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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 19, 2004 Local favorite falls By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Ari Zaslow still had a glimmer of hope late in the second set when Todd Stanley put the hammer down. Facing a break point, Stanley worked Zaslow over for consecutive overhead smashes, then watched Zaslow's last-gasp forehand pound the net. Game: Stanley. Ashland High Alum Ari Zaslow returns a volley against Todd Stanley in the men's open final of the Big Al's Tennis Tournament on Sunday at Hunter Park in Ashland. Stanley won in straight sets. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings Apparently, this is one old dog who doesn't need any new tricks. Utilizing his relentless serve-and-volley game to near perfection yet again, the 38-year-old Stanley overwhelmed Zaslow, 6-1, 6-1, in the men's open final Sunday morning to cement his status as one of the greatest Big Al's Tennis Tournament champions in history. The one-sided victory at Hunter Park earned Stanley of Sacramento his seventh Big Al's singles title and capped a dominating run through the bracket, during which he dropped just nine games in three straight-set knockouts. "It felt great," said Stanley, who ousted Zaslow in the first-round last year before retiring in the semifinals with a back injury. "Even the years I was winning it in the past, I was always hurting and trying to suffer through and get through, and now this year I could come up and just play. Instead of just trying to survive, I could just go have fun." At Zaslow's expense. Zaslow, 19, who graduated from Ashland High in 2003, entered the finals as the resounding hometown favorite. But the former Southern Oregon Conference doubles champion struggled with his serve from the get-go and had no answer for Stanley's pin-point volleys. Stanley attacked behind virtually every serve, even second serves. He had three aces and two service winners, and when Zaslow did get the ball back there was Stanley, waiting at the net for the punch putaway. Few points lasted more than three or four shots, which was fine by Stanley, who said part of his strategy was to keep the points short to conserve energy. "I'll pick and choose the points that I want to exert a lot of energy and run a lot," he said. Zaslow, now a sophomore at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, unwittingly helped implement that strategy. He double faulted five times and erred on 28 of 44 first-serve attempts. The serving woes forced Zaslow, a natural serve-and-volley player, to stay on the baseline, which allowed Stanley to rush the net on the first opening. It was a frustrating cycle for Zaslow, who winced and slumped as first serve after first serve continued to clip the net or sail long. "I was tight and the shoulder was a little sore," said Zaslow, who needed three tough sets to beat his first-round opponent Saturday morning. "I was going to try keeping it low to him, make him move, bend to hit his volleys and basically try to stay on serve and then find a time to break him, but I couldn't really get my serve going so that was a little tough." Stanley, meanwhile, was automatic when it came to his serve. He was successful on 33 of 43 first serves, including 20 of 25 in the first set, and double faulted only twice. The result was a Stanley service-game rout. The cap-bearing champ needed only to fight off one break point and was brought to deuce just twice. "For me, I kind of have a very set style," Stanley said. "I'm going to serve-and-volley, I'm going to attack, so I'm going to do that against anybody." Stanley won the first three games of the match to set the tone. After Zaslow held serve, Stanley finished off the set by winning the last three games, including a service break that turned on a Zaslow double fault. Zaslow fought back from love-40 to hold serve and take a 1-0 lead to start the second set. His lunging backhand overhead down the line at 30-40 may have been the shot of the match, but it was all downhill from there. Two games later, Stanley converted the first of his three second-set service breaks. During the second break in that run, Stanley watched Zaslow double fault twice in a row at deuce to give Stanley a 4-1 lead. On the first match point, at 30-40, Zaslow ripped one of his hardest serves of the day down the middle, only to watch Stanley crank it back with equally blinding velocity. Zaslow's attempted forehand volley sailed three feet out, ending the match. "It was definitely pretty hard to come out of yesterday after two tough matches, and I was cramping up," Zaslow said. "But overall I played OK. Todd's really tough, so if I'm not playing my best game I don't have a chance." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams