"Samara hosts 7 at RHP, Toth-Peterson part of 12 at C.G.!":
GTA Thursday Night Tennis took place at Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara) and The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan and featuring the GTA Women's Championship Tournament Round of 16 Match between "C.A.T." Christine Toth and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson).
Let's first go to the full RHP recap.
Samara issued a late e-mail to the league around 4pm stating that he had a change of plans and would be hosting a session at Robin Hood Park after all. He predicted his arrival time would be around 6pm.
When Frank pulled up to the curb at 5:50, he saw "Stealth" Omar Santos and "Lucky" Leo Victor facing off against one another in a Singles One-Setter on Championship Court. So Samara parked his stuff on Center Court. Soon after, Sean Molloy made a brief walk-by cameo.
At 6:05, "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto arrived and started hitting with Samara on Center Court. Five minutes later, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli made his way toward the courts.
A couple of minutes later, the Santos-Victor One-Setter ended. Doubles was suggested at this time and Samara opted out to let the other four play each other. Spin proposed Age versus Youth, so it would be Martinelli and De Benedetto versus Santos and Victor.
Frank continued to hold Center Court, but was also very much involved with the action taking place on Championship Court. That One-Setter was finished at 6:50 and Spin said he had to go home for just a bit.
So Samara came in to take his place, but Frank instead teamed with Leo to take on Omar and Vinnie. This Doubles One-Setter got underway at 6:52.
Just minutes later, "Instant" Moka Pathan made his way onto Center Court. About five or so minutes later, Martinelli returned and started hitting with his frequent football buddy.
At 7:05, New GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived to start hitting with Martinelli against Pathan. Around that same time, "El Tio" Carlos Perez returned with his grandson and they took the Entrance Court for the balance of the evening. Carlos never got involved in any official GTA action.
Thus, we had a total of seven official competitors for the evening at RHP. Also, "Big Jake" Rich Jachens made his usual "walking Chloe" cameo.
After the action subsided around 8:15, Samara hitched a ride with Martinelli to Cedar Grove. But we will get to all that later.
The RHP Results:
Omar Santos over Leo Victor, 6-1! No Aces. Omar estimated that they started this one on Championship Court somewhere around 5:40/5:45. It ended exactly at 6:13.
Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Omar Santos/Leo Victor, 6-3! No Aces. Here's the basic breakdown: Omar held and Vinnie was broken (Double Game Point cut to Deuce, the break came on Break Point) to go down 0-2. Leo was broken (Double Break Point went to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point where an excellent, extended rally ended with a winning Overhead Smash by Vinnie), but so was Spin (Game Point, Deuce, break came on Break Point) to get off to a 1-3 start. But from there, Santos was broken and De Benedetto held to level it at 3-3. And then Victor was broken and Martinelli held for 5-3. Then, Stealth was broken once again (Love-30, Double Fault for Triple Break/Match Point, another lengthy and exciting rally that led to Double Break/Match Point, the break finally came on Break/Match Point) to take a tough loss as the elder opposition won five straight games to cap quite the comeback! This was played on Championship Court from 6:16 to 6:50.
Frank Samara/Leo Victor over Omar Santos/Vinnie De Benedetto, 7-5! No Aces. It went like this: Frank was broken (Triple Break Point where Leo hit a highly impressive winner to cut it down to Double Break Point, but then came the break), Omar held (15-Love, 15-All where Frank blew an overhead and then it was on the way to Double Game Point where Vin blew an overhead to make it Game Point, but then came the hold) and Leo was broken (started with a Double Fault and then Vin hit a winning drop shot return for Love-30, then Frank hit a winning volley for 15-30, but then it was Double Break Point where Omar hit a winning drop shot return for the break) to get off to a rough start at 0-3! But then Vinnie was broken at Love as it started off with Omar blowing a volley and then Samara held at Love as that game started with Vin blowing a volley, an un-returned serve and then Leo hitting a blistering winner to secure his partner's hold as they pulled to 2-3! When Santos started off on serve down Love-15, it meant his opponents had just taken nine straight points! But then Frank blew a volley by being a little too greedy with its placement and that made it 15-All and then it went to 30-15, shifted to Break Point, then Deuce, Game Point and the hold) as Omar and Vin went up 4-2. Victor held in a struggle (once again started with a Double Fault and then back-to-back winning drop shot returns from Vin and Omar made it Triple Break Point, but then it shifted down to Break Point as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash, there was an un-returned serve and then Frank whipped out his winning Windmill Overhead Smash and then it was Deuce where Leo hit a winner for Game Point, then 2nd Deuce and another Double Fault to make it Break Point, 3rd Deuce and then Game Point where Frank secured his partner's hold with another winning Windmill Overhead Smash) to pull to 3-4! De Benedetto was broken at Love again as Frank hit a big-time Overhead Smash for Love-15 and then Vin blew a volley for Love-30 and then Frank hit a passing shot winner on Triple Break Point for the break to knot the score at 4-4! But then Hollywood was broken (Vin blew a volley for 15-Love which was where Omar hit a volley that rolled off the top of the tape as a winner for 15-All, then it was 15-30 where Omar blew a volley for 30-All, then it was Break Point, Deuce, Break Point where Omar hit a drop shot winner for the break) to once again go down, this time at 4-5. Stealth was also broken (Leo hit a scorching return winner and then Frank also hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it shifted to 30-All as Omar hit a winner along the way, but then it was Break Point where Frank busted out another Windmill Overhead Smash for the break) to level things once more, this time at 5-5! Lucky Leo held (Leo hit a winner for 15-Love, but then a Double Fault for 15-All, but then it was off and running to Double Game Point as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash and Leo hit a winner along the way, but then that got cut down to Deuce where Frank hit yet another winning Overhead Smash to make it Game Point and then Leo hit another winner to secure his own hold) and The Vin Man was broken (Love-15, 15-All and then both Leo and Frank hit winning drop shot returns to set up Double Break/Match Point and then came the break) to take a tough loss! We played this one on Championship Court from 6:52 to 7:43.
The Skinny: All four competitors played well, though all four also had moments they wish they could redo. As the match grew older, Samara really went into a zone as he imposed his will at the net with multiple Overhead Smash winners (including his patented Windmill Overhead Smash which never failed him this time around…sometimes it goes off the rails…LOL!).
Chris Chiaro over Moka Pathan, 6-4! No Aces. This one took place on Center Court from 7:30 to 8pm. They took a five minute breather and then they started another one. That one would end up getting finished after everyone else left (Chris sent that score in via text…which we will get to later).
Frank Samara/Leo Victor over Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-1! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (Leo hit a blast of a winner for 15-Love, then 30-Love, 30-15 where Vin blew a volley to set up Double Game Point where Vin then blew an overhead to enable the hold) and Spin was broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All as Spin made a great get and then Vin hit a winning lob along the way, but then there was a rare Double Fault for Break Point and that was where Vin blew another volley for the break) to get off to an 0-2 start. Leo was broken (30-Love shifted to Break Point as Frank blew a gift of what should have been a sure volley along the way and then came the break), but Vinnie was also broken (Frank hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner for Triple Break Point, but then Frank blew a volley to make it Double Break Point, but then Frank hit a fast-paced Backhand Volley winner for the break) to make it 1-3! Samara held again (Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, then there was an un-returned serve for 15-All, but then straight to Double Break Point, but another un-returned serve reversed the course as it went to Deuce, Break Point and another un-returned serve for 2nd Deuce, Break Point and yet another un-returned serve for 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Martinelli was broken again (Frank hit a winning drop shot return for Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) and Victor held (a nice Windmill Overhead Smash by Frank for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, but then it shifted again to Game/Match Point which Frank finished off with yet another Windmill Overhead Smash) to get the "W!" We played this one on Championship Court from 7:45 to 8:12.
