Vernal Davis opened his account in this year's Heineken Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Robert Keill at the National Tennis Stadium yesterday evening.

Consistent serving plus some aggressive play at net and deft drop shots proved the right mix as Davis took just an hour to overcome his opponent in the Senior Men's Singles bracket. In both sets his tactics were similar as he jumped to early leads which he never relinquished, breaking Keill's serve in the process.

His rout was made all the easier by a series of unforced errors - particularly weak shots into the net - by Keill who berated himself vociferously after almost every mistake.

He would definitely rue the sixth game of the second set when, enjoying a rare triple break opportunity against Davis, he squandered his position with three destructive backhands - one wide into the trams and the next two troubling the net.

Davis seized upon his reprieve and took the game on his second "advantage" with a neat backhand drop shot that left Keill helplessly stranded in the back court. The score was then 4-2 in games and that lost effort seemed to knock the wind out of Keill despite a gutsy attempt to hold serve in the following game.

At 40-30, he could have had he not succumbed to his by-now-accustomed downfall - another backhand into the net that made it deuce. He did get a second chance to take that game when Davis netted a forehand but a double fault cost him. When "advantage" came Davis' way, Keill then slotted a forehand into the net to leave his rival to triumph with one service game.

The players progressed to 30-30 on Davis' serve, before Keill - perhaps wanting to be relieved of his misery - did the usual: netted two backhands.

Game, set, match - Davis.

"I'm just here to have fun and that's what I am doing," said the winner, joking with his conquered opponent as they exited the court.

Keill said he was happy to have played Davis as he had not had that opportunity before.

"I enjoyed myself. I am tuning up for my club's tournament," he said, referring to the upcoming Colonial tournament at Pomander Gate Tennis Club.

Earlier, in the same division, Robert Brown took his match against David Furbert who retired due to injury in a keenly-contested battle. The score was 1-6, 6-4, 4-4, when the latter called it quits.