8/9/17:
"MXD2 Qtr and WD part of 20 at C.G. as Kris hosts!":
There was just one session of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis and it was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan (but results were also reported by "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan). The Main Event was the MXD2 Quarter-final Match featuring Capan and "Instant" Moka Pathan taking on GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and Natalia "Nitro" Sout. But there was also another MXD2 development taking place behind the scenes which we will detail later in this report.
So we will basically turn this report over to Kris and add some notes and/or corrections from Gen and Marijus along the way.
It was yet another awesome day for GTA Tennis and the all the tennis courts ere busy right through the night. It was an early start for me working on my serves, thanks to the input of "Coach" Dino Celis, but the highlight of the night was indeed the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal with Moka and Gen against Nate and Natalia. It was an extended match that went the distance and the other almost equally extended session was the hitting between Herb Reiner and Miroslav Glavic…perhaps overextended as they consumed their court for almost 2-1/2 hours!
We were initially drawn to watching the Mixed Doubles Quarter for the first part of the session before engaging some of our players into action.
The Cedar Grove Results:
MXD2 Quarterfinal Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, to become the New # 3 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: We played on Court 4 from 7:15 to 9:05. It was a really good match with evenly split sets in the first two, but then they ran away with it in the 3rd Set as they quickly went up 3-0. At 0-5, I was on serve down Double Break/Match Point and we would save both MP's to get to Deuce and then Game Point. But then it went to 2nd Deuce and they broke us on the 3rd Match Point!
The K has his say: I got to watch almost the first two sets when the match looked like it was in balance as each team held its serve or got the break after being broken. There were plenty of nervous and cautious shots mixed with some attractive shots. Nate played like he generally does, adjusting to the situation. Moka was on a relatively low gear for the first part before showing some aggressive intent. Gen was steady, but was overly cautious and that worked against her team on some occasions. It was Natalia who played true to herself, playing with more abandon. Even if she missed or overcooked some shots, she was calm come the next point and played with fully swung shots.
Full credit goes to Nate and Natalia for the upset win over Moka and Gen. It is a tough loss for the favorites, but they did very well to turn the match around in the 2nd Set by showing a bit more aggression. That was the key! But I had completely missed the 3rd Set. Gen said that they erred far too many times to get a grip on the set.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for reporting this result in a very timely manner…via text messages not too long after it was finished. I also congratulate Nate and Natalia on a very impressive victory over Former GTA Mixed Doubles Champs! Their next opponents are the formidable tandem of Don Moya and Janice Wang.
This match was one of the last two Quarterfinals to be completed. The other was Rob and Laura Gawley versus Tom La/Kathy Sheldon. The scheduling of this one has been negotiated for quite some time and then Tom had to engage in yet a third cancellation due to an extended business trip. While I full understand that these things happen, it is also unfair to have the opposing team (or just an opponent in a Singles setting) continue to adjust their schedule and set aside time for a match that then does not happen. The rule on cancellations is pretty much: three strikes and you're out!
I hate to have tournaments progress this way, but now there is no other choice to withdraw La/Sheldon from this Quarterfinal and allow The Gawleys to advance via a bye into the Semifinals where they will face the highly touted team of Kuzavas and Sally Pillay.
And thus, the Semis are set and both sides of the draw feature excellent match-ups. I truly believe this to be the most talent-laden Mixed Doubles Tournament in GTA history.
And now we go back to Kris with some corrections from Marijus along the way.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-4! Sally: 1 Ace on Vinnie!
It turned to be a great set as Joe and Vinnie put forth a very solid effort. Vinnie was game enough to take a hard blow from Marijus, but he had his sweet moments as well. Marijus is on a roll and is looking very good this year.
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Don Moya/Janice Wang, 6-4! No Aces.
Don and Janice came early together to scout the MXD2 Quarter as they will take on the winners. After some watching, they got involved in a One-Setter against "the dream team" of Rob and Laura. Despite Don serving well and attacking, Laura and Rob prevailed as their different styles of play complement each other so wonderfully as to keep the opposition under constant pressure.
Samara's Notes: This may very well be a preview of the Finals…though there are still two other solid teams that will have something to say about that!
Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas over Jordan Bachvaroff/Mike Mole, 6-1! No Aces.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Marijus Kuzavas over Mike Kazlauskas/Mike Mole, 6-4! No Aces.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Don Moya over Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 7-5! No Aces.
Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas over Jordan Bachvaroff/Don Moya, 6-2! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Levy Lorenzo over Dave Zhu/Mike Sindler, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 76 and # 77 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Joe Rodrigues over Nick Inciong/Sally Pillay, 6-4! Nick: 1 Ace on Kris; Sally: 1 Ace on Kris; and Kris: 1 Ace on Nick!
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay tied with Kris Srinivasan/Nick Inciong, 5-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
It turned to be a great "Battle of the Sexes" One-Setter as the match progressed. First, it was steady but before long the women had an iron-clad grip going up 5-2 before a timely break for us to get us to 3-5. With us serving, we were facing two Match Points down Double Break/Match Point before a superb comeback to take us all the way to 5-All! It was Deuce in the next game when the lights went out, but the women were surely deprived of a facile or even a difficult win thanks to Nick who played so nonchalantly and is always such a cool customer.
All in all, it was a terrific night with plenty of GTA action and lively matches for sure. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove (and also thank Marijus for the assist) and submitting these results in such a timely manner. It definitely sounds like it was the second consecutive epic evening up there for sure!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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