand you over to Barry McEneaney now to take you through the rest of the match.
by Brendan Cole
1455 Niland wins the set! He loses the first point but two fantastic deep ground strokes to win the second point, and two Mannarino errors - again a long groundstroke and a netted backhand - give Niland 15-40.
But he hits the net himself to give 30-40 and then misses with a difficult running forehand down the line. Deuce.
But a brilliant backhand from the middle of the court to the left hand corner gives Niland advantage.
Again, a Mannarino serve goes well out but he clips the net with a forehand and sees it trickle over and in to get back to deuce again.
But Niland wins the next point as Mannarino dumps another easy backhand out and again has advantage.
And this time, he wins the point to take the first set!
Mannarino missing long and right with a relatively simple forehand this time.
Mannarino 4-6 Niland
1453 Another quick service game win for Niland. He wins easy first and third point and a dramatic second, recovering from a slip and finding a great backhand winner down the line.
He has played most of the high quality shots.
Niland hits the net with a regulation forehand to lose the next point but Mannarino then does the same with a backhand that really should have been a winner to give the Limerick man another quick game.
Niland has been threatening to break in almost every Mannarino service game and this would be the perfect time to finally do so.
Mannarino 4-5 Niland
1450 A long rally start the second game, and Niland takes advantage of sloppy Mannarion backhand that to hit another big forehand winner to go 0-15 up.
Mannarino wins the next points but Niland takes advantage of a poor second serve to take get it to 30-30.
But he hits the net twice with his next returns to give Mannarino the game.
Mannarino 4-4 Niland
1445 Niland rushes the net to go 15-0 up and then wins a fantastic point to go 30-0 up, dominating a rally with huge forehands, before hitting a superb defensive backhand, chasing down a drop shot and then winning it with a tipped overhead drop shot that Mannarino gets to but puts out.
It goes to 15-40 until a final big forehand after forcing Mannarino way back from the baseline gives him another quick game.
Mannarino 3-4 Niland
1440 Mannarino serves next and just about holds after a very long game.
A superb passing shot at the net gets Niland up in the game again, 15-15 and another overhit forehand gives him 15-30 but a wide serve to the backhand again catches him out and it's 30-30.
But Mannarino misses an easy forehand, a high bouncing ball in midcourt that he pushes out to give gamepoint.
A big serve gets him out of trouble, Niland failing to keep a forehand. And Niland just fails to get to a Mannarion lob after rushing up to a drop shot to give advantage to his opponent.
Two massive forehands from the centre of the court, first to one corner and then the other, get it back to deuce.
Niland is playing the more consistent tennis in what are quite windy conditions on this more exposed outside court at the moment.
Another framed backhand goes out but Niland hits another winner to make it deuce for the third time.
Another good serve makes it advantage, but Niland hits a deep ball to Mannarino's backhand to get a fourth deuce.
And there are then fifth and sixth deuces, as Mannarino again gets to advantage and puts forehands long.
But Niland gives another advantage, failing to return a terrible second serve in. And Mannarino finally takes advantage, serving wide to the backhand side, and Niland's angled return goes out.
Mannarino's serve, and his difficulty controlling length are the positives though Niland has struggled with his body serve and serve wide to the backhand.
Mannarino 3-3 Niland
1430 Serving again, Niland loses the first point, but Mannarino dumps two backhands in the net to get it back to 15-30.
It then goes to 30-30 but a poor forehand that goes way too long gives him two game points and he dominates the next two rallies to win a quick game.
Great start.
Mannarino 2-3 Niland
1428 A chance to break for Niland, but he loses the game from 0-40 up.
He won the first two points, a cracking forehand pass as Mannarino approached the net winning the second to get 0-30 up. A double fault then gives him three game points.
For the first, Mannarino hits the net with his serve again but off a wide second serve, Niland hits the net with a backhand to go to 15-40.
He then gets another second serve, but hits a body serve off the frame and out to get to 30-40, and a good first serve then gets it deuce.
A hard first serve to Niland's forehand then gives Mannarino advantage and again, Niland can only find the net off a wide serve to his backhand.
Niland 2-2 Mannarino.
1424 Another easy game for Niland. Mannarino - a left-hander who looks comfortable taking hard swings from the baseline - has a go with a big forehands next, but misses with two efforts to give Niland a 30-0 lead early.
The Limerick man follows up to win the third point with an overhead at the net to go 40-0, Mannarino's effort to step up and put pressure on a second serve then goes out.
An easy 40-0 service game for Niland.
Niland 2-1 Mannarino
1420 The match is underway and Niland has held serve in the first game. He just misses with two attempts at forehand winners, and then hits the net with a return off a second serve to go 40-0 down. A lob in the final rally almost gets Niland his first point against serve, but it also just goes out.
Niland 1-1 Mannarino
1403 Paszek completed a 5-7 6-3 6-0 victory in just over an hour and a quarter. Conor Niland's time has arrived as he waits to face Adriano Mannarino.
1358 Austrian Tamira Paszek is now 5-0 clear in her third set against Russian Ayumi Morita and victory looks inevitable for her.
1340 Paszek is now 4-0 up in the third and close to victory. Conor Niland's time is nearing.
1328 Next up on court is the Ladies singles clash between Tamira Paszek of Austria and Ayumi Morita of Japan. It is one set all, with Paszek leading 3-0 in the third.
1325 the first match on Court 17 has ended with victory going to Nadia Petrovia as she beat her compatriot Vesna Dolents 6-3 6-4
1322 Nadia Petrovia is now 5-4 up in the second set against Veesna Dolents and is closing in on a place in the second round.
1305 This morning's first match on Court 17 is well underway.
Vesna Dolents of Russia is currently a set down (3-6) against compatriot Nadia Petrovia and a break down in the second, so it may not be long before the match before Conor Niland is due to play gets on court.
That is a singles clash between Tamira Paszek of Austria and Ayumi Morita of Japan which is due to play to a finish.
Paszek is currently two games to love up in the third set.
1205 According to the weather report, there is a 50% chance of a shower later today, with more significant disruption likely tomorrow.
NILAND v MANNARINO: Conor Niland will face Adriano Mannarino of France at Wimbledon today, becoming the first Irishman in 27 years to appear at the Championship.
The Limerick man is likely to meet Roger Federer if he makes it through today’s match.
You can follow the 29-year-old’s progress live here RTÉ.ie. The match is due on Court 17 today.
His match is third in the schedule, which gets underway at noon.
There are two ladies' singles matches before Niland v Mannarino, which could be on court in the late afternoon, though some weather disruption is expected.
