Top seeds hit top speed at Donnybrook

TENNIS: Top seeds Rachael Dillon and Lazare Kukalashvili made short work of their respective opponents as the centenary Irish Close Championships continued at Donnybrook LTC.

Host club member Dillon, a member of the Ireland team which gained promotion in this year’s Fed Cup campaign in Estonia, overpowered Maya Majdychor 6-1 6-0 in their women’s singles second round clash.

And Georgia native Kukalashvili, a coach at Tennis Ireland’s National Training Centre at DCU, saw off Conor Smith on an identical scoreline in the third round of the men’s singles.

The only seed to bite the dust was Castleknock’s Fergus O’Connell (No 7), who came up short on a 7-5 7-5 margin against former Leinster player Stephen Taylor.

Also among the casualties was Mullingar 15-year-old Simon Carr, a son of former Dublin football ace and ex-Dublin, Roscommon and Cavan manager Tommy Carr, who went down 6-3 6-3 against the No 7 seed Osgar O hOisin.