11/2/17:
"Samara hosts 27 at C.G.!":
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara. With near-perfect weather (peak temperature earlier in the day was 75 degrees...quite insane for early November!), it ended up becoming an epic session in terms of turnout...but some flies in the ointment made it less than a perfect night.
When Samara pulled into the parking lot at 6:55, he saw that three of the four courts were already occupied (with just Court Two, aka Leafy Court, still being vacant).
On Court One, "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla were having a hitting session with one another. On Court Three, Jordan's buddy "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay was playing Singles with his usual non-GTA sparring partner.
And on Court Four, there was a Doubles hitting session that would soon end up becoming a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match featuring "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo taking on GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and his usual Mixed Doubles partner, Natalia "Nitro" Sout.
Speaking of Levy, let me now state how thankful I am for his generosity and thoughtfulness. By the time I arrived at 6:55, Mr. Lorenzo had already set up a makeshift shop on the bench alongside Court Four where he was selling his imported sportswear samples for just five dollars apiece in order to raise funds for the ongoing fundraiser for my children's school, the Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy (aka PGTA School 20). I also want to thank all those that purchased gear to go toward the good cause as $65 was raised in just that one evening there.
And to now detail the timing of the arrivals, it should first be said that "The Titan" Tito Castolo and "Stingray" Ray Spadaro were already there when Samara got to the courts. Tito had just finished a ten minute hitting session and then had to leave at 7:15 to go pick up his wife (but would return later in the evening). Meanwhile, Ray was trying to figure out where he should go.
Pulling into the lot at the same time as Samara was the "other Frank," Mr. Hohorst. Much thanks to that Frank as he brought a lawn blower to get the leaves off of Court Two and also off of the baseline areas of Court One.
"King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan also both pulled into the lot at the same time (at 7pm). Ten minutes later, "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer did the same. And another five minutes after that, another Dan made his presence felt at the courts as it was none other than the "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli who soon joined his pal, Samara, out on Court Two.
But once Frank realized there were five potential players for that court, he willingly stepped off like George Costanza to allow Dos Dans (Martinelli/Knitzer) to face Spadaro/Capan.
Meanwhile, Chiaro and Hohorst joined Bachvaroff and Fontanilla on Court one for some Doubles action there. And the players just kept coming as both "Swinging" Syed Rashid and "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas arrived at 7:20 just as a familiar white-haired man also made himself obvious near the fence alongside Court Four. He soon sat on the bench.
While this was happening, Samara invited Rashid and Nicolas to come join him on Court Three and that led to a hitting session while they waited for a fourth player to join them.
At 7:25 when the 1st Set of Rodrigues/Lorenzo versus Fernandes/Sout had finished, they asked the man on the bench if he wanted to join them and one of them would have been willing to sit out a set. He declined as he said he had three other guys on the way and he told them they should play on further...and so they did.
The usual Cedar Grove host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan made his way across the street at 7:30, and having recognized the man on the bench as John Paul Landi (who has made a couple of limited appearances in GTA action in the past), greeted him with a hello as he made his way to Court Three to become the fourth player there. That hitting session would soon lead to a One-Setter featuring Srinivasan/Rashid versus Samara/Nicolas.
Within succession, his three other guys came at 7:30, 7:35 and 7:40. The four of them were now hovering around that bench area while three more of our players arrived at 7:45 - GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, her hubby "The Rogue" Rob Gawley and "GDP" Guy Dupoux.
Five minutes later, the logjam situation got even worse as both "Lady B" Louise Bysiek and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole also arrived. It was at that time that the Doubles One-Setter on Court One finished and those four guys were nice enough to quickly invite the four "Outsiders" to come over to take over that court.
The insanity of the circumstances increased further when four players all arrived at 8:05 - Dino "The Dragon" Celis, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The Icon" Nick Inciong and "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov.
The final official competitor to arrive was "Laidback" Laurie Boughton (who would later earn a new moniker, "Strutting" Laurie, due to her proud prancing on the court after some good shots) giving us an impressive total of 27 players for the session.
Rowdy Rob was growing antsy with the situation and asked Samara if he should go ask the "Outsiders" when they would be done with Court One. Frank said that such an inquiry should either come from Rob or Kris as they are both Cedar Grove residents. That was all The Rogue needed to hear as he soon approached them and pointed out the fact that everyone else at the courts was playing a set and then letting four new players onto the courts.
