4/30/16:
"Kaz-Senthil in Wayne, Mazur-Tan at RHP, Dino-Kris, Chris-Kris part of 12 at C.G.!":
GTA Saturday Tennis took place at three locations as the weather was sunny and beautiful (albeit a bit cooler than it should be at this time of year): The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match between "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar), Robin Hood Park in Clifton (featuring the GTA Women's Championship Tournament Round of 16 Match between "Automatic" Anna Mazur and "Excellent" Evonne Tan) and The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and featuring the conclusion of his full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against "Coach" Dino Celis and then another full Challenge Match for Kris as he faced "Kid Crush" Chris Chiaro…this is a session that actually started about as early as the Wayne session and lasted into the night!).
We will first go to the report from Senthil, then the recap from Anna and then the balance of this report will be from Kris with an assist from his wife, Doinks.
The Nellis Drive Results:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match:
Senthil Kumar over Mike Kazlauskas, 6-0, 6-4, to become both the New # 13 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division plus advance to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Mike: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.
The Woven Web: We played in Nellis Drive Court in Wayne. We both reached there around 9:45am to start the match at 10am. After warm-up, Mike won the toss and elected to serve.
Mike is not used to my game hence the 1st Set went quickly at 6-0. There were a few games that went to Deuce before the wrap. NOTE: Mike was also playing with his shoulder injury.
In the 2nd Set, Mike seemed more settled and pushed himself and started serving in his full potential and quickly took a lead at 2-1, and Senthil was down 0-30 and came back to level it at Deuce and won the game to level the set at 2-2. Senthil broke Mike twice to get a 5-2 lead. In the 5th game, Senthil made two sideline shots as Mike approached the net. Mike complimented Senthil for a good game. Mike fought back and broke Senthil's serve for the first time to get the score 5-3. Then he won on his serve for a 5-4 score. Senthil then went 0-15, 15-15, 15-30, 30-30, 40-40, Ad-In and won the match.
Senthil surprised Mike with a few lobs as he approached the net. Senthil was surprised by all the lobs that stayed in the court knowing Mike's height.
Big Kaz's two cents: Senthil played a great game. I could not get into a rhythm to be effective.
Samara's Notes: I congratulate Senthil on a very impressive victory. I also thank him for providing us with a very comprehensive report. He is now the first player to advance to the Semis of the GTA Intermediate Invitational. The two of them then played an additional One-Setter as well.
Senthil Kumar over Mike Kazlauskas, 6-2! No Aces.
We now head to RHP for what turned out to be a marathon of a match! Most of this recap came from Anna, but we also get a comment from Evonne as well.
The RHP Result:
GTA Women's Championship Tournament Round of 16 Match:
Evonne Tan over Anna Mazur, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), to become the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Women's Division! No Aces (apparently).
Mazur's Major News: Evonne is a great tennis player with great tennis technique. She is very consistent and she is in great shape. She hardly drunk water and never took any rest. I was up 4-1 in the 3rd Set, so basically the match was mine and I don't even know how I lost the next four games before finally coming back a bit. The match lasted three hours! It was a great workout to play with her. I wish her good luck in the tournament. :-)
Tan's Take: She was really good. No matter where I put the ball, she would return it. I'm glad to be back.
Samara's Notes: First, to respond to Evonne…the GTA is glad to have her back as she makes the Women's Division that much stronger. Second, congratulations to her for such a hard-fought victory! Third, kudos to Anna as well as this one came right down to the wire and it seems it could have gone either way. And fourth, not only is this the match to beat for Women's Match of the Year…it may very well be the greatest Women's Match in the history of the GTA! Three hours with a Tiebreak ending…it doesn't get much better than that.
We now turn this report over to Kris with an assist from Doinks (and it should be said that both Dino and Chris had sent in their results directly as well).
It turned out to be an all-day tennis affair with the really beautiful sunny atmosphere. It started off minutes before 10am when I got to hit with Sairaj before Dino came to play the deciding set of our in-progress Challenge Match.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match:
Dino Celis over Kris Srinivasan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 7 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
From The Coach's Clipboard: We started the 3rd Set at 10:30 and it ended at 11:10. The last game went to 10 Deuces and was the longest of all them.
The Say from Papa K: It was almost a breeze for Dino, playing freely and in good control of his shots while I was struggling to get my basic play. Quickly off to 2-Love, Dino gave me a few Break Point opportunities that I couldn't cash in on and Dino also had good zip in his shots. Down 1-5, it looked like I finally showed up by saving at least 4 Match Points and I gave myself at least 5 Break Point opportunities only to blow them, the set and the match. Good win for Dino playing solid tennis.
We got to see Greg and Doinks in the midst of our match and as that set ended in relatively quick time, we got to play a Doubles Match before Dino had to leave for he was going to work shortly thereafter.
Kris Srinivasan/Greg Swierczek over Dino Celis/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4! Dino: 1 Ace on Kris; and Kris: 1 Ace on Doinks!
It was another miserable start as we found ourselves down Love-4 before we showed our solid play. We won six games in a row to close the set on an authoritative note.
We then had a good hitting session, but mostly it was Greg feeding us at the net to improve our volleys. Plenty of work for Greg, but this session proved to be invaluable for us for our later session. It was another Singles Challenge Match for me with Chris Chiaro as he wanted to get a full match done for the April Rank Defense Review.
2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match:
Chris Chiaro over Kris Srinivasan, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
It was a relatively easy match for Chris with his fast-paced game and also the sun was right in our eyes one side where it was a challenge to serve. My poor game continued and it was the last game again that I had multiple opportunities to break only to miss them. Chris put me in place and clearly exposed my limitations. I was still happy that I got to play some Singles for it was not in the scheme of things for this month.
Kyle Jansen over Andrew Truong 6-4! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Kyle Jansen and the official GTA Debut of Andrew Truong.
Andrew has just moved in to Cedar Grove. He hasn't played for a while and was obviously rusty. But he has an amazing backhand and his exaggerated forehand topspin can be vicious. The lack of control was the limiting factor, but plenty of time at the tennis courts will bring the best out of him.
Kris Srinivasan over Andrew Truong, 6-1! No Aces.
I got to see some smoking backhand shots that were quite pleasing.
Soon, we got the afternoon session going with Greg and Doinks returning for their second stint while we had Jose Gonzales, Natalia Sout, Jorge Solano, and Norman Taclob joining us. The kid in me kept me going and so it was for Greg who also put in plenty of time until we wrapped up the session at 8pm.
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Sajle over Greg Swierczek/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Dan Sajle.
It was an excellent match and it almost went the distance. Dan is a solid player, but basically a Singles player. Doubles was not his cup of tea, but he quickly adjusted to this format and showcased his skills. Being in a new set-up, he was a bit tentative. But once he gets to play more with us, he is surely going to unleash his full game. It was great to get him in our group for he can really spice things up.
The highlight of this match was the net play of Doinks which was unbelievable. It was largely due to the encouraging words and tips from Greg. Greg has been instrumental for my improved performance as well. We did come back from behind at the crucial time but overall this was an exciting match.
Greg Swierczek/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces.
Greg and Doinks continued to play an amazing tennis and the match was quite tight indeed. Doinks made a huge impact playing at the net, and one of her shots found my face. It was a very close match that could have gone either way.
Greg Swierczek/Jorge Solano over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces (apparently).
There were some really nice rallies and put-aways. As always, Natalia was earnest in her play and Jose played smart to back it up. Jorge played solid, but a constant barrage of shots at him found him short at times.
Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Norman Taclob/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
This match took place while I was playing singles with Greg. As per Natalia, Jose and Solano played very well and Norman hardly made any errors even though he did look a bit rusty hitting the ball with me for a few minutes.
Kris Srinivasan over Greg Swierczek, 7-6 (7-4)! No Aces.
This match was a sheer test of my endurance as Greg made me run side to side and to the net, but I was up for it. For most parts of the match, neither of us could hold our serves…but when one did, the other did, too. Greg looked like he had the edge when he held his serve first, but I kept myself in the game holding my serve. There were quite a few shots that my approach to the net proved aggressive. A couple of points were incredible with both of us covering almost every inch of the court with shots placed on different part that looked like a winner only to see the ball retrieved and the play continuing like this for a while. Greg had the last laugh on one of these points and I had my share on the other. Overall, a terrific match that we played out of our skin, and one that tested out stamina and will power. Irrespective of the score, both can feel good about our input.
Samara's Notes: This one sounds like it could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
Kris Srinivasan/Greg Swierczek over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces.
It was relatively easy even though we did play more with our spirit than with our legs...:-)
All in all, it turned out to be a marathon session and thanks to the babana and a wafer from Jay and Doinks that I got, lunch was off my menu...:-)
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for being an all-day host on Saturday and then providing us with this comprehensive report. On top of all that, he was truly The Marathon Man (as we call his wife "The Marathon Woman" for the various marathons that she regularly participates in) as he finished one Singles Challenge Match, had another full Challenge Match plus played in an epic Singles One-Setter and numerous Doubles One-Setters as well…incredible!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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