Samara hosts 12 at HP…not a typo…that is HP, not RHP!":
GTA Sunday Tennis took place at Holster Park in Clifton rather than Robin Hood Park in Clifton (with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as the host after a two week absence).
The courts at Holster (as well as a couple of other Clifton locations) have recently been resurfaced in the more modern light-blue/dark-blue style of the courts at The US Open in Flushing, Queens.
The difference between Holster now and what it used to be is a complete night and day comparison as the courts there used to be horrible. Even the improvement over the RHP courts is considerable.
When Samara arrived at Holster (behind School # 16 on Grove Street) at 10:15, he saw two of the three courts occupied by GTA players.
On the Entrance Court, there was an in-progress Doubles One-Setter featuring "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Holy Moly" Mike Mole taking on "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto.
On Center Court, "Big George" Jorge Solano was having a hitting session with "DC3" David Cardenas. Cardenas has played with us in the past. He was originally brought into the league by "ME" Michel Encarnacion, but he also happens to be friends with Solano as well.
I give him the "DC3" moniker not because he is the 3rd with that male name in his lineage (though he may be). It is because he is the third player in this league to have those initials behind "Coach" Dino Celis and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan. Cardenas is quite the player…a lethal lefty with a wicked topspin forehand!
And on Championship Court (so called because Samara and "Big G" Tom Giarraffa used to wage their battles on that court…and some of them were for the GTA Championship back in 2010), there were four older gentleman playing some impressive Doubles. More on them a little bit later.
Gonzales told Samara that he had been there since 9:35 and that Weldon arrived about ten minutes later. The Doubles One-Setter had gotten underway a mere five minutes before Frank's arrival as both Mole and De Bendetto got there around 10am.
As for the four guys on Championship Court, they started joking with us right away and were very nice. When the last two were leaving around 12:25 (the first two departed at 12:05), