4/28 GTA Results: Ryan-Pathan at RHP, Dino-Kris part of 7 at C.G.!

4/28/16:

"Ryan-Pathan at RHP, Dino-Kris part of 7 at C.G.!":               

The weathermen did not give us much hope for GTA Thursday Night Tennis.  But, as usual, they were mostly wrong as there was very little precipitation in our area.

As a result, GTA Champion: "Double R" Rob Ryan and Top Contender: "Instant" Moka Pathan were able to play the GTA Championship Match that they had originally scheduled for this past Tuesday at Robin Hood Park.

And up at Cedar Grove, "Coach" Dino Celis and "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan started a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match that they were unable to finish.  Plus, there was some Mixed Doubles action where "Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan sent in the scores.

We will first go to the RHP recap from Moka and then allow Doinks and Kris to finish this report.

The RHP Result:

GTA Championship Match:

Moka Pathan over Rob Ryan, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, to become the New GTA Champion!  Moka: 2 Aces (1 in the 1^st Set and 1 in the 3^rd Set); and Rob: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.

Moka's Brew: Rob and I played from about 6:15 to 7:50pm.  The conditions were interesting and definitely had an effect at some points in the match. We both had our moments of playing well and then playing not as so well.  I feel fortunate to come away with a win and look forward to giving him a deserved rematch in May.

Samara's Notes: First off, I offer Moka very hearty congratulations as this is quite the victory.  I also thank him for sending in this score in a very timely manner.  Kudos also must go out to Rob for a tough fight.  And yes, as the Former Champ, Rob is entitled to the very first rematch.

We now turn this report over to Doinks, then Kris.

Laura Gawley/Doinks Srinivasan over Rob Gawley/Natalia Sout, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

Rob Gawley/Doinks Srinivasan leading Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 5-3 (Incomplete, we didn't finish this because the lights went out)!

Thanks to Doinks…and now to Kris.

What looked like no tennis on a night that was to have rain in the cards, turned out to be one with at least some action.  Doinks wanted to hit a bit and we were joined by Natalia Sout.  An impromptu match happened, but never got to be completed.

The GTA Women's Championship Tourney Match between Laura Gawley and Natalie Guzman was deferred to another day due to the impending rains. Rob and Jose got into the act shortly thereafter. Overall, the courts remained absolutely dry but for a sprinkle or two during our match.

Dino vs. Kris in a full Singles Challenge Match: It started at 8:15 and we stopped at 9:45 with a set a piece, and we intend to play the deciding set sometime soon.

Kris over Dino 6-4 in the 1st Set and Dino over Kris 6-3 in the 2nd Set!

It turned out to be a close and compelling match with some attractive points, good fight but also saw Unforced Errors from both the players. Dino had a slow start, making a few more errors in the 1st Set but he cut down on the errors in the 2nd. It was the opposite for me, but I also made some foolish rushes to the net on some of the short balls that Dino put away nicely. By the same token, I had some decent points at the net trying to force issues and put on some pressure.

Both of us missed out on quite a few opportunities to close out a game on our serve or get a break.  It kind of balanced out as the results could have been different for both the sets. Dino also had some good plays at the net after rushing me to the net and taking on my shots comfortably for winners.

Overall, it wasn't shabby even though the pace at times was slow and where trying to up the pace actually cost me dearly on some points that saw me rush a bit too much.

Samara's Notes: It sounds like a very exciting match that is in progress…and one that may impact The Top 10 of the Advanced Division even further if completed in time for the April Rank Defense Review!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

4/27 GTA Results: Samara hosts 10 at RHP, Kuzavas-Celis part of 15 (official) at C.G.!

4/27/16:

"Samara hosts 10 at RHP, Kuzavas-Celis part of 15 (official) at C.G.!":

GTA Wednesday Night Tennis took place at two locations: Robin Hood Park in Clifton (with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as the host and The Cedar Grove Courts (with "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan acting as the host and also featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Coach" Dino Celis).  In addition to the report from Kris, Marijus and Dino both sent in their result (from Marijus there was another score and also some commentary) and "Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales also sent in some scores directly.

Earlier in the day, Samara announced that he would be somewhat of a late arrival at RHP (he stated he hoped to arrive by 5:45 and got there at 5:50).  One broken promise, however, was that he would also go up to Cedar Grove to host that session as well (more on that later).

When Frank rolled up to RHP, he saw all three courts filled with GTA players...and this made him happy.

On Championship Court, "Automatic" Anna Mazur and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan were engaged in an extended hitting session that would eventually lead to a couple of Singles One-Setters.

On Center Court was the already in-progress Doubles One-Setter featuring "ME" Michel Encarnacion and "Stealth" Omar Santos versus "Lucky" Leo Victor and "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto.

And on the Entrance Court, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was having a hitting session with "Nasty" Nilay Patel.  When Samara asked Mole if he had his usual action with Capan, Mike said not this time around.  Instead, he played with some non-GTA guy whose name he did not know (subsequently, the "Unknown Tennis Player" handed him a defeat).

Frank took Nilay's side in hitting against Mike, but then Mole had to leave at 6pm.  It then became a hitting session of just two until Samara suggested a Singles One-Setter to Patel and Nilay accepted.

"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 6:20.  Ten minutes later, "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah strolled into the park solely to make a cameo appearance as he had his young son Armaan with him.

The tenth and final official competitor of the night to arrive was "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli at 6:50.  He came sans racquet, but that situation would soon be remedied.

The RHP Results:

Michel Encarnacion/Omar Santos over Leo Victor/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-4!  Vinnie: 1 Ace on Omar (what Vin himself described as a "dead ball" serve).  Vin estimated that this one got underway on Center Court at 5:40.  It ended at 6:25.

Anna Mazur over Genalin Capan, 6-1!  No Aces.  Championship Court hosted this one from 6:05 to 6:25.

Frank Samara over Nilay Patel, 6-1!  Frank: 1 Ace.  It went like this: Frank held serve (started off with two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point, but then a great/get winner by Nilay followed by yet another winner eventually brought the game to Deuce, then came another Game Point and the hold), Nilay was broken (Frank hit a scorching return for Love-30, Double Fault for Triple Break Point and then another Double Fault for the Love break), Samara held at Love as he started off with an un-returned serve and then hit a short, drop shot-like serve for 30-Love and then had another un-returned serve along the way and then Patel was broken again (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love, it then went to 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, then came Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 0-4.  Then The Wood held again (started with a Double Fault, it then went to Love-30 and straight to Game Point and then the hold) to take a 5-0 lead!  Nasty Nilay then scrapped his way onto the scoreboard as it went 30-Love, shifted to Game Point, Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold for 1-5.  But then Frank held at Love as two un-returned serves led to Triple Game/Match Point where he had yet another un-retuned serve to seal the deal on a Love hold and end the match.  We played this on the Entrance Court from 6:10 to 6:33.

Leo Victor/Nathan Fernandes over Michel Encarnacion/Omar Santos, 6-1!  Michel: 2 Aces (one on each); Nathan: 1 Ace on Michel.  Center Court hosted this one from 6:30 to 6:50.

Genalin Capan over Anna Mazur, 6-4!  No Aces.  This was conducted on Championship Court from 6:30 to 7:04.

Michel Encarnacion/Vinnie De Benedetto over Leo Victor/Nathan Fernandes, 6-3!  No Aces.  This took place on Center Court from 6:52 to 7:19.  After this, it was Nate going solo in a hitting session with Leo and Gen.  When Leo left, it was just Nathan vs. Jane.

Frank Samara/Anna Mazur over Omar Santos/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!  Spin: 1 Ace on Anna.  Here's the breakdown: Omar held (an amazing volley by Spin set up Triple Game Point which got cut down to Game Point after Omar blew a volley, but then came the hold), Anna held (a winning lob for Anna to start the game and then Frank had a monster of an Overhead Smash on the way to Triple Game Point, but then Frank blew a volley to make it Double Game Point, but then came the hold), but then Spin was broken (he started with a corner Ace on Anna, but then it shifted straight to Double Break Point as Frank hit a passing shot winner to set that up and then Frank hit a winning volley for the break) for 1-2.  Frank held at Love after Omar blew a volley to set up Triple Game Point to put his team up 3-1, but Santos held again (un-returned serve for 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point where Spin hit a nice Backhand Volley to secure his partner's hold) to pull to 2-3.  Mazur held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point after Frank hit a winning volley followed by a winning Overhead Smash to set up that D.G.P., and then the hold was sure to follow) and Martinelli was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All...and it should be noted that Omar had a winning volley along the way...then came Frank hitting a well-placed winning lob to make it Break Point and that was where Spin hit a roller over the net to make it Deuce, but then came another Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-5!  Samara was broken (Love-30 where Spin made a superb get only to have Frank trump him with an even better winner for 15-30, but the break came on Double Break Point) to have his team's lead cut to 5-3, but then came the game of the match with Stealth on serve.  The first two points were both excellent, extended rallies that led to a Love-30 score.  Omar then hit a winner for 15-30 and then it was soon 30-All.  But then it went to Break/Match Point where Frank blew a volley to make it Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, 3rd Break/Match Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point where once again Spin made another miraculous get only to have Frank reply with an answer for the 6th Deuce, then came the 4th Break/Match Point where Frank hit a rolling return over the net-cord to drop on the opposition's side in victory!  Championship Court hosted this from 7:10 to 7:49.

The Skinny: Spin did not come prepared to play tennis (i.e. did not bring his racquet with him).  Anna remedied this by offering him the racquet of her boyfriend Stan.  He must have liked it a lot because he played very well with it.  At the beginning of the contest, we let Anna choose her partner.  She chose Frank and it was fortunate for both of them as Samara was having a good day. 

During much of this, it was Nate hitting against Leo and Gen on Center Court.  Then, Victor left Capan and Fernandes to continue hitting without him.  They continued right until it was time for us to B.S. with them.  They finally stopped hitting at 8:05 in near darkness.

From there, Spin entertained the remaining troops (i.e. Samara, Fernandes and Capan) until they all left at 8:20.  At this time, Frank was simply too exhausted to go up to Cedar Grove.  So he decided to call it a night and head home.

As it turns out, C.G. did not need him there anyway as the session went fine without him.     

The Cedar Grove Results:

Marijus Kuzavas over Mike Kazlauskas, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Marijus Kuzavas over Dino Celis, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 5 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Marijus: 1 Ace in the 3rd Set. 

Super Mario says: This was a very good fight.  Many of the games went to multiple Deuces, so it could have gone either way.

Samara's Notes: I applaud Marijus for his increased role in our league this season and thank him for senind in this result (as did Dino).  I also congratulate him on this victory.

Jose Gonzales/Brenda Jordan over Doinks Srinivasan/Natalie Guzman, 6-1!  No Aces.

Edwin Ortega/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 6-2!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout over Edwin Ortega/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus, Dino, Doinks and Jose for all the above.  We now turn this report over to Kris.

By the time, I hit the tennis courts at about 7:30pm, all the courts were occupied with Courts 1 and 2 taken by a couple of kids taking lessons.

Dino was hitting the ball with Natalie Guzman and a Doubles Match was going on between Brenda Jordan and Kevin Doyle against Dawn Peterson and Kathy Sheldon on the adjacent court.

We had quite a few players on the sidelines waiting their turn. I checked with the guys giving lessons how long they intended to occupy the court as there were 8 players waiting to play. This expedited their exit.

Anish Mehta/Santosh Reddy over Kris Srinivasan/Ryan Pianciek, 6-2!  No Aces.

It was a poor start for me and I could have used a lengthy warm-up. As Joe Rodrigues was waiting,
I let him team up with Ryan for subsequent sets. Lou La Forgia and Mike Kaz got to play against Chris
Chiaro and Praful Nair. After a set, it was Lou and Praful against Chris and Moka Pathan.

On the other side, Doinks and Edwin got to play against Jose and Natalia, winning the first One-Setter and losing the next. She played a set before this teaming up with Natalie, I think.

Then, there was the singles match between Dino and Marijus. I got to see a bit of this match and it was a good tussle between the two. I did miss out on a lot of the action and it turned out to be a bummer of a night for me, but we sure got a boatload of our players in action which indeed made the atmosphere the place to be.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank all those that contributed to this report, but I also find it very disappointing to know that there were so many other results that went unreported.  Oh well…

All in all, it was another exciting session under the lights at Cedar Grove.

All the best,
Frank Samara

4/26 GTA Rankings: Samara/Rizzo co-host 4 at The Bubble!

4/26/16:

"Samara/Rizzo co-host 4 at The Bubble!":

GTA Tuesday Night Tennis only took place at one location, The Wayne Bubble.  It seems that the late afternoon rains scared away any outdoor tennis plans.  Scheduled for Robin Hood Park in Clifton was the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "Double R" Rob Ryan and the Top Contender: "Instant" Moka Pathan.  The timing of the rain allowed no chance of that one happening then and there.

But "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan said that by the time of the usual Cedar Grove session, the courts were bone-dry.  Yet, no official GTA action took place there.

"The Riz" John Rizzo had a couple of free hours of court time left up at The Bubble.  This was the night to cash in as it was the Season Finale (i.e. the dismantling of The Bubble was set to start the following morning).  The Riz offered an invitation to "Hollywood" Frank Samara.  The Wood (aka The Frank) promptly accepted.

Rizzo said he would find two other players to enable some Doubles to happen.  He found two strong players: "The Munster" Bryan Mun and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan.

When Rizzo and Samara arrived at 7:45, all four courts were full and Mun was by himself on Court One.  Cabanatan had already informed John that he was running ten minutes late.

So Bryan was hitting against both Frank and John as they waited for Dennis to arrive.  Around that time, Samara noticed the action taking place next to them on Court Two.

It was "The Boss" Bill Bess and his teaching pro, "Powerhouse" Paul Gomez taking on a guy who looked like he could be Paul's brother (almost his twin, actually) and former GTA Champion (and then elevated to Pro): "The Eastside Legend" Ruddy Pena!  There was truly some hard-hitting action taking place on that court, for sure!

As promised, Cabanatan walked onto Court One at 7:55.  After a four-way hitting session of about five minutes, we got the first of three Doubles One-Setters underway.

With a deadline of 9:30 (though we were later allowed to go overtime), I did not note who hit what winners and when...but I did note the progression of points in each game.

Here we go!

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-3!  Bryan: 1 Ace on Frank.  It went like this: Frank was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break), Bryan was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then another Double Fault for the break), John was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), but Dennis was the first to hold serve (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce then all Game Points to 4th Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) to put his team up 3-1.  Samara held (15-Love to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce and then all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) for 2-3, but Mun also held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point, sideline Ace on Frank for the hold) to go up 4-2.  Rizzo also held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to pull to 3-4, but from there Cabanatan held again in a most pivotal game (Double Fault for Love-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce and then Break Point where John had what should have been a sure winning volley opportunity, but he went for too much angle and ended up hitting it sideways on his own side of the court to bring it back to 2nd Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold) and The Wood was broken again (Double Fault for Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point) to take a tough loss!  We played this one on Court One from 8pm to 8:33.

The Skinny: Without noting winners, what you should instead picture is Mun coming with all-around big game as he is a Certified Tennis Instructor.  His biggest weapons are his serve (and the Double Faults are result of the fact that he goes for it on second serve) and his Overhead Smash.  Plus, he is very quick and makes several gets.  Cabanatan is a crafty lefty who also has a variety of shots in his arsenal.  The book on both Samara and Rizzo is that they will do whatever they have to do to stay in the point.  Some will call it junk tennis, but it is often with a measure of finesse and precision...and this is often enough to bail them out of trouble.  That pivotal point where John could have hit the winning volley to level the set at 4-4 proved to be absolutely crucial as it took both Rizzo and Samara out of it mentally.  Frank followed that letdown of a game with a deflated service that was worthy of a Love break, but they gutted it out for two more points before being put out of their misery.

Still, when all was said and done, it felt like a close match-up...so we decided upon a rematch.

Dennis Cabanatan/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-5!  Bryan: 3 Aces (2 on Frank and 1 on John); and Dennis: 1 Ace on John!  Here's how it went down: Bryan held (Love-15, 15-All and then an Ace up the T against John for 30-15 followed by a second-serve corner Ace on Frank to set up Game Point and then he hit an un-returnable serve for the hold), Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then the break) and Dennis held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point where he hit a corner Ace on John for the hold) to fairly quickly go up 3-0!  Still, deflated and dejected, it looked like Samara/Rizzo were soon to be defeated and possibly fed a late-night bagel when a turnaround occurred with John on serve as he went down Triple Break Point only to rally back to Deuce and earn the hold on the very first Game Point to get his team on the scoreboard!  Mun held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then the hold) to put his team 4-1, but Samara also held (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4.  Cabanatan was broken as it shifted straight from 15-Love to Double Break Point and the break and then Rizzo held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to knot the score at 4-4 as a true momentum shift had occurred!  From there it was nip and tuck as The Munster held a third straight time in this set, but not as easily as he started off with two Double Faults, but then hit a blast of an un-returnable serve for 15-30 which was then followed by a corner Ace on Frank for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, Double Fault for 3rd Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold), but Hollywood held as well (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to even it up again, this time at 5-5!  The Menace held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), but then The Riz was broken (Triple Break/Match Point, it ended on Double Break/Match Point) to suffer a hard-fought loss...but it was at least one they could feel better about.  This one also took place on Court One and lasted from 8:37 to 9:12.

The Skinny: Rizzo's rebound on serve to get his team on the board was what turned this battle around and at least made it interesting.  It was good quality tennis all around.

For the next (and last) one, we decided to switch up the teams.  Honestly, we did not think we would be able to complete it in time.

John Rizzo/Bryan Mun over Frank Samara/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-2!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown: Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and the break) and Bryan held once again as he went up 15-Love, then hit back-to-back Double Faults for 15-30, it went to Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, Game Point and the hold to go up 2-0.  Dennis held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Fault to make it 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce and all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and the hold), but John also held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold) for 3-1.  Samara held at Love to pull to 2-3, but from there Mun held again (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15 shifted to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Cabanatan was broken (15-Love where Dennis busted the strings on his racquet and had to use a replacement...which seemingly affected him as it then went 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, shifted to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Rizzo held at Love when this one finished on Triple Game/Match Point at 9:42 (we started this one on Court One at exactly 9:13)!

The Skinny: Rizzo caught his second wind in this one while he was ably supported by Mun.  Meanwhile, many Unforced Errors crept into the game of both Samara and Cabanatan.

All in all, it was a fun night and a nice way to close out The Bubble's 2015-2016 Indoor Season.  I thank John for the invite and also thank Bill for the latitude on the time.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

April 25, 2016

4/25/16: 

“Gen hosts 5 at RHP, Phoenix-Solano part of 15 at C.G.!”:               

“The S Bomber” Genalin Capan acted as host of the session of GTA Monday Night Tennis at Robin Hood Park in Clifton.  “Papa K” Kris Srinivasan acted as host of a similar session at The Cedar Grove Courts.  But that later session also featured The GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match between Jay “The Rising” Phoenix and “Big George” Jorge Solano (both of them sent in the result and Jorge provided some additional details).  Also, “Dominant” Dawn Peterson sent in a couple of scores directly, but said that Kris would confirm some details. 

We now turn this report over to Gen for the RHP recap.  From there, we will head up to Cedar Grove for the multi-sourced report. 

GTA Monday Night Tennis at RHP featured beautiful weather and five competitors.  

Mike Mole and I were the first to arrive at the RHP courts at 4:30 with all three courts vacant. We did 30 minutes of hitting and then followed that with a Singles One-Setter.  We were later joined by Raj Shah, Vinnie De Benedetto and Nathan Fernandes.   

After Mike and I finished our One-Setter, there were a series of mini hitting sessions. Raj was dressed in his shirt and jeans and was just looking to make a cameo. He soon started hitting with Mike for 15 min then took a break to walk around the park.  Then Vinnie and I took over to hit with Mike for 10 minutes before Mike made his exit.  

It was down to just Vinnie and I having a hitting session for next 20 min until Nate arrived. Raj offered to play so we could get in an official Doubles One-Setter done before dark.  Also, Dave Zapusek and Cujo stopped by to say “hi” as the two were walking around the park enjoying nice weather. 

The RHP Results: 

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2!  Mike: 3 Aces!  

We started with both of us holding serve and then followed that with an exchange of breaks for 2-2. Then Mike took next 4 straight games for the win. We had a couple of games that were multi Deuces. He closed out the set on 3rd MP. We played this one from 5-5:35.  

Nathan Fernandes/Vinnie De Benedetto over Raj Shah/Genalin Capan, 6-2!  Raj: 2 Aces on Nate!  

Raj asked Vinnie who he wanted on his team. Vinnie's reply was that he would take the young Nate as he needs someone to do the running.  Vinnie hit some nice winners at the net.  Thanks to Raj who did much of the running on our side of the court. This set was a lot of fun. When Raj served up the 2 aces on Nate, he called them "Welcome Back Nate!" aces. We played this last set from 6:35-7pm.  For the rest of the session, Nate, Raj and I continued hitting.  

Samara’s Notes: I thank Gen for hosting the RHP session and providing us with that report.  We now head up to Cedar Grove for the report from Kris with additional details coming in from Jay, Jorge and Dawn.  I thank everyone for their input. 

The Cedar Grove Results: 

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:

Jay Phoenix over Jorge Solano, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Intermediate Division plus advance to the Quarterfinals of The GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces. 

The Say from Jorge: Tonight's match started at 6:15pm.  In the 1st set, I had the advantage being up 5-1 and I couldn't finish it and bring it to a Match Point. Jay made an excellent comeback and took the set at 7-5. In the following set, Jay had a 4-3 advantage over me, but I came back to tie it 4-4. We ended then our 6-6 Tiebreak with Jay winning 7-5. The match ended at 8:15. Congratulations to Jay on a terrific and very competitive match. Tennis is a game of mistakes and I couldn't finish and take the chances I had when I was ahead.  

Samara’s Notes: I thank both of them for their feedback.  I congratulate Jay on his hard-fought victory, but also give major kudos to Jorge for his solid effort.  I also give Big George an additional thank you for the thoughtful details that he provided us.  And now we go to Kris with an assist from Dawn. 

Just a quick recap of the results, but I can't help mention the fact that Lou La Forgia was in such a fiery mood, his play was scintillating! Should I say he whipped the shots? Ripped the ball? Smoked them? It was all that and more! 

It was a delight to watch his game. Both Chris Chiaro and Nithin Poosala were brilliant in their play as well which was evident in the last completed match of the night which ended up in a tight Tiebreak. 

Praful Nair/Herb Reiner over Omar Santos/Natalia Sout, 6-0!  No Aces (apparently). 

Praful Nair/Santosh Reddy over Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently). 

Dawn said that these two teams then started another One-Setter in which her team was leading, but then Tito had to leave to go pick up his wife. 

Chris Chiaro/Dawn Peterson over Praful Nair/Santosh Reddy, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently). 

Sairaj Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Herb Reiner, 6-2!  No Aces. 

Lou La Forgia/Nithin Poosala over Chris Chiaro/Santosh Reddy, 6-2!  Chris: 1 Ace on Nithin!

Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Kris Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-0!  No Aces.  And full credit goes to Lou and Kris for that lopsided score.  There was one point worthy of mention.  Mighty Lou had one blistering cross-court shot that I intercepted at the net. The effect was a drop shot onto the other side that then ricocheted back onto my side. One time when you can actually go to the opponent’s side to play it!  

Praful Nair/Natalia Sout over Omar Santos/Herb Reiner, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently). 

2 out of 3 Sets:

Omar Santos/Rob Gawley over Praful Nair/Natalia Sout, 6-4, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently). 

And then these two teams played an incomplete set which was cut short at 2 games apiece. 

Chris Chiaro/Nithin Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Lou La Forgia, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces. 

This was the match of the night as Lou continued to be rollicking and, with some assist from me initially, we had a healthy lead only to see a great comeback from Chris and Nithin. 

With Spin (Dan Martinelli), Dino Celis and Laura Gawley on the sidelines cheering and goading, this only electrified the atmosphere as Chris and Nithin roared back into the game down 2-5 to win 4 consecutive games and the next one was a drama that fittingly ensured a Tiebreak that was handsomely won by Chris and Nithin. 

This was a great match and a fine way to end the night. 

We did have another 8 minutes remaining or so. Dino was sufficiently inspired to hit the ball with me. 

Personally, I am happy that we took take Lou and Nithin away from a match they were about to start playing with Herb and Natalia. 

Overall, it was a great night of GTA action and the man in the spotlight was without question the "Amazing Lou". 

Samara’s Notes: As always, I thank Kris for all he does on behalf of the GTA up at Cedar Grove (often with an assist from his wife Doinks).  That last one sounds like yet another possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season’s end. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

April 23, 2016

4/23/16:

“Kris hosts 7 at C.G. as The Dwights return!”:

GTA Saturday Night Tennis ended up taking place The Cedar Grove Courts with "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan acting as the host.

Let's now go to the action up at Cedar Grove. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

Kris Srinivasan/Greg Swierczek over Sukumar Mitra/Herb Reiner, 6-3!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Sukumar Mitra over Greg Swierczek/Herb Reiner, 6-0!  No Aces (apparently).

Jose Gonzales/Sukumar Mitra over Kris Srinivasan/Greg Swirczek, 6-2!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Dwight Thomas Sr./Dwight Thomas Jr. over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 6-3, 6-4, as both teams enter the Doubles Division as the New # 25 and # 26 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division!  Jose: 1 Ace on Sr. in the 1st Set.  It was the official GTA Return of both Dwight Thomas Sr. and Dwight Thomas Jr.

Dwight Thomas Sr./Dwight Thomas Jr. over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 6-1!  Sr.: 1 Ace on Kris; and Jr.: 1 Ace on Kris.

The Say from Papa K: It was good to have The Dwights back in GTA action.  They were solid playing in tandem and some of their gets were unbelievable.  Dwight Jr. play for the Seton Hall Prep Varsity Tennis Team while my son Jay plays for the Seton Hall Prep JV Squad.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for acting as the impromptu host of the Cedar Grove session and providing us with his report.   

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

April 24, 2016

4/24/16:

“Samara hosts 19 at RHP, Marijus-Kaz at R.P., Kris hosts 8 at C.G.!”: 

This session of GTA Sunday Tennis featured nice, but windy weather conditions - sunny and in the 55 to 65 degree range throughout the session.  As such, many players had been looking forward to the Robin Hood Park session for most of the week.

Some early planning took place as "The Riz" John Rizzo got Doubles action together with "The Assassin" Alfred Chen, "Chito" Nick Inciong and "The Sentry" Senthil Kumar.  A start-time of 9:30am had been agreed upon earlier in the week.  "Hollywood" Frank Samara had been invited by Rizzo earlier in the week, but Samara was unsure of his schedule.

As it turns out, Samara could have been part of it as he arrived at RHP at 9:40 while the two teams (Rizzo and Inciong versus Kumar and Chen) were still warming up in a hitting session.  They got the first of two One-Setters officially underway on Championship Court two minutes later.

There were also two interlopers on the Entrance Court and that number became three at 10:05 (they all seem to be Clifton High School Tennis Team alumni).

Arriving at that same 10:05 time, we had "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto made his way onto Center Court to engage Samara in an extended hitting session.

At 10:15, three Clifton High School Tennis Team players took the Entrance Court.  It briefly went to four, but then went down to two soon after and it remained that way until they both left at 11:30.

At 10:30, "Sadistic" Syed Rashid took Center Court and was hitting alone against both Samara and De Bendedetto until "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues made it a foursome at 10:40.  Five minutes later, it became an official Doubles One-Setter.

"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli made his way onto Center Court at 10:50 to watch the action in progress.  Upon his initial arrival, he was still hopeful to soon be playing his usual Sunday football game (and this week he would get lucky...unlike last week).

Arriving at the same time as the recent birthday boy Spin (he turned 61 the day before) was a new recruit and friend of "Steppin' to the AM" Anish Mehta.  It was "Big Returns" Ralph Bernard (I give him that moniker, for now, as that is his money shot...along with his other forehand ground strokes...and his overall game is quite solid as well).

Five minutes later, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole stepped onto the courts.  And another five minutes after that at 11am, both "Automatic" Anna Mazur and "Big George" Jorge Solano did the same.

We were starting to have a logjam situation as we only had two of the three courts.  Thankfully, the three CHS Alumni left the Entrance Court at 11:05.  This enabled the four most recent arrivals to take that court.

At 11:15, "Lucky" Leo Victor arrived and started hitting with Syed on Center Court while "Kid Crush" Chris Chiaro made the scene five minutes later and had his eyes on Championship Court.  Both of them would be in official action within minutes of their arrivals.

At 11:35, "Instant" Moka Pathan and his cousins along with "MC" Mike Carucci made Spin's day as they finally walked into the park to play some football.  Around this same time, "Big Jake" Rich Jachens did his usual Chloe cameo (as he walked around the park).  He said he would be back later to compete in the action, but it never materialized.

Not long after we gave up control of all three courts, two new interlopers (who also seemed like Clifton High alumni) took Center Court.  At 12:50, they shifted over to the Entrance Court so as not to split our session.

"Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales arrived at 12:55 and then "The Chef" Sukumar Mitra did the same thing ten minutes later.  

Not long after that, the remaining football guys (Martinelli, Pathan and Carucci) made their way onto the courts.  For Spin, it would just be another extended cameo appearance.  But for Moka and Mike (with racquets in hand), they had come to play.

The final arrival and nineteenth official competitor was "Coach" Dino Celis at 1:20.  It turned out to be quite the session.

One last Doubles One-Setter continued on after Samara and Martinelli left at 2:05.  Gonzales sent in the score via text soon after it ended at 2:54.  Celis sent the same result, but with additional details at 4:50.

Let's get to the scores! 

The RHP Results:

Senthil Kumar/Alfred Chen over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-3!  Alfred: 1 Ace on John.  This one got the session started at 9:42 and ended on Championship Court at 10:15.  Through to 2-2, nobody could hold serve.  Alfred was the first to do so and it was the game where he scored the Ace on John.

Senthil Kumar/Alfred Chen over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-3!  Nick: 2 Aces on Senthil; and Alfred: 1 Ace on Nick!  This one was also contested on Championship Court and it lasted from 10:18 to 11:16!

Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Joe Rodrigues/Syed Rashid, 6-1!  Syed: 1 Ace on Vinnie!  It went like this: Vinnie held serve (two excellent rallies started things off and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point), Syed held (un-returned serve for 15-Love and then point for point until 30-All with another un-returned serve along the way, it was at 30-All where he stunned Vin with a second-serve drop shot style Ace for Game Point and then he hit another un-returned serve for the hold), Frank held (Love-30 shifted straight to Game Point with two un-returned serves along the way), but Joe was the first to be broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and a Double Fault to end the game) to fall to 1-3.  De Benedetto held again (a winning return from Syed made it Love-15, then an un-returned serve led to 15-All and it was off and running to Double Game Point and then another un-returned serve to end it), Rashid was broken at Love as Frank got things started with a winning volley and then a Double Fault on Triple Break Point caused his the break and Samara held again as two more un-returned serves led to Triple Game/Match Point where Joe hit a winning return for Double Game/Match Point where an un-returned serve sealed the deal!  We played this on Center Court from 10:45 to 11:10.

