5/25/16:
GTA Wednesday Night Tennis took place at Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara) and then the evening session up at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan).
Let's go to the recap from RHP before we get the C.G. report from Kris.
Samara pulled up to RHP at 5:55. At that time, all three courts were occupied.
On the Entrance Court, it was "Lucky" Leo Victor and "C.A.T." Christine Toth engaged in a hitting session with one another.
On Center Court, it was near the conclusion of a battle featuring New GTA Champion: "Instant" Moka Pathan teaming with "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan taking on two guys that we often see at the RHP courts. In fact, Moka had already told us he went to Clifton High School with one of them.
And on Championship Court, it was two interlopers that eventually went to four and then went to six (with the addition of two kids). They held that court until 7pm.
Back to Center Court (after the conclusion of that Doubles One-Setter), Pathan suggested that Samara retrieve their information as he believed they may be interested in joining the league. So Frank did just that.
The first one said his name is T.J. Shah. He then introduced his cousin who said: "I'm Raj. Raj Shah."
Samara's reply was something like: "We already have a Raj Shah. We're going to have to call you something else."
The new Raj said we should then use his full first name, Rajan, instead. Both were happy to come into the league. The two of them then played Singles with one another (until a little after 7pm), but chose not to share those scores. Both are good players, however, and should be fine additions to the league.
That initial One-Setter was played from 5:20 to 6pm and served as the official GTA Debut for both T.J. and Rajan. Moka left soon after, but Gen hung around for a while.
She was there long enough to say hello to both "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues (who arrived at 6:15) and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker (who arrived at 6:20 and was looking to play a little on her ongoing road to recovery). Capan left at 6:25.
Samara opted out of the action to allow the other four to play Mixed Doubles on the Entrance Court. Soon after, Jay "The Rising" Phoenix arrived at 6:35 and had some time to speak with Frank while waiting for another court to become available.
At 6:45, Enrique Bernal arrived to make an extended cameo appearance while he recovers from a recent knee injury. We also found out that he is 71 years old. He looks very good for his age.
When that second One-Setter ended exactly at 6:52, Joe was willing to step off and allow Jay to take his place while Frank continued to remain out of the official action.
Once Championship Court became available at 7pm, Samara and Rodrigues took it over for an extended hitting session. Ten minutes later, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived to make an extended cameo appearance.
At 7:35 and 7:40, both "Big Jake" Rich Jachens (with Chloe) and "Coach" Dino Celis also arrived to make extended cameos. The summer-like weather (sunny and still in the 80 degree range in the early evening hours) motivated many to just hang around and take it all in as long as they could.
That third Doubles One-Setter ran long (almost an hour) and ended exactly at 7:52. Just three minutes later, the fourth and final One-Setter of the night would get underway as Samara finally found his chance to get officially involved as the tenth official competitor.
After that, Frank, Spin and Dino had a bull session that ran until 9pm.
The RHP Results:
Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan over T.J. Shah/Rajan Shah, 6-2! Moka: 1 Ace on Rajan; and T.J.: 1 Ace on Genalin. It was the official GTA Debut of both T.J. Shah and Rajan Shah. This took place on Center Court from 5:20 to 6pm.
Joe Rodrigues/Christine Toth over Leo Victor/Fernanda Toker, 6-2! Leo: 2 Aces on Christine! It was the official GTA Return of Fernanda Toker. Here's the basic breakdown: Fernanda was broken (went from 30-Love to Break Point and the break) and Christine held at Love to go up 2-0. Leo held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, sideline Ace on Christine for Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) to get his team on the scoreboard, but Joe held for 3-1. Toker was broken again (Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Toth held again for a 5-1 lead. Victor held again (Double Break/Match Point, Break/Match Point, Deuce, Game Point where he hit a slow and short Ace against Christine for the hold) to pull to 2-5. But Rodrigues held again and it was at Love as he made a great get on Triple Game/Match Point! This one was played on the Entrance Court from 6:28 to 6:52.
Jay Phoenix/Christine Toth over Leo Victor/Fernanda Toker, 7-5! Jay: 1 Ace on Leo. This one also took place on the Entrance Court and it lasted from 6:58 to 7:52.
Frank Samara/Fernanda Toker over Jay Phoenix/Leo Victor, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Jay was broken at Love, Fernanda was broken (Love-15, 15-All and then right to Double Break Point, but then to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), but Leo was the first to hold serve (Triple Game Point cut down to Game Point, but then the hold) to go up 2-1. Frank also held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) and Phoenix was broken again (Jay hit a roller over the net for 15-Love but then it went straight to Double Break Point where Frank hit an impressive passing shot winner for the break) to fall to 2-3. Toker was broken again (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and then the break) to level it at 3-3, but from there it was Victor broken as well (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, the break came on Break Point), Samara held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) and The Rising Phoenix was broken a third time (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break/Match Point and the break) to take the loss! We played this one on Championship Court and it lasted from 7:55 to 8:30.
The Skinny: I did not my usual note-taking about every winner that was hit as time was of the essence with the rapidly fading sunlight. I did note Jay's roller over the net to open that one game and my winner to close the game as I felt that was the most pivotal game of the set. Fernanda is amazing in her recovery though she is still not 100 percent. Still, she does not hesitate to make gets and she is hungry to get back into the Women's Division as soon as she feels closer to fully recovered.
Now let's head up to Cedar Grove and have Papa K take it away!
It turned out to be a blessing in that all the courts were available and also that we got to see Suresh Poosala back in action. It was a curtailed session for me as by the time we came to the courts (after attending the Spring Concert at Sairaj's School) it was almost 9 pm.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Raj Tailor over Mike Kazlauskas, 7-6 (7-2)! Raj: 2 Aces; and Mike: 1 Ace!
Mike Kazlauskas/Raj Tailor over Lou La Forgia/Ryan Pienciak, 7-6 (7-3)! No Aces (apparently).
Mike Kazlauskas/Raj Tailor tied with Lou La Forgian/Ryan Pienciak, 6-6 (Incomplete, when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets:
Rob Gawley/Suresh Poosala over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-1, 6-3! Rob: 1 Ace on Natalia in the 1st Set! It was the official GTA Return of Suresh Poosala.
Suresh indeed seems to be in good nick as he played freelance and his net play was brilliant. Rob was his usual crafty self and had some amazing gets. We both under performed but for a couple of games.
Natalia did play earlier with Jorge, Jane and Dave.
Samara's Notes: Nobody sent in a score for that above foursome. And now we go back to Kris.
My wife Doinks got to hit a bit with Laura Gawley, but didn't get to play any matches. Dino Celis got here just in time to watch the last part of the session.
Overall, there was some brisk action thanks to a no-show by the Pickle Ballers...:-). Cheers!
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for all he does on behalf of the GTA up at Cedar Grove.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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