6/10

"Ortega-Santos in Wayne, Samara hosts 16 (1 New) at C.G.!":

Before we get to what took place later in the evening up at Cedar Grove, we will first go to a result that came in from an early afternoon session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne.  It was a rematch between "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega and "Stealth" Omar Santos.  The score was sent by Omar in a very timely manner.  And now here it is.

The Nellis Drive Result:

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Rematch:
Omar Santos over Edwin Ortega, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 0-6, 7-5, to become both the New # 24 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 16 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  Omar: 2 Aces in the 1st Set; and Edwin: 2 Aces in the 4th Set!

The Stealth Report: We played around 1:30pm at the newly painted and resurfaced Nellis Drive Courts.  We should've stopped when I won the 3rd Set, but Ed asked if I wanted to play some more. We were having so much fun we kept going.
     
I suffered the consequences as a result during the 4th Set in which he made me eat a bagel. He was rattled in the middle of the 3rd Set whereby a father and son entered the courts without stopping in the middle of our rally on my side of the court.  However, their entrance had no effect on our long-heated rally, but Ed was a bit upset about what happened.  He should've called a let, but never did.  The 5th Set was a closer contest in which I regrouped from the 4th Set bagel.

We finished around 5:05pm allowing us enough time to leave before we get charged the nightly fee.

Samara's Notes: I thank Omar for that very comprehensive report which was also sent in a most timely manner.  I congratulate him on a hard-fought victory as well.

And now we will detail how the Cedar Grove session materialized.

"Hollywood" Frank Samara hosting any session of GTA Friday Night Tennis seemed to be in some serious doubt as he announced earlier in the day that his car had died again...for the fourth time in four (perhaps five) months!  Sans wheels (and perhaps sans sanity as well), Frank thought it best to just stay home.

But along the way, "Coach" Dino Celis gave him a pep talk and said he'd be willing to take him to the Cedar Grove session of GTA Tennis if Samara had an opening in his schedule.  Well, the skies cleared somewhat for Frank and he let Dino know he was willing and able to head to C.G.

Celis and Samara arrived at Cedar Grove at 7:55.  On Court One, there was a Mixed Doubles Match in progress featuring "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan taking on "The Olympian" Marie Salamon and a new recruit who usually plays in her Tuesday night group in Fair Lawn.  His name is Dan Churchill.  He is a very nice guy and also quite the player. 

Court Two had Jay "The Rising" Phoenix hitting against The Gawleys (Rowdy Rob and Laura The Aura).  It looked like Samara was going to join Jay in battling them (they lent Frank a spare racquet as Samara's was stuck in the locked trunk of his dead car).  But circumstances would soon change. 

Court Three had a father/daughter combo in a hitting session.

And on Court Four there was a lengthy Doubles One-Setter still underway as "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli were battling "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes.

At 8:05, the Mixed Doubles Match on Court One concluded.  Around this time, we saw four Polish (perhaps) guys wanting to get onto the courts.  So Samara decided to step up and act as a diplomat by taking himself out of the mix and suggesting a new Mixed Doubles Match on Court One featuring The Gawleys going up against Churchill and Salamon as Doyle and Jordan were already making their way off the courts.

As this was happening, the father and daughter left Court Three and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak had just made his arrival.  This enabled some Men's Doubles action to take place on that court with Ryan ready to team with Jay against Dino and Frank.

Somewhere soon after that got underway, "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan made his way over to the courts and was able to take Spin's place in the next Men's Doubles One-Setter to get underway on Court Four.

The last official arrival was "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan at 8:45.  She got to ride the Hecklers' bench with Martinelli for a while before finally being called into official action.

We ended up with a total of sixteen official competitors for a night that was loaded with action.  

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Dan Churchill/Marie Salamon over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-2, 8-6, to become the New # 9 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces (apparently).  It was the official GTA Debut of Dan Churchill.  They decided to play the 2nd Set "old school" style and forego the Tiebreak in favor of playing it out to a two game lead.  This one took place on Court One and lasted from 6:30 to 8:05.

Joe Rodrigues/Nathan Fernandes over Raj Shah/Dan Martinelli, 7-6 (7-3)!  Raj: 1 Ace on Nathan; and Spin: 1 Ace on Joe (described by Spin as a "cheap one").  They battled on Court Four for nearly and hour (estimated start time of 7:30 and it ended exactly at 8:30).

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Dan Churchill/Marie Salamon, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, to become the New # 9 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces (apparently).  This one was done on Court One and it got underway at 8:15 and finished at 9:40.

Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Jay Phoenix/Ryan Pienciak, 6-4!  Ryan: 2 Aces (one on each)!  It went like this: Dino held serve (Ryan hit a winning return for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15 with an un-returned serve along the way, it then shifted to Break Point as Frank blew two volleys along the way, but then another un-returned serve made it Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Ryan was broken (started with a sideline Ace on Dino, then 30-Love where Frank hit a nice winning Overhead Smash for 30-15, then it was 30-All where Jay hit a winner to set up Game Point, but a Double Fault made it Deuce, it was Game Point again and then another Double Fault made it 2nd Deuce and that was where Dino made a great get/winner combo for Break Point, then it went to 3rd Deuce, Break Point again and finally the break) and Frank held (15-Love and then Ryan made a monster Overhead Smash for 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve along the way and then came the hold) to get off to a 3-0 lead.  Jay held (an un-returned serve on the way to Triple Game Point, it was cut to Game Point, but then came the hold) to get his team on the scoreboard, but then Celis held at Love with two un-returned serves along the way to go up 4-1!  But then Pienciak held (Love-15, an Ace up the T against Frank for 15-All, then 15-30 where Dino blew a drop shot for 30-All, then Game Point and the hold), Samara was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point as Jay hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way, but then came Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Phoenix held (Frank hit a winner for Love-15 and then Jay hit a screen-shot winner for 15-All and then Dino hit a passing shot winner on the way to Double Break Point, but that shifted to Deuce as Ryan hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way and then it was Game Point where Ryan hit another winning Overhead Smash which secured his partner's hold) to knot the score at 4-4!  But then Coach held a third straight time (30-Love, but then Frank blew a volley in the next point and then it was 30-All one point later, but then an un-returned serve made it Game Point, Deuce, Game Point where Dino blew an overhead for 2nd Deuce, but Game Point came again and Dino secured his own hold with a passing shot winner) and The Lumberjack was broken (Dino hit a winner for Love-15, then it was Love-30 where Jay hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it 15-30, but that was where Frank hit a whipping Windmill Overhead Smash to set up Double Break/Match Point which was where Jay hit a winner to cut it to Break/Match Point only to have Frank hit an even more wicked and winning Overhead Smash to get the break and the win) to take a tough loss!  We played this one on Court Three from 8:20 to 9pm.

The Skinny: It was the first time that Jay and Ryan had ever met and Phoenix was impressed with the skill set of Pienciak.  Humbly, Ryan suggested that he hits a winner about one out of every six attempts.  By the way, the reason for "The Lumberjack" moniker has nothing to do with his look.  It is due to his hybrid of a volley and Overhead Smash as he wields the racquet with both hands when he is up at the net and then seemingly chops the ball off the court after a short-angle bounce for a winner.  It may not be graceful, but it is damn effective when he hits it right.

Joe Rodrigues/Nathan Fernandes over Kris Srinivasan/Raj Shah, 6-2!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court Four at 8:40, but not sure when it ended as it then went into a Singles One-Setter between Kris and Raj.

Raj Shah over Kris Srinivasan, 6-1!  Raj: 1 Ace.  This one was also played on Court Four, but the start and finish times remain a mystery.  And after this ended officially, the two of them continued on in a hitting session against one another.

Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held (Dino hit a passing shot winner for 15-Love, it then shifted to 15-30, then it was 30-All and then Break Point where Ryan blew an overhead to make it Deuce, then Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Ryan was broken (Ryan hit a winning Backhand Volley and then another winner for 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) and then Dino held (Love-30 shifted to 30-All after Frank hit his patented Windmill Overhead Smash, but then it was Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-0.  Doinks then had a Love hold as Ryan got things started with a winning volley and then an un-returned serve on Triple Game Point put her team on the scoreboard and then Samara was broken (Ryan hit a monster of a winning return for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Pint, but then that went right through Deuce to Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 3-2.  Pienciak was broken again (Triple Break Point, the break came on Double Break Point) to fall to 2-4.  Celis was also broken (started with a Double Fault and then it went point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and the break...and along the way, what winners were hit where and when was now forgotten) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3.  But Srinivasan was now broken at Love as Dino hit two winning returns and a winner to get the break and then The Wood held at Love right after Frank made a nice get/winner combo to set up Triple Game/Match Point which is where this one ended.  We played this one on Court Three from 9:05 to 9:40.

The Skinny: When Doinks was invited onto the court, she made it clear right away that she wanted Ryan as her partner.  Like Phoenix before her, she was quite taken with the skill set of Pienciak.  The two of them gelled together quite well, but Celis and Samara are becoming a familiar tandem and they were able to fend off this worthy challenge.

Again, it was a very enjoyable session that also proved to be somewhat productive as well.

All the best,
Frank Samara