Ralph Bernard/Anna Mazur over Mike Mole/Jorge Solano, 6-2!  No Aces.  Entrance Court hosted this contest from 11:10 to 11:40.  It was the official GTA Debut of Ralph Bernard.

Leo Victor/Vinnie De Benedetto over Joe Rodrigues/Syed Rashid, 6-4!  No Aces.  This took place on Center Court from 11:20 to 12:08.

Chris Chiaro/Nick Inciong over Senthil Kumar/Alfred Chen, 6-3!  Chris: 1 Ace on Alfred.  They played this on Championship Court from 11:22 to 11:55.

Ralp Bernard/Anna Mazur over Mike Mole/Jorge Solano, 6-1!  No Aces.  This was conducted on the Entrance Court from 11:40 to 12:08.

Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara leading Senthil Kumar/Alfred Chen, 3-2 (Incomplete when Senthil said he had to retire due to exhaustion)!  Here's how it was going: Alfred was broken at Love after hitting a Double Fault on Triple Break Point, Frank was broken at Love after Alfred hit a winning Overhead Smash for Triple Break Point, but Senthil Kumar was the first to hold serve (Chris hit a true rolling return that ran across the top of the tape of the net before falling on the other team's side for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Point where Chris hit a monster of a return for Game Point, but that was where Alfred hit an amazing winner) for 2-1!  Chris held (Chris hit an awesome winning Backhand Volley to go up 30-Love, then it was 30-15 where Chris hit another beat of a winner for Double Game Point, but that was cut to Deuce as Senthil made a nice get to set up Deuce, but then it was on Game Point where Chris hit a net cord winner) and Chen was broken again (Love-15, 15-All and then onto Double Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve set up Break Point but that was where Senthil blew a volley to end it) to go down 2-3 and then his partner decided he had enough and had to go.  We began this one on Championship Court at 11:57 and it was cut short exactly at 12:17.

Ralph Bernard/Anna Mazur over Leo Victor/Syed Rashid, 6-2!  No Aces.  This was played on the Entrance Court and it lasted from 12:10 to 12:48.

Chris Chiaro/Jorge Solano over Mike Mole/Alfred Chen, 6-1!  Mike: 1 Ace on Jorge.  Down 1-5, Mike was on serve and up Double Game Point, then Game Point where he hit a Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and then a Double Fault to end it!  This took place on the Championship Court from 12:20 to 12:47.

Frank Samara/Leo Victor over Ralph Bernard/Anna Mazur, 6-2!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown (having turned into a "Pollen Head", I could no longer concentrate on who hit what winners and when): Ralph was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) and Leo held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 and then it shifted to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to go up 2-0.  Anna held to get her team on the scoreboard (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Frank also held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) for 3-1.  Bernard was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4, but Victor was also broken (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-2.  But from there, Mazur was broken (Love-15, 15-All and then right to Double Break Point, then cut down to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Samara held again (30-Love to 30-All, it ended on Game/Match Point) to get the win!  We had this battle on Championship Court from 12:50 to 1:35.

The Skinny: As stated earlier in this report, Bernard is quite the player and he likes to blast you with big forehands (either returns or ground-strokes).  Victor is developing a similar blast-it-off-the court forehand which he also often unveils on forehands.  He is making a case for consideration as Most Improved Player of The Year at season's end.  Mazur was her usual consistent self though we did hear many loud shrieks and screams of frustration throughout the session.  Samara had a fairly solid outing throughout the day.

Jose Gonzales/Sukumar Mitra over Moka Pathan/Mike Carucci, 6-2!  No Aces.  This one took place on Center Court from 1:20 to 1:45.

Dino Celis/Sukumar Mitra over Jose Gonzales/Mike Carucci, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  Dino and Kumar had been up 5-2 before Jose and Mike made their comeback and eventually forced a tough Tiebreak.  This looks like it could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  It got underway on Center Court at 1:48.  Almost halfway through it, Samara and Martinelli left for the day.  Gonzales sent this score in via text at 2:54, so we can probably safely assume it ended just shortly before that.  Celis also sent a text of additional details at 4:50.  I thank them both for their feedback.

It turns out that buddies “Super Mario” Marijus Kuzavas and “Big Kaz” Mike Kazlauskas played another full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against one another.  We take it to Fellowship Park in Ridgefield Park for the result from Marijus.

The Fellowship Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Marijus Kuzavas over Mike Kazlauskas, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, to successfully defend his # 5 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces (apparently).

The Scoop from Super Mario: Mike shook the rust off and gave me a good fight.

Samara’s Notes: I thank Marijus for sending in that score in a very timely fashion.

We now head up to Cedar Grove and turn this report over to Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Kris Srinivasan/Jay Srinivasan over Nithin Poosala/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Jay Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala over Peter Corso/Nathan Fernandes, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes over Herb Reiner/Nithin Poosala, 6-3!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Nithin Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala over Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

The Say from Papa K: We ended the night with a super match, indeed!  We saved a Match Point against us and went onto win the game to tie it at 5-5!  There were incredible rallies and gets, great overheads, aggressive net play and good serves…we had it all!  Cheers!

One last thing - Tito Castolo came in the midst of our last match and waited for an eternity before he realized there wasn’t much time left for another match.

Samara’s Notes: I thank Kris for that report.  And that last Doubles One-Setter could end up in consideration as a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of the Year at season’s end.  The TB score doesn’t always have to be a crazy number in total to make it be a worthy choice.

All the best,
Frank Samara 

April 22, 2016

4/22/16: 

“This just in - Spin hosts 6 at RHP!”:               

This just in – hot off the press!  “Spin Doctor” Dan Martinelli found his note of scores the session of GTA Friday Night Tennis that he hosted at Robin Hood Park in Clifton. 

We now turn this report over to the man known simply as Spin! 

Yours truly acted as host for GTA Friday Night Tennis.  When I arrived, Mike Mole was hitting on Center Court with a young girl I never saw before.  I approached them and asked if I could hit with them.   

I went on Mike's side so the girl could get some more hitting in.  I asked her name (Brianna) and she is on the Clifton High School Tennis Team.  We hit for about 15 minutes and then Vinnie De Benedetto arrived.   

I informed the young lass about our league and that our fearless leader (Frank Samara) would be arriving soon, but he never did.   

We started a Doubles One-Setter with the old men playing the young kids.  We looked like very old men as they went up 2-1 and 4-2, but age started to prevail as Vinnie and I knotted the score at 4-4.  Mike had one Ace on Spin and I returned the favor later.   

At this point, the girl said she had to leave.  While this was happening, Leo Victor showed up and stepped in to be the 4th wheel.  Raj Shah arrived in his customary street attire.  Marijus Kuzavas also arrived, thinking to play before the rains came which never did.  The last to show was a scarf-less Tito Castolo.  

The RHP Results:

Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Mike Mole/Leo Victor, 7-5!  Mike: 2 Aces (both on Vin and one was a second serve Ace)!  We were down 0-2 looking like old men again! 

Tito Castolo/Vinnie De Benedetto over Marijus Kuzavas/Leo Victor, 6-2!  Marijus: 2 Aces (one on each and they were the first two serves of the match)! 

Dan Martinelli/Tito Castolo over Marijus Kuzavas/Leo Victor, 6-4!  Spin: 1 Ace on Leo.  We were up 5-2 and held on for the 6-4 victory. 

Samara’s Notes: I thank Spin for his impromptu hosting two nights in a row.  As for the report, better late than never…LOL!  We do have to cut The Doc some slack as he did just turn 61 years old this past Saturday.  ;-)

4/22/16:

“Spin hosts at RHP (but…), Santos-Nair part of 8 at C.G.!”:

GTA Friday Night Tennis was initially an uncertain affair as most weather forecasts had indicated that late-day rains were possible.  "Hollywood" Frank Samara had announced earlier in the day that he would host a session at Robin Hood Park in Clifton and then one at Cedar Grove as well if conditions stayed dry.

Well, it did stay dry...and Samara was a no-show!  Due to the iffy forecasts, some personal delays and dark skies off to the west...Frank thought he may be wasting his time with a trip up to RHP (twice this season he has already gotten skunked by thunderstorms soon after the action got started).

Mother Nature played Samara for a fool.  Turns out his buddy "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was no fool and he ended up acting as the impromptu host of the session instead.

And later in the night, Samara made a cameo appearance up at The Cedar Grove Courts along with "Coach" Dino Celis.  Their visit lasted roughly from 8:45 to 9pm.  Frank grabbed some scores while he was there.  Later, both "Net Profit" Praful Nair and "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan sent in some additional results.

Here’s where we would have gone to Spin for the results from RHP except he lost his notes!  Thus, the entire session will have to remain unofficial. 

We now head up to Cedar Grove to let both Praful and Kris have their say.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:
Praful Nair over Omar Santos, 6-4, 6-0, to become both the New # 27 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 19 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces.  They played this on Court Two from 7:45 to 8:45.

The Skinny: In the 1st Set serving down 3-4, Praful found himself in a Triple Break Point hole before digging himself out for the hold and all of the rest of the games in the match!  Very impressive!

Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan over Greg Swierczek/Santosh Reddy, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  This one ended on Court Four at 8:50.

Praful Nair over Omar Santos, 6-0!  No Aces.  They got this one underway on Court Two around 8:50.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Greg Swierczek/Natalia Sout, 6-4, 6-3, as both teams enter the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Teams in the division!  No Aces (apparently).  This one got underway on Court Three at 8:55.

Kris Srinivasan/Santosh Reddy over Praful Nair/Omar Santos, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was also played on Court Four.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for acting as the impromptu host of the Cedar Grove session and providing us with his report.  I also thank Praful for his notes as well.  

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

April 21, 2016

4/21/16:

“Challenge/Tourney Matches in multiple locations, Spin hosts 4 at C.G.!”:

GTA Thursday Night Tennis featured the best weather of the week as the peak temperature earlier in the day was close to 80 degrees and it was sunny and dry.

"Hollywood" Frank Samara announced earlier in the day that he would be unavailable to host the session at Robin Hood Park in Clifton or the one at Cedar Grove (more on those who covered for him later in this report).

Despite it being a perfect spring day, it was just as well that Frank remained home as he was a combination  of depressed and saddened...as I'm sure many others were.  

Samara left his mother's house (and his internet access) at 1pm.  Driving with the windows down, he headed to the store and his eyes (particularly his right one) started to get teary due to the pollen in the air.  Luckily, he was able to pop a Claritin pill to suppress this allergic reaction.

It worked remarkably fast as it dried his eyes within ten minutes or so.  Upon leaving the store, he got back into his car around 1:15.  Z100 happened to be the station on his FM dial at that time.  They were playing "Purple Rain" by Prince.  

At first, Frank thought this was a cool change of pace.  But as soon as he had that thought, he started to get chills as he feared it meant something bad...very bad.  Sure enough, as soon as the last note of that song was finished, the DJ announced that TMZ and other news sources had confirmed that Prince passed away earlier in the day at the relatively young age of 57.

I'm not ashamed to admit that my eyes welled up once again...and this time around, no pill was going to fix it.

Perhaps I should not be discussing this in a tennis report, but I was absolutely blown away.  Since I was a kid of about seven or eight years old...whenever I first heard "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the radio, Prince has been one of my all-time favorite artists.  "Purple Rain", both the movie and the soundtrack, had a major impact on my life...but so did so many more of his LPs and singles.

I spent the rest of the day searching the dial for stations playing his monumental multitude of hits.  Z100 and Hot 97 each went somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half playing his songs uninterrupted by any other artists.

But major kudos to Power 105 as the only station not to abandon Prince's catalog all the way until 8pm that night.  Those songs served as the backdrop as I got caught up with typing these Results reports.  It was also a musical education for my children as they had already heard many of his songs, but did not realize they were all from the same brilliant artist.

Prince was a true musical genius.  He played just about every instrument on all of his albums, wrote all of his material and even wrote hits for other artists (“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O'Connor, “Manic Monday” by The Bangles and “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan immediately come to mind).

Not since the passing of John Lennon back when I was 10 years old has the death of an artist moved me as much as Prince's passing moved me today.  That is saying a lot because we had the untimely deaths of Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and David Bowie within that span of time.

His catalog of hits can be reasonably compared to the likes of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin...he was truly that prolific and influential.  To those who perhaps may be less familiar with his work, he was something like a combination of John Lennon, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone...but also offered a whole lot more as he was a true original.  He will be sorely missed as he left us far too soon.  It was just a couple of years ago that I saw him as the musical guest on "SNL" and he rocked out like a man twenty or more years his junior.  We have lost too many great artists over the past half year or so.  

I hope that trend is put on hold for a long time...but I guess I am entering that stage of life where this will continue to happen repeatedly.  And I will be reminded of my own pending mortality as well.

Sorry for the rant...if you want to call it that.  But I felt it necessary to pay proper tribute to Prince as he is heavily on my mind at this time.

I exchanged text messages with both "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon about Prince over the course of the day.

As for Chazz, it all started when he sent me a very timely text message about a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match that he had against Jay "The Rising" Phoenix at RHP.

Weldon was informed earlier in the season that he could defend his rank in the Advanced Division, but would have to refrain from putting his GTA Intermediate Title on the line until a winner emerges from the ongoing GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament.  So his battle with Phoenix was a Non-Title Match.

Soon after the result report from Weldon, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan also sent in a score along with some other details about the session.  And then “RK Fire” Rafaelo Kazakov reported his result from there as well.

I thank Chazz, Gen and Rafaelo for their timely reports.

Also, earlier in the day, "Automatic" Anna Mazur informed me that she would be playing "The Natural" Natalie Guzman in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match in order to get Guzman into the Women's Division and qualified for entry into the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Tournament.  This match took place up in Anna’s home turf area of Wood-Ridge.

But we’re not done as “Big Kaz” Mike Kazlauskas reported his GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match against “Eddie O” Edwin Ortega  which took place in the later afternoon at The Cedar Grove Courts (the older ones down the road) after first attempting to play at The Mountainside Courts in Montclair and then our usual courts at C.G. (both locations were completely occupied).

And then you have “Spin Doctor” Dan Martinelli who acted as the impromptu host of the Cedar Grove session.   

We’re going to now attempt to tackle all of this in chronological order: Cedar Grove, RHP, Wood-Ridge and then Cedar Grove again as it was two separate sessions.

So we first go to the report from Big Kaz.

We decided to try to play at The Mountainside Courts in Montclair since there are seven courts there and we thought it would be no problem for us to have a match there.

However, right after we started warming up at 3pm, the Montclair High School Tennis Team took over all of the courts.

Then we decided to head to the C.G. courts, and surprise, surprise…those courts were all taken by high school students as well.

We ended up going to the two courts down the road in C.G.

The Cedar Grove Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:
Mike Kazlauskas over Edwin Ortega, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces.

The 1st Set started both of us holding serve for 1-1.  Then I took the next five games as I broke Ed twice.

The 2nd Set was more competitive.  I was leading 5-0 in the set and was serving for the match.  That is when Ed broke my serve. One Double Fault of mine, two Unforced Errors and I could not catch up.  And then in the next game, Ed held his serve. We had at least 5 Deuces in that game. However, Ed prevailed and made it 5-2 going back to my serve.  Fortunately I was able to close out the match with my next service game. The match length was about one hour.

Samara’s Notes: I thank Mike for that very comprehensive report and congratulate him on his victory.  He now advances to the Quarters where he will face Senthil Kumar.

We now head to RHP for the three-headed report as it was sourced by Chazz, Gen and Rafaelo.

The RHP Results:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-1!  Mike: 2 Aces!

Gen's Notes: We got to RHP at 4:30 and hit for about 40 minutes.  This One-Setter lasted about 30 minutes on Championship Court.  We finished by 6pm.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge/Non-Title Match:
Chazz Weldon over Jay Phoenix, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 12 Rank in the Advanced Division (Weldon's GTA Intermediate Title was not on the line)!  No Aces.

Chazz Weldon over Jay Phoenix, 6-2!  Chazz and Jay: 1 Ace each!

All That Chazz: We played on the Entrance Court from 4:50 to 6:38 (that includes the One-Setter after the full match).  The 2nd Set of the full match was very competitive.  

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 22 Match:
Dennis Cabanatan over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 25 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while advancing to The Round of 16 of The GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  Dennis: 3 Aces (1 in the 1st Set and 2 in the 2nd Set)!  It was played on Center Court.

Samara’s Notes: I thank Chazz, Gen and Rafaelo for their very timely reporting. 

We now head up to Wood-Ridge to first get the score from Anna before we head back to Cedar Grove for the report from Spin!

The Wood-Ridge Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Anna Mazur over Natalie Guzman, 6-1, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 3 Rank in the Women's Division!  In the process, Guzman enters the division as the New # 16 Ranked Player!  No Aces (apparently).  We played from 6:20 to 6:55.

The Consequences: Now Guzman is also eligible for entry in the GTA Women's Championship Tournament which will no doubt be the greatest women's event in the history of the GTA!  We now have 16 ladies in the Women’s Division which is the ideal amount of players for a single elimination tourney.  But we still have one holdout…so we may need to try to qualify one more woman over the weekend.  We shall see!

Samara's Notes: I thank Anna for sending in that score.  We now turn this report over to Spin.

I was the first to arrive at CG last night around 7:30.  There were about 6 cars in the parking lot.  They were all for basketball.  There was absolutely no one on the tennis courts.  I was amazed!  

I practiced my serve for about 20 minutes when I decided I would just go home.  At that time, Natalia Sout pulled up and she was also in complete disbelief that it was just her and I at the courts.  We hit for a good 15 to 20 minutes.  

It was absolutely gorgeous out!  At around 8pm or so, Moka Pathan pulled up and joined in the hitting and shared disbelief.  He joined Nat to hit against me, but I instructed him to take the court by himself as he was the youngest and Natalia had already done a great job of running me around the court.  

We decided to play Canadian Doubles but, after two service games (Moka and Nat), Tito showed up leading to the only One-Setter of the night.  During our Doubles, Kris Srinivasan did a drive-by and joined us later.  Also around 8:30, Dino Celis arrived and hit with Kris.

The Cedar Grove Result:

Dan Martinelli/Tito Castolo over Moka Pathan/Natalia Sout, 6-4!  No Aces.  We were up 5-2 and then Nat held her service game that saw 5 Match Points saved to bring it to 5-4 still in our favor!  That one game alone took at least 15 or more minutes to complete with multiple Deuces!  It was a fun contest and all involved seemed to really enjoy themselves.  

Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for acting as the impromptu host of the Cedar Grove session and providing us with his report.  

Sincerely,
Frank Samara