It was Father’s Day, and Cory Ross thought it was fitting to call on something his father, Randy, had told him to include in his tennis game for as long as he could remember.
So as the 27-year-old Ross set up for a crucial serve in his Denver City Open men’s singles championship match Sunday against Clancy Shields, he thought, “When it’s on the line, go for it.”
One point from victory, Ross smashed a serve aimed at the service line, and Shields didn’t execute a return, giving Ross the set and the match 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 on the Denver Tennis Club courts. The victory was the third in the last six years for Ross, who also won Denver City Open titles in 2003 and 2007.
“That’s about the lowest-percentage serve you can go for,” Ross said. “The match was on the line, and I thought I’d go for it. I made it.”
Ross didn’t discount the value of his previous victories. Winning experience may have been a factor in the men’s and women’s singles matches.
In the women’s finale, Mallory Voelker won for the second year in a row, defeating Marie Matrka 6-1, 6-2. The 21-year-old Voelker, who graduated from the University of Denver and its tennis program this spring, wasn’t sure whether she would try for three straight.
“I’m hoping to find a coaching job in the next few months,” Voelker said. “But if I’m still in Colorado, I’ll probably play again.”
Ross noted the benefit of winning experience.
“You know you’ve been in that situation before, and you know what it takes to close out a match against a good opponent,” Ross said. “That basically comes down to having a good game plan and executing it.
“That’s what experience is all about and knowing you can make that serve on match point right on the line and where you’re aiming. I knew I had to play more aggressive and force the issue because he (Shields) has a really good forehand.”
Ross called his third men’s title special.
“It gets a little sweeter each year you get older,” said Ross, a two-time Colorado state high school champion at Kent Denver. “They’re (opponents) only getting younger, and I’m getting older. When you win this at 19 or 20, you know you hopefully will win a lot more of them. I have a great sense of accomplishment this time because I felt like I overcame a very worthy opponent.”
Shields ousted Ross in the semifinals last year.
“I’ll play these tournaments until I don’t think I can win them,” Ross said. “I’ll always play in some division or another. This tournament has a lot of history. The first year was 1914. To be a part of that history feels great.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
