5/19 Results

5/19/19:

"Gero-Gero at AP, 2 play at PAC, 33 play (2 New) at NTC Spring Party!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis. One was at Albion Park in Clifton and it featured the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 20 Match between "Daddy" Brad Gero and "Son of Brad" Alex Gero (yes, father versus son) that was reported by Brad. There was a session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley that had a Singles One-Setter between "Sudden" Santosh Mangnale and "The Professor" Carl Brownson (as reported by Carl). And finally, there was the long-awaited GTA-NTC Spring Tennis Party/BBQ that was co-hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and "Hollywood" Frank Samara (Rizzo was in charge of the invites, food arrangements and most of the match-ups while Samara recorded them all to be reported here). Originally, it was also going to be something of a "going away party" for "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak. But once we found out that both Adam and his brother Ryan (aka "The Lumberjack") would instead have to attend a family function, the theme of the party shifted somewhat. Still, it ended up being quite the event with 33 players (two of them new and making their official GTA Debut as "TNT" Tim Nguyen brought in two friends of his - Sasha "Super" Zonic and Roy "Sabre" Sanchez). Rizzo opted not to compete to allow his injuries more time to heal. There were also cameo appearances made by NTC Members - Judy Quigley along with Dolores and Walter Krazanowski. Much thanks to The Krazanowskis for helping cook at the BBQ. And also much gratitude to "Dynamic Dee" Denise Savino and "Bionic" Bo Folchi for helping with set-up, bringing supplies and food plus much more.

Let's start this report in Clifton, then go to PAC in Nutley followed by the lengthy list of scores from NTC.

The Albion Park Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 20 Match:
Alex Gero over Brad Gero, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 36 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing (via a bye) to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Alex: 2 Aces!

Samara's Notes: I thank Brad for submitting this result in a very timely manner and I congratulate Alex on his victory.

The Consequences: Alex now advances to the Quarters where he will face "Slammin' Sammy" Sam Wong.

The PAC Result:

Santosh Mangnale over Carl Brownson, 7-5! Carl: 1 Ace!

The Professor's Talking Points: Santosh made a big comeback to take this one; I took a quick lead going up 3-0 and continued to have the lead at 4-1 and 5-3, but Santosh started moving me side to side and I ran out of gas. It was a fun and competitive set.

Samara's Notes: I thank Carl for reporting this in such a timely manner...always appreciated.

5/19 NTC Spring Party!

The NTC Results:

Tony Lizares/Bo Folchi over Ryan Sherry/Tim Nguyen, 6-2!  Tony: 2 Aces on Tim!  It was the official GTA Return of Bo Folchi.  They played this one on Court One from 2:21 to 2:49.

Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas over Laurie Boughton/Denise Savino, 6-3!  No Aces.  This took place on Court Two and lasted from 2:23 to 2:58.

Tom Heidt/Nick Inciong over Sam Wong/Sasha Zonic, 6-0!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Sasha Zonic.  Court Three hosted this action from 2:35 to 2:55.

Senthil Kumar/Roy Sanchez over Vinnie LaSalle/Arlene Hyde, 7-5!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Roy Sanchez.  These four faced off on Court Four from 2:47 to 3:30.

Ryan Sherry/Tito Castolo over Tony Lizares/Anna Mazur, 6-1!  No Aces.  This one was played on Court One and it lasted from 3pm to 3:25.

Sam Wong/Tim Nguyen over Tom Heidt/Sasha Zonic, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  This tight battle took place on Court Five and its duration was from 3:01 to 3:51.

Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas over Nick Inciong/Laurie Boughton, 6-4!  Laurie: 2 Aces (one on each, back-to-back in the same game for the hold)!  This first proper Mixed Doubles One-Setter of the day occupied Court Two from 3:05 to 3:53.

Tony Shiao/Mike Mole over Paul Daddio/Sukumar Mitra, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.  Court Three hosted this lengthy contest (3:30 to 4:24)!

Tito Castolo/Tony Lizares over Marijus Kuzavas/Ryan Sherry, 6-3!  Marijus: 1 Ace on Tito!  They played this one on Court One from 3:40 to 4:09.

Nick Caputo/Anna Mazur over Roy Sanchez/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  Roy: 1 Ace on Anna!  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Four and lasted from 3:44 to 4:19.

Alfred Chen/Tom Heidt over Sam Wong/Tim Nguyen, 6-4!  No Aces.  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 4:01 to 4:49.

Vinnie LaSalle/Arlene Hyde over Senthil Kumar/Rob Fredericks, 7-5!  No Aces.  Court Five hosted this one from 4:02 to 4:52.

Sasha Zonic/Denise Savino over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-4!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court One from 4:14 to 4:49.

Kyle Eng/Fadia Nicolas over Ryan Sherry/Anna Mazur, 6-4!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles One-Setter was played on Court Three from 4:32 to 5:17.

Tony Shiao/Mike Mole over Marijus Kuzavas/Roy Sanchez, 6-4!  No Aces.  This foursome occupied Court Four from 4:42 to 5:18.

Nick Caputo/Paul Daddio over Nick Inciong/Tony Lizares, 6-0!  No Aces.  Court One (which is pretty much "The Show Court" at NTC as it is the court directly in front of the Clubhouse and deck and therefore has the most eyes on it) seemed like the appropriate place to play this one as it looked to be a close contest...on paper, at least.  But this is why we play tennis on a court (at NTC, that would be red clay) and not on paper...LOL!  This one got underway at 5pm.  Not sure when it ended as I was already in action on Court Five by the time it had finished.

Tom Heidt/Sasha Zonic over Alfred Chen/Laurie Boughton, 7-5!  No Aces.  Like the One-Setter above, this one got going at 5pm on Court Two.  Again, do not know when it finished as I was in action on another court at that time.

Sam Wong/Sue Fredericks over Frank Samara/Denise Savino, 6-0!  Sam: 2 Aces on Denise in the same game!  We got this Mixed Doubles action underway on Court Five at 5:15.  I took shorter notes than usual.  Here's how it went down: Sue held serve on Game Point, Denise was broken (Double Break Point with a bounce back to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break), Sam held (30-Love and an Ace up the T on Denice for Triple Game Point which was soon reduced to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce and a service-line Ace against Denise to set up yet another Game Point and then finally the hold), Frank was broken on Double Break Point, Fredericks held again (Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Savino was broken again (Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point) to take the loss at 5:49!

The Skinny: A bagel served in the hot sun!  Not to make excuses (but I will), but by the time Denise played this one, she was already exhausted.  In fact, she did us the favor of coming out to the court as we were having trouble finding a fourth player to join us.  Meanwhile, the last time I had played on clay was almost three weeks ago and I just could not find my touch or get into any type of rhythm.  But much credit goes to Sam and Sue.  Sam was swinging away with his forehand shots and Sue was doing the same along with some mighty impressive court coverage as well.

Tim Nguyen/Fadia Nicolas over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-3!  Fadia: 1 Ace on Tula!  Yet another Mixed Doubles One-Setter, this one took place on Court Three and lasted from 5:20 to 6pm.  Mr. and Mrs. Savickas had been on quite a tear, but fatigue started to hit both of them right around this time.

Tito Castolo/Arlene Hyde over Senthil Kumar/Anna Mazur, 6-3!  No Aces.  And the Mixed Doubles action continues, this time on Court Four (the duration was from 5:25 to 6:15).

Nick Inciong/Rob Fredericks over Tony Shiao/Mike Mole, 7-5!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court One at 5:35.  Not sure when it ended as I was back in action on Court Three at that time.

Nick Caputo/Ryan Sherry over Vinnie LaSalle/Sasha Zonic, 6-3!  No Aces.  They got this one going on Court Two at 5:45.  Again, not sure when it finished as I was occupied elsewhere at the time.

Alfred Chen/Pranav Sinha over Dennis Cabanatan/Tom Heidt, 6-3!  No Aces.  They got this one started on Court Five at 5:55.  Ditto the two lines above about not knowing when it ended.

Frank Samara/Fadia Nicolas over Sam Wong/Sue Fredericks, 7-5!  Frank: 1 Ace on Sue!  We got this Mixed Doubles action underway on Court Three at 6:08.  Again, I took briefer notes than usual.  Here's the lowdown: Sue held serve on Double Game Point, Frank was broken (15-30 and a sideline Ace against Sue for 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break), Sam held (Double Break Point and then a rebound to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Fadia was broken on Double Break Point to get off to a 0-4 start!  At this moment, I had just lost my first ten games of the session (the first six with Denise and the last four with Fadia)!  I felt as if I could do nothing right (and Fadia was feeling the same).  But then karma smiled upon us as we both benefitted from a couple of mishits and Fadia also had a couple of net-cord shots fall in her favor.  And thus, the turnaround began as Fredericks was broken (back-to-back Double Faults set up Double Break Point and then came the break), Samara held on Double Game Point, Wong was broken on Double Break Point and Nicolas held (Love-30 shifted straight to Game Point and the hold) to knot the score at 4-4!  Sue Smooth held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold) to put her team back into the lead at 5-4, but Samara had his second straight hold on Double Game Point to keep things alive at 5-5!  Slammin' Sammy was broken (started off with a Double Fault, shifted to 30-15, but then shifted again to Break Point and the break) while Fadia Finesse held again (again, Love-30 shifted straight to Game/Match Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, the 2nd Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, the 3rd Game/Match Point and finally the hold) to get the comeback win!  We finished this one at 6:54.  It was quite competitive, but also a lot of fun.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Tito Castolo over Marijus Kuzavas/Kyle Eng, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, to successfully defend their # 112 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Kuzavas/Eng entered the division as the New # 120 Ranked Team.  Marijus: 2 Aces on Senthil (1 in the 1st Set and 1 in the 3rd Set); and Senthil: 1 Ace on Marijus in the 3rd Set!  This was not originally intended to be a full match as the format of the parties we hold at NTC have foursomes leave the court after their done to allow a new foursome onto the court to take their place.  The 1st Set was played on Court Four from 6:25 to 6:55.  The balance of the match took place on Court One (and it certainly proved to be worthy of that court) as the 2nd Set started at 6:59 and ended at 7:41.  The 3rd Set lasted from 7:45 to 8:13.