The Skinny: Leo continues to improve by leaps and bounds. Spin and Vin did things that most guys their age simply cannot do anymore. And Samara was just having a rare night where many more things went right than went wrong.
Chris Chiaro over Moka Pathan, 6-4! No Aces.
Spin and Frank arrived at Cedar Grove at 8:30 just as "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle was leaving, but he said he would be back. On Court One, there was a lone man that we did not recognize. Court Two was vacant the entire night.
On Court Three, we saw "Coach" Dino Celis and "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas having a conversation with one another (perhaps they had just finished a hitting session). They were just in the process of being joined by "Steppin' to the AM" Anish Mehta and "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia (whose wife and two daughters would later arrive to watch him in action for just a bit). This eventually led to a three Doubles One-Setters.
And on Court Four, it was "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan teaming with Laura "The Aura" Gawley as they took on "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan while "Rowdy" Rob Gawley watched from the bench.
The Hecklers (Samara and Martinelli) had a brief chance to chat with Rob before he rode his motorcycle into the darkness.
Tito "Touch" Castolo arrived at 8:35. He recognized the lone man on Court One and went over there to have a hitting session with him.
Doyle returned at 8:40 and chatted with The Hecklers until he was able to return to action near 9pm. He also reported a prior result.
Many in attendance knew the result of the Toth-Peterson match, but did not know the final score or the details. Both Christine and Dawn e-mailed in the result with their own brief comments.
So we will start with that match as it was the first one to take place up there and then list the rest from there. Also, Kris sent in the balance of what took place after Spin and Frank left at 9:25.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Women's Championship Tournament Round of 16 Match:
Christine Toth over Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-4, to successfully defend her # 11 Rank in the Women's Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Women's Championship Tournament! Dawn: 3 Aces!
Toth's Take: There were several long multiple Deuce games.
Dawn's Delivery: We played for an hour and a half (roughly 5:30 to 7pm). Christine played very well.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their prompt reporting. I congratulate Christine on her victory. She will face "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan in the Quarters.
And now we go to all the scores that I collected in person. And that will be followed by the balance from Kris (with some additional notes from Anish).
Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley over Anish Mehta/Kevin Doyle, 6-3! No Aces. This one took place on Court Four prior to the arrival of Spin and Frank.
Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley over Edwin Ortega/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1! No Aces. This was also played on Court Four, roughly from 8:30 to 8:55.
Anish Mehta/Lou La Forgia over Dino Celis/Marijus Kuzavas, 6-1! Anish: 2 Aces! This one got underway on Court Three at 8:40. Don't know when it ended as it went right into the next two…plus, we likely left before the first one finished. Dino said he and Marijus did not consider it to be a match, so just report it as separate One-Setters.
Anish Mehta/Lou La Forgia over Dino Celis/Marijus Kuzavas, 6-3! No Aces.
Anish Mehta/Lou La Forgia over Dino Celis/Marijus Kuzavas, 6-3! No Aces.
From the AM Dial: I tend to be erratic due to injuries and lack of practice, but I had an unusually good night. I kept trying to lob Marijus, which was not good - I'm not used to playing tall people. Otherwise, both Lou and I did better than normal and he luck on our side. Dino and Marijus were hitting and not playing like they were in a match.
Samara's Notes: I thank Anish for his feedback. And now we get a couple of more scores from Kris.
Edwin Ortega/Doinks Srinivasan over Kevin Doyle/Laura Gawley, 6-2! No Aces. This one began on Court Four at 8:59. Not sure when it ended.
Kris Srinivasan/Edwin Ortega leading Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
The Say from Papa K: We were up 5-0 when we let a couple of games slip. The last point we were playing at the time of the lights cutting off was a Match Point!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for always be so willing to host the GTA session up at Cedar Grove. I am happy that I was able to help lighten his load somewhat with my visit. So I also thank Spin for bringing me there and back.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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