THE 26th Grimsby & District Closed Tennis Championships is now well underway.

Preliminary round matches in the Men's Singles have been completed – and the hard work starts now for number one seed Thomas Drew, who faces a fascinating clash with Phil Nicholson.

The latter overcame John Sorensen 6-1, 6-3.

Having fought his way past James Richmond 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, Mike Watkinson looks forward to a clash with number four seed Joe Beal.

Also through is Alan Holmes – 6-3, 6-4 against Matt Boothby, and Craig Brockbank, after beating Rob Sampson 6-0, 6-3. Holmes and Brockbank meet in round one.

Number three seed Adam Wrightham faces a tricky challenge with Ken Cowan, who came through a close match with James Dawson 7-5, 6-3.

Completing the line-up, number two seed James Snape plays Rob Smith, Daniel McGregor faces Chris Watkinson, Jim Steer takes on John Watkinson and Richard Hewitt battles against Paul Spurrell.

The Ladies' Singles quarter-final line-up is now complete.

Jane Hunter starts the defence of her title against doubles partner Charlotte Todd.

Todd overcame Sue Baggott 6-3, 6-3.

Tracy Cardy also had a good win, beating Jo Watkinson 6-2, 6-2. She now faces another tricky opponent in Jane Spurrell, who beat Sarah Bratton 6-1, 6-0 in the previous round.

Sarah Key will face number three seed Penny Daniel after beating Beth Shephard 6-1, 6-0 and Sarah Prior, with victory over Sally Bradley 6-3, 6-2, now plays number two seed Jennifer Smith.

The quarter-final stage has also been reached in the Men's Doubles event.

First to test the force of the defending champions Adam Wrightham and Simon Baldwin are Paul Spurrell and Ken Cowan, who came through 6-2, 6-1 against Jim Steer and John Sorensen.

Number four seeds Alan Holmes and Andrzej Mitros showed excellent form to beat Daniel Scott and Alan Cockrill 6-0, 6-0. They now play Chris and John Watkinson.

The Watkinsons met Allan Thompson and Colyn Bunn in the pick of the first round matches, with the latter taking the first set on a tie-break 7-6.

The Watkinsons took the second 6-2, and finished the stronger taking the decider 6-1.

Mike Watkinson and Craig Brockbank served their way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Paul Dyas and Paul Bartlett.

Number two seeds Trevor Kelly and Joe Beal are their next opponents.

Unfortunately injury forced Rob Sampson and Ian Pooler to concede to Richard Hewitt and John Hampson.

Hewitt and Hampson now do battle with number three seeds Ian Cass and Phil Nicholson for a place in the semi-finals.

There were two Ladies' Doubles first round matches.

Jo Watkinson and Jane Spurrell gave a solid display to end the hopes of Ann Fox and Tracy Milner 6-2, 6-1. They now play number four seeds Penny Daniel and Tracy Cardy.

Sarah Prior and Rachel Opie triumphed by the same score against Justine Ramsden and Andrea Gauvin. Prior and Opie will now play number two seeds Jennifer Smith and Lorna Auckland.