Matthew Ebden battles past Conor Niland into the main draw – AEGON Championships 2011
World number 168 Matthew Ebden of Australia came back from a set down to defeat Irish Conor Niland, ranked 187th in the world, in three sets 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) in the final qualifier of AEGON Championships at Queen’s
Club in London on Sunday. It took the Australian two hours and 49 minutes to oust his opponent in a marathon match.
Niland and Ebden held their serve in the first eight games of the opening set to level the score at 4-4. After that, Niland claimed two consecutive games, breaking the Australian in the ninth game and winning the set 6-4.
The Australian hit one ace and 61 percent of the first serves, sealing 79 percent of the points on them in the opening set. The right-handed won 35 percent of the first return points in the first set. Niland converted one of the
five break point opportunities he created and saved both break points on his own serve in the first set.
In the second set, Ebden and Niland exchanged a couple of breaks of serve in the first twelve games and took it to a tie-break. The Australian captured a couple of mini-breaks in the tie-break, bagging it 7-4.
Ebden delivered a single ace and 80 percent of the first serves, claiming 66 percent of the points on them. While, Niland kept his first serve percentage at 79 percent and converted 70 percent of the first serves into points in
the second set. The Irish hit five aces but lost the advantage as he committed the same number of double faults in the second set. Both players capitalised on two of the four break point opportunities they created on each other’s serve in the second set.
The third set went with serve until the seventh game, when Ebden hit some attacking returns to break Niland, taking a 4-3 lead. Serving for the set at 5-4, the Australian failed to hold his serve and levelled the score at 5-5.
Ebden and Niland held their serve in the next two games to take the set to a tie-break. In the tie-break, it was Ebden who played better than his opponent, claiming a late mini-break and winning the tie-break 8-6.
The 23-year-old fired 79 percent of the first serves and grabbed 71 percent of the points on them in the final set. The Australian converted 28 percent of the first returns into points in the deciding set. The right-handed succeeded
in saving an amazing six of the seven break points he faced and converted one of the two break points he received in Niland’s serve in the third set.
Niland is slated to meet fast rising Indian Somdev Devvarman, ranked 67th in the world, in the first round of the main draw.
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