Zillman floats into second round

FOUNTAIN VALLEY ? While most players enjoy mashing their forehands around the court, 10-year old James Zillman prefers to explore the finer points of the top-spin lob ? his favorite shot.

Zillman uses the shot, which is normally for when opponents charge the net, throughout his rallies.

The shot is especially potent with its high arc and lofty bounce against Zillman’s 10-year-old and younger opponents, who don’t come close to cracking 5-feet in height.

Tuesday at the Los Caballeros Tennis Racquet and Sports Club, Zillman, a Costa Mesa resident, used the shot to neutralize his opponents’ power and advance in the boys’ 10 singles draw with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Zillman moves to the quarterfinals of the 104th Annual California Tennis Assn. Junior Sectional Championships.

Zillman, the No. 8 seed, was happy with the shot that regularly sent his opponent, William Chiu, the No. 9 seed, crashing into the back fence in an attempt to hit the ball as it came back to earth after its bounce.

“I’m kind of small and I might lose more points if I hit the ball low,” the left-handed Zillman said.

Results of the constant barrage of top-spin lobs are in, and Zillman likes what he sees.

“They’ll hit it short or they can’t hit it as hard. It’s going to make people’s timing not as good,” Zillman said.

Despite the shot regularly dancing along the backline and the exaggerated flick of the wrist involved in executing the shot, Zillman felt confident to go to the top-spin lob far more often than even his forehand, while rarely committing an unforced error.

“I have so much spin on it I can always drop it in,” Zillman said. “I used to practice it a lot. I don’t anymore. It’s just habit.”

Zillman’s favorite player is Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the No. 2-ranked player in the world and recent winner of the French Open, and that is who his shot is derived from. Zillman’s father, Justin, said it’s a European forehand, but since Zillman is not as hard of a hitter, it comes off as a top-spin lob.

In the quarterfinals, Zillman will play Friday at 2 p.m. at Los Cablleros against the No. 2 seed, Ryan To, whom Zillman has faced on two occasions in practice matches with varying degrees of success.

“The first time I didn’t do so well,” Zillman said. “They second time I did better.”

Zillman hopes that he continues the trend of improvement and plans to do so by not sticking with his favorite shot as much. He plans to use his entire artillery.

“I’m gonna mix it up,” Zillman said. “I’m gonna hit high balls. I’m gonna hit short balls.”

Nerves and an early twisted ankle sent Costa Mesa’s Dante Saleh from the boys’ 10 singles draw in the round of 16. Saleh, the No. 9 seed, lost to Kaelan Hicks, the No. 5 seed, 6-1, 6-2.

Early in the first game, the 10-year-old Saleh twisted his ankle and was not able to recover his explosiveness.

“I got up to the net,” Saleh said. “He hit it to my forehand and I volleyed it back. He hit to my forehand and I volleyed it back again.

“Then he hit it to my backhand and I lost my balance and twisted my ankle,” Saleh continued. “I tried to work through it, but when I ran it hurt too much.”

Saleh said the nervousness partially came from playing in front of his trainer for the first time.

“I just love to play,” Saleh said. “I love to win. I hate losing. I have to get some ice on my ankle. I just have to keep working.”

Despite the loss, Saleh accomplished his goal of maintaining a level of winning twice for every loss.

He won two matches in the tournament.

“If I hadn’t come out so nervous I could have beat him,” Saleh said.