The Skinny: Once it was all over, I gave the guys the option of having it be a full match or letting each set stand as separate One-Setters.  In that latter scenario, the 2nd Set would almost certainly be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  Senthil and Tito were up 7-6 in the Tiebreak before Marijus and Kyle made it 7-Up (you like that?) only to then have Kumar/Castolo take the next two points for the set.  It was then that both teams wanted to play a set to decide it all.  Kyle pushed for it to be recorded as a match as that would put his team with Marijus officially on the ranks.  And who knows...the score may be solid enough overall to have this instead be a Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Alfred Chen/Pranav Sinha over William Bobila/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-0!  No Aces.  This one took place on Court Five and lasted from 6:30 to 7pm.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Mike Mole/Anna Mazur over Rob Fredericks/Sue Fredericks, 6-1, 6-4, to become the New # 63 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 6:59 to 8:07.  Much credit to Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks who did their best to hang with the much younger combo of Mike and Anna.

William Bobila/Pranav Sinha tied with Alfred Chen/Fadia Nicolas, 6-6 (Incomplete when they decided to stop there at 7:55 as they felt it was getting too dark)!  No Aces.  It is a shame they did not finish this battle on Court Five (it had started at 7:10) as they would have had time for the Tiebreak.  Oh well...

All in all, the session was a success as the food was just as good as the action was.  The final gathering of guys did not leave until 8:50 in total darkness!

10/31 Results.

10/31/18:

"15 play at C.G., Adam-Ryan at BP!":

There were two special Halloween sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis on an action-packed night where the weather felt more like early September rather than late October.  Both sessions ran at the same time, but the first one got off to an earlier start as the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts got rolling around 6:15pm.  We have four contributors to this report from that session – "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Riz" John Rizzo.

The second session was at Brookdale Park and it was a "Battle of The Brothers" as "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak faced off against his older bro, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak (as reported by Adam).

We will first detail what took place at Cedar Grove (in an attempt to get as chronologically correct as possible) and then get to Pienciak-Pienciak later in this report.

Let's start things off with Scott as he has provided some detailed commentary as well.

Jordan Bacvaroff and I rolled up to the courts at Cedar Grove around 6:15pm and started hitting. He was struggling with knee pain.  We hit for around twenty minutes and then stopped due to the pain he was having.

A bunch of other people all came around 6:40.  Everyone divided up and it was me, Natalia Sout and Nathan Fernandes left together on one court.  I convinced Jordan to play even though he was in obvious pain.  He agreed to play the net only and I would get the whole court.  Great idea, Scott!

The Cedar Grove Results:

 

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (9-7)!  Jordan: 1 Ace on Natalia!

 

The Skinny from Scott: This One-Setter was the most I've run in a set in a long time.  Jordan did a good job covering the net.  But Nate was able to lob over his head multiple times during each point making me run back and forth.  This was an extremely competitive set.  It lasted until around 8:30…about an hour and a half long!  There were a lot of long, long points and a ton of Deuce games!   Afterward, I was exhausted and called it quits!  I definitely got my workout in on this night!

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his very timely and comprehensive reporting…always appreciated!  This sounds like it has a very good chance at being a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

 

We now turn this report over to Gen as she also provided some additional commentary.

 

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Joe Rodrigues/Genalin Capan, 6-4!  Sally: 1 Ace on Joe!

Gen's Notes: We played from 7:38 to 8:10.  It was a fun and competitive set.  Marijus and Sally had an early lead at 2-0.  Then we tied it up at 2-2.  There was an exchange of breaks, but then we stayed on serve all way up to 4-All.  Then Marijus/Sally took next two games for the win.

Thanks to Kris Srinivasan for coming out to the courts to bring a broom to clean the leaves off of Court Two.  Special thanks to Joe who was the one who swept the leaves with some assist from Sally and me.  Sally used her sweatpants and I used my racquet to try and clear some of the leaves...LOL!

 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Diane Raum/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3, 6-3, to become the New # 23 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

The Details from Doinks: Kathy has a great lefty slice serve and low backhand slice.  Diane is very consistent with rallies and has great net skills (especially with poaching).

 

During this match, Sally Pillay and Genalin Capan said they wanted to challenge the winners.  So, that set up the next match. 

 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Sally Pillay/Genalin Capan, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 (STB)!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.  The match did enable Pillay/Capan to enter the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 26 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

 

Gen's Notes: This one got started around 8:20 and ended at 9:55.  In the 1st Set, Sally and I were down 2-4.  We made a nice comeback by taking four straight games to close out the set.

In the 2nd Set, this time the roles were reversed.  Janice and Doinks were down 1-4.  We then started making more errors as Janice/Doinks rallied for a comeback by taking five straight games to take the set.  Now we are tied one set a piece.  We had 20 minutes left so we decided to just play the 10 Point Super Tiebreaker.

In the TB, Sally and I had the lead at 6-3.  Then it was tied up at 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8.  Janice/Doinks won the last two points to take the match.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks and Gen for their timely reporting…as well as their details and commentary.  This looks like it could be a possible Nominee for Women's Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

 

And now the rest of the results come courtesy of The Riz.

 

John Rizzo/Thomas Lee over Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues over John Rizzo/Thomas Lee, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John and everyone else again for their timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.

We now shift one town east to Bloomfield for "The Battle of The Brothers" that took place in Brookdale Park.

The Brookdale Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

From the AP: It should be noted that Adam was up 4-0 in the 2nd Set before trying his hardest to blow it.

Samara's Notes: I thank Adam for his very timely report as well…always appreciated!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/30 Results.

10/30/18:

"Kuzavas-Haque at C.G.!":

It seems there was only one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis and that there was only one official GTA match at that session as "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque got together for a full 3 out of 5 Sets Singles Match (as reported by Marijus).  Let's go to the report from Marijus now.
 

The Cedar Grove Result:

3 out of 5 Sets Singles Match:
Marijus Kuzavas over Muhammad Haque, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0!  This was not a rank defense for Kuzavas as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Haque is strictly in the Intermediate Division.  No Aces.

The Marijus Memo: We played from about 7:20 to around 8:40pm. It was a fun match with many good points.  Muhammed is a very nice guy to play against.  The night was a bit chilly, so perhaps he was not very comfortable playing in such conditions.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for his timely reporting and I appreciate the fact that he took the time to play a full match with Muhammad.  I hope that effort is rewarded with someone stepping up and answering the Open Challenge that Kuzavas issued yesterday...with a Challenge Match that takes place today/tonight.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/29 Results.

10/29/18

"Phoenix-Ortega at C.G.!":

It seems there was only one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and that there was only one official GTA match at that session as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega got together for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match (as reported by Edwin).  Let's go to Edwin's report now.
 

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edwin Ortega over Jay Phoenix, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, to become both the New # 20 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

The Edwin Editorial: We started in the afternoon which was cool and also perfect for a nighttime session.  We started around 4pm and ended around 6:40.  It seemed Jay was still warming up in the 1st Set.  The 2nd Set was more competitive as Jay climbed back from being down 2-4 and eventually forcing the Tiebreaker.  Despite the score, the 3rd Set was still competitive with multiple Deuce games during the set.  As always, it was fun competing with Jay!  

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting...always appreciated!  This friendly rivalry has produced many closely contested matches over the past few seasons.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/28 Results.

10/28/18:

"Doinks-Susan, Janice-Sally and much more at C.G.!":

There was one extended session of GTA Sunday Tennis at the Cedar Grove Courts as it got underway in the morning hours and then continued throughout the afternoon and evening hours as well.  There was a full Singles Challenge Match between "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and Susan Koshy (with Doinks reporting) and then there was a GTA Women's Championship Match with the GTA Women's Champion: Janice "J-Wow" Wang putting her Title on the line against "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay (as reported by "The Riz" John Rizzo).

There was also plenty of other action along the way.  Other contributors to this report from that session are "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque.  I will do my best to gather all their info and put it in some semblance of chronological order here in this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Doinks Srinivasan over Susan Koshy, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division!  In the process, Koshy entered the division as the New # 15 Ranked Player.  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: Susan was up 3-1 in the 1^st Set, but then she started making errors.

