Robert Foley, the number two junior seed, was the first major casualty in the scramble for titles as the Irish Open junior tennis championships, sponsored by Dunlops, approached their closing stages at Fitzwilliam yesterday. Foley's main shortcoming was a marked failure to deal with the more consistent and astute percentage play of seventh seed Conor O'Toole, who scored a convincing 6-4 6-3 win.

The under-18, senior championship remained on course as a potentially absorbing event. The top four seeds, Nicky Malone, David Mullins, Sean Cooper and Cormac Jennings, claimed their allotted places easily, although Marcus Joyce pushed Cooper hard in the second set. Cooper faces Stephen Taylor in a promising semi-final today. Emma Murphy of Cork looks the most impressive of the top seeds. She has arrived at the semi-final stage of the girls' junior singles, having lost only five games en route.