Well, his strategy was both sound and sophisticated as they ended up leaving at 8:55 (fair enough as most public courts have signage suggesting limiting play to one hour while others are waiting...these four got just over that amount). Mr. Landi did make it clear, however, that they were not done with their planned session and were only departing as they felt bad about all the other competitors wanting to play (in the past, these guys would hold a court for the balance of the session...until 10pm...no matter what time they arrived and with no regard to how many others were waiting).
Fair is fair as it does not matter if the rest of us are affiliated with one another. If we are all getting off the courts after a set (or an hour or less) to allow four new players to take our place, we are abiding by the rules.
Anyway, all's well that ends well as everyone got the chance to play and there was so much levity (especially inspired by the tandem of Spin and Laurie who took the courts as a team late in the session) that too many of us to mention hung around to B.S. with one another all the way until 10:45!
Enough chit chat...let's now get to the action!
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Joe Rodrigues/Levy Lorenzo, 6-1, 7-5! No Aces. As already stated, this impromptu full match occupied Court Four from 6:59 to 8:20.
Chris Chiaro/Frank Hohorst over Jordan Bachvaroff/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-1! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 7:15 to 7:50.
Dan Martinelli/Dan Knitzer over Ray Spadaro/Genalin Capan, 6-3! No Aces. This was contested on Court Two from 7:22 to 7:57.
Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid over Frank Samara/Fadia Nicolas, 7-5! No Aces. It went like this: Frank was broken at Love after Syed set the tone with an awesome passing shot winner to start things off at Love-15, Syed was broken (Kris hit a winning volley for 15-Love, it went to 30-Love and then 30-15 where a Double Fault made it 30-All, then came Break Point and the break), Fadia also was broken (15-Love, 15-All where Kris blew a volley for 30-15, then Double Game Point where Kris hit a winning volley to cut the lead down to Game Point, then it was Deuce where Syed hit a winning return to se up Break Point where Kris scored with a vicious volley winner for the break) and then Kris was the first to hold serve and he did it at Love as he hit three consecutive un-returned serves to set up Triple Game Point where Syed stung the opposition with a sudden and succinct Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold as they took a 3-1 lead! Samara held (Syed hit a sizzling return winner for Love-15, but then an un-returned serve reversed the momentum and it was off and running right to Double Game Point where Fadia made a great get/winner combo to secure her partner's hold) and then Rashid was broken again (Syed hit a passing shot winner for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where a Double Fault made it 15-30 and then Kris blew a volley to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) to level things at 3-3. Nicolas held (Syed hit an amazing passing shot return for Love-15, but then Kris blew a volley to make it 15-All and then an un-returned serve soon sent the game to Double Game Point which was cut down to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and yet another un-returned serve secured the hold) as she took the first lead for her team at 4-3! Srinivasan held again (Syed hit a wicked winner for 15-Love, it went to 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and then back-to-back Double Faults brought it to Deuce where Syed hit a winning volley for Game Point where Frank blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4! Hollywood held at Love as Syed blew a drop shot attempt and Kris blew two successive volley attempts to set up Triple Game Point to put his team up again at 5-4, but then Swinging Syed finally held (an un-returned serve set up 30-Love, then it went 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) to keep things alive at 5-5! Fabulous Fadia was broken (Syed scored with a blast of a passing shot return for Love-15 and then Kris hit a winner for Love-30, it then went to 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and then The K Man held for a third straight time (Love-30 soon shifted to Game/Match Point with an un-returned serve along the way and then came the hold on that initial M.P.) to earn a hard-fought victory! We played this on Court Three from 7:38 to 8:25.
The Skinny: All four players accounted themselves well as Syed continues to show marked improvement. The MVP was Kris as he was on fire throughout this contest with a lot of successful aggressive play while also reducing his unforced errors just enough to finally shift the momentum once and for all in his team's favor.
Mike Mole/Guy Dupoux over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-4! Guy: 3 Aces (2 on Laura, 1 on Rob)! Court Two hosted this contest from 8:10 to 8:42.
Nick Inciong/Rafaelo Kazakov over Tito Castolo/Louise Bysiek, 6-4! Rafaelo: 2 Aces on Louise (the first of which was on the very first serve of the match)! This foursome faced off on Court Four from 8:33 to 9:13.
