5/12

"Riz hosts 4 at NTC, Gen hosts 7 at RHP, Kris hosts 14 at C.G.!":

               

GTA Thursday Night Tennis took place in three locations: The Nutley Tennis Club (hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo, Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan) and at The Cedar Grove Courts (with "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan acting as host with some assistance from his wife, Doinks, aka "The Marathon Woman"). 

The weather was once again absolutely beautiful (sunny and around 80 degrees!), so the demand for GTA Tennis was strong…even with "Hollywood" Frank Samara being unable to host any of the sessions. 

So we will first go to the score sent in from NTC by John, then the full RHP recap from Gen, and then the scores that were sent in by both Doinks and Kris. 

The NTC Result:

John Rizzo/Denise Savino over Bo Folchi/Barbara Johnson, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces (apparently).  It was the official GTA Returns of both Bo Folchi and Denise Savino and it was also the official GTA Debut of Barbara Johnson.

The Riz Report: Bo and Barb were up 5-3 with Double Game/Match Point and then we made our comeback!

Samara's Notes: That sounds like it could be a likely Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  I thank John for sending in that score.

We now head up to RHP for the report from Gen.

GTA Thursday Tennis at RHP featured 7 competitors for the session. It was another beautiful sunny day and not windy at all. 

I arrived at RHP by 4:10. Mike was already on the Entrance Court practicing some serves as he waited for me. There were young kids playing on Championship Court. We started hitting and soon were joined by Raj Shah who was not dressed to play. He had jeans and no sneakers, but that still did not deter him from picking up my spare racquet. Raj took my side to hit against Mike.

Then, within minutes, Moka Pathan arrived.  So we now had four for some Doubles play. The moment that we got that set started, Michel Encarnacion arrived. He sat by the back fence to watch our set.  Leo Victor and Nathan Fernandes were the last 2 arrivals. They waited for the conclusion of a Doubles set already in progress before getting involved with the final Doubles set for the evening. 

Rich Jachens and Chloe did a walk-by cameo and said hello. Rob Ryan sent me a "hi" text while he was sitting out in front of his house with his dad watching some of GTA action from across the street. 

The RHP Results:

Raj Shah/Mike Mole over Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan, 7-5!  Raj: 1 Ace on Gen. (Duration: 45 min.).

The Skinny: Raj/Mike took the lead at 4-2 and 5-3. We got it closer to 5-5. Raj held and Moka was broken on serve. Moka was down on count 0-40. We saved one MP for 15-40. Raj/Mike got the win on 2nd MP. We played this set from 4:55-5:40.  I offered to sit out so the men can play. They immediately started the next set as Mike would soon be leaving. 

Moka Pathan/Raj Shah over Mike Mole/Michel Encarnacion, 6-0! No Aces (apparently). This one started at 5:45 and ended by 6:10. Mike had to leave at this time. I was able to play in the next set. Around this time, Leo arrived and waited for his turn to play. 

Raj Shah/Michel Encarnacion over Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan, 7-6(7-3)!  Raj: 2 Aces on Gen!  (Duration: 50 minutes).

The Skinny: Moka and I had an early lead at 3-0. Raj and Michel leveled the set at 3-3. Then they took the lead at 5-3. The set got knotted again at 5-5. I was broken on serve to give them the lead at 5-6. Raj was broken after we saved 3 MPs to take us into a Tiebreaker. We played this one from 6:10-7pm. 

Leo Victor/Nathan Fernandes over Raj Shah/Michel Encarnacion, 6-4!  Raj: 2 Aces on Leo!  This was the last set played for the evening. They played this set from 7:05-7:35.

Side note: Raj was having back issues, but still managed to serve up 5 Aces total for the evening. 

Everyone was pretty much done for the evening. Nate and I stayed to hit for another 30 minutes before calling it a night at 8:10.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for acting as host and providing us with her report.

And now we head up to Cedar Grove for the report from Kris with a little assistance from Doinks.

There was some decent action here Thursday night.  Here's a quick recap.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Kris Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson over Kathy Sheldon/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

Dawn was pretty good in both the sets and it was a pretty tight one in that second One-Setter.  We did feel good coming from behind down Love-3 and to counter the wily Tito with his crafty play. 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Martinelli/Srinivasan entered the division as the New # 30 Ranked Team.  Marijus: 1 Ace on Doinks in the 1st Set!

It looked a good fight on that court, but the score reflects a good win for Marijus and Sally.

Marijus Kuzavas/Chris Lehmann over Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Both Chris and Marijus were on fire. But still, there were opportunities for us to clinch 3 games but I should take credit for blowing those multiple opportunities.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Dave Zhu/Jane Fan, 6-4, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 25 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces (apparently).

It looked like a very good match on the other side, but the Gawleys established their dominance once again.

Sally Pillay/Dawn Peterson over Doinks Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).  Doinks said that she and Nat were up 5-3 when Sally and Dawn rallied back in four straight games to get the win!

Marijus Kuzavas/Chris Lehmann leading Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

We did well in this second One-Setter, but could have pushed it a lot closer.

Overall, it was nice to play on a night with lovely weather for the taking.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank both Kris and Doinks for all they do on behalf of the GTA up at Cedar Grove. 

On another note, Michel Encarnacion has confirmed that he will be away on a two-week vacation and will now have to withdraw from continuing further in the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. 

As a result, Anish Mehta will advance via a bye into the Semifinals where he will face Senthil Kumar.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara