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
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