6/12

"Samara hosts 9 at RHP, Chazz-Jay part of 12 at C.G.!":

"Hollywood" Frank Samara said he would find a way to host GTA Sunday Tennis despite not having a car.  So right upfront, thanks to "Coach" Dino Celis for the ride up to Robin Hood Park in Clifton and also much gratitude to "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli for the ride back home.

Celis and Samara arrived at RHP at 10:45.  Pulling up to the park at exactly the same time was Martinelli. 

Upon their arrival, they saw "Sadistic" Syed Rashid going solo as he hit against both "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto and Barbara "Bobbie" Grass.  Sadly, none of these three ever made into any official action.

On Center Court, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "Lean" Dean Delgado were doing battle in what was the last of three Singles One-Setters.

So the Three Amigos (Celis, Samara and Martinelli) took Championship Court.  The day prior (Saturday), a challenge was issued via both Facebook and text as "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "Instant" Moka Pathan called out The Foundation (Samara/Martinelli) for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Challenge Match as they were looking to get ranked in the Doubles Division

When Frank pointed out the fact that the team also known as Spin City had long fallen out of the "D" Division for team inactivity, Nate countered with the response being one of just looking to get ranked against two guys that they figured would be at the courts on this day.

One problem was that Samara was once again a man without a racquet.  Upon hearing this, Syed was kind enough to pull two spare racquets out of his car and he gave Frank the choice of which one he would want to use.  He also allowed Samara to hold onto the racquet after his departure.  So another thank you is due and this one goes to Syed for being benevolent rather than "sadistic".  It was a very nice gesture on his part.

Speaking of nice gestures, Vin took Bobbie home from 11:10 to 11:25.  While he was away, both Fernandes and "Big Returns" Ralph Bernard arrived at 11:15.  This led to both Spin and Ralph hitting against Nate on Championship Court.  Around the same time, Celis started hitting with Chiaro on Center Court.  And that eventually led to a fairly lengthy Singles One-Setter.

When Pathan arrived at 11:25 for the planned Doubles Match, Bernard shifted over to the Entrance Court to hit with Rashid.  De Benedetto decided to leave at 11:30 as he felt he had already hit a lot and there was seemingly no place for him at this point in the session.

The Doubles Match occupied Championship Court from 11:30 to 12:04, to be exact.  During that time period, "The Olympian" Marie Salamon arrived at 11:45.  After a lengthy yoga-style stretching session in the park just outside the fence of the courts, she then jumped onto the Entrance Court to join the hitting session between Bernard and Rashid.  She ended up becoming the ninth and final official competitor of the day.

Late cameo appearances were made by "Double R" Rob Ryan as he was attempting to fly a kite (it was certainly windy enough for it) with his young daughter Rachel out in the park.  Around that same time, "Big Jake" Rich Jachens walked Chloe around the park, but also took a moment to say hello and see some of the action.

The turnout may have been somewhat on the low side given the nice weather (again, albeit windy) with just nine officially (it could have been twelve if timing of players in and out of the session was more opportune), but it was still an enjoyable and action-packed session.

The RHP Results:

Chris Chiaro over Dean Delgado, 6-0!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Dean Delgado, 6-0!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Dean Delgado, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: No, that is not a typo.  The exact same result and score occurred three times in a row!  They estimated that they got the action underway on Center Court at 9:30 and it then ended at 11:10.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Challenge Match:
Moka Pathan/Nathan Fernandes over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 35 and # 36 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

1st Set: Spin held serve (Moka blew a volley and an un-returned serve led to Triple Game Point, then Double Game Point was an excellent rally that resulted in a hold), Moka held (15-Love, 15-All and then two un-returned serves led to Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, an un-returned serve for Game Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner for 2nd Deuce and then another un-returned serve for Game Point and then yet another un-returned serve for the hold), but Frank was the first to be broken (started with a Double Fault and then Spin made a great get for 15-All and then it was point for point to Break Point and then the break) as his team was down 1-2.  Nathan held (Nathan hit a drop shot winner for 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Martinelli was broken (Nathan hit another drop shot winner to make it Love-15, then it was Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) as The Foundation crumbled to 1-4!  Pathan was also broken (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash in one point and made a great get in another on the way to Triple Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point, but then came the break) and Samara held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as Frank hit a winner along the way and then came the hold) as his team pulled to 3-4.  But Fernandes then held at Love as he hit a drop shot winner on the way to Triple Game Point and that was where he hit an un-returned serve to secure his own hold and then The Doc was broken again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, but then a Double Fault for 30-All and then it ended on Break/Set Point) as Spin City had their heads spinning in the heat as this set was played on Championship Court from 11:30 to 12:04.  After a three minute break, the next one got underway.

2nd Set: Moka held (started with a Double Fault, then Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then two un-returned serves brought it to Deuce, then another un-returned serve for Game Point, 2nd Deuce and yet another un-returned serve for Game Point, then 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Spin held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 with two un-returned serves, then it was 30-All, Game Point, Deuce where Moka blew an overhead to make it Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winner to set up Game Point and then the hold), Nathan held (Nathan hit a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Triple Game Point, but that was cut to Game Point where Nathan hit another winning Overhead Smash), but Frank was the first to be broken in this set (Nathan hit a winning Overhead Smash and another winner on the way to Triple Break Point, then it was Double Break Point where Moka hit a passing shot winner for the break) for a score of 1-3.  Pathan then held again (two un-returned serves made it 30-Love, but that was where Frank hit a drop shot winner for 30-15, but then came Double Game Point where Nathan hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) and Martinelli was broken (Moka hit a winning volley for Love-15, then it was 15-30 where Moka hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Double Break Point where Moka then hit a winning roller over he net for the break) to fall to 1-5!  Fernandes was also broken (Frank hit an impressive winner for Love-15 and it was then off and running to Triple Break Point, it was then Double Break Point where an un-returned serve brought it to Break Point, but then came the break) to allow the opposition to pull to 2-5, but then Samara squandered it as Nathan got his team rolling with a drop shot winner for Love-30 and then it was Triple Break/Match Point where The Foundation fully crumbled in a Love break to go down in a heap at 12:42!

The Skinny: Despite having not teamed together for quite some time, The Blues Brothers (aka The Blue and Black Attack) also known as Pathan and Fernandes functioned in unison quite well.  Despite the occasional One-Setter here and there, Samara and Martinelli did not do all that much together as of late either.  Spin often complained about feeling lethargic and sluggish.  He said he was sleepy, but not tired (I'm not entirely sure of the difference).  The Doc hit many a limp shot into the net, but he also had his usual round of amazing gets as well...so it cannot be said that he did not go down without a fight.  It should also be noted that Moka and Nate switched their return of service sides going into the 2nd Set and perhaps that made a slight difference as well.  Yet, the match did feel somewhat closer than the score indicates.

Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.  Actually, Chris was leading 5-4 and they were at Deuce when Dino pulled a groin muscle and retired.  This one took place on Center Court from 11:35 to 12:12 and it was quite close until it had to end abruptly.

Ralph Bernard/Frank Samara over Nathan Fernandes/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  Ralph: 1 Ace on Marie.  It went like this: Ralph held (Marie hit a winning Backhand Volley for Love-15 and it was off and running to Triple Break Point as Nathan hit a winner along the way, but then an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point and then when it was Break Point, Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), Marie was broken (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, then it shifted to Break Point where Frank hit a passing shot winner for the break) and Frank held (Ralph hit a winner and then made a great get in the next point to make it 30-Love, but then it shifted straight to Break Point, then Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot that led to Game Point and then came the hold) as his team got off to a hot start at 3-0.  Nathan then impressively held at Love with three un-returned serves to put his team on the scoreboard, but Bernard held again (Love-15 shifted right to Double Game Point as two un-returned serves sandwiched a winner by Ralph) and Salamon was broken again (started with a Double Fault, then 15-All would lead to Double Break Point as Ralph hit a winner along the way, there was an un-returned serve for Break Point, but then came the break) to go down 1-5.  Samara was broken (an excellent rally ended with Frank sailing what should have been a winning Overhead Smash long to make it Love-30, then it was 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2 and then Fernandes held (another awesome rally got things started at 15-Love and then it was point for point to Game Point where Marie hit a drop shot winner to secure her partner's hold) to pull to 3-5.  But Big Returns held a third straight time and this time it was at Love as he got off to a 30-Love start and then hit a wind-aided Ace against Marie to set up Triple Game/Match Point and that was where it ended!  We played this one on Championship Court from 12:47 to 1:25.   

This was the last official action of the day at RHP as the session ended somewhat earlier than usual.  And now we head up to Cedar Grove where a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between GTA Intermediate Champion: "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and Jay "The Rising" Phoenix took place where only the Advanced Division rank of Weldon was on the line.  Chazz reported the score in a very timely manner...almost immediately after it ended via text message.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Chazz Weldon over Jay Phoenix, 6-3, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 17 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.  It got underway at 10:33am and ended exactly at 11:42.  Chazz described it as a very competitive match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for sending in that score so swiftly and now we get the rest of the results from "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan as to what took place in Cedar Grove later in the day and in the evening.

Pressed for time…so here's a very brief report of the results.

Jose Gonzales/Greg Swierczek over Kris Srinivasan/Joe Rodrigues, 6-2!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Greg Swierczek over Chris Lehmann/Fernanda Toker, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).

Chris Lehmann/Fernanda Toker over Greg Swierczek/Joe Rodrigues, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).

Chris Lehmann/Fernanda Toker over Kris Srinivasan/Greg Swierczek, 6-3!  No Aces.

Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Senthil Kumar/Mike Mole, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

Senthil Kumar/Mike Mole over Jose Gonzales/Fernanda Toker, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

It was also good to see that Genalin Capan is back.  She just had a hitting session with Herb Reiner.  It was so windy that the ball was doing a salsa in the air!  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for all he does for the GTA up at Cedar Grove.

All the best,
Frank Samara