IT might not always been pretty but top two seeds Sean Hodkin and Joe Tyler have reached the quarter-finals of the LTA British Tour tournament at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club.

A cross-wind blowing from Addingham towards the town centre and a soft grass court made for some ugly tennis at times, but Hodkin and Tyler, the only two players in the men’s singles with a world ranking, have survived.

Both, however, were taken to a champions’ tie-break, with Hodkin facing that deciding sequence for a second successive match.

Hodkin, world ranked 1285, beat wild card Anthony Weingarten 4-6, 6-3 (10-6), while Tyler, who is ranked 462 places lower than Hodkin, defeated Robert Cowley 5-7, 6-2 (10-8).

Facing Hodkin in the last eight is the unseeded Alexander Maggs, who saw off eighth seed Tommy Cartledge on No 1 Court.

Tyler meets qualifier Kyle Rae, playing at Ilkley for a second successive week after helping Northamptonshire to promotion from Men’s Group Three of County Week.

The two matches played on Centre Court featured Ruairidh Fraser, who defeated Max Stewart in a battle of 22-year-olds, and 17-year-old Roan Jones, who beat 23-year-old qualifier Dan Bennett.

Fraser now plays fifth seed Jordan Reed-Thomas, while Jones faces Deji Thomas-Smith in a clash of unseeded players.

A qualifier is guaranteed to be in the semi-finals of the women’s singles as Halle Pringle meets Eva Williamson.

However, four seeds have reached the last eight, including favourite Esther Adeshina, who faces the unseeded Ruby Hart.

Eighth seed Jessica Hill plays fourth seed Kirs Reuter, while third seed Isabelle Marshall meets Jojo Bach.

Hill beat lucky loser Rebecca Heaps 10-8 in a champions’ tie-break, while Bach emerged from a 10-7 final-set tie-breaker against fifth seed Hannah Smith.