8/14/17:
"Kris/Spin host 13 at C.G.!":
There was one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis: the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts co-hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.
So first we will go to Kris and then to Spin.
It was a beautiful evening for GTA Tennis with just a bit of humidity, but still very pleasant for playing. We were deprived of two of the courts for most of the evening until almost 8:45pm. When I reached the tennis courts, it was about 7:15 pm. There was GTA action underway on Courts 2 and 4.
Spin was hitting with Natalia on Court 2 while on Court 4, it was Nathan Fernandes, Chris Chiaro, Mike Mole and Dino Celis. Herb Reiner was done hitting with Mirav Glavic on Court 1. Just as I was going to take that court, I saw Herb lugging his hopper and pounced to help carry the hopper to his car. In those two minutes, I lost that court just like that to the non-GTA folks!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Nathan Fernandes/Kris Srinivasan over Chris Chiaro/Mike Mole, 6-4! Mike: 1 Ace on Nate!
It looked like Chris was back to his attacking mode which showed up especially in his return of serves and ground-strokes. But Nate was too good to counter them as well as Mike's lovely shots which were quite effective. Nate's gets to some of the shots were out of this world and made up more for my initial errors. Mike had a superb Ace on Nate, but overall Nate "aced" his opponents.
Levy Lorenzo/Peter Corso over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces.
Peter played splendidly at the net as well as his ground-strokes which were free-flowing. Levy was his usual self, getting to almost all the shots thrown at him. Natalia played like she always does, with fully swung shots that were solid most times and missing the court at other times. Jose's game was a mixed bag, but he held his service games both times, I believe.
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-3! No Aces.
It was a very good match per Doinks. Tom was brilliant, attacking at the net and made a great impact on the outcome of the match.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 7-5! No Aces.
Nate was thrilled that it turned to be a great match with sweet moments for both sides, with great shots and rallies.
Samara's Notes: This could be a possible preview of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Final. We now go back to Kris briefly before going to Spin.
There were other matches that were played, but I am not aware of the participants or scores. Doinks and Laurie Boughton played a couple of new guys (they took Court 2 and I've seen them before usually playing in the early evening) beating them 6-0!
Samara's Notes: It is a shame nobody got their names as this could have been included as an official result. Oh well! We now go back to The K again.
Peter played at least two more matches, if not three. Spin was involved in one of them.
Samara's Notes: That is our cue to turn this report over to Spin. We will then let Kris have the last word.
Yours truly was an early arrival at Cedar Grove…even earlier than the apple-toting Kris. Upon my arrival, Court 2 was infiltrated by interlopers who would keep said court right up to around 9pm. On Court 1 was the usual tandem of Herb and Mirav practicing their hitting (as usual). When they finished, we were not quick enough to conquer that court and it fell into interloper hands. They also stayed well into the session.
Nate was on the bench waiting and we tried to decide to hit or talk "Game of Thrones". The next to arrive was Chris Chiaro so we decided to go out and hit. That did not last long as Natalia Sout and Mike Mole pulled up and Kris arrived with apple in hand so Mike, Nate and Chris hit while I asked Natalia if she wanted to hit on Court 2 and she agreed. Kris hit with us also.
Dino arrived with medicine ball in hand and went over to Chris, Peter and Nate and hit on that court. Brenda Jordan arrived on her bicycle, but was not looking to play. Upon the arrival of Doinks, I gave up my spot to Brenda so they could play and have a proper Mixed Doubles One-Setter. It was a gorgeous day for tennis… absolutely no wind and nice cool temps! Other arrivals were Peter Corso, Jose Gonzales, Laurie Boughton and Levy Lorenzo.
Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli over Levy Lorenzo/Peter Corso, 7-5! Peter: 1 Ace on Spin on the very first point of the match!
The Spin from Spin: The young fellow named Peter Corso, who I once told him and his mom I was kind of a big deal in my day, decided to Ace me on the very first serve! His message was clear: he's the bigger deal now. With Peter playing excellent tennis and Levy scorching us at the net, Chris and I found ourselves down 4-1 in no time at all. I played quite poorly during this 5 game stretch and with that pressure I think Chris was pushing to end points early. Several of his shots, though hard they may be, either sailed long or found the net. The combination of Peter and Levy relaxing a bit coupled with my improving ever so slightly led to Chris starting to find his shots and we were able to knot the set at 5-5. We eventually took the next two games for the 7-5 victory. It was a grand set indeed.
Afterwards Doinks, Natalia, Nate, Dino, Kris and I had a chat session that lasted all the way to 11:19! Everyone was engaged in fun conversation and there was lots of laughter. It topped off a very great night of friends and tennis.
The K has the final say: We did have all the courts at the end of the day. I got to work a bit on my serves under the tutelage of Dino. After the lights went out, it was a lengthy tennis talk with Spin in charge with a great assist from Nate and Dino. Natalia and Doinks were equally engrossed until Natalia asked discreetly what the time was, to effectively dismantle the crowd…:-). Cheers!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris and Spin for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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