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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us July 18, 2005 Patton rolls to Big Al’s title Beats 12-year-old Ashland girl in final; defending men’s champ Stanley defaults By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings GAIL PATTON SETS UP FOR A BACKHAND during Sunday’s Big Al’s women’s open championship match against Maggie Schein. Patton, 54, beat the 12-year-old Schein in straight sets to claim the title. Photos by Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings A lifetime of playing tennis and decades coaching it have taught Gail Patton a few tricks about the game she loves. She used them all Sunday, schooling 12-year-old Maggie Schein, 6-1, 6-2, to capture the Big Al’s women’s open singles title underneath a blazing hot sun at Hunter Park. The match was one of 25 finals played on the last day of the 30th annual event, which included a default in the men’s open final that gave the title to another tennis coach from the University of California, San Diego. But the story of the day was the 54-year-old Patton, who gave the scrappy Schein a costly lesson on how to defeat an opponent with superior court coverage. “The biggest part of my game has always been my mental toughness,” said Patton, who plans to play in the national seniors circuit. “Right now I’m not in great physical shape, but I’m looking toward nationals in October-November and hopefully this is a starting point.” In other matches Sunday: Eric Steidlmayer was awarded the men’s open singles title when defending champion Todd Stanley defaulted with a knee injury in the third set; Steidlmayer then teamed up with partner Mike Wilson to beat Chad and Jason Wilson in the men’s open doubles final, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1; and in the women’s open doubles final, former Ashland High duo Jessica Baker and Justine Bowen-Jones won by default over Hillary and Courtney Collins. Patton, the head women’s tennis coach at Southern Oregon University for the past seven years, flexed her all-court muscle early against Schein, who struggled to keep the ball in play. Consecutive unforced errors by Schein gave Patton her first service break in the fourth game and she went on to win the next four games as well to secure the first set and take a 1-0 lead in the second. ERIC STEIDLMAYER OF LA JOLLA, CALIF., inset, hits a backhand during the men’s open final. Steidlmayer was tied in the third set with Todd Stanley when Stanley retired with a hurt knee. Schein had quickness on her side, but little else. She made a brief stand and showed glimpses of her potential in the second set, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome her steady, vastly more experienced opponent. “It’s all just part of the experience,” said Schein, whose older sister, Casey, lost to Patton in the semifinals. “I could have hit more balls in, but she’s a really tough player.” Schein earned her first service break to tie the second set at 1-all and went up 40-30 in the next game. After consecutive unforced errors — first by Schein, then by Patton — Schein was sitting on another game point that would have produced her first lead of the match. But Patton refused to yield. First, she waited out another Schein mistake, then she pounced on a short ball, ripping a forehand crosscourt passing shot to grab back the advantage. Schein hit the ball into the net to end the next rally and give Patton a 2-1 lead. The rest of the match was more of the same. Patton won the next two games to secure a comfortable lead before being broke in the sixth game. Schein went up 30-love in the seventh game as well, but Patton won the next four points — including the third on a nifty backhand volley — to go up 5-2. Patton clinched the title on her first match point when Schein hit the ball into the net. “My goal today was to not keep the points going long if I could avoid it,” Patton said. “I didn’t expect this, but this is fun.” The men’s open final seemed destined for an exciting finish before Stanley felt a shot of pain in his left knee and had to retire with the score knotted at 3-all in the third set. The injury occurred as Stanley tried to run down a volley, cutting short his bid for an eighth Big Al’s singles title. “I don’t have any knee problems; it just came from out of the blue,” Stanley said afterward, as he sat courtside with a pack of ice on the injured knee. “I just turned and all of a sudden there was this knifing pain. Something just went or tore, I don’t know what yet.” The tall, big-serving Steidlmayer dominated the match early, gaining consecutive service breaks to seize a 4-0 lead in the first set. He came back from 40-15 down to force deuce in the fifth game as well, but Stanley, a serve-and-volley specialist, pounded a volley winner then an ace to smother that fire and turn the set around. After dropping three straight games, Steidlmayer held serve to go up 5-3 and earned a set point at 30-40 on Stanley’s serve. The defending champ came through in the clutch, however, firing an ace to save the set before hitting a volley down the line and a service winner. Stanley broke Steidlmayer at love to force a first-set tie-breaker, which he won 7-5 by taking three of the last four points. A crisp backhand volley off a short service return clinched the set for Stanley. The second set stayed on serve until the 10th game, when Steidlmayer finally broke through. His spectacular backhand crosscourt winner earned him the set point, and a solid service return to the feet of Stanley clinched it. “I don’t think it takes anything away,” Steidlmayer said of Stanley’s default. “Every time you get a chance to be in a final you’re pretty happy. You don’t like to win like that, but I did all I could so I was pretty happy that things went my way, I guess.” Big Al’s finals results will appear in Tuesday’s sports page. Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected]. 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