4/19/16:
“Zhang-Tan in Wayne, Delgado-Celis part of 17 at C.G.!”:
GTA Tuesday Tennis took place at two sessions, The Wayne Public Courts (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match the "Amazing" Mindy Zhang and the "Excellent" Evonne Tan as both sought to get into the Women's Division and qualify for the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Tournament) and The Cedar Grove Courts (with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as the host and also featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Lean" Dean Delgado and "Coach" Dino Celis).
Before we do the entire recap of how the Cedar Grove session, let's first go to the result that was sent in by Evonne.
The Wayne Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Evonne Tan over Mindy Zhang, 6-2, 7-5, as both competitors enter the Women's Division as the New # 14 and # 15 Ranked Players respectively! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Evonne Tan.
The Skinny: They actually started this match last Thursday night in Wayne, but were only able to complete the 1st Set at that time.
The Consequences: Both the Women's Division and the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Tourney have picked up two tough competitors. Evonne last competed with us a few seasons ago before becoming a new mommy. And Mindy is just making her initial impact in the league this year. The tourney just got a lot more interesting and the Women's Division has never had this many solid competitors in it all at the same time.
Samara's Notes: I thank Evonne for sending in both parts of that score in a very timely manner and also congratulate her on a hard-fought victory. Also some kudos should be sent to Mindy who gave Tan a tough test...I remember Evonne as being quite the competitor a couple of years ago.
And now for the complete Cedar Grove recap.
Not having time to go to Robin Hood Park in Clifton first as he usually would, Samara arrived at Cedar Grove at 7:40. Upon his arrival, he saw that Courts One and Two were completely vacant while Courts Three and Four were full with four GTA competitors on each one (more on who was where in just a bit).
Sitting on the ground in between them was "Mighty" Miriam Mendez, the lone "ninth wheel." As she forgot to bring her glasses, the only player there that she recognized was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes.
But once Frank was able to act as the ambassador of introductions, she soon realized there were quite a few players that she remembered from a couple of seasons ago. They interrupted their action to welcome her to Cedar Grove.
On Court Three, it had been Fernandes and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan hitting against "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and "Quick Draw" Chris Lehmann.
And on Court Four, there was a Doubles One-Setter already in progress as "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan was teaming with Nithin "Prime Time" Poosala against "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon.
When that last One-Setter finished five minutes later, Kat was looking to play a proper Mixed Doubles One-Setter with Doinks as her opponent. She did not care which two men would be the partners.
Meanwhile, Kris was trying to get Miriam officially involved in some action. And Doinks was trying to convince her son Sairaj to stick around for another set.
Arriving in the midst of all this was Dino at 7:50, just ahead of his previously scheduled match with Dean set to start at 8pm. He invited Miriam to hit with him on Court One instead.
This enabled the two guys to play with Kat and Doinks to be Jose and Frank on Court Four while Kris would team with Nate against Chris and Nithin on Court Three.
At 8pm, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and Santosh "Ever" Reddy both arrived at the same time. They both waited outside the fence a bit to figure out where they would be able to fit in...and then Dean soon found his way to Court One to also start hitting before his match with Celis. They got it underway at 8:20.
Also starting at that time was a One-Setter featuring Lehmann and La Forgia versus K. Srinivasan and Poosala. Soon after that, Nate and Miriam teamed to take on Jose and Doinks as Kat was leaving at that time.
Seeing that Santosh was still left out of the action, Frank went to hit with him on Court Two. The two of them would not be alone long as "The Natural" Natalie Guzman joined them on that court at 8:30 and then Tito "Touch" Castolo made it a foursome at 8:35. This would soon lead to two full One-Setters and a third incomplete one between those two teams.
The seventeenth and final official arrival of the night was Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao at 8:45. The nicer this spring weather gets, the stronger our GTA turnouts get at the courts of Cedar Grove.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Jose Gonzales/Kathy Sheldon over Sairaj Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-2! No Aces. This was played on Court Four from 7:15 to 7:45.
Chris Lehmann/Nithin Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes, 6-2! No Aces. They contested this one on Court Three from 7:50 to 8:15.
Jose Gonzales/Kathy Sheldon over Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Doinks held serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All as Jose made a winning Overhead Smash along the way, then it was Game Point where Frank blew an overhead for Deuce and that was where Jose hit a winning volley to make it Break Point, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Kathy held at Love after Jose hit a winning volley to set up Triple Game Point, Frank held (15-Love where Jose hit an impressive passing shot winner for 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Game Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner for the hold), but Jose was the first to be broken on serve (Triple Break Point where Jose hit a drop shot winner for Double Break Point, but then came the break) to go down 1-3. But from there, Srinivasan was broken at Love as Jose hit a drop shot winner for the break, Sheldon held again (Love-15 went right to Double Game Point as Kathy hit a winner and an un-returned serve along the way and then Frank blew an overhead to enable the hold), Samara was broken (Triple Break Point was cut to Break Point after Jose blew a drop shot attempt, but he redeemed himself with a drop shot winner for the break), Gonzales held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and The Marathon Woman was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All which came right after another Jose drop shot winner, then it was Break/Match Point, Deuce where Jose hit another winning drop shot and then 2nd Break/Match Point which of course ended with yet another Jose drop shot winner) as her team dropped five straight games to The Comeback Kids (aka Jose and Kat)! We played this one on Court Four from 7:55 to 8:25.
The Skinny: Gonzales lived up to his "Latino Heat" nickname as he was on fire with the winning drop shots. Samara's "Hollywood" moniker should have instead been "La La Land" as he just seemed out to lunch mentally. But he would soon get his act together on another court. More on that a little later.
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Dean Delgado over Dino Celis, 6-2, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division! Dino: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set. This contest took place on Court One from 8:20 to 9:40.
The Skinny: There was a lot of heavy-hitting in this one as both competitors attacked the other with varied offense. Get-making and defense played a significant role as well. This match actually seemed much closer (when viewed from one court over) than the score indicates.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia over Kris Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-2! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one from 8:20 to 8:55.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Miriam Mendez over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New #16 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division! Jose: 1 Ace on Miriam in the 2nd Set. Nate/Miriam had been down 0-3 in the 1st Set before taking six straight games for the set. This match got underway on Court Four at 8:30 (failed to note the finish time).
Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy over Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman, 6-1! No Aces. Here's the point by point breakdown (but in the interest of saving time, I did not note who hit what winners and when): Santos held (an un-returnable serve followed by two more un-returned serves led to Triple Game Point, then it was Double Fault where two Double Faults cut it down to Deuce, but then another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), Natalie was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, then Break Point and the break), Frank held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point, cut down to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce and then a Double Fault for Break Point again, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Tito was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) to get off to an 0-4 start! Reddy was then broken (started with a Double Fault, shift to 30-15, shift to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Guzman was broken again (started with a Double Fault, Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) and Samara held again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 and then it shifted again to Game/Match Point which is where the hold came) to get the win! We played this on Court Two from 8:40 to 9:09 to be exact.
The Skinny: Since I did not note the winners, let me just state the overview which is that Tito lived up to his "Touch" moniker with many adept drop shot winners and well-placed volleys, Santosh came through with big serves and overheads and Natalie fired back plenty of shots from the baseline and her anticipation along with her movement was much improved since the last time I competed against her. As for myself, my level of play picked up dramatically from earlier in the evening. Most of it was done with get-making and/or finishing off points up at the net. I had one get where Natalie thought Tito had successfully hit the drop shot winner and she turned her back on it to walk to the other side of the court for the next point...only to find out the shot had been returned as it sailed into the Doubles Alley.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia over Kris Srinivasan/Tony Shiao, 6-1! No Aces. They got this one going on Court Three around 9pm, but I'm not sure when it ended as I was too busy in this next one.
Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy over Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman, 6-1! No Aces. The basic rundown: Tito was broken (Love-15 to 30-15 to Break Point and the break), Frank held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold) and Natalie was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point cut to Deuce, Break Point and the break) as her team once again got off to an 0-3 start. The difference came one game sooner as Santosh was broken on serve and it was at Love as he started with a Double Fault. Once again, the opponents were on the board...but from there, Castolo was broken again (Love-30 shifted straight to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and then the break), Samara held again (Triple Game Point was reduced to Deuce, but then came Game Point and the hold) and Guzman was broken again as she started off up 15-Love, but hit a Double Fault for 15-All, went up again at 30-15, but then it went right to Break/Match Point and then the break for another breadstick! This one was also played on Court Two and lasted from 9:10 to 9:35.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia tied with Tony Shiao/Nithin Poosala, 6-6 (Incomplete, when the lights went out at 10pm...but it should be noted that Lehmann/La Forgia were up 2-0 in the Tiebreak when it went dark)! No Aces.
Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman leading Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy, 3-2 (Incomplete, when the lights went out at 10pm...but it should be noted that it was Break Point against Tito's serve for 3-3 when the courts suddenly became sans light)! Natalie: 1 Ace on Santosh! Here's how it was going: Santosh was broken at Love after starting with a Double Fault, Tito was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, the break came on Break Point), but Frank was the first to hold serve and it was at Love for 2-1. Natalie held after starting with a service-line Ace against Santosh, she then went up 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point got cut down to Deuce, but the hold came on the next Game Point to level it at 2-2! Reddy was broken again as he began with a Double Fault for the second time, but then it went point for point until Break Point and the break to go down 2-3. Then came the game of the match (and the night between these two teams) as Castolo was on serve and got off to a Love-30 start, then it went 15-30, Double Break Point which got cut down to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point, 6th Deuce, Break Point and then lights out! We began this one on Court Two at 9:36 and Castolo/Guzman switched their return of service sides with Natalie now taking the Ad court position. Perhaps they should have made this adjustment one set earlier.
All in all, another exciting session under the lights at Cedar Grove.
All the best,
Frank Samara
“Zhang-Tan in Wayne, Delgado-Celis part of 17 at C.G.!”:
GTA Tuesday Tennis took place at two sessions, The Wayne Public Courts (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match the "Amazing" Mindy Zhang and the "Excellent" Evonne Tan as both sought to get into the Women's Division and qualify for the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Tournament) and The Cedar Grove Courts (with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as the host and also featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Lean" Dean Delgado and "Coach" Dino Celis).
Before we do the entire recap of how the Cedar Grove session, let's first go to the result that was sent in by Evonne.
The Wayne Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Evonne Tan over Mindy Zhang, 6-2, 7-5, as both competitors enter the Women's Division as the New # 14 and # 15 Ranked Players respectively! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Evonne Tan.
The Skinny: They actually started this match last Thursday night in Wayne, but were only able to complete the 1st Set at that time.
The Consequences: Both the Women's Division and the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Tourney have picked up two tough competitors. Evonne last competed with us a few seasons ago before becoming a new mommy. And Mindy is just making her initial impact in the league this year. The tourney just got a lot more interesting and the Women's Division has never had this many solid competitors in it all at the same time.
Samara's Notes: I thank Evonne for sending in both parts of that score in a very timely manner and also congratulate her on a hard-fought victory. Also some kudos should be sent to Mindy who gave Tan a tough test...I remember Evonne as being quite the competitor a couple of years ago.
And now for the complete Cedar Grove recap.
Not having time to go to Robin Hood Park in Clifton first as he usually would, Samara arrived at Cedar Grove at 7:40. Upon his arrival, he saw that Courts One and Two were completely vacant while Courts Three and Four were full with four GTA competitors on each one (more on who was where in just a bit).
Sitting on the ground in between them was "Mighty" Miriam Mendez, the lone "ninth wheel." As she forgot to bring her glasses, the only player there that she recognized was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes.
But once Frank was able to act as the ambassador of introductions, she soon realized there were quite a few players that she remembered from a couple of seasons ago. They interrupted their action to welcome her to Cedar Grove.
On Court Three, it had been Fernandes and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan hitting against "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and "Quick Draw" Chris Lehmann.
And on Court Four, there was a Doubles One-Setter already in progress as "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan was teaming with Nithin "Prime Time" Poosala against "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon.
When that last One-Setter finished five minutes later, Kat was looking to play a proper Mixed Doubles One-Setter with Doinks as her opponent. She did not care which two men would be the partners.
Meanwhile, Kris was trying to get Miriam officially involved in some action. And Doinks was trying to convince her son Sairaj to stick around for another set.
Arriving in the midst of all this was Dino at 7:50, just ahead of his previously scheduled match with Dean set to start at 8pm. He invited Miriam to hit with him on Court One instead.
This enabled the two guys to play with Kat and Doinks to be Jose and Frank on Court Four while Kris would team with Nate against Chris and Nithin on Court Three.
At 8pm, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and Santosh "Ever" Reddy both arrived at the same time. They both waited outside the fence a bit to figure out where they would be able to fit in...and then Dean soon found his way to Court One to also start hitting before his match with Celis. They got it underway at 8:20.
Also starting at that time was a One-Setter featuring Lehmann and La Forgia versus K. Srinivasan and Poosala. Soon after that, Nate and Miriam teamed to take on Jose and Doinks as Kat was leaving at that time.
Seeing that Santosh was still left out of the action, Frank went to hit with him on Court Two. The two of them would not be alone long as "The Natural" Natalie Guzman joined them on that court at 8:30 and then Tito "Touch" Castolo made it a foursome at 8:35. This would soon lead to two full One-Setters and a third incomplete one between those two teams.
The seventeenth and final official arrival of the night was Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao at 8:45. The nicer this spring weather gets, the stronger our GTA turnouts get at the courts of Cedar Grove.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Jose Gonzales/Kathy Sheldon over Sairaj Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-2! No Aces. This was played on Court Four from 7:15 to 7:45.
Chris Lehmann/Nithin Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes, 6-2! No Aces. They contested this one on Court Three from 7:50 to 8:15.
Jose Gonzales/Kathy Sheldon over Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Doinks held serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All as Jose made a winning Overhead Smash along the way, then it was Game Point where Frank blew an overhead for Deuce and that was where Jose hit a winning volley to make it Break Point, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Kathy held at Love after Jose hit a winning volley to set up Triple Game Point, Frank held (15-Love where Jose hit an impressive passing shot winner for 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Game Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner for the hold), but Jose was the first to be broken on serve (Triple Break Point where Jose hit a drop shot winner for Double Break Point, but then came the break) to go down 1-3. But from there, Srinivasan was broken at Love as Jose hit a drop shot winner for the break, Sheldon held again (Love-15 went right to Double Game Point as Kathy hit a winner and an un-returned serve along the way and then Frank blew an overhead to enable the hold), Samara was broken (Triple Break Point was cut to Break Point after Jose blew a drop shot attempt, but he redeemed himself with a drop shot winner for the break), Gonzales held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and The Marathon Woman was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All which came right after another Jose drop shot winner, then it was Break/Match Point, Deuce where Jose hit another winning drop shot and then 2nd Break/Match Point which of course ended with yet another Jose drop shot winner) as her team dropped five straight games to The Comeback Kids (aka Jose and Kat)! We played this one on Court Four from 7:55 to 8:25.
The Skinny: Gonzales lived up to his "Latino Heat" nickname as he was on fire with the winning drop shots. Samara's "Hollywood" moniker should have instead been "La La Land" as he just seemed out to lunch mentally. But he would soon get his act together on another court. More on that a little later.
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Dean Delgado over Dino Celis, 6-2, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division! Dino: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set. This contest took place on Court One from 8:20 to 9:40.
The Skinny: There was a lot of heavy-hitting in this one as both competitors attacked the other with varied offense. Get-making and defense played a significant role as well. This match actually seemed much closer (when viewed from one court over) than the score indicates.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia over Kris Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-2! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one from 8:20 to 8:55.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Miriam Mendez over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New #16 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division! Jose: 1 Ace on Miriam in the 2nd Set. Nate/Miriam had been down 0-3 in the 1st Set before taking six straight games for the set. This match got underway on Court Four at 8:30 (failed to note the finish time).
Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy over Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman, 6-1! No Aces. Here's the point by point breakdown (but in the interest of saving time, I did not note who hit what winners and when): Santos held (an un-returnable serve followed by two more un-returned serves led to Triple Game Point, then it was Double Fault where two Double Faults cut it down to Deuce, but then another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), Natalie was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, then Break Point and the break), Frank held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point, cut down to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce and then a Double Fault for Break Point again, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Tito was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) to get off to an 0-4 start! Reddy was then broken (started with a Double Fault, shift to 30-15, shift to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Guzman was broken again (started with a Double Fault, Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) and Samara held again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 and then it shifted again to Game/Match Point which is where the hold came) to get the win! We played this on Court Two from 8:40 to 9:09 to be exact.
The Skinny: Since I did not note the winners, let me just state the overview which is that Tito lived up to his "Touch" moniker with many adept drop shot winners and well-placed volleys, Santosh came through with big serves and overheads and Natalie fired back plenty of shots from the baseline and her anticipation along with her movement was much improved since the last time I competed against her. As for myself, my level of play picked up dramatically from earlier in the evening. Most of it was done with get-making and/or finishing off points up at the net. I had one get where Natalie thought Tito had successfully hit the drop shot winner and she turned her back on it to walk to the other side of the court for the next point...only to find out the shot had been returned as it sailed into the Doubles Alley.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia over Kris Srinivasan/Tony Shiao, 6-1! No Aces. They got this one going on Court Three around 9pm, but I'm not sure when it ended as I was too busy in this next one.
Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy over Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman, 6-1! No Aces. The basic rundown: Tito was broken (Love-15 to 30-15 to Break Point and the break), Frank held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold) and Natalie was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point cut to Deuce, Break Point and the break) as her team once again got off to an 0-3 start. The difference came one game sooner as Santosh was broken on serve and it was at Love as he started with a Double Fault. Once again, the opponents were on the board...but from there, Castolo was broken again (Love-30 shifted straight to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and then the break), Samara held again (Triple Game Point was reduced to Deuce, but then came Game Point and the hold) and Guzman was broken again as she started off up 15-Love, but hit a Double Fault for 15-All, went up again at 30-15, but then it went right to Break/Match Point and then the break for another breadstick! This one was also played on Court Two and lasted from 9:10 to 9:35.
Chris Lehmann/Lou La Forgia tied with Tony Shiao/Nithin Poosala, 6-6 (Incomplete, when the lights went out at 10pm...but it should be noted that Lehmann/La Forgia were up 2-0 in the Tiebreak when it went dark)! No Aces.
Tito Castolo/Natalie Guzman leading Frank Samara/Santosh Reddy, 3-2 (Incomplete, when the lights went out at 10pm...but it should be noted that it was Break Point against Tito's serve for 3-3 when the courts suddenly became sans light)! Natalie: 1 Ace on Santosh! Here's how it was going: Santosh was broken at Love after starting with a Double Fault, Tito was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, the break came on Break Point), but Frank was the first to hold serve and it was at Love for 2-1. Natalie held after starting with a service-line Ace against Santosh, she then went up 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point got cut down to Deuce, but the hold came on the next Game Point to level it at 2-2! Reddy was broken again as he began with a Double Fault for the second time, but then it went point for point until Break Point and the break to go down 2-3. Then came the game of the match (and the night between these two teams) as Castolo was on serve and got off to a Love-30 start, then it went 15-30, Double Break Point which got cut down to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point, 6th Deuce, Break Point and then lights out! We began this one on Court Two at 9:36 and Castolo/Guzman switched their return of service sides with Natalie now taking the Ad court position. Perhaps they should have made this adjustment one set earlier.
All in all, another exciting session under the lights at Cedar Grove.
All the best,
Frank Samara
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