4/26/16:
"Samara/Rizzo co-host 4 at The Bubble!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis only took place at one location, The Wayne Bubble. It seems that the late afternoon rains scared away any outdoor tennis plans. Scheduled for Robin Hood Park in Clifton was the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "Double R" Rob Ryan and the Top Contender: "Instant" Moka Pathan. The timing of the rain allowed no chance of that one happening then and there.
But "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan said that by the time of the usual Cedar Grove session, the courts were bone-dry. Yet, no official GTA action took place there.
"The Riz" John Rizzo had a couple of free hours of court time left up at The Bubble. This was the night to cash in as it was the Season Finale (i.e. the dismantling of The Bubble was set to start the following morning). The Riz offered an invitation to "Hollywood" Frank Samara. The Wood (aka The Frank) promptly accepted.
Rizzo said he would find two other players to enable some Doubles to happen. He found two strong players: "The Munster" Bryan Mun and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan.
When Rizzo and Samara arrived at 7:45, all four courts were full and Mun was by himself on Court One. Cabanatan had already informed John that he was running ten minutes late.
So Bryan was hitting against both Frank and John as they waited for Dennis to arrive. Around that time, Samara noticed the action taking place next to them on Court Two.
It was "The Boss" Bill Bess and his teaching pro, "Powerhouse" Paul Gomez taking on a guy who looked like he could be Paul's brother (almost his twin, actually) and former GTA Champion (and then elevated to Pro): "The Eastside Legend" Ruddy Pena! There was truly some hard-hitting action taking place on that court, for sure!
As promised, Cabanatan walked onto Court One at 7:55. After a four-way hitting session of about five minutes, we got the first of three Doubles One-Setters underway.
With a deadline of 9:30 (though we were later allowed to go overtime), I did not note who hit what winners and when...but I did note the progression of points in each game.
Here we go!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-3! Bryan: 1 Ace on Frank. It went like this: Frank was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break), Bryan was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then another Double Fault for the break), John was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), but Dennis was the first to hold serve (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce then all Game Points to 4th Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) to put his team up 3-1. Samara held (15-Love to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce and then all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) for 2-3, but Mun also held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point, sideline Ace on Frank for the hold) to go up 4-2. Rizzo also held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to pull to 3-4, but from there Cabanatan held again in a most pivotal game (Double Fault for Love-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce and then Break Point where John had what should have been a sure winning volley opportunity, but he went for too much angle and ended up hitting it sideways on his own side of the court to bring it back to 2nd Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold) and The Wood was broken again (Double Fault for Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point) to take a tough loss! We played this one on Court One from 8pm to 8:33.
The Skinny: Without noting winners, what you should instead picture is Mun coming with all-around big game as he is a Certified Tennis Instructor. His biggest weapons are his serve (and the Double Faults are result of the fact that he goes for it on second serve) and his Overhead Smash. Plus, he is very quick and makes several gets. Cabanatan is a crafty lefty who also has a variety of shots in his arsenal. The book on both Samara and Rizzo is that they will do whatever they have to do to stay in the point. Some will call it junk tennis, but it is often with a measure of finesse and precision...and this is often enough to bail them out of trouble. That pivotal point where John could have hit the winning volley to level the set at 4-4 proved to be absolutely crucial as it took both Rizzo and Samara out of it mentally. Frank followed that letdown of a game with a deflated service that was worthy of a Love break, but they gutted it out for two more points before being put out of their misery.
Still, when all was said and done, it felt like a close match-up...so we decided upon a rematch.
Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-5! Bryan: 3 Aces (2 on Frank and 1 on John); and Dennis: 1 Ace on John! Here's how it went down: Bryan held (Love-15, 15-All and then an Ace up the T against John for 30-15 followed by a second-serve corner Ace on Frank to set up Game Point and then he hit an un-returnable serve for the hold), Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then the break) and Dennis held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point where he hit a corner Ace on John for the hold) to fairly quickly go up 3-0! Still, deflated and dejected, it looked like Samara/Rizzo were soon to be defeated and possibly fed a late-night bagel when a turnaround occurred with John on serve as he went down Triple Break Point only to rally back to Deuce and earn the hold on the very first Game Point to get his team on the scoreboard! Mun held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then the hold) to put his team 4-1, but Samara also held (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4. Cabanatan was broken as it shifted straight from 15-Love to Double Break Point and the break and then Rizzo held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to knot the score at 4-4 as a true momentum shift had occurred! From there it was nip and tuck as The Munster held a third straight time in this set, but not as easily as he started off with two Double Faults, but then hit a blast of an un-returnable serve for 15-30 which was then followed by a corner Ace on Frank for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, Double Fault for 3rd Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold), but Hollywood held as well (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to even it up again, this time at 5-5! The Menace held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), but then The Riz was broken (Triple Break/Match Point, it ended on Double Break/Match Point) to suffer a hard-fought loss...but it was at least one they could feel better about. This one also took place on Court One and lasted from 8:37 to 9:12.
The Skinny: Rizzo's rebound on serve to get his team on the board was what turned this battle around and at least made it interesting. It was good quality tennis all around.
For the next (and last) one, we decided to switch up the teams. Honestly, we did not think we would be able to complete it in time.
John Rizzo/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-2! No Aces. The dirty lowdown: Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and the break) and Bryan held once again as he went up 15-Love, then hit back-to-back Double Faults for 15-30, it went to Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, Game Point and the hold to go up 2-0. Dennis held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Fault to make it 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce and all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and the hold), but John also held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold) for 3-1. Samara held at Love to pull to 2-3, but from there Mun held again (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15 shifted to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Cabanatan was broken (15-Love where Dennis busted the strings on his racquet and had to use a replacement...which seemingly affected him as it then went 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Rizzo held at Love when this one finished on Triple Game/Match Point at 9:42 (we started this one on Court One at exactly 9:13)!
The Skinny: Rizzo caught his second wind in this one while he was ably supported by Mun. Meanwhile, many Unforced Errors crept into the game of both Samara and Cabanatan.
All in all, it was a fun night and a nice way to close out The Bubble's 2015-2016 Indoor Season. I thank John for the invite and also thank Bill for the latitude on the time.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
"Samara/Rizzo co-host 4 at The Bubble!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis only took place at one location, The Wayne Bubble. It seems that the late afternoon rains scared away any outdoor tennis plans. Scheduled for Robin Hood Park in Clifton was the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "Double R" Rob Ryan and the Top Contender: "Instant" Moka Pathan. The timing of the rain allowed no chance of that one happening then and there.
But "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan said that by the time of the usual Cedar Grove session, the courts were bone-dry. Yet, no official GTA action took place there.
"The Riz" John Rizzo had a couple of free hours of court time left up at The Bubble. This was the night to cash in as it was the Season Finale (i.e. the dismantling of The Bubble was set to start the following morning). The Riz offered an invitation to "Hollywood" Frank Samara. The Wood (aka The Frank) promptly accepted.
Rizzo said he would find two other players to enable some Doubles to happen. He found two strong players: "The Munster" Bryan Mun and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan.
When Rizzo and Samara arrived at 7:45, all four courts were full and Mun was by himself on Court One. Cabanatan had already informed John that he was running ten minutes late.
So Bryan was hitting against both Frank and John as they waited for Dennis to arrive. Around that time, Samara noticed the action taking place next to them on Court Two.
It was "The Boss" Bill Bess and his teaching pro, "Powerhouse" Paul Gomez taking on a guy who looked like he could be Paul's brother (almost his twin, actually) and former GTA Champion (and then elevated to Pro): "The Eastside Legend" Ruddy Pena! There was truly some hard-hitting action taking place on that court, for sure!
As promised, Cabanatan walked onto Court One at 7:55. After a four-way hitting session of about five minutes, we got the first of three Doubles One-Setters underway.
With a deadline of 9:30 (though we were later allowed to go overtime), I did not note who hit what winners and when...but I did note the progression of points in each game.
Here we go!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-3! Bryan: 1 Ace on Frank. It went like this: Frank was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break), Bryan was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then another Double Fault for the break), John was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), but Dennis was the first to hold serve (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce then all Game Points to 4th Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) to put his team up 3-1. Samara held (15-Love to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce and then all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) for 2-3, but Mun also held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point, sideline Ace on Frank for the hold) to go up 4-2. Rizzo also held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to pull to 3-4, but from there Cabanatan held again in a most pivotal game (Double Fault for Love-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce and then Break Point where John had what should have been a sure winning volley opportunity, but he went for too much angle and ended up hitting it sideways on his own side of the court to bring it back to 2nd Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold) and The Wood was broken again (Double Fault for Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point) to take a tough loss! We played this one on Court One from 8pm to 8:33.
The Skinny: Without noting winners, what you should instead picture is Mun coming with all-around big game as he is a Certified Tennis Instructor. His biggest weapons are his serve (and the Double Faults are result of the fact that he goes for it on second serve) and his Overhead Smash. Plus, he is very quick and makes several gets. Cabanatan is a crafty lefty who also has a variety of shots in his arsenal. The book on both Samara and Rizzo is that they will do whatever they have to do to stay in the point. Some will call it junk tennis, but it is often with a measure of finesse and precision...and this is often enough to bail them out of trouble. That pivotal point where John could have hit the winning volley to level the set at 4-4 proved to be absolutely crucial as it took both Rizzo and Samara out of it mentally. Frank followed that letdown of a game with a deflated service that was worthy of a Love break, but they gutted it out for two more points before being put out of their misery.
Still, when all was said and done, it felt like a close match-up...so we decided upon a rematch.
Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-5! Bryan: 3 Aces (2 on Frank and 1 on John); and Dennis: 1 Ace on John! Here's how it went down: Bryan held (Love-15, 15-All and then an Ace up the T against John for 30-15 followed by a second-serve corner Ace on Frank to set up Game Point and then he hit an un-returnable serve for the hold), Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then the break) and Dennis held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point where he hit a corner Ace on John for the hold) to fairly quickly go up 3-0! Still, deflated and dejected, it looked like Samara/Rizzo were soon to be defeated and possibly fed a late-night bagel when a turnaround occurred with John on serve as he went down Triple Break Point only to rally back to Deuce and earn the hold on the very first Game Point to get his team on the scoreboard! Mun held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then the hold) to put his team 4-1, but Samara also held (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4. Cabanatan was broken as it shifted straight from 15-Love to Double Break Point and the break and then Rizzo held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to knot the score at 4-4 as a true momentum shift had occurred! From there it was nip and tuck as The Munster held a third straight time in this set, but not as easily as he started off with two Double Faults, but then hit a blast of an un-returnable serve for 15-30 which was then followed by a corner Ace on Frank for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, Double Fault for 3rd Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold), but Hollywood held as well (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to even it up again, this time at 5-5! The Menace held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), but then The Riz was broken (Triple Break/Match Point, it ended on Double Break/Match Point) to suffer a hard-fought loss...but it was at least one they could feel better about. This one also took place on Court One and lasted from 8:37 to 9:12.
The Skinny: Rizzo's rebound on serve to get his team on the board was what turned this battle around and at least made it interesting. It was good quality tennis all around.
For the next (and last) one, we decided to switch up the teams. Honestly, we did not think we would be able to complete it in time.
John Rizzo/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-2! No Aces. The dirty lowdown: Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and the break) and Bryan held once again as he went up 15-Love, then hit back-to-back Double Faults for 15-30, it went to Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, Game Point and the hold to go up 2-0. Dennis held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Fault to make it 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce and all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and the hold), but John also held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold) for 3-1. Samara held at Love to pull to 2-3, but from there Mun held again (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15 shifted to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Cabanatan was broken (15-Love where Dennis busted the strings on his racquet and had to use a replacement...which seemingly affected him as it then went 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Rizzo held at Love when this one finished on Triple Game/Match Point at 9:42 (we started this one on Court One at exactly 9:13)!
The Skinny: Rizzo caught his second wind in this one while he was ably supported by Mun. Meanwhile, many Unforced Errors crept into the game of both Samara and Cabanatan.
All in all, it was a fun night and a nice way to close out The Bubble's 2015-2016 Indoor Season. I thank John for the invite and also thank Bill for the latitude on the time.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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