7/11/17:
"2 play at NTC, Fernandes-Chiaro part of 22 at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis took place at Nutley Tennis Club as "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Riz" John Rizzo faced off against one another in three separate Singles One-Setters (with John reporting) and also at The Cedar Grove Courts as "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan acted as host with The Main Event being the GTA Championship Rematch between the New GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and the Former Champ: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.
Both Nate and Chris supplied some commentary to this report. And "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan submitted some scores directly as well.
So first we will hear from John and then turn this report over to Kris with scores and commentary from the others along the way where appropriate.
The NTC Results:
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-3! No Aces.
John Rizzo over Anish Mehta, 6-3! No Aces.
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-2! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for submitting those scores in a very timely manner. I'm also glad to report that Anish is willing to give it a go in the Grove Cup despite still trying to get over a nagging arm injury.
We now head up to Cedar Grove to let The K take it away!
It turned out to be an awesome Tuesday evening with all the courts thriving in GTA Tennis full-steam. The highlight of the night was unquestionably the GTA Championship Rematch between Nate and Chris. There was some exciting Mixed Doubles and Men's Doubles action as well.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Championship Rematch:
Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro, 6-4, 6-2, to complete his first successful GTA Championship defense of his first reign! No Aces.
The K has his say: Another showdown between these two was a fighting one…especially in the 1st Set when Chris started off on a fiery note taking the first three games. Nate changed his racquet at this point and things started turning in his favor. This match was played on Court 2, in a way, away from others and undisturbed. As per Chris, his attacking shots were not finding the court, working against him. Nate set himself well on a 'consistent' mode, determined to keep the ball in play. Indeed, it is a tough loss for Chris but nevertheless a well-deserved victory for Nate as he followed up decisively on his previous win. Congratulations to him for reaching the pinnacle that he missed out last year!
The Commentary from Chris: Once again, Nate was the better player. Congratulations to him on his first GTA Championship defense and for playing such a well-fought match. Every match Nate plays, he gets better and better…and he is definitely deserving of holding the #1 Ranking.
Nate's Notes: Another really tough match despite what the score might indicate. Chris started off really well and had some amazing shots throughout the match. Even as an opponent, I just marveled at the pace and placement of some of them. He's the # 1 Seed (in the Grove Cup) for a reason and I wish him all the best in the upcoming tournament. Let the trials by combat begin!
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their comments. I once again congratulate Nate on a very impressive victory. And it will be interesting to see if anyone in the biggest draw ever in Grove Cup history can stop Chris on his quest to win The Cup and then get back on top.
We now go to the result from Kevin along with his commentary and also some from Kris and then The K Man will finish the report.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Ray Spadaro/Dawn Peterson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 (STB)! Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, the # 9 Rank of Doyle/Jordan in the Mixed Doubles Division was no longer on the line. In the process, Spadaro/Peterson entered the division as the New # 41 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Kevlar Commentary: It was very humid and Brenda was really feeling it as the night wore on, but she gamely kept playing even though she was obviously struggling. I have to commend her toughness as she kept going and fought through it. Also, Ray is still recovering his mobility from the neck/spinal surgery he underwent awhile back, I believe on his neck. However, he played very well as we managed to play a very long hard-fought match with many long rallies and games. Brenda and I dominated early on and won the 1st Set. But before we knew it we found ourselves behind 0-5 in the 2nd Set as things really turned around. Then we came back to win 4 games in a row before losing that second set, 6-4. We then decided on a Super Tiebreak to decide the matter. Once again, it was another really long and hard-fought battle with long rallies and the lead constantly changing hands and we found ourselves tied at 10-10! Ultimately, Dawn and Ray put it away with a great shot down-the-line by Dawn to end another really long rally and win it at 12-10!
The K has his say: Ray made it all the more interesting teaming with Dawn and, at the end of the session, all the players felt pretty pleased with their match that was quite engaging.
Samara's Notes: This may be a possible Nominee for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Moka Pathan/Senthil Kumar over Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole, 6-3, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 55 and # 56 Ranked Teams respectively! Jose: 1 Ace on Senthil in the 2nd Set!
It was a good team-up as Moka and Senthil in tandem were solid. Jose played smart tennis with great shots and touch. Mike had his moments, but he was off at times and that put pressure on his team.
Sairaj Srinivasan/Laura Gawley over Kris Srinivasan/Chris Barbieri, 6-1! No Aces.
Sairaj was classy as he played his attacking shots especially at Chris as he got attacked at the net, service-line and baseline. The shots came so fast that Chris didn't have time to react. Laura, on top of this, loaded her own shots and overheads to put us under continued pressure.
Kris Srinivasan/Chris Barbieri over Sairaj Srinivasan/Laura Gawley, 6-2! No Aces.
Sairaj lost focus and some loose shots started creeping into his game. Unfortunately, his attacking shots were going just long.
Nathan Fernandes/Laura Gawley over Kris Srinivasan/Andrew Truong, 6-4! No Aces.
We were almost taken to the cleaners down Love-4 before Andrew held his serve. He did pretty well with controlled shots and occasionally some punishing ones with brute of a shot. We had a great comeback, but then had a hiccup at the end.
Lou La Forgia/Andrew Kroesler over Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah, 6-3! No Aces.
Lou La Forgia/Andrew Kroessler over Senthil Kumar/Jose Gonzales, 6-2! No Aces.
It was a pretty good day for Lou and Drew as they did well teaming together. In fact, Drew was one satisfied man, feeling good with his play as well as getting great cheer from Lou.
Tom La/Dawn Peterson over Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces.
It was a very good match that went the distance, but unfortunately ended on a Double Fault after many battling points. Doinks felt pleased with her play except for some misses at crucial times. Dawn was effortless in taking on Dennis's aggressive shots. Tom did a great job at the net and also firing up on his shots.
Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Nathan Fernandes/Andrew Truong, 6-4! No Aces.
After cooling down a bit after his Singles, Chris did well to ease into Doubles. He sure was not himself in the first half of the match as we were soon down 1-4 before we went into top gear to take 5 games in a row to seal the set!
All in all, it was a great night of GTA Tennis on a very muggy night! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for being the host with the most up at Cedar Grove. And I again thank all those who have also contributed to this report.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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