IRISH NUMBER one Conor Niland yesterday failed to realise his dream of making the main draw of the French Open. Niland lost in straight sets in the second round of Roland Garros qualifying in Paris to Germany’s Julian Reister, losing the tie in just over an hour and a half, 6-2 6-4.

First up in the morning match, it was Reister who capitalised best on the big points, breaking Niland’s serve three times from eight opportunities, while the Irish man also had eight service break chances but could not convert any.

Reister earned three break points in the first set and took two of them, sweeping past Niland in just 34 minutes. But the Irish Davis Cup player dug in for the second set and although threatening the Reister serve on four occasions could not get the necessary break to turn the match in his favour.

The 6ft 2in right hander, who is ranked 166 in the world to Niland’s 169, took 59 minutes to settle the second set and match and advance to the final round before the main draw.

“He started off very well. He probably likes the way I hit the ball because he was hitting it very well,” said Niland.

“I wasn’t able to break him. I had chances okay, and on a couple of deuce points. I definitely had some opportunities but he was able to win some of the big points . . . he managed to sneak them. Overall today I’d say he was about five per cent better than me. I don’t think I played as well as I did when I met him in January.”

The Irish number one will now plan his events for the build-up towards trying to qualify for Wimbledon.

That tournament is the same format as Roland Garros and involves winning three matches on the grass courts at Roehampton.

First though Niland will take in a Challenger event in Ojai, California, before coming home to get some grass practice, which has traditionally taken place in Elm Park and Carrickmines.

The Wimbledon event proper takes place between June 21st-July 4th, with the qualifiers taking place the week before.