Dan Knitzer/Doinks Srinivasan over Dino Celis/Laurie Boughton, 6-4! No Aces. This was conducted on Court Three from 8:34 to 9:07.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Syed Rashid/Frank Hohorst, 7-5! No Aces. These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:45 to 9:27.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jordan Bachvaroff/Genalin Capan, 6-0! No Aces. They got this one done on Court One and the duration was from 9:04 to 9:22.
Kris Srinivasan/Guy Dupoux over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-2! Guy: 1 Ace on Laura; and Kris: 1 Ace on Rob! Court Three hosted this one from 9:12 to 9:42.
Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton over Rafaelo Kazakov/Louise Bysiek, 6-2! No Aces. Going on serve with her team up 5-2, Laurie's service game was quite likely the game of the match as she started off at Love-30 only to have it go straight to Game/Match Point, then Deuce and then 2nd Game/Match Point where Spin made an awesome get/winner combo to seal the deal! This foursome faced off on Court Four from 9:18 to 9:50.
The Skinny: This was the match that drew the largest crowd of the night as both Spin and Laurie were in full-on high-energy vocal mode and had all onlookers in hysterics with their bawdy antics. It inspired Rafaelo to say, "whenever Spin is involved, it is always a circus!" And an "F" bomb dropped from Louise's mouth along the way as well. Of course, these type of complaints only inspire The Doc to become a bigger court jester than he already is.
After this one ended, there was a ten minute hitting session on this court as Spin and Syed hit against Nate and Natalia.
Mike Mole/Nick Inciong over Tito Castolo/Dino Celis, 6-0! Dino: 1 Ace on Mike; and Mike: 1 Ace on Dino! This one got underway on Court One at 9:25. Not sure when it ended as it led right into this next one.
Mike Mole/Nick Inciong leading Tito Castolo/Dino Celis, 3-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. They were on serve right until the interruption.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Dan Knitzer leading Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. Gen was on serve and down 30-40 (Break Point) when it went dark! They had begun this one on Court Two at 9:30.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. This one got started on Court Three at 9:44.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"Samara hosts 27 at C.G.!":
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara. With near-perfect weather (peak temperature earlier in the day was 75 degrees...quite insane for early November!), it ended up becoming an epic session in terms of turnout...but some flies in the ointment made it less than a perfect night.
When Samara pulled into the parking lot at 6:55, he saw that three of the four courts were already occupied (with just Court Two, aka Leafy Court, still being vacant).
On Court One, "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla were having a hitting session with one another. On Court Three, Jordan's buddy "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay was playing Singles with his usual non-GTA sparring partner.
And on Court Four, there was a Doubles hitting session that would soon end up becoming a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match featuring "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo taking on GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and his usual Mixed Doubles partner, Natalia "Nitro" Sout.
Speaking of Levy, let me now state how thankful I am for his generosity and thoughtfulness. By the time I arrived at 6:55, Mr. Lorenzo had already set up a makeshift shop on the bench alongside Court Four where he was selling his imported sportswear samples for just five dollars apiece in order to raise funds for the ongoing fundraiser for my children's school, the Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy (aka PGTA School 20). I also want to thank all those that purchased gear to go toward the good cause as $65 was raised in just that one evening there.
And to now detail the timing of the arrivals, it should first be said that "The Titan" Tito Castolo and "Stingray" Ray Spadaro were already there when Samara got to the courts. Tito had just finished a ten minute hitting session and then had to leave at 7:15 to go pick up his wife (but would return later in the evening). Meanwhile, Ray was trying to figure out where he should go.
Pulling into the lot at the same time as Samara was the "other Frank," Mr. Hohorst. Much thanks to that Frank as he brought a lawn blower to get the leaves off of Court Two and also off of the baseline areas of Court One.
"King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan also both pulled into the lot at the same time (at 7pm). Ten minutes later, "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer did the same. And another five minutes after that, another Dan made his presence felt at the courts as it was none other than the "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli who soon joined his pal, Samara, out on Court Two.
But once Frank realized there were five potential players for that court, he willingly stepped off like George Costanza to allow Dos Dans (Martinelli/Knitzer) to face Spadaro/Capan.
Meanwhile, Chiaro and Hohorst joined Bachvaroff and Fontanilla on Court one for some Doubles action there. And the players just kept coming as both "Swinging" Syed Rashid and "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas arrived at 7:20 just as a familiar white-haired man also made himself obvious near the fence alongside Court Four. He soon sat on the bench.
While this was happening, Samara invited Rashid and Nicolas to come join him on Court Three and that led to a hitting session while they waited for a fourth player to join them.
At 7:25 when the 1st Set of Rodrigues/Lorenzo versus Fernandes/Sout had finished, they asked the man on the bench if he wanted to join them and one of them would have been willing to sit out a set. He declined as he said he had three other guys on the way and he told them they should play on further...and so they did.
The usual Cedar Grove host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan made his way across the street at 7:30, and having recognized the man on the bench as John Paul Landi (who has made a couple of limited appearances in GTA action in the past), greeted him with a hello as he made his way to Court Three to become the fourth player there. That hitting session would soon lead to a One-Setter featuring Srinivasan/Rashid versus Samara/Nicolas.
Within succession, his three other guys came at 7:30, 7:35 and 7:40. The four of them were now hovering around that bench area while three more of our players arrived at 7:45 - GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, her hubby "The Rogue" Rob Gawley and "GDP" Guy Dupoux.
Five minutes later, the logjam situation got even worse as both "Lady B" Louise Bysiek and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole also arrived. It was at that time that the Doubles One-Setter on Court One finished and those four guys were nice enough to quickly invite the four "Outsiders" to come over to take over that court.
The insanity of the circumstances increased further when four players all arrived at 8:05 - Dino "The Dragon" Celis, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The Icon" Nick Inciong and "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov.
The final official competitor to arrive was "Laidback" Laurie Boughton (who would later earn a new moniker, "Strutting" Laurie, due to her proud prancing on the court after some good shots) giving us an impressive total of 27 players for the session.
Rowdy Rob was growing antsy with the situation and asked Samara if he should go ask the "Outsiders" when they would be done with Court One. Frank said that such an inquiry should either come from Rob or Kris as they are both Cedar Grove residents. That was all The Rogue needed to hear as he soon approached them and pointed out the fact that everyone else at the courts was playing a set and then letting four new players onto the courts.
Well, his strategy was both sound and sophisticated as they ended up leaving at 8:55 (fair enough as most public courts have signage suggesting limiting play to one hour while others are waiting...these four got just over that amount). Mr. Landi did make it clear, however, that they were not done with their planned session and were only departing as they felt bad about all the other competitors wanting to play (in the past, these guys would hold a court for the balance of the session...until 10pm...no matter what time they arrived and with no regard to how many others were waiting).
Fair is fair as it does not matter if the rest of us are affiliated with one another. If we are all getting off the courts after a set (or an hour or less) to allow four new players to take our place, we are abiding by the rules.
Anyway, all's well that ends well as everyone got the chance to play and there was so much levity (especially inspired by the tandem of Spin and Laurie who took the courts as a team late in the session) that too many of us to mention hung around to B.S. with one another all the way until 10:45!
Enough chit chat...let's now get to the action!
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Joe Rodrigues/Levy Lorenzo, 6-1, 7-5! No Aces. As already stated, this impromptu full match occupied Court Four from 6:59 to 8:20.
Chris Chiaro/Frank Hohorst over Jordan Bachvaroff/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-1! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 7:15 to 7:50.
Dan Martinelli/Dan Knitzer over Ray Spadaro/Genalin Capan, 6-3! No Aces. This was contested on Court Two from 7:22 to 7:57.
Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid over Frank Samara/Fadia Nicolas, 7-5! No Aces. It went like this: Frank was broken at Love after Syed set the tone with an awesome passing shot winner to start things off at Love-15, Syed was broken (Kris hit a winning volley for 15-Love, it went to 30-Love and then 30-15 where a Double Fault made it 30-All, then came Break Point and the break), Fadia also was broken (15-Love, 15-All where Kris blew a volley for 30-15, then Double Game Point where Kris hit a winning volley to cut the lead down to Game Point, then it was Deuce where Syed hit a winning return to se up Break Point where Kris scored with a vicious volley winner for the break) and then Kris was the first to hold serve and he did it at Love as he hit three consecutive un-returned serves to set up Triple Game Point where Syed stung the opposition with a sudden and succinct Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold as they took a 3-1 lead! Samara held (Syed hit a sizzling return winner for Love-15, but then an un-returned serve reversed the momentum and it was off and running right to Double Game Point where Fadia made a great get/winner combo to secure her partner's hold) and then Rashid was broken again (Syed hit a passing shot winner for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where a Double Fault made it 15-30 and then Kris blew a volley to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) to level things at 3-3. Nicolas held (Syed hit an amazing passing shot return for Love-15, but then Kris blew a volley to make it 15-All and then an un-returned serve soon sent the game to Double Game Point which was cut down to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and yet another un-returned serve secured the hold) as she took the first lead for her team at 4-3! Srinivasan held again (Syed hit a wicked winner for 15-Love, it went to 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and then back-to-back Double Faults brought it to Deuce where Syed hit a winning volley for Game Point where Frank blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4! Hollywood held at Love as Syed blew a drop shot attempt and Kris blew two successive volley attempts to set up Triple Game Point to put his team up again at 5-4, but then Swinging Syed finally held (an un-returned serve set up 30-Love, then it went 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) to keep things alive at 5-5! Fabulous Fadia was broken (Syed scored with a blast of a passing shot return for Love-15 and then Kris hit a winner for Love-30, it then went to 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and then The K Man held for a third straight time (Love-30 soon shifted to Game/Match Point with an un-returned serve along the way and then came the hold on that initial M.P.) to earn a hard-fought victory! We played this on Court Three from 7:38 to 8:25.
The Skinny: All four players accounted themselves well as Syed continues to show marked improvement. The MVP was Kris as he was on fire throughout this contest with a lot of successful aggressive play while also reducing his unforced errors just enough to finally shift the momentum once and for all in his team's favor.
Mike Mole/Guy Dupoux over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-4! Guy: 3 Aces (2 on Laura, 1 on Rob)! Court Two hosted this contest from 8:10 to 8:42.
Nick Inciong/Rafaelo Kazakov over Tito Castolo/Louise Bysiek, 6-4! Rafaelo: 2 Aces on Louise (the first of which was on the very first serve of the match)! This foursome faced off on Court Four from 8:33 to 9:13.
Dan Knitzer/Doinks Srinivasan over Dino Celis/Laurie Boughton, 6-4! No Aces. This was conducted on Court Three from 8:34 to 9:07.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Syed Rashid/Frank Hohorst, 7-5! No Aces. These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:45 to 9:27.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jordan Bachvaroff/Genalin Capan, 6-0! No Aces. They got this one done on Court One and the duration was from 9:04 to 9:22.
Kris Srinivasan/Guy Dupoux over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-2! Guy: 1 Ace on Laura; and Kris: 1 Ace on Rob! Court Three hosted this one from 9:12 to 9:42.
Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton over Rafaelo Kazakov/Louise Bysiek, 6-2! No Aces. Going on serve with her team up 5-2, Laurie's service game was quite likely the game of the match as she started off at Love-30 only to have it go straight to Game/Match Point, then Deuce and then 2nd Game/Match Point where Spin made an awesome get/winner combo to seal the deal! This foursome faced off on Court Four from 9:18 to 9:50.
The Skinny: This was the match that drew the largest crowd of the night as both Spin and Laurie were in full-on high-energy vocal mode and had all onlookers in hysterics with their bawdy antics. It inspired Rafaelo to say, "whenever Spin is involved, it is always a circus!" And an "F" bomb dropped from Louise's mouth along the way as well. Of course, these type of complaints only inspire The Doc to become a bigger court jester than he already is.
After this one ended, there was a ten minute hitting session on this court as Spin and Syed hit against Nate and Natalia.
Mike Mole/Nick Inciong over Tito Castolo/Dino Celis, 6-0! Dino: 1 Ace on Mike; and Mike: 1 Ace on Dino! This one got underway on Court One at 9:25. Not sure when it ended as it led right into this next one.
Mike Mole/Nick Inciong leading Tito Castolo/Dino Celis, 3-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. They were on serve right until the interruption.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Dan Knitzer leading Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. Gen was on serve and down 30-40 (Break Point) when it went dark! They had begun this one on Court Two at 9:30.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. This one got started on Court Three at 9:44.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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