10/18/17:
"Mole-Shiao at HP, Samara hosts 21 (1 new) at C.G.!":
There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Tennis: one was in the afternoon at Holster Park in Clifton and it featured the full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao (as reported by both) and the other was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host.
Before we detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove, let's first get the dual report of the match that occurred at Holster Park.
Holster Park Result:
Tony Shiao over Mike Mole, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division! Mike: 1 Ace on a second serve that kicked off the T!
The Sure Shot from Shiao: Mike and I met up at Holster Park around 3:30. We had a good amount of time to play, so we agreed to play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match. The match was intense with Mike hitting many forehand winners and we also had to deal with the sun glare that was blinding on one side of the court. Mike was on point with those forehand winners upon returning my short balls. We both made a few unforced errors, but we also had many hard hitting rallies. The momentum shifted in the 2nd Set as Mike was on fire. Into the 3rd Set, Mike was leading 4-1…but I was able to rally from behind and attack his backhand to level it out to force a Tiebreak. We plan to play a rematch in the next week or so!
The Mole Memo: We played from 3:20 to 5pm. We had a little hitting session and decided to play a full Challenge Match. It was a great rematch with almost the same score as last time. His forehand was on today as he hit many great winners during many long rallies.
Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for sending this result in a very timely manner along with their commentary. I congratulate Tony on a hard-fought victory. This may have a shot at being a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
And now we recap all the comings and goings at Cedar Grove.
Samara had originally announced to the league that he hoped to get up there to host by 7pm. During the day, "The Riz" John Rizzo informed Frank that he would also get to Cedar Grove around that time.
At 6:45, Samara sent Rizzo a text message to let him know that he was running late and would arrive closer to 7:30. Upon John's arrival at 7pm, he sent a reply to Frank stating that he did not recognize any of the players out on the courts.
By the time Samara rolled into the parking lot at 7:25, The Riz had found some familiar and friendly faces as he was already in the midst of a Doubles One-Setter out on Court Two where he was teaming with "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas (who he met for the first time) against the all-too-familiar "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and a player that was new to the league (more on him a little later). Sitting on the sidelines of the court was "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales.
On Court One, a Doubles One-Setter was just getting underway and it featured the GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes teaming with "JB Smooth" Justin Berardo to take on "Swinging" Syed Rashid and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst.
On Court Three, "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay was having a Singles Match against a non-GTA player. And on Court Four was the Doubles One-Setter that had started before all others as Tito "The Titan" Castolo was paired with "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler as they faced "Instant" Moka Pathan and "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara.
At 7:30, usual Cedar Grove host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan made his way across the street to survey the situation. He would end up getting into official action at 7:45.
Five minutes after that, his wife "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan also made her way across the street.
And then at 7:55, just as Erdem and his friend were leaving Court Three, "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla arrived and made his way out onto that very same court to get into a hitting session with Castolo and Pathan. Soon after, Samara made it a foursome for some Doubles action.
From 8pm to 8:05, the flood gates opened with the arrivals of players looking to get out onto the courts: Dino "The Dragon" Celis, Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan, Natalia "Nitro" Sout and "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo. These four were soon invited into action on Courts One and Two.
We ended up with an impressive total of 21 official competitors throughout the session and that does not include "Lady B" Louise Bysiek who arrived at 9:35 and was only able to make an extended cameo appearance as everyone was still in action and there were no openings for her.
Let's get to the action!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Tito Castolo/Mike Sindler over Moka Pathan/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4! Tito: 1 Ace on Suzanne. This was played on Court Four from 7:15 to 7:44.
John Rizzo/Fadia Nicolas over Dan Martinelli/Mostafa Hussaini, 6-1! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Mostafa Hussaini. This was contested on Court Two from 7:17 to 7:37.
Samara's Notes: I had the chance to meet Mostafa afterwards and he is a nice guy. He seemed to like the idea of the league. I will give him the moniker of "Mo" for now (short for Mostafa).
Nathan Fernandes/Justin Berardo over Syed Rashid/Frank Hohorst, 6-3! No Aces. They got this one done on Court One as its duration was from 7:27 to 8:05.
Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo over Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4! Jose: 1 Ace on Fadia. This was conducted on Court Two from 7:45 to 8:17.
Mike Sindler/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Martinelli/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0! No Aces. This foursome faced off on Court Four from 7:55 to 8:11.
Tito Castolo/Arthur Fontanilla over Moka Pathan/Frank Samara, 6-3! Moka: 1 Ace on Arthur. It went like this: Frank was broken (Art hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15, then shifted again to Break Point right after Tito hit a drop shot winner and then Art hit a drop shot winner for the break), Tito was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 right after Moka made an incredible get/winner combo, but then it shifted to Game Point as Art hit two consecutive and emphatic Backhand Volley winners, but then he blew a volley for Deuce only to have Frank also blow a volley to make it Game Point again which was where Frank redeemed himself with his patented Windmill Overhead Smash which was a winner to bring it to 2nd Deuce and then it went to Break Point where Frank hit a mishit volley winner for the break), but Moka was the first to hold serve (Frank hit a winner to make it 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to set up Game Point and then came the hold) for 2-1. Arthur held as well (Love-30 shifted straight thru Game Point and to the hold…no winners in this game) and then Samara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break…also no winners in this game) to lose the lead for his team at 2-3. Castolo then held (Tito hit a passing shot winner for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 right after Moka hit a blistering return winner, but then it shifted again to Game Point which was where Frank blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold) to increase his team's lead to 4-2, but Pathan held again (15-Love, 15-All where Frank hit another winning Windmill Overhead Smash for 30-15 where a Double Fault then made it 30-All, then came Game Point, Deuce where a truly un-returnable serve set up another Game Point which was where Moka scored with a well-executed sideline Ace against Art for the hold) to pull to 3-4. But from there, Fontanilla also held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Tito hit his signature drop shot which was not a winner but sufficiently ended the point and then Art hit a passing shot winner, but then Tito blew an overhead attempt to make it 30-All which was where Frank did the same damn thing to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Hollywood was broken for the third straight time (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All where Tito hit a winning return to set up Break/Match Point where another un-returned serve brought it to Deuce only to have Tito hit another winning return to set up the 2nd Break/Match Point where Art artfully executed an awesome Backhand Volley winner that served to be the executioner of the match)! We played this on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:43.
The Skinny: All four players were hot and cold throughout the contest, but Tito and Art just were armed with more artillery and greater firepower. Moka was making some amazing gets, but he paid the price along the way as a little beyond midway through the set he felt he pulled a muscle in his groin area. He valiantly fought until the end, but his mobility was somewhat limited from there forward. Frank had some impressive moments, but never brought enough on his services and that was why he was broken in a natural hat trick (yes, the NHL is back in action, peeps). After this one, all but Frank called it a night!
Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Syed Rashid/Justin Berardo, 7-5! Justin: 1 Ace on Frank (I overhead Justin calling it a cheap one, but as Frank so willingly reported it…he also said "an Ace is an Ace" and that is the truth)! This one took place on Court Four and lasted from 8:15 to 9:10!
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Levy Lorenzo/Dennis Cabanatan over Dan Martinelli/Dino Celis, 6-2, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 97 and # 98 Ranked Teams respectively! Spin: 1 Ace on Levy in the 1st Set. Court One hosted this one from 8:20 to 9:22.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3, 6-0, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division! In the process, Srinivasan/Nicolas entered the division as the New # 52 Ranked Team. No Aces. These two teams got this one underway on Court Two at exactly 8:26, but I'm not sure when it was finished. They then shifted over to Court One for a follow-up One-Setter which we will get to later in the report.
Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo over Frank Samara/Mike Sindler, 6-1! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (back-to-back un-returned serves for 30-Love, 30-15 and another un-returned serve for Double Game Point, Game Point where Jose hit a winner to bring it to Deuce, but then Jose blew a volley for Game Point and then blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold), John held (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love, it then went to 30-Love where Frank hit a winning volley followed by Jose blowing another volley to make it 30-All, then came Game Point where Jose hit a well-placed drop shot volley winner to secure his partner's hold), but Mike was the first to be broken (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, then it was Love-30 where Mike made a great get that led to winning the point for 15-30, a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point where Mike blew a volley to break himself) for 1-3. Jose held (John hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, then 30-Love, 30-15 where Jose hit an excellent passing shot winner to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) and then Samara was broken (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash and then hit a winning lob for 30-Love, but then it shifted to Break Point as John hit an emphatic Overhead Smash winner and Jose hit a drop shot winner along the way and then came the break) to fall to 1-4. Rizzo held again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as John blew a volley and Frank made a great get along the way and then it went to Deuce, Break Point where the best rally of the match ended with a winner from John as he sent his shot deep into the corner where the opposition could not get to it and that set up the 2nd Deuce, then came Game Point where Jose hit a winner of his own to once again lock down his partner's hold) and then Sindler was broken again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as an un-returned serve was followed by a winner from Mike along the way, it was then 30-All where Jose made a great get that ended up becoming a net-cord-aided winner just out of a helpless Frank's reach and that set up Break/Match Point where Jose scored again…this time with a well-executed passing shot winner for the break) to suffer a somewhat lopsided loss. We played this one on Court Three from 8:50 to 9:21.
The Skinny: Samara's serve improved in this one (after his previous One-Setter), but it was still not enough to overcome the fairly consistent onslaught from the opposition. Sindler had grown somewhat cold having sat on the sidelines for so long and he seemingly never warmed up enough to recapture his previous rhythm. After this one, both Jose and John left the session.
Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Syed Rashid/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. These four players faced off on Court Four from 9:15 to 9:50.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout leading Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…not sure when this one had begun on Court One)! No Aces.
Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler leading Frank Samara/Dino Celis, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…we got it underway on Court Three at 9:30)! Dino: 1 Ace on Levy. Here is the slightly condensed breakdown as I only noted the winners in the first game due to time constraints: Dino was broken (got up 15-Love only to then go straight thru Double Break Point to the break as Levy hit an excellent lob winner and Frank blew a volley along the way) and Mike held serve (started off with a Double Fault, it then shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) for a 2-0 lead. Frank held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold) and Levy was broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All, Break Point and the break) to level matters at 2-2. Celis held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold), but Sindler held again (Love-15 then shifted to 30-15, it then went to 30-All, Game Point and the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3. Samara was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, then came Break Point and the break) while Lorenzo held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to put his team up 5-3. The Dragon held again (Love-15, 15-All, a sideline Ace against Levy for 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 4-5 and then the lights went out just after we took that game.
The Skinny: Dino's mobility continues to improve from the knee surgery he had earlier this season. Still, he is at least a step slower than he had been in the past which forces him to do more with accurate shot-making (which he often does, but one can only do so much). The level of Mike's play improved in this one while we still got more of the same hot and cold bag from Frank. The true MVP of this battle was Levy who not only made several great gets, but also often controlled the momentum of the points and likely hit the most winners overall (with Dino being a close second).
All in all, it was a fun and exciting session of GTA Tennis up at Cedar Grove.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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