THINGS are hotting up at the Sellers International tennis tournament.

The main draw in the men’s singles gets under way today at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, while the ladies singles latter stages starts tomorrow.

Also tomorrow there will be plenty of local interest in the mixed doubles main rounds, especially with Edgerton pairing Tom Wigley and Charlotte Kershaw winning through two qualifying rounds to reach the quarter-finals.

Their latest victory was against home-club rivals Sean Stafford – a coach at Huddersfield – and Hannah Byram (from Marsden).

After some excellent tennis from both pairings, Wigley and Kershaw went through 6-2 7-5.

Up against them in tomorrow’s quarters are the four seeded pairings, headed by Thongsbridge duo Dan Sinclair – who is also o1 seed in the men’s singles – and Danielle Brown, who has been competing at the Sellers for a number of years.

Singles champion Mike Tolman and Caroline Mount, from the host club, are No2 seeds in the mixed with Nicholas Bond and Jo Craven, from Leeds, at No3.

Nathan Jones, from Oldham, and Victoria Cran of Huddersfield are the fourth seeded couple and will be bidding to reach finals day.

While Sinclair is bidding to make it a Kirklees victory in the main men’s, Craven and Emily Singleton look the likely candidates in the ladies, although Huddersfield player Mount and Batley’s Carrie Wagstaff are also in the main draw tomorrow.

In today’s men’s doubles, there will be plenty of attention on two Huddersfield pairings.

Stuard Gill and Peter Vann have won through two qualifiers to make the major draw, their latest victory being by 6-0 6-2 against a couple from Leeds.

The other pairing are intriguing, because Steve Broadbent used to coach Harry Edwards, who is also in the 16 and Under and 18 and Under events, and they went through against another home club duo, Sammy Ali and Edward Brown 6-1 6-2.

Mount and Kershaw are playing together in the ladies doubles and will be aiming to do well, as will Antonia Coffey from Huddersfield and her partner Pollyanna Dawber.

Huddersfield head coach Becky Lee said: “It’s been a very good opening to the tournament with plenty of good tennis being played.

“The weather has been very kind to us so far, but we are keeping our fingers crossed because the forecast for today (Wednesday) is not too encouraging.

“Our outside courts can withstand a bit of rain and are still perfectly playable, but if they get too much on them then we’ve got to allow them to dry and we’ll use the indoor surfaces.

“Draining of the outdoor courts is very good and, within half an hour of it stopping raining, they are generally ready for play again – so we are hopeful of keeping things moving.

“We have to with eight to 10 matches being played every 75 minutes – it’s a very busy event.”

There is junior play throughout each day and senior in the evening, with catering available for spectators.

Organiser Julie St John said: “We welcome anyone to come along and they’ll see some really good matches.

“On Friday, which is our semi-finals day, we are having a barbecue at the club, so the more who come along the better.”

Two girls from further afield who have been causing a stir in the 14s and Under competition are Ella Hassall from New Zealand, who qualified from Group D in the girls and was set to play No3 seed Polly Harlow today. The other is No2 seed Yasmina El Sayed from Leicester, representing the Charnwood Tennis Club, and she has also reached the semi-finals of the 16 and Under section.