"Shiao-Praport in Montclair, Chris/Raj-Frank/Nate at RHP, Kris hosts 17 at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Tennis took place at three locations: a morning session at The Mountainside Park Courts in Montclair (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match between Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport, with the score sent in by Tony), Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara) and The Cedar Grove Courts in the evening (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan).
So we will first go to Tony's report from Montclair, then the full RHP recap and then Kris will close out this report with the details of the Cedar Grove session (with one score reported by "Coach" Dino Celis).
The Mountainside Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Tony Shiao over Dan Praport, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division! It was the official GTA Return of Dan Praport who re-enters the division as the New # 37 Ranked Player. No Aces.
Shiao's Sure Shot: Dan and I decided to play some tennis in the morning. We met up at Mountainside Park at 9:30am to find just one court open sandwiched between a kid getting lessons and a group of ladies playing doubles. Apparently those courts are a hot spot on any given day and, on certain mornings, there's also a crew of Pickle Ball Players there, too!
We played a full 2 out of 3 match despite Dan's rustiness. He hasn't played in a few months, but after a few games he got back into the groove with some nicely angled forehands and really moved the ball nicely. I'm excited to find a few people that have flexible work schedules like me to be able to play during the daytime and we will plan for a rematch in the next week!
Samara's Notes: I thank Tony for providing us with that report. It is also good to have Dan back on the ranks. Just to clarify, Shiao was able to enter into this Challenge Match while still active in the draw of the ongoing GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament because it only involved his Advanced Division ranking.
And now for the RHP recap.
Samara pulled up to the curb at Robin Hood Park at 6:20. He never made any announcement to the league about his intentions as he was unsure of them right up until the last minute. He had some errands to run, so that was why he was late.
He didn't even notice "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah sitting in his car directly across the street until Raj said "hello." Raj had been there since 5:45 and did not see any GTA competitors.
Actually, one of our players was already out on the Entrance Court. It was "J-Vo" Jovo Bjelcevic playing Singles with a friend of his. They played all the way until 8pm or so. Jovo never made an introduction, so I assume he just wanted it to be non-GTA.
Samara headed out to Championship Court. Hot on his heels were Uni and Dora Mendoza making their way onto Center Court for a hitting session. Raj had been on a call, so he did not get out onto Championship Court until 6:35. Less than five minutes later, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived. From there, it was a hitting session with Raj and Frank hitting against Nate.
For a few stretches there, it was just Nate and Frank or Nate and Raj as one or the other would take a break. Just as we entered into what would have been the first of several 10-Point Super Tiebreakers (with Nate leading Frank at 5-1), New GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived at 7:15.
Chris said he needed no warm-up, so we got started right away. And that was a good thing as rapidly fading sunlight would later be an issue.
Many have asked about "El Tio" Carlos Perez lately. Well, he showed up with a young lad who is very likely his grandson. They kicked a soccer ball around in the park for a while as all the courts were full.
A young couple took Center Court after The Mendozas had left. And three teenage girls took the Entrance Court after Jovo and his buddy departed. Eventually, Carlos and the youngster had some time on Center Court.
It was around this time that we were subjected to the sight of a drone flying overhead…it reminded us of The US Open! The flight did not last long. We assumed the three young ladies may have had something to do with it, but we were never entirely sure.
The RHP Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah over Frank Samara/Nathan Fernandes, 6-0, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
1st Set: Chris held serve (Triple Break Point cut down to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Nathan was broken (30-Love then straight to Break Point and the break), Raj held at Love, Frank was broken (Triple Game Point got reduced to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 4th Deuce, then Break Point and the break), Chiaro held at Love and Fernandes was broken again as it went 15-Love then point for point until 30-All, then came Break/Set Point and the break! This initial set was a fairly quick bagel that began at 7:17 and ended at 7:39. One minute later, we were on to the next one.
2nd Set: Raj held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, then it was Game Point when the hold came) and Frank was broken (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and then the break) as the tandem that now called themselves "The Failed Converters" had just dropped eight straight games with a bunch of Game Point and Break Point opportunities along the way! And then came the craziest game of all with Chris on serve as it went 15-Love then point for point until 30-All, then Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points until 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce and then all Break Points until 8th Deuce and then an additional Break Point and then the break) as Frank and Nate finally got onto the scoreboard at 1-2! Nathan held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and then Shah was broken (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) as The Former Champs lost their lead for the first time at 2-3! Samara was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break) and Chiaro held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point is where the hold came) to reclaim the lead at 4-3! Fernandes was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point which is where the break came) to fall to 3-5, but then The Sultan of Swing was broken again (Triple Break Point and then a truly un-returnable serve which was a near ace on Frank for Double Break Point, Break Point and then came the break) and Hollywood finally held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and the hold) to level matters at 5-5! King Crush held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) and Nate the Great was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break/Match Point and then the break and loss) to escape with a win on Championship Court as this one ended exactly at 8:33!
