Childs on course to retain title

Lee Childs remains on course to become the first man to retain the national title since Henman won three in a row from 1995 to 1997.

The Bridgwater teenager, who was pushed to the brink in his first-round match against Chris Lewis, had a more comfortable time in the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Simon Dickson.

Second seed Jamie Delgado was made to work hard by James Smith, eventually winning 6-3, 7-6 to book a quarter-final meeting tomorrow with Childs. Arvind Parmar was also below his best as he defeated Richard Bloomfield 7-5, 6-4.

"I was a bit sloppy but he's had a good year and had nothing to lose," said Parmar, who meets Mark Hilton in the last eight.

"I can serve a lot better than I did and I'm going to have to play a lot better if I am going to make any further progress."

The highlight of today's matches was the clash between top seed Martin Lee and 17-year-old Alex Bogdanovic.

Annabel Blow moved into the last eight of the women's event, continuing to justify her decision to abandon her education after taking her A-levels in the summer. She beat Julia Smith 6-1, 6-4.

Fellow 18-year-old Elena Baltacha continued her good progress with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kerry Smith.

British No 1 Julie Pullin overcame Claire Ricketts in straight sets.