GTA Women's Championship Match:

Janice Wang over Sally Pillay, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to complete her second successful GTA Women's Championship defense of her first reign!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Challenge Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  Marijus: 2 Aces on Natalia! 

 

The Marijus Memo: We played from 2:40 to 3:50pm.  It was a good competitive match.  Nate was, as always, steadily getting to every ball and putting it back in play and Natalia keeps improving and giving a tougher fight every time we play them.

 

Samara's Notes: Nate reported the same and then also reported another match score which we will get to later in this report.

 

Dino Celis/Elias Eid over Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Elias Eid

Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque over Dino Celis/Elias Eid, 6-3!  No Aces.

Jorge Solano/Elias Eid over Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

 

The Muhammad Memo: I played there from 4pm to 6:30.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Nick Inciong/Guy Dupoux over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 8-6!  No Aces.  The match allowed Inciong/Dupoux to enter the Doubles Division as the New # 67 Ranked Team. 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting…much appreciated! 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

10/26 Results.

10/26/18:

"M-Dub action in Maywood, 14 play (2 New, 1 Return) at The Bubble!":

GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at two locations: The Maywood Tennis Club as the teams of Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace and "SWAT" Rich Liu/"K.O." Kazumi Otake got together to continue and conclude their in-progress M-Dub match which served as the "Final" for the Nutley portion of the tourney, but was to determine one of four Semifinal teams in the overall event (as reported by Rich); and The Wayne Bubble (as reported and organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo as "Hollywood" Frank Samara had to pull out of the event due to the continuing and developing situation with his mom's health).  We will first get the recap from Rich in Maywood and then we'll get the full report from John at The Bubble.

 

The MTC Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match (M-Dub Nutley "Final"):

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 33 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the overall Semifinals of the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament!  Patrick: 1 Ace on Rich in the 1^st Set!

 

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Rich for his very timely reporting…it is much appreciated!  And I congratulate Patrick and Juliet on their impressive victory.  And I thank all four of them for taking the time and making the effort to get this match done (including taking on the expense of playing the balance of the match indoors…the 1^st Set had taken place at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley when we had the second Sunday of M-Dub action simultaneously in Nutley and in Cedar Grove).

 

The Consequences: Hsu/Wallace is now the first of the four Semifinalist teams with two pending matches left to be played.  One is the still-pending match from the Cedar Grove, Part One portion of the tournament – "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak/"NCIS" Nicole Caputo versus "NC-17" Nick Caputo/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson.  And then the other match is from the Cedar Grove, Part Two portion of the tourney – Samara/"Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon vs. "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld/"The Olympian" Marie Salamon.

 

The winning teams that emerge from both of those matches will be two more of the four Semifinalist teams overall.  The fourth team will be the tandem that lost their match prior to the Semis by the closest margin (i.e. The Lucky Losers).  They will face the team that won their match prior to the Semis by the widest margin…leaving the other two teams to face one another in the other Semi.    

 

The team that eventually wins the entire M-Dub Tournament will be the next Top Contenders (and New # 2 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division) to challenge the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley.  There is a very solid chance that the eventual Title Match will not take place until the 2019 Season at the rate this tourney (the M-Dub) is currently advancing. 

We now head west to The Wayne Bubble.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Senthil Kumar/Nick Inciong over Ryan Pienciak/Fred Crespo, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 36 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Pienciak/Crespo entered the division as the New # 63 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Debut of Fred Crespo.

 

Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivisian over Senthil Kumar/Janice Wang, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

 

The Riz Report: Ryan/Doinks led 5-2 in the set before Senthil/Janice came back to force the Tiebreak and then have a 6-3 lead in the TB with 3 Match Points!  Ryan/Doinks then won the final five points and the match.

 

Samara's Notes: Sounds like this one could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. 

 

Don Moya/Laurie Boughton over Tom Heidt/Denise Savino, 7-5!  No Aces.

 

Don Moya/Denise Savino over Tom Heidt/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Paul Mallick/Arindam Mukherjee over Frank Hohorst/Matt Aery, 6-4, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 64 and # 65 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Return of Paul Mallick and the official GTA Debut of Arindam Mukherjee.  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: Much like Umang Jain prefers to be called "Ash," Arindam likes to be called "Buba."

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Nick Inciong/Paul Mallick over Frank Hohorst/Matt Aery, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New # 65 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Arindam Mukherjee over Fred Crespo, 6-0!  No Aces. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely and comprehensive report…and also for having to run the entire session without my help. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com