“Serena & Venus Williams didn’t linger to have a chat… Grigor Dimitrov was ignoring me completely” – Ex tennis pro laments social cliques on tour

Ex tennis pro Conor Niland opened up about the prevalence of social cliques on the tour in a recent interview, revealing that one’s ranking often determined their social status among other tennis players. As examples, the Irishman shed light on his interactions with stars like Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Grigor Dimitrov and how they turned out.Niland is a former World No. 129, toiling away for the most of his career on the ATP Challenger Tour. The highest ranked tennis player from Ireland, he made two Grand Slam main draw appearances (one each at Wimbledon and the US Open) before retiring in 2012. In terms of prize money, the 42-year-old amassed a little less than a quarter of $1 million over the course of a seven-year-old long stint in professional tennis.