"Gen-Marie part of 6 at RHP, Chris-Lou part of 11 at C.G.!":
GTA Monday Night Tennis took place at two locations: Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, but first featuring the GTA Women's Championship Round of 16 Match between "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The Olympian" Marie Salamon as reported by Gen) and at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Kid Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia).
We will first go to report from Gen, then the rest of the full recap from RHP and then the results from Chris, Kris and Doinks up at Cedar Grove.
We now head to Robin Hood Park for the word from Gen.
Mike Mole and I began hitting at 4:45. Marie Salamon arrived at 5pm and joined our hitting session. Then Mike stepped aside and joined Spin (aka Dan Martinelli) on the sidelines while Marie and I continued to warm up for another 30 minutes. We got the match started by 5:30. It was sunny, but very windy and gusty at times.
The RHP Results:
GTA Women's Championship Round of 16 Match:
Genalin Capan over Marie Salamon, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 6 Rank in the Women's Division plus advance to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Women's Championship Tournament! No Aces. The match lasted just under an hour.
The first couple of games in the 1st Set went to multiple Deuces. Marie had some Break Point opportunities, but I was able to save them. We also had some short rallies (4-5 shots) in the mix. The 1st Set lasted 30 minutes.
In the 2nd Set, I took the lead at 4-0. Marie held her serve to get on the board for 1-4. I took the next two games for the win. This set lasted 22 minutes.
The wind was definitely a factor especially in the 2nd Set as it seems to have picked up more and was coming in all directions. It forced a constant re-adjustment of your game.
I was able to adjust my game more so in this element than Marie. Also Marie has not been playing Singles so she was out of practice. If the wind was not a factor, I'm sure the scores would have been different.
Thanks to Marie for being a good sport to play our match in this condition. She is a classy lady and fun to be around on the courts. Also thanks to Mike for hitting and to Spin for staying for the 1st Set.
Samara's Notes: I congratulate Gen on her dominant victory, but also applaud Marie for competing in the match as she has not played Singles for quite a while. Still, she wanted to be part of the tourney.
When I rolled up to RHP at 5:50, they were just finishing that 1st Set. They played the match on the Entrance Court. Spin and Mike were hanging by the nearest post on Center Court to watch the action. By this time, "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto was also there with them.
Mole was getting ready to leave and Martinelli said he also had to go, but would be back later. He told me to text him if we needed a fourth player as he would come back sooner with racquet in hand.
But at 6:05, we saw both "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes heading toward the courts…so we knew we would have four players.
Vin and I started hitting on Championship Court and Rafaelo would soon join us. But Nate got tied up talking to Spin and Mike outside the fence of the courts.
By the time Mr. Fernandes made his way onto the courts, the ladies had finished their match and Marie was looking to play some Doubles. Gen soon found out she would have to leave, so Mixed Doubles was not in the cards.
With five of us on hand, I decided to be the one to sit out initially. This lead to Marie teaming with Vin to face Rafa and Nate on Championship Court.
When that one ended, Vin opted out of the next one. I stepped in to take his place and team with Marie. During the rally for serve, Nate suggested shifting the action to the Entrance Court as he thought that one would have a little more shade as the setting sun was blinding those who were on the east side of the courts.
As it turns out, it made little difference. At this time of year around 7pm, you will be blinded by the sun no matter which of the three courts you are on.
When we finished that one, we decided upon a rematch. In the end, the sets were split.
Midway through that first one, "Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 6:40 strictly to make an extended cameo appearance and watch the action. Somewhere around the beginning of the second one, Spin returned and went into full "Heckler" mode with Dino on his side.
There was much hilarity along the way (some of which cannot even be repeated here). Some of it rubbed Rafaelo the wrong way as he likes his tennis on the serious side. But at times, the bouts of laughter were contagious. The session ended up being much fun.
That last One-Setter ended exactly at 8:18. At that time, both Rafa and Marie left. But the rest of us stayed on for a bull session that lasted until 8:55. Good times!
Here's a recap of the rest of the RHP scores.
Vinnie De Benedetto/Marie Salamon over Rafaelo Kazakov/Nathan Fernandes, 6-3! Marie: 1 Ace on Nate (wind-aided); and Nate: 1 Ace on Vin (wind-aided)! Here's the basic breakdown: Marie held serve (her second serve, but first against Nate was the surprise Ace), Rafaelo held, Vinnie held and Nate held (his revenge Ace came against Vin instead) as all were on serve at 2-2. Salamon held again (this time on Double Game Point despite starting off with a Double Fault), Kazakov held again (may have been the first game to go to Deuce), De Benedetto held again, but Fernandes was the first to be broken and it was at Love as he started off with a Double Fault and then broke himself with another Double Fault on Triple Break Point to go down 3-5! From there, the Olympian held yet again as she went up 30-Love, was leveled off at 30-All, then went up again for Game/Match Point where Vin ended it with a winning Overhead Smash for the victory! This one took place on Championship Court from 6:25 to 6:52.
The Skinny: Afterward, it was like the Mutual Admiration Society as Vin and Marie were both highly impressed with the other one's play. They were a highly effective team as both have much Doubles experience.
Rafaelo Kazakov/Nathan Fernandes over Frank Samara/Marie Salamon, 6-4! No Aces. It went like this: Marie was broken (Marie hit a winner for 30-Love, but then Rafaelo hit a winning return as it would then shift to 30-All and then Rafaelo hit another winning return to set up Break Point and then came the break), Rafaelo held serve (an un-returned serve followed by a truly un-returnable serve…a near ace, in fact…put him up 30-Love, then it went Triple Game Point, Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then came the hold) and Frank was broken at Love (Rafaelo hit a winning return and two other winners along the way) to go down 0-3 with the sun in his eyes! Nathan was broken (un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then straight to Double Break Point, another un-returned serve for Break Point which is where the break came as he, too, faced the sun), Salamon held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point as Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley, a winning Overhead Smash and another winning Backhand Volley that ended up being a roller off the top of the net along the way, but then it went to Game Point where Nate hit a winner for Deuce, but then Nate blew an overhead to bring it back to Game Point and then Nate blew a volley as he was still on the sun-soaked side of the court) and Kazakov was broken (Nate blew a volley for Love-30, 15-30 where Marie hit a winning Overhead Smash for Double Break Point, the break came on Break Point) to level things at 3-3. Samara held serve as the sun was now setting low enough to allow shade (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-Love, it then went to 30-15, then on Double Game Point it was Marie hitting a winning Backhand Volley to secure her partner's hold) to go up 4-3. But from there, Fernandes held (Marie hit a winner to make it Love-30, but then it went straight to Game Point, then it was Deuce where Rafaelo hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Game Point again and then Nathan hit a drop shot winner for the hold), The Olympian was broken (Love-15, 15-All and then straight to Double Break Point where she ended it with a Double Fault) and RK Fire held at Love as he hit an un-returned serve and Nate hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way before they closed it out on Triple Game/Match Point! We played this one on the Entrance Court from 6:55 to 7:27.
The Skinny: The sides were close enough where Marie and I felt we were worthy of a rematch as we were seeking revenge. In this next one, in the interest of saving time (as sunlight was rapidly fading), I did not note who hit what winners when and where. It is a shame actually as there were several noteworthy moments and this one was the more exciting of the two One-Setters.
Frank Samara/Marie Salamon over Rafaelo Kazakov/Nathan Fernandes, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank was broken at Love when Nate hit a winning lob on Triple Break Point, Nathan was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Marie was broken (15-Love, 15-All and then 2 Double Faults made it Double Break Point, then it went to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) and Rafaelo was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2. Samara was the first to hold serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but then Fernandes responded with a hold of his own (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to level things again, this time at 3-3. Salamon also held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Double Fault for Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Kazakov was the only one to be broken again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Hollywood was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4, but Nate the Great was then broken at Love when this one ended on Triple Break/Match Point! This one was also conducted on the Entrance Court and it lasted from 7:30 to 8:18.
We now take it up to Cedar Grove with the full report from Kris, but the score from Chris in the beginning of it and the scores from Doinks at the end of it.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Chris Chiaro over Lou La Forgia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: Congratulations to Chris on a hard-fought victory, but kudos to Lou for even taking a set off of Kid Crush. We now let Papa K take it away!
Last night turned out to be great for tennis as the howling winds had subsided by the evening giving in for a serenely beautiful weather. First to take advantage of the good conditions were Brenda Jordan and Kevin Doyle playing against Kathy Sheldon and Dawn Peterson. They kept going, completing 3 sets in a row.
Samara's Notes: As none of these four sent in any scores, I am guessing they just want to keep it as unofficial. Now back to Kris we go.
Doinks and Jose got to play couple of One-Setters against Praful and Santosh, the second going the distance. Chiaro got to play Singles with Lou (as reported above).
Tito Castolo/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Rob Gawley over Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (8-6)! No Aces.
The first set was a warm-up and we were almost taken out at 6-1, but we came back nicely to win two games and then missed out on the next and the set.
The second One-Setter turned out to be very competitive, with Tito in the thick of things and all over the place. He and Natalia saved a Match Point to prevent from going down at 6-4 and kept it even to force the Tiebreak. We just lost the grip after a tight start and were down 3-6 in the TB, giving Tito and Nat 3 Match Points. One point at a time did the trick and it was an enjoyable match for all, managing to finish a couple of minutes before the mandatory closing time.
Samara's Notes: That last one sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. And we now go to Doinks for the last two scores.
Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan over Praful Nair/Santosh Reddy, 6-4! No Aces (apparently).
Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan over Praful Nair/Santosh Reddy, 7-6 (8-6)! No Aces (apparently).
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks as well. And we may have yet another contender for the One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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