"Was it 2 or 5 at RHP? Shiao-Nair part of 13 at C.G.!":
GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara) and The Cedar Grove Courts (also hosted by Samara with some assistance from "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament Semifinal Match between Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "Net Profit" Praful Nair).
Let's first go to the full RHP recap.
Samara issued a late e-mail to the league around 5pm stating that he had a change of plans and would be hosting a session at Robin Hood Park after all. He predicted his arrival time would be around 6pm.
When Frank pulled up to the curb at 6pm, he saw the four usual Arabic guys on the Entrance Court. On Championship Court, Sean Molloy and Jodi Magee were having a hitting session with one another.
So Samara parked his stuff on Center Court. Soon after, Molloy and Magee prematurely ended their match to invite Frank over to hit with them. For almost an hour, it was Frank hitting against Sean and Jodi. It was very nice of them to do this.
When "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov arrived at 6:50, Molloy and Magee were too exhausted to play Doubles and instead went home (which is right across the street from the courts). Hopefully, they will be able to play some official tennis with us in the near future.
After a brief five minute hitting session, Samara proposed the idea of a Singles One-Setter to Kazakov and Rafa accepted.
Just as that was getting underway, Uni and Dora Mendoza took over Center Court for a hitting session.
Midway through the One-Setter, "Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 7:10. After the One-Setter ended at 7:25, it became a hitting session with Frank and Rafaelo hitting against Dino. This lasted until 7:45.
So that was it at RHP…just two official players with another three involved only in hitting sessions.
After the action subsided at 7:45, Samara hitched a ride with Celis to Cedar Grove. But we will get to all that later.
The RHP Result:
Frank Samara over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 with two un-returned serves, then it went to Double Game Point where Rafaelo hit a winning return for Game Point, but then another un-returned serve earned the hold) and Rafaelo held as well (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point as Rafaelo hit a drop shot winner along the way and then he got the hold) for 1-1. Samara was the first to be broken (30-Love shifted to 30-All as Rafaelo hit a drop shot winner and then another winner along the way, it then went to Break Point where Rafaelo hit another drop shot winner to get the break), but then so was Kazakov (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Rafaelo hit a winner followed by an amazing Backhand Volley winner, but then it shifted to Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Deuce, but then it was Break Point again where Rafaelo blew a volley to break himself) for 2-2. From there, Hollywood held (15-Love, 15-All and then back-to-back winners on the way to Double Game Point, then the hold), RK Fire was broken again (Rafaelo hit a winner for 15-Love and it then went point for point until 30-All…and there was an un-returned serve along the way…but then it went to Break Point where another un-returned serve brought it to Deuce only to have it go to Break Point again where Frank got the break with a drop shot winner of his own), Frank held again (un-returned serve for 30-Love, then Rafaelo hit a winner for 30-15, then Double Game Point, Game Point where Frank hit a drop shot that led to the hold) and Rafaelo was broken once more (Love-15 where Frank blew a volley for 15-All, but then Frank would soon hit a winner on the way to Double Break/Match Point which is where Rafaelo hit a winner to make it Break/Match Point, then it was Deuce where Frank made a nice get/winner combo to set up the 3rd Break/Match Point and then Frank hit yet another get/winner combo to end it) as the pendulum swung quickly in this one! We played this on Championship Court from 6:55 to 7:25.
The Skinny: Rafaelo came out like his moniker, "RK Fire", as he was seemingly hitting winners at will. He caught Samara somewhat flat-footed. Frank was already fairly exhausted from a nearly one hour hitting session where he was double-teamed by Molloy and Magee. Soon, however, Samara got his act together and reversed the momentum of the match. Still, it must be said that Kazakov continues to display great improvement.
After the hitting session and leaving RHP around 7:45, Dino and Frank arrived at Cedar Grove at 8pm.
Court One was vacant while Court Two had Kris and "Kaboom" Raj Boddu hitting against "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.
Court Three featured the Semifinal Match between Shiao and Nair. And Court Four had two unfamiliar guys on it, but they soon left around 8:10.
Natalia "Nitro" Sout arrived at 8:05 and was soon followed by "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli just minutes later.
The sudden vacancy on Court Four inspired the foursome from Court Two to take over Court Four instead as Courts One and Two had puddles on them that were far worse than the ones on Three and Four. It led to a Doubles One-Setter featuring Kris and Raj versus Jose and Doinks.
When Shiao-Nair concluded at 8:20, Spin and Natalia soon headed out onto that court to hit with one another until they were joined by Nair and Celis for back-to-back Doubles One-Setters featuring Dino and Spin versus Praful and Natalia.
The Gawleys (Rob and Laura) arrived at 8:35. Rowdy Rob went home to bring back brooms to brush away the puddles. Eventually, the two of them took Court Two to hit with one another while waiting to play Doubles.
Shiao sat with Samara for a while before leaving at 8:50. Five minutes later, we had our final (and 13th official competitor) arrival of the night as Dwight Thomas Jr. had his mom bring him to the courts as his dad was working at a carnival event.
Suddenly the number of competitors all fell into place as we had three Doubles One-Setters all getting started at 9:05. The action would run all the way until lights out at 10pm.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Semifinal Match
Tony Shiao over Praful Nair, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division while simultaneously becoming the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division and also advancing to the Finals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Tony: 1 Ace in the 1st Set.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: He arrived at the courts at 6pm. Praful came soon after. After a hitting session, they estimated that they began the match on Court Three around 6:30 and it did not end until 8:20! This was a true marathon of a match for a straight-setter. There were many 30-plus stroke rallies. Tony jumped out to 3-0 leads in both sets only to have Praful battle back.
The Consequences: Shiao will now face "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar in the Finals!
Samara's Notes: Shiao was up 4-3 in the 2nd Set when I arrived at 8pm. It soon went to 4-4. Yes, indeed, there were many lengthy rallies and great gets on both sides of the net. Nair, in particular, had a couple of gets that grabbed the attention of those in attendance. But he did himself in with some ill-timed Unforced Errors.
At the end of the evening, Praful informed us that he will be moving to Tampa, Florida next month. He will continue to play with us until it is time for the move. It will be a shame to lose him as he is both a quality player and a nice guy as well.
And now we go to the rest of the scores.
Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Jose: 1 Ace on Kris. They played this one on Court Four from 8:25 to 8:55.
Praful Nair/Natalia Sout over Dino Celis/Dan Martinelli, 6-1! No Aces. This took place on Court Three and lasted from 8:31 to 9pm. After a brief break, they played another one (which we will get to later).
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. We switched sides every two games, but in the interest of saving time…I did not write my usual notes on the changeovers. Instead, I memorized every game (but not who hit what winners where and when). They went as follows: Laura held (Love-30 to Game Point and the hold) and Frank was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and then an ill-timed Double Fault to break himself) to go down 0-2! Rob was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), but so was Doinks (Love-30 to 30-All, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-3. Mrs. Gawley was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), but Samara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4. Mr. Gawley held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) to take a fairly commanding 5-2 lead, but Srinivasan fought back with a hold of her own (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) to pull to 3-5. But then The Aura held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted to Game/Match Point which is where it ended) to get the win! We played this one on Court Four from 9:05 to 9:35. While I jotted down the games from memory, Laura started hitting against both Rob and Doinks. When I rejoined them about three or so minutes later, I took Laura's side. Doinks joked that I had abandoned her. But eager to try to squeeze in another one, we got another One-Setter underway with those new pairings. And there would be no switching of sides for changeovers in this one in an attempt to save even more time. A little later in this report, we will find out if that paid off or not.
Dino Celis/Dan Martinelli over Praful Nair/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces. This one was contested on Court Three from 9:05 to 9:33.
Kris Srinivasan/Dwight Thomas Jr. over Jose Gonzales/Raj Boddu, 6-3! Jose: 1 Ace on Kris. This one was conducted on Court Two from 9:05 to 9:40. They then switched the sides and went into another one where there would be no switching sides every two games (i.e. changeovers) in an attempt to get another one done. We shall see a little later.
Frank Samara/Laura Gawley over Rob Gawley/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0! No Aces. The fast breakdown: Doinks was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break), Frank held at Love, Rob was broken at Love, Laura held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold), Srinivasan was broken at Love and Samara held again (Love-30 went straight to Game/Match Point, then Deuce, 2nd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, it finally ended on the 3rd Game/Match Point) as a doughnut was served late-night on "National Doughnut Day!" We started at 9:38 and finished it at 9:58 (much to the chagrin of Rowdy Rob who was stalling a bit in the hopes of the lights going out and leaving this business unfinished). The best game of the bunch was the last one as the drama built with each point.
Jose Gonzales/Dwight Thomas Jr. leading Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu, 5-1 (Incomplete as they were tied in the game at 30-All when the lights went out at 10pm)! Jose: 3 Aces on Raj all in the same game! This one got underway on Court Two around 9:42. Jose and Dwight jumped out to a 4-0 lead before it became 4-1. DT Junior proved he can definitely hang with the big boys…and then some!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for always be so willing to host the GTA session up at Cedar Grove. I am happy that I was once again able to help lighten his load somewhat with my visit. So I also thank Dino for bringing me there and back.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
The official GTA Rankings have changed and are now as follows:
GTA Advanced Division
GTA Champion:
1. Chris Chiaro
2. Moka Pathan
3. Dino Celis
4. Marijus Kuzavas
5. Rob Ryan
6. Dean Delgado
7. Norman Taclob
8. Kris Srinivasan
9. Raj Shah
10. Senthil Kumar
11. Mike Kazlauskas
12. Ralph Bernard
13. Frank Samara
14. Brian Barbera
15. John Rizzo
16. Ray Jalil
17. Chazz Weldon
18. Jose Gonzales
19. Tony Shiao
20. Greg Swierczek
21. Praful Nair
22. Jay Phoenix
23. Omar Santos
24. Anish Mehta
25. Sukumar Mitra
26. Chris Lehmann
27. Jordan Bachvaroff
28. Michel Encarnacion
29. Lou La Forgia
30. Mike Mole
31. Dave Ahmadi
32. Raj Boddu
33. Carlos Lopez
34. Dave Zhu
35. Dan Martinelli
36. Brian Fitz
37. Dan Praport
GTA Intermediate Division
GTA Intermediate Champion:
1. Chazz Weldon
2. Senthil Kumar
3. Tony Shiao
4. Praful Nair
5. Jay Phoenix
6. Mike Kazlauskas
7. Anish Mehta
8. Sukumar Mitra
9. Greg Swierczek
10. Kris Srinivasan
11. Michel Encarnacion
12. Mike Mole
13. Raj Boddu
14. Dave Ahmadi
15. Joe Rodrigues
16. Omar Santos
17. Carlos Lopez
18. Lou La Forgia
19. Alfred Chen
20. Dennis Cabanatan
21. Ryan Pienciak
22. Rafaelo Kazakov
23. Jorge Solano
24. Kevin Doyle
25. Raj Tailor
26. Edwin Ortega
27. Leo Victor
28. Paul Mysliwiec
29. Lukasz Krzesiewicz
30. Sairaj Srinivasan
31. Dave Zapusek
32. Rob Gawley
33. Mike Flax
34. Peter Corso
35. Matias Dioses
36. Suresh Poosala
GTA Non-Competing Men's Division
1. Syed Rashid
2. Rich Jachens
3. Herb Reiner
4. Nick Inciong
5. Tom La
6. Tito Castolo
7. Chris Barbieri
8. Vinnie De Benedetto
9. Pankaj Savaliya
10. Hiren Ramani
11. Harvey Ranzi
12. Larry Young
13. Santosh Reddy
14. Dan Hwang
15. Derek Bronisz
16. Ted Cedroski
17. Bill Bess
18. Sean Molloy
19. Laurence Bueno
20. Peter Cedeno
21. Ramon Cedeno
22. Jay Srinivasan
23. Vibhesh Tailor
24. Nathan Fernandes
25. Andy Lu
26. Tim Yu
27. Jeff Angello Jr.
28. Jeff Angello
29. Meet Rana
30. Bryan Mun
31. Pranav Sinha
32. Ralph Nadal
33. Zaf Babin
34. Melvin Hyman
35. George Sienkiewicz
36. Mike Carucci
37. Nilay Patel
38. Nithin Poosala
39. Dwight Thomas Sr.
40. Dwight Thomas Jr.
41. Kyle Jansen
42. Andrew Truong
43. Dan Sajle
44. Russ Johnson
45. Wilson Duval
46. Jonathan Hegarty
47. Francois Descorbeth
48. Bo Folchi
49. Mike Laneve Sr.
50. Mike Laneve Jr.
51. Mike Sindler
52. Jovo Bjelcevic
53. T.J. Shah
54. Rajan Shah
55. Felix Castolo
GTA Doubles Division
GTA Doubles Champions:
1. Norman Taclob/Tito Castolo
2. Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto
3. John Rizzo/Nick Inciong
4. Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan
5. Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas
6. Kris Srinivasan/Mike Kazlauskas
7. Alfred Chen/Dan Hwang
8. Chris Chiaro/Jorge Solano
9. Moka Pathan/Chris Chiaro
10. Chris Lehmann/Sukumar Mitra
11. Tony Shiao/Ryan Pienciak
12. Rafaelo Kazakov/Bill Bess
13. Raj Tailor/Vibhesh Tailor
14. Marijus Kuzavas/Praful Nair
15. Lou La Forgia/Nathan Fernandes
16. Frank Samara/John Rizzo
17. Sukumar Mitra/Ryan Pienciak
18. Jorge Solano/Santosh Reddy
19. Jorge Solano/Pankaj Savaliya
20. Hiren Ramani/Nilay Patel
21. Dwight Thomas Sr./Dwight Thomas Jr.
22. Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales
23. Lou La Forgia/Praful Nair
24. Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia
25. Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo
26. Nathan Fernandes/Santosh Reddy
27. Peter Corso/Matias Dioses
28. Mike Laneve Sr./Mike Laneve Jr.
29. Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar
30. Greg Swierczek/Santosh Reddy
31. Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah
32. Frank Samara/Nathan Fernandes
GTA Women's Division
GTA Women's Champion:
TITLE VACANT
1. Laura Gawley
2. Doinks Srinivasan
3. Evonne Tan
4. Genalin Capan
5. Sally Pillay
6. Anna Mazur
7. Kathy Sheldon
8. Jane Fan
9. Sue Koziol
10. Brenda Jordan
11. Christine Toth
12. Marie Salamon
13. Dawn Peterson
14. Mindy Zhang
15. Natalie Guzman
16. Miriam Mendez
17. Natalia Sout
Non-Competing Women's Division
1. Andrea Lim
2. Barbara Grass
3. Karen Yennie
4. Robin Altman
5. Jodi Magee
6. Marcia Yu
7. Yuko Angello
8. Kathy Carroll
9. Justine La Monaca
10. Wanda Nadal
11. Corry Grant
12. Silvana Wilson
13. Lydia Mikhail
14. Denise Savino
15. Barbara Johnson
16. Sachiko Tokuda
17. Mary Rosado
18. Fernanda Toker
GTA Women's Doubles Division
GTA Women's Doubles Champions:
1. Sally Pillay/Laura Gawley
2. Doinks Srinivasan/Kathy Sheldon
3. Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson
4. Sally Pillay/Dawn Peterson
5. Kathy Sheldon/Karen Yennie
6. Brenda Jordan/Jane Fan
7. Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson
8. Genalin Capan/Brenda Jordan
9. Doinks Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson
10. Kathy Sheldon/Sally Pillay
11. Brenda Jordan/Mindy Zhang
12. Doinks Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan
GTA Mixed Doubles Division
GTA Mixed Doubles Champions:
1. Marijus Kuzavas/Christine Toth
2. Nick Inciong/Anna Mazur
3. Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan
4. Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay
5. Jose Gonzales/Sally Pillay
6. Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan
7. Jose Gonzales/Kathy Sheldon
8. Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson
9. Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan
10. Nathan Fernandes/Miriam Mendez
11. Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan
12. Senthil Kumar/Laura Gawley
13. Dino Celis/Natalia Sout
14. Andy Lu/Marie Salamon
15. Tim Yu/Marcia Yu
16. Frank Samara/Jane Fan
17. Joe Rodrigues/Natalia Sout
18. Santosh Reddy/Doinks Srinivasan
19. Kevin Doyle/Kathy Sheldon
20. Dave Ahmadi/Sue Koziol
21. Dennis Cabanatan/Justine La Monaca
22. Mike Mole/Jane Fan
23. Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson
24. Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley
25. Greg Swierczek/Natalia Sout
26. Jorge Solano/Dawn Peterson
27. Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout
28. Dave Zhu/Jane Fan
29. Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout
30. Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan
Blog: http://gta-tennis.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Global-Tennis-Association-GTA-149853835168
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