The Skinny: It was another one of those matches where it seemed to be a "Tale of Two Sets" as the second one was so much closer than the initial one (though it did not turn around until the third game of the 2nd Set). Chiaro and Shah displayed amazing teamwork considering the fact they had not teamed together in quite some time. Samara and Fernandes gelled nicely, but simply could not find a way to convert so many key opportunities. Kudos to the Former Champs who almost always played their hardest with their backs against the wall. And I have to give Nate the lion's share of the credit from our side as he made so many gets to keep us in long rallies (he played great defense…I did not take the time to note who hit what winners and when in the interest of saving time). I had pulled a muscle in my back during the hitting session (ironically, Shah's back issues have finally started to fade) and it severely limited both my movement and range of motion. It actually subsided somewhat as we played the match, but the pain has once again reared its ugly head at the time of this writing.
After the match, both Chris and Raj made a quick exit. I seem to recall Raj saying he was heading to Cedar Grove while Chris said he would not. Yet, the coming report from Kris will prove the opposite ended up being true. Frank and Nate had a bull session that ended at 9pm.
And we now let Papa K take it away (but we will first grab that score from Dino)!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Greg Swierczek/Lou La Forgia over Dino Celis/Ryan Pienciak, 6-4! No Aces.
It was a few minutes after 8pm when I hit the courts. In progress, there was what was thought to be a full Challenge Match (more on that later) between Praful Nair and Raj Tailor.
Mike Kazlauskas was hitting with Dawn Peterson on the other side on one court while it was Lou La Forgia occupying the next court hitting with Ryan Pienciak. This was all subsequent to the Pickle Ballers wrapping their session at 7:30pm. We soon got to see Greg Swierczek, Natalie Guzman, Tito and Felix Castolo (they are brothers), my wife Doinks, Herb Reiner and Dino Celis.
Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson over Kris Srinivasan/Natalie Guzman, 6-4! Mike: 1 Ace on Kris!
It was a close match and Mike's serves made the difference. There were plenty of good points to keep us all engaged.
Praful Nair over Raj Tailor, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Praful Nair leading Raj Tailor, 3-1 (Incomplete when Tailor abandoned the set due to injury)! No Aces (apparently).
Raj had to pull out due to aggravating his shoulder injury, but he was game for some Doubles action later.
Samara's Notes: Praful cannot take Challenge Matches that would affect his Intermediate rank as he is still alive in the draw of the ongoing GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. So we have separated those sets into two (one and a half, actually) One-Setters instead. And now we go back to Kris.
Mike Kazlauskas/Raj Tailor tied with Kris Srinivasan/Praful Nair, 3-3 (Incomplete when Kazlauskas abandoned the set due to injury)! Mike: 1 Ace on Kris!
This was another match that didn't get to see its completion. This time around, it was Mike who pulled his hamstring and didn't want to aggravate the situation any further. He had another Ace on me similar to the earlier set as the ball sailed over my backhand return.
Tito Castolo/Felix Castolo over Greg Swierczek/Lou La Forgia, 7-6(7-5)! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Debut of Felix Castolo.
It was a close match where Felix displayed similar skills as his brother. It should be noted that on the penultimate point, Lou and Greg stopped playing as the ball from the next court intervened but Tito didn't realize it.
Doinks Srinivasan/Natalie Guzman over Herb Reiner/Dawn Peterson, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
Doinks was hitting the ball with Herb before playing this match. Apparently, it was a close one…and one should not mess with Herb.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Tailor over Kris Srinivasan/Praful Nair, 6-0! No Aces.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Tailor leading Kris Srinivasn/Praful Nair, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
In the first One-Setter, we couldn't get on the board despite opportunities and even in the last game, when I blew some easy put-aways. But credit goes to both Chris and Raj for playing aggressive tennis. We were quite competitive in the second One-Setter with long games, especially the last one where we saved at least 2 Match Points and also couldn't convert Game Points, ending at Deuce as the lights ensured a bit more respectability.
Overall, it was a busy two hour session from 8pm on in Cedar Grove. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: Kris is "the host with the most" up at Cedar Grove. I thank him for all he does for our league up there.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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