Tennis Stadium.

Bradshaw, hobbled by knee injuries in recent years but seeded number two, made a stirring return to the tournament which was cancelled last year because of work being done on the Stadium's surface.

The feisty Bradshaw displayed few signs of weakness in quickly dispatching his opponent.

Kennedy, in fact, said Bradshaw seemed even stronger than before his injuries.

Bradshaw hinted earlier this year that he would play in only a few tournaments.

"He didn't look like he'd ever been injured,'' said Kennedy afterwards. "I would have felt better if the match had gone to three sets.'' Kennedy, once a bright star on the local circuit, said he was done in by a lack of practice but gave credit to Bradshaw's strong service.

"I haven't played a tournament in three or four years and the lack of match practice was clearly evident out there today,'' he said. "His (Bradshaw's) service was the key. Otherwise we were even stroke for stroke but the score did not support that.'' Denton Leader opened the tournament with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 victory over Brett Kovar, while Michael Levon continued to improve with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over John May.

The anticipated clash between top seed Michael Way and Gary Weller was postponed until tomorrow because Weller is suffering from the flu.

JEROME BRADSHAW -- His strong seves wa key to victory.