9/5/18:
"2 at NTC, 4 at PAC, Ralph-Dan K at VP, Scott-Edwin, Jordan-Scott part of 12 at C.G.!":
Despite the continued heat-wave conditions, we had four separate sessions of GTA Wednesday Tennis. The first of the four was an early morning affair at Nutley Tennis Club as "L-Boogie" Laurie Boughton and "Energetic" Nina Kallay got together for some Singles action (though it did not end up as a full Challenge Match, with Laurie reporting); the second was the frequent weeknight session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with both "TNT" Tim Nguyen and "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz reporting; the third was at Verona Park as "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard and "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer met there for a full Challenge Match (with Ralph reporting); and the fourth was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts which got underway with a full Challenge Match between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and was then followed by another Challenge Match also involving Bergenfeld, but this time it was against "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (with Scott reporting both). Other contributors to this report from that session are "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and Thomas "Not Tommy" Lee.
Let's start things off with Laurie at NTC.
The NTC Results:
Nina Kallay over Laurie Boughton, 6-2! No Aces.
Laurie Boughton leading Nina Kallay, 2-0 (Incomplete when Nina had to leave early)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for her timely reporting. She indicated the two of them will be getting together for Singles on most mornings…so, hopefully, they will soon have the time to get in a full Challenge Match.
We stay in Nutley, but now move into the evening hours and take it east ever so slightly to the Park Ave. Courts for the dual report from Tim and Keith. We will have Tim start things off and then get commentary from Keith along the way.
It was a full house at PAC this Wednesday evening as all courts were taken by other outside players. A few of us arrived around 7:15pm while some others arrived around 7:30 and still more around 8pm, but we all had to wait until around 8:10 for the first court to become available…and then about 10 to 15 minutes later another court became available.
The Park Ave. Courts Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Rich Liu/Edgar Valencia over Tim Nguyen/Keith Lewkowitz, 6-2, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 47 and # 48 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
Tim's Up: Rich and Edgar played really well in this match while Keith and I made so many mistakes.
Tim Nguyen/Keith Lewkowitz over Rich Liu/Edgar Valencia, 6-2! No Aces.
Tim's Up: Somehow Keith and I managed to play better this time around. Keith was all over the court and was able to keep up with Rich and Edgar. Rich also made so many mistakes in the set and Edgar got a little tired, too.
The Kaptain's Commentary: It was a fun night overall. Edgar's serves and drop shots were sensational. Rich has worked diligently and has become more consistent with his backhand. I enjoyed a fun workout and was working on some minor aspects of the game. I made more errors than anyone, but had a fun time.
The star of the night had to be Tim. He bought himself a new racquet and, as the night progressed, Tim started to return serves with such precision. He was offering the opposition tougher shots that had less air under them…more linear, direct and precise. Tim has clearly worked hard this summer as the results have shown!
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and very comprehensive reporting…always appreciated! Keith actually thought they had won that last One-Setter by a 6-1 score, but I decided to run with Tim's version of the result (when in doubt, I will always give the benefit of said doubt to keeping it just a bit closer for the losing party). Also, I am very pleased with the level of enthusiasm and overall participation level coming from the Nutley crew as of late. Keep up the good work, guys!
We now head southwest to Verona for the result from Ralph.
The Verona Park Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Ralph Bernard over Dan Knitzer, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 14 Rank in the Advanced Division! Ralph and Dan: 2 Aces each!
The Ralph Report: Dan Knitzer and I played at Verona Park starting at 7:30pm and it lasted about an hour. Dan got a couple of Aces on me including a wacky slow spinner where I had to rush the net to try and get a racket on it…and I did not!
Samara's Notes: I thank Ralph for his very timely reporting and I congratulate him on a highly impressive victory!
We now move one town north to Cedar Grove for the balance of this report.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Edwin Ortega, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
The Skinny from Scott: The 2nd Set was extremely competitive.
Then Jordan rolled up and we decided to play a Best of 5 Sets Match.
3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2, to become the New # 10 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division! Scott: 2 Aces in the 2nd Set; and Jordan: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!
The Skinny from Scott: We were both gassed by the 3rd Set and the points got very sloppy with a ton of Double Faults, too! But it was a good workout on a very humid night!
Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his timely reporting and congratulate him on going back-to-back (and winning both) on such a hot and humid night!
Anish Mehta/Mike Mole over Dan Hwang/Don Moya, 6-4! No Aces.
Dan Hwang/Don Moya over Anish Mehta/Mike Mole, 6-3! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Thomas Lee/Janice Wang over Jay Phoenix/Marie Salamon, 6-3, 6-0, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
There's no doubting Thomas: Lots of long rallies and good play from alley to alley! Janice was playing the forehand and was ON fire taking rips down the line, generally placing it two to three ball widths inside the sideline. I had some good touch and reactions at the net which resulted in some easy points. Marie and Jay started returning deep and away from me to avoid net play.
Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon over Jay Phoenix/Janice Wang, 6-3! No Aces.
Janice Wang/Natalia Sout over Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon, 8-6! No Aces.
There's no doubting Thomas: Very competitive play with Natalia and Marie going head to head from the baseline and Janice and I getting dirty at the net.
Janice Wang/Marie Salamon over Thomas Lee/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces.
There's no doubting Thomas: I thought this would have ended up closer, but Natalia and I couldn't hit anything inside the lines other than the net! It must have been that 5 minute break that cooled us down! We could only laugh at our ineptness in the match as it was just one of those sets!
Thomas Lee/Janice Wang leading Natalia Sout/Marie Salamon, 4-0 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank both Anish and Thomas for their timely reporting…and some major kudos to Mr. Lee for all the detail as well! I am very impressed with the level of contribution from Cedar Grove on this particular occasion…especially considering the total lack of it just one evening earlier. Oh well…that's how these things go sometimes!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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