10/15/17:
"7-Team M-Dub part of 22 at C.G., Riz hosts 4 at NTC!":
Last year, the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 9th...but then that date became a rainout and it had to be moved to the 16th. Well, this season circumstances followed suit as this tourney was originally scheduled for October 8th but another rainout caused it to be bounced to the 15th.
Mother Nature toyed with us a bit as the day started off gray, foggy and misty. It started getting so misty, in fact, that we almost doubted the ability to conduct the tournament as the courts grew slicker and slicker. Finally, the sun smiled upon this event around 10:45 and it ended up becoming an absolutely beautiful day as the peak temperature would eventually inch past 80 degrees and it felt more like mid-August than mid-October. And as you will soon see, the tourney played out in an equally satisfying manner.
The one thing that must be said, however, is it ended up being only a 7-Team/14-Player tourney rather than the 8-Team/16-Player event it has been for most recent seasons. The good news is that all the competitors who registered for the tournament did in fact show up...and most of them on time. We are jumping a bit ahead...so let's fall back a little.
The GTA Sunday Tennis session started coming together right around 10am at The Cedar Grove Courts as planned once host and tournament organizer "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot exactly one minute past that time. "The Riz" John Rizzo had sent him a text message earlier stating he was already on his way up there.
Sure enough, Rizzo was already there as well as other competitors who were out on the courts hitting and getting ready. "The Hit Man" Tom La was on the bench next to The Riz and had the nerve to say that Samara was late. Frank's fast retort was that it was only by a minute...it seemed that his infamous "2:07" moment from 2010 was about to be revived as the "10:01" outburst of 2017, but a cooler head prevailed.
As already alluded to, the featured event of the day was the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. Usually, I like to first examine the timing of the entrances. But this time around, I am going to skip all that to instead discuss the unusual format when we have seven teams rather than the ideal eight.
With eight men in attendance, but only seven women...we could not have eight teams. Samara made things easy by withdrawing from participating in the tournament. So now we had seven and seven (quite the drink, by the way...LOL!) and that meant no other guys would be left out of the event for not having been picked by a lady.
Samara then wrote the names of the participating men onto ticket stubs as it would be the ladies drawing them from a bag in a manner that would befit a Sadie Hawkins dance (most of you young folk don't remember those) with the highest-ranked woman picking first and then working our way down the ranks from there. The lowest-ranked lady would then get whichever guy's ticket remained in the bag.
"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan was the highest ranked woman, so she chose first. Her raffle ticket read "Tom" which meant she would be teaming with Tom La...a formidable team!
"C.A.T." Christine Toth was next highest, so she picked next and pulled out a ticket with "Abhi" on it and that was short for "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi.
"Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, now the third highest ranked woman, reached in next. Her raffle ticket read "Rich" which meant she'd be teaming with "Richie" Rich Liu.
The next highest ranked woman in the draw, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas, was next to choose and she pulled the "Mel" ticket out of the bag...which meant she'd be teaming with "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman.
"The Olympian" Marie Salamon was the next lady to approach the bag and she produced the "Johb" ticket from the bag meaning she got Rizzo. Both were quite pleased with this situation as they have known each other for quite some time.
"Lady B" Louise Bysiek was next up and she drew the "Kris" ticket, as in Kris Srinivasan. She would be the last one to pick...but not the last lady left to compete.
That lady would be Tula "Grace" Savickas who would have to team with the man whose ticket was left behind in the bag. And guess what...it was her husband Horst "Power" Savickas! Together, they are "Power and Grace" (see what I did there). But Tula truly does have Grace...and not just a little bit like Elaine Benes (character from "Seinfeld"). Then again, it has been said that you can never have too much grace...nor too little. You either have it or you don't...LOL!
Anyway, in a 7-Team format, we would have six teams take place in a First Round/One-Set Eliminator situation while a "Lucky 7th" team would sit it out and have a bye into the Second Round (also a One-Set Eliminator round).
So with all the men's tickets back in the bag, Samara walked over to Rizzo and told him to pick a ticket out of the bag...just so everyone could see it was truly at random (i.e. everything was on the up and up). This was the time when the "Horst" ticket would finally be pulled from the bag! So that meant Horst and Tula (perhaps already at an advantage as the one team with actual teamwork experience together) would be the fresh team coming into the Second Round (they did take Court Two, aka Leaf Court, to warm up and hit against one another for about fifteen minutes as the First Round unfolded).
As for the match-ups, they were done as they would be in any typical tournament format. The team that was captained by the # 1 Seed (on the women's side) in the draw would face the one helmed by the # 6 Seed. And from there, the # 2 Seed's team would face the # 5 Seed's team and then the # 3 Seed's team versus the # 4 Seed's team.
The three winning teams would then advance to the Second Round with Team Savickas coming in to face the team that won by the slimmest margin while the other two teams would face each other.
And after two winning teams would emerge from that round, we would then be able to have our Final Match which would have to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets (no 10-Point Super Tiebreak option in a Tournament Final Match).
This format led to the following M-Dub First Round Matches:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan vs. Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth vs. John Rizzo/Marie Salamon
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon vs. Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas
There was no rhyme or reason as to which match-ups occupied which courts. It was pretty much a free for all. Rizzo said he was unwilling to play on Court Four as earlier in the session, Kris had not only brought out a broom and giant squeegee to clear a puddle off of that court...he then also brought out a very tall Chair Umpire's Chair to be aligned with the net on Court Four...the way it is done in the pro leagues. John did not find favor with the towering monstrosity.
The idea was for Samara to sit atop that high perch, but he was also not a fan...not because of a fear of heights...but rather he was bothered by bees...bunches and bunches of bees! The bees were not bee-having on this day as the wacky weather had them going bonkers! Their favorite target for most of the session was Kathy (maybe we should call her "Honey"...LOL!), second favorite was Doinks and third favorite was Frank.
Even though bees are on the endangered list, Samara was forced to kill two of them that got in his face (one with multiple swings of the tennis racquet as the bee actually went through the spaces in between the strings the first couple of swings and then the other with a knockout punch followed by a deathblow stomp!).
But I digress...back to the tourney. Two of the three matches (the ones on Courts One and Four) would begin exactly at 10:36, but the battle on Court Three did not get started until 10:38.
And the 14 players involved (not counting Frank) would not be the only GTA stars making the scene.
"The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived at 10:50 and soon entered into a hitting session with Horst on Court Two. After one of the First Round One-Setters ended (the one on Court One), Ryan shifted over to that court and paired with Marie in hitting against both Mr. and Mrs. Savickas.
GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was next to attend the session at 11:15. Five minutes later, Dino "The Dragon" Celis did the same.
"The Rogue" Rob Gawley made a brief cameo appearance at 11:25 to see how the tourney was progressing. He was quite disappointed to see Samara refusing to go sky high in the Chair Umpire's Chair (Kris, Kat and Spin would later take turns climbing to the top of it and only The K Man stayed up there for any length of time). Soon, Rowdy Rob (aka Squash Boy) drove off on his motorcycle like the natural-born rebel that he is.
"The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan all arrived at or around 12:50. Ralph was hoping to play some Singles, but the strong turnout and nature of the day's events would not allow it. Mr. Bernard wondered aloud what he would have to do to move up in the ranks of the GTA. Twice he has issued an Open Challenge to The Top 10 players in the Advanced Division (Ralph is currently ranked # 11) only to hear the sound of crickets in response. He openly questioned the manhood of these so-called competitors.
Meanwhile, Spin, initially intending to only make an extended cameo appearance as he had his first Sunday football game in quite some time would later get pulled into the action (even as he wore spikes) as he simpy could not resist. Brenda also seemed like (at least, initially) she would only be making a cameo...but she, too, eventually, found her way into action on the courts.
The last player to arrive was "Big George" Jorge Solano at 1:30. And once Samara got involved in the action, we ended up with an impressive total of 22 official competitors on the day. And now we must finally get to all of the results. It was truly an epic session.
The Cedar Grove Results:
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth over John Rizzo/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces. Abhi and Christine jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then the score would go 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-2 and then Marie was on serve and broken on Double Break/Match Point! It took place on Court One and lasted from 10:36 to 11:01.
The Skinny: During those first three games, Rizzo/Salamon had Toth down on her serve at Triple Break Point before Christine fought back and rallied as she got that hold. It felt crucial (or pivotal), at least for John. Rizzo's movement on the hard court was good as he made many nice gets...only to squander them with shots where he was trying to be too precise and instead sailed shots long or into the net. He admits he is traditionally a slow starter and thus this was not the best format for him. Salamon, too, is a bit of a late bloomer on the court (in terms of how long it takes her to get going). Meanwhile, Gadi was his usual get-making self while Toth displayed the type of consistency she has become known for in Doubles.
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! No Aces. They played this one on Court Three from 10:38 to 11:06. Not much noteworthy here other than the fact that this one was not won until the 6th Match Point!
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-2! Rich: 1 Ace on Marie. This one started at 10:36 on Court Four and ended at 11:15.
Even though we had a situation where two teams won and advanced with a 6-2 score, the difference as to who would face Team Savickas (aka Power and Grace) was then determined by how long it took victors to emerge. Since it took Liu/Sheldon the longest to advance, they would then play Horst and Tula with the other two winning teams facing each other in the next round
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Marie Salamon, 6-3! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 11:24 to 11:52.
M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-3! Rich: 1 Ace on Horst. This foursome faced off on Court Four from 11:25 to 11:59. Liu/Sheldon were up 4-2 and then, at 4-3, Rich was on serve and he had a Love hold after starting the game with a big Ace on Horst. That seemed to be the straw that broke the back of both opponents (though camels they are not...LOL!) as Horst was broken next to end it. Still, this one was more competitive than the score indicates as it had a lot of long rallies. Samara joked from the sideline that this One-Setter was sponsored by Red Lobster...as the lobs (mostly from Kathy) were lofty and frequent.
M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth, 6-4! Tom: 1 Ace on Christine on Match Point! This was contested on Court Three from 11:27 to 12:14. La/Srinivasan were up 4-3, 5-3 and 5-4 where Tom had a Love hold as he ended matters with the big Ace against Christine.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4! Fadia: 2 Aces on Louise (back-to-back when serving to her); and Melvin: 1 Ace on Louise! This was conducted on Court Two and the duration was from around 11:40/11:45 to exactly 12:38.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-3! Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino; and Dino: 1 Ace on John! They got this one underway on Court One somewhere around 11:55/12 noon. Not sure when the 1st Set finished as they went right into this next one.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-1! Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino (again?!?!)! Not sure when this one (also on Court One) had gotten underway or when it ended as I was preoccupied at that time by my time over on Court Three as I had finally started playing in some Mixed Doubles action.
M-Dub Final:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon leading Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan, 4-3 in the 1st Set as La suffered from a calf cramp injury and asked if the match could be continued at a later date! No Aces. It got underway exactly at 12:28 on Court One (not sure when it was stopped for the injury).
Samara's Notes: While I was in action on nearby Court Three, Kathy approached me about the situation and asked what the ruling would be. I explained that these types of situations have long been up to the players and/or teams involved in the situation. Sheldon thought it should be a forfeit, but once she consulted the other three players in the match...they then agreed to continue it at another time (hopefully one weeknight later this week at Cedar Grove). I am happy to see that good sportsmanship prevailed here.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Marie Salamon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-2! Horst: 1 Ace on Marie on his very first serve! It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve and a passing shot winner by Marie along the way and then Marie hit a winning volley to secure her partner's hold), Horst was broken (started off with a sideline ace on Marie, but then quickly slid to Double Break Point as both Frank and Marie hit return winners along the way and then Frank hit a winning volley for the break), Marie held (an un-returned serve and another winning volley from Frank made it 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point where Frank hit a winner to return the favor and secure his partner's hold), Tula was broken (Frank hit a winning return for Love-30, it was 15-30 where Frank hit another winning return to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Samara held again and this time it was at Love as he started the game off with a drop shot winner, Horst blew a volley attempt and then Frank hit another winner on Triple Game Point as his team took a quick and commanding 5-0 lead! Mr. Savickas held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as he had another un-returned serve along the way and yet another to lock down his hold) and then Salamon was broken (started with a Double Fault , 15-All and then straight to Double Break Point as Horst hit a winning volley along the way and then she ended the game with another Double Fault to break herself) to have her team's lead cut to 5-2. But then Mrs. Savickas was broken again (Love-30, an un-returned serve for 15-30, Double Break/Match Point where another un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point, but then came the break) to take the loss. We played this one on Court Three from 12:30 to 12:55.
The Skinny: Samara only hit for a minute or two before jumping right into official action. His partner and both of his opponents were amazed at how he could be so on his game coming in "cold" like that. Perhaps this was his day to make an impact in the M-Dub Tournament, but now we will never know. Additionally, Salamon played very proficiently as well.
With court space available and everyone else otherwise preoccupied, we decided to play another one where we would switch up the teams.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Tula Savickas over Horst Savickas/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points until 5th Deuce, Game Point and then the hold...I had to forget who hit what winners where and when in this lengthy game), Horst was broken (Horst hit a winning lob for 15-Love, but then it was all downhill from there as it went right to Double Break Point and then the break), Tula held (Love-15 and then point for point until 30-All as Marie hit a net-cord-aided winner along the way and Frank hit a winner as well, then the game took a mild shift to Game Point where Horst blew a volley to allow the hold) and then Marie was broken at Love after Frank started off the game with a winner. Once again, it was Samara's team enjoying an early lead...this time at 4-0. But then it was Samara getting broken (Frank hit a winner to make it 30-Love and then the game turned into "The Marie Show" as she it a winning volley followed by a winning return followed by another winning volley to set up Break Point which she then ended with a winning lob!) and then Mr. Savickas held (started off with a Double Fault, then an un-returned serve started the shift to 30-15, it then went to 30-All, Game Point where Horst secured his own hold with a winning volley) to pull to 2-4. But then Mrs. Savickas also held (15-Love where Horst hit a winning volley to make it 15-All and then Tula hit a net-cord-aided winner to begin the momentum toward Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) and Salamon was broken again (Tula hit an awesome passing shot return winner which may have been the shot of the match for Love-15, it then went to Love-30 where Horst hit a drop shot winner that served to shift the momentum to 30-All, but then a Double Fault set up Break/Match Point where Horst came up short with a blown volley to end the game) to drop the match! Again, we were on Court Three as this one lasted from 12:57 to 1:31.
The Skinny: Samara remained on the money as he was ably supported by a fired up Tula. But then Marie also had that one truly awesome game where she just completely took over and managed to make sure that Frank was broken. Horst was hot and cold throughout both One-Setters. It was very nice to have Mr. and Mrs. Savickas with us on this day and we certainly hope to see more of them in the future.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Brenda Jordan over Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! Ralph: 1 Ace on Fadia. They got this one underway on Court Two at 1pm. At 1:10, once they realized that Court Four was clear and now up for grabs...they shifted this One-Setter over to that court. Even though earlier in the session John, Kris and Ryan all made an effort to sweep the leaves off of Court Two, it still remained "the redheaded stepchild" for most of the session. This one ended on Court Four exactly at 1:32.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Rich Liu/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. Like the above foursome, they started this one on Court Two at 1:15. At 1:35 with Kris and Spin in the lead at 4-1, they then took this One-Setter over to Court Three. Rich held serve to pull to 2-4, but then Kris held to take a 5-2 lead. Doinks also held to get her team to 3-5, but then Spin held on Game/Match Point to end this one at exactly 1:54.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon over Jorge Solano/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! No Aces. This foursome on Court Four battled from 1:40 to 2:15.
While much of the above was going on, a hitting session between Ryan and Dino on Court One soon turned into a solo session of serve practice for Mr. Celis as Mr. Pienciak decided to call it a day.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dino Celis over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces. The quick lowdown: It was all breaks to 2-2 when Dino became the first to hold serve for 3-2. Spin held, Kris held (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Doinks held at Love to level the score once more at 4-4! Celis held again (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point and then the hold), but then Martinelli held at Love to stay alive at 5-5! Mr. Srinivasan was broken (15-Love and then back-to-back Double Faults to make it 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), but then Mrs. Srinivasan was broken at Love as they were now headed for the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Dino held his lone serve after Kris hit a winning volley and then Spin had two un-returned serves to go up 2-1. Kris was broken on both of his serves to fall to 1-4. Doinks was broken on both of her serves as well as she blew an overhead attempt in the first point and then blew a volley attempt in the second as her team's lead was now cut to 4-3! The changeover had occurred in between those two points. Celis held the first of his two serves as Doinks blew another overhead attempt and then he held his next one as well to reclaim the lead for his team at 5-4. Martinelli held the first of his two serves after Doinks hit a drop shot winner to make it 5-5, but then he was broken on his second as he handed over Match Point (the very first one of the entire One-Setter) to The K Man who then held his serve to bring victory to his team! This battle was waged on Court Three from 1:57 to 2:48.
The Skinny: Once Rich left for the day, Kris called Dino over to play. The K Man initially suggested that Doinks team with Spin as he would take Dino as his partner. But then Celis must not have heard that as he walked over toward Mrs. Srinivasan at the net. But then she said she wanted to team with her hubby. His response (jokingly) was that "she must want a fight." Upon hearing that, she then decided to team with Spin. His observation was that she "just went thru three guys in 15 seconds!" Some statements are best left alone...LOL! This was a good battle and a lot of fun, but not likely to be a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Double Match of The Year at season's end...though it may very well at least get an Honorable Mention.
Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-2! Ralph: 2 Aces on Louise! They played on Court Four from 2:17 to 2:50.
Nathan Fernandes/Jorge Solano over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-3! No Aces. This one got underway on Court Four at 2:55 as all of the rest of us decided to call it a day and head home. While I doubt this one took an hour to finish, I got the text message of the score from Nate at 3:55.
Samara's Notes: I thank all those who participated in the tournament and the session overall. It was a lot of fun. It felt like a last blast of summer even though it was October 15th! All in all, good stuff!
But for John Rizzo, the day of tennis was not yet over as he did double-duty by hosting a session in the late afternoon/early evening hours at Nutley Tennis Club. We go to those results now.
The NTC Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/John Rizzo over Alfred Chen/Dan Knitzer, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 38 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Chen/Knitzer entered the division as the New # 96 Ranked Team. No Aces.
Paul Daddio/Alfred Chen over John Rizzo/Dan Knitzer, 6-2! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"7-Team M-Dub part of 22 at C.G., Riz hosts 4 at NTC!":
Last year, the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 9th...but then that date became a rainout and it had to be moved to the 16th. Well, this season circumstances followed suit as this tourney was originally scheduled for October 8th but another rainout caused it to be bounced to the 15th.
Mother Nature toyed with us a bit as the day started off gray, foggy and misty. It started getting so misty, in fact, that we almost doubted the ability to conduct the tournament as the courts grew slicker and slicker. Finally, the sun smiled upon this event around 10:45 and it ended up becoming an absolutely beautiful day as the peak temperature would eventually inch past 80 degrees and it felt more like mid-August than mid-October. And as you will soon see, the tourney played out in an equally satisfying manner.
The one thing that must be said, however, is it ended up being only a 7-Team/14-Player tourney rather than the 8-Team/16-Player event it has been for most recent seasons. The good news is that all the competitors who registered for the tournament did in fact show up...and most of them on time. We are jumping a bit ahead...so let's fall back a little.
The GTA Sunday Tennis session started coming together right around 10am at The Cedar Grove Courts as planned once host and tournament organizer "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot exactly one minute past that time. "The Riz" John Rizzo had sent him a text message earlier stating he was already on his way up there.
Sure enough, Rizzo was already there as well as other competitors who were out on the courts hitting and getting ready. "The Hit Man" Tom La was on the bench next to The Riz and had the nerve to say that Samara was late. Frank's fast retort was that it was only by a minute...it seemed that his infamous "2:07" moment from 2010 was about to be revived as the "10:01" outburst of 2017, but a cooler head prevailed.
As already alluded to, the featured event of the day was the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. Usually, I like to first examine the timing of the entrances. But this time around, I am going to skip all that to instead discuss the unusual format when we have seven teams rather than the ideal eight.
With eight men in attendance, but only seven women...we could not have eight teams. Samara made things easy by withdrawing from participating in the tournament. So now we had seven and seven (quite the drink, by the way...LOL!) and that meant no other guys would be left out of the event for not having been picked by a lady.
Samara then wrote the names of the participating men onto ticket stubs as it would be the ladies drawing them from a bag in a manner that would befit a Sadie Hawkins dance (most of you young folk don't remember those) with the highest-ranked woman picking first and then working our way down the ranks from there. The lowest-ranked lady would then get whichever guy's ticket remained in the bag.
"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan was the highest ranked woman, so she chose first. Her raffle ticket read "Tom" which meant she would be teaming with Tom La...a formidable team!
"C.A.T." Christine Toth was next highest, so she picked next and pulled out a ticket with "Abhi" on it and that was short for "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi.
"Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, now the third highest ranked woman, reached in next. Her raffle ticket read "Rich" which meant she'd be teaming with "Richie" Rich Liu.
The next highest ranked woman in the draw, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas, was next to choose and she pulled the "Mel" ticket out of the bag...which meant she'd be teaming with "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman.
"The Olympian" Marie Salamon was the next lady to approach the bag and she produced the "Johb" ticket from the bag meaning she got Rizzo. Both were quite pleased with this situation as they have known each other for quite some time.
"Lady B" Louise Bysiek was next up and she drew the "Kris" ticket, as in Kris Srinivasan. She would be the last one to pick...but not the last lady left to compete.
That lady would be Tula "Grace" Savickas who would have to team with the man whose ticket was left behind in the bag. And guess what...it was her husband Horst "Power" Savickas! Together, they are "Power and Grace" (see what I did there). But Tula truly does have Grace...and not just a little bit like Elaine Benes (character from "Seinfeld"). Then again, it has been said that you can never have too much grace...nor too little. You either have it or you don't...LOL!
Anyway, in a 7-Team format, we would have six teams take place in a First Round/One-Set Eliminator situation while a "Lucky 7th" team would sit it out and have a bye into the Second Round (also a One-Set Eliminator round).
So with all the men's tickets back in the bag, Samara walked over to Rizzo and told him to pick a ticket out of the bag...just so everyone could see it was truly at random (i.e. everything was on the up and up). This was the time when the "Horst" ticket would finally be pulled from the bag! So that meant Horst and Tula (perhaps already at an advantage as the one team with actual teamwork experience together) would be the fresh team coming into the Second Round (they did take Court Two, aka Leaf Court, to warm up and hit against one another for about fifteen minutes as the First Round unfolded).
As for the match-ups, they were done as they would be in any typical tournament format. The team that was captained by the # 1 Seed (on the women's side) in the draw would face the one helmed by the # 6 Seed. And from there, the # 2 Seed's team would face the # 5 Seed's team and then the # 3 Seed's team versus the # 4 Seed's team.
The three winning teams would then advance to the Second Round with Team Savickas coming in to face the team that won by the slimmest margin while the other two teams would face each other.
And after two winning teams would emerge from that round, we would then be able to have our Final Match which would have to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets (no 10-Point Super Tiebreak option in a Tournament Final Match).
This format led to the following M-Dub First Round Matches:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan vs. Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth vs. John Rizzo/Marie Salamon
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon vs. Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas
There was no rhyme or reason as to which match-ups occupied which courts. It was pretty much a free for all. Rizzo said he was unwilling to play on Court Four as earlier in the session, Kris had not only brought out a broom and giant squeegee to clear a puddle off of that court...he then also brought out a very tall Chair Umpire's Chair to be aligned with the net on Court Four...the way it is done in the pro leagues. John did not find favor with the towering monstrosity.
The idea was for Samara to sit atop that high perch, but he was also not a fan...not because of a fear of heights...but rather he was bothered by bees...bunches and bunches of bees! The bees were not bee-having on this day as the wacky weather had them going bonkers! Their favorite target for most of the session was Kathy (maybe we should call her "Honey"...LOL!), second favorite was Doinks and third favorite was Frank.
Even though bees are on the endangered list, Samara was forced to kill two of them that got in his face (one with multiple swings of the tennis racquet as the bee actually went through the spaces in between the strings the first couple of swings and then the other with a knockout punch followed by a deathblow stomp!).
But I digress...back to the tourney. Two of the three matches (the ones on Courts One and Four) would begin exactly at 10:36, but the battle on Court Three did not get started until 10:38.
And the 14 players involved (not counting Frank) would not be the only GTA stars making the scene.
"The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived at 10:50 and soon entered into a hitting session with Horst on Court Two. After one of the First Round One-Setters ended (the one on Court One), Ryan shifted over to that court and paired with Marie in hitting against both Mr. and Mrs. Savickas.
GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was next to attend the session at 11:15. Five minutes later, Dino "The Dragon" Celis did the same.
"The Rogue" Rob Gawley made a brief cameo appearance at 11:25 to see how the tourney was progressing. He was quite disappointed to see Samara refusing to go sky high in the Chair Umpire's Chair (Kris, Kat and Spin would later take turns climbing to the top of it and only The K Man stayed up there for any length of time). Soon, Rowdy Rob (aka Squash Boy) drove off on his motorcycle like the natural-born rebel that he is.
"The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan all arrived at or around 12:50. Ralph was hoping to play some Singles, but the strong turnout and nature of the day's events would not allow it. Mr. Bernard wondered aloud what he would have to do to move up in the ranks of the GTA. Twice he has issued an Open Challenge to The Top 10 players in the Advanced Division (Ralph is currently ranked # 11) only to hear the sound of crickets in response. He openly questioned the manhood of these so-called competitors.
Meanwhile, Spin, initially intending to only make an extended cameo appearance as he had his first Sunday football game in quite some time would later get pulled into the action (even as he wore spikes) as he simpy could not resist. Brenda also seemed like (at least, initially) she would only be making a cameo...but she, too, eventually, found her way into action on the courts.
The last player to arrive was "Big George" Jorge Solano at 1:30. And once Samara got involved in the action, we ended up with an impressive total of 22 official competitors on the day. And now we must finally get to all of the results. It was truly an epic session.
The Cedar Grove Results:
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth over John Rizzo/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces. Abhi and Christine jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then the score would go 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-2 and then Marie was on serve and broken on Double Break/Match Point! It took place on Court One and lasted from 10:36 to 11:01.
The Skinny: During those first three games, Rizzo/Salamon had Toth down on her serve at Triple Break Point before Christine fought back and rallied as she got that hold. It felt crucial (or pivotal), at least for John. Rizzo's movement on the hard court was good as he made many nice gets...only to squander them with shots where he was trying to be too precise and instead sailed shots long or into the net. He admits he is traditionally a slow starter and thus this was not the best format for him. Salamon, too, is a bit of a late bloomer on the court (in terms of how long it takes her to get going). Meanwhile, Gadi was his usual get-making self while Toth displayed the type of consistency she has become known for in Doubles.
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! No Aces. They played this one on Court Three from 10:38 to 11:06. Not much noteworthy here other than the fact that this one was not won until the 6th Match Point!
M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-2! Rich: 1 Ace on Marie. This one started at 10:36 on Court Four and ended at 11:15.
Even though we had a situation where two teams won and advanced with a 6-2 score, the difference as to who would face Team Savickas (aka Power and Grace) was then determined by how long it took victors to emerge. Since it took Liu/Sheldon the longest to advance, they would then play Horst and Tula with the other two winning teams facing each other in the next round
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Marie Salamon, 6-3! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 11:24 to 11:52.
M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-3! Rich: 1 Ace on Horst. This foursome faced off on Court Four from 11:25 to 11:59. Liu/Sheldon were up 4-2 and then, at 4-3, Rich was on serve and he had a Love hold after starting the game with a big Ace on Horst. That seemed to be the straw that broke the back of both opponents (though camels they are not...LOL!) as Horst was broken next to end it. Still, this one was more competitive than the score indicates as it had a lot of long rallies. Samara joked from the sideline that this One-Setter was sponsored by Red Lobster...as the lobs (mostly from Kathy) were lofty and frequent.
M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth, 6-4! Tom: 1 Ace on Christine on Match Point! This was contested on Court Three from 11:27 to 12:14. La/Srinivasan were up 4-3, 5-3 and 5-4 where Tom had a Love hold as he ended matters with the big Ace against Christine.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4! Fadia: 2 Aces on Louise (back-to-back when serving to her); and Melvin: 1 Ace on Louise! This was conducted on Court Two and the duration was from around 11:40/11:45 to exactly 12:38.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-3! Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino; and Dino: 1 Ace on John! They got this one underway on Court One somewhere around 11:55/12 noon. Not sure when the 1st Set finished as they went right into this next one.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-1! Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino (again?!?!)! Not sure when this one (also on Court One) had gotten underway or when it ended as I was preoccupied at that time by my time over on Court Three as I had finally started playing in some Mixed Doubles action.
M-Dub Final:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon leading Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan, 4-3 in the 1st Set as La suffered from a calf cramp injury and asked if the match could be continued at a later date! No Aces. It got underway exactly at 12:28 on Court One (not sure when it was stopped for the injury).
Samara's Notes: While I was in action on nearby Court Three, Kathy approached me about the situation and asked what the ruling would be. I explained that these types of situations have long been up to the players and/or teams involved in the situation. Sheldon thought it should be a forfeit, but once she consulted the other three players in the match...they then agreed to continue it at another time (hopefully one weeknight later this week at Cedar Grove). I am happy to see that good sportsmanship prevailed here.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Marie Salamon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-2! Horst: 1 Ace on Marie on his very first serve! It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve and a passing shot winner by Marie along the way and then Marie hit a winning volley to secure her partner's hold), Horst was broken (started off with a sideline ace on Marie, but then quickly slid to Double Break Point as both Frank and Marie hit return winners along the way and then Frank hit a winning volley for the break), Marie held (an un-returned serve and another winning volley from Frank made it 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point where Frank hit a winner to return the favor and secure his partner's hold), Tula was broken (Frank hit a winning return for Love-30, it was 15-30 where Frank hit another winning return to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Samara held again and this time it was at Love as he started the game off with a drop shot winner, Horst blew a volley attempt and then Frank hit another winner on Triple Game Point as his team took a quick and commanding 5-0 lead! Mr. Savickas held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as he had another un-returned serve along the way and yet another to lock down his hold) and then Salamon was broken (started with a Double Fault , 15-All and then straight to Double Break Point as Horst hit a winning volley along the way and then she ended the game with another Double Fault to break herself) to have her team's lead cut to 5-2. But then Mrs. Savickas was broken again (Love-30, an un-returned serve for 15-30, Double Break/Match Point where another un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point, but then came the break) to take the loss. We played this one on Court Three from 12:30 to 12:55.
The Skinny: Samara only hit for a minute or two before jumping right into official action. His partner and both of his opponents were amazed at how he could be so on his game coming in "cold" like that. Perhaps this was his day to make an impact in the M-Dub Tournament, but now we will never know. Additionally, Salamon played very proficiently as well.
With court space available and everyone else otherwise preoccupied, we decided to play another one where we would switch up the teams.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Tula Savickas over Horst Savickas/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points until 5th Deuce, Game Point and then the hold...I had to forget who hit what winners where and when in this lengthy game), Horst was broken (Horst hit a winning lob for 15-Love, but then it was all downhill from there as it went right to Double Break Point and then the break), Tula held (Love-15 and then point for point until 30-All as Marie hit a net-cord-aided winner along the way and Frank hit a winner as well, then the game took a mild shift to Game Point where Horst blew a volley to allow the hold) and then Marie was broken at Love after Frank started off the game with a winner. Once again, it was Samara's team enjoying an early lead...this time at 4-0. But then it was Samara getting broken (Frank hit a winner to make it 30-Love and then the game turned into "The Marie Show" as she it a winning volley followed by a winning return followed by another winning volley to set up Break Point which she then ended with a winning lob!) and then Mr. Savickas held (started off with a Double Fault, then an un-returned serve started the shift to 30-15, it then went to 30-All, Game Point where Horst secured his own hold with a winning volley) to pull to 2-4. But then Mrs. Savickas also held (15-Love where Horst hit a winning volley to make it 15-All and then Tula hit a net-cord-aided winner to begin the momentum toward Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) and Salamon was broken again (Tula hit an awesome passing shot return winner which may have been the shot of the match for Love-15, it then went to Love-30 where Horst hit a drop shot winner that served to shift the momentum to 30-All, but then a Double Fault set up Break/Match Point where Horst came up short with a blown volley to end the game) to drop the match! Again, we were on Court Three as this one lasted from 12:57 to 1:31.
The Skinny: Samara remained on the money as he was ably supported by a fired up Tula. But then Marie also had that one truly awesome game where she just completely took over and managed to make sure that Frank was broken. Horst was hot and cold throughout both One-Setters. It was very nice to have Mr. and Mrs. Savickas with us on this day and we certainly hope to see more of them in the future.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Brenda Jordan over Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! Ralph: 1 Ace on Fadia. They got this one underway on Court Two at 1pm. At 1:10, once they realized that Court Four was clear and now up for grabs...they shifted this One-Setter over to that court. Even though earlier in the session John, Kris and Ryan all made an effort to sweep the leaves off of Court Two, it still remained "the redheaded stepchild" for most of the session. This one ended on Court Four exactly at 1:32.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Rich Liu/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. Like the above foursome, they started this one on Court Two at 1:15. At 1:35 with Kris and Spin in the lead at 4-1, they then took this One-Setter over to Court Three. Rich held serve to pull to 2-4, but then Kris held to take a 5-2 lead. Doinks also held to get her team to 3-5, but then Spin held on Game/Match Point to end this one at exactly 1:54.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon over Jorge Solano/Louise Bysiek, 6-1! No Aces. This foursome on Court Four battled from 1:40 to 2:15.
While much of the above was going on, a hitting session between Ryan and Dino on Court One soon turned into a solo session of serve practice for Mr. Celis as Mr. Pienciak decided to call it a day.
Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dino Celis over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces. The quick lowdown: It was all breaks to 2-2 when Dino became the first to hold serve for 3-2. Spin held, Kris held (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Doinks held at Love to level the score once more at 4-4! Celis held again (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point and then the hold), but then Martinelli held at Love to stay alive at 5-5! Mr. Srinivasan was broken (15-Love and then back-to-back Double Faults to make it 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), but then Mrs. Srinivasan was broken at Love as they were now headed for the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Dino held his lone serve after Kris hit a winning volley and then Spin had two un-returned serves to go up 2-1. Kris was broken on both of his serves to fall to 1-4. Doinks was broken on both of her serves as well as she blew an overhead attempt in the first point and then blew a volley attempt in the second as her team's lead was now cut to 4-3! The changeover had occurred in between those two points. Celis held the first of his two serves as Doinks blew another overhead attempt and then he held his next one as well to reclaim the lead for his team at 5-4. Martinelli held the first of his two serves after Doinks hit a drop shot winner to make it 5-5, but then he was broken on his second as he handed over Match Point (the very first one of the entire One-Setter) to The K Man who then held his serve to bring victory to his team! This battle was waged on Court Three from 1:57 to 2:48.
The Skinny: Once Rich left for the day, Kris called Dino over to play. The K Man initially suggested that Doinks team with Spin as he would take Dino as his partner. But then Celis must not have heard that as he walked over toward Mrs. Srinivasan at the net. But then she said she wanted to team with her hubby. His response (jokingly) was that "she must want a fight." Upon hearing that, she then decided to team with Spin. His observation was that she "just went thru three guys in 15 seconds!" Some statements are best left alone...LOL! This was a good battle and a lot of fun, but not likely to be a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Double Match of The Year at season's end...though it may very well at least get an Honorable Mention.
Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-2! Ralph: 2 Aces on Louise! They played on Court Four from 2:17 to 2:50.
Nathan Fernandes/Jorge Solano over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-3! No Aces. This one got underway on Court Four at 2:55 as all of the rest of us decided to call it a day and head home. While I doubt this one took an hour to finish, I got the text message of the score from Nate at 3:55.
Samara's Notes: I thank all those who participated in the tournament and the session overall. It was a lot of fun. It felt like a last blast of summer even though it was October 15th! All in all, good stuff!
But for John Rizzo, the day of tennis was not yet over as he did double-duty by hosting a session in the late afternoon/early evening hours at Nutley Tennis Club. We go to those results now.
The NTC Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/John Rizzo over Alfred Chen/Dan Knitzer, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 38 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Chen/Knitzer entered the division as the New # 96 Ranked Team. No Aces.
Paul Daddio/Alfred Chen over John Rizzo/Dan Knitzer, 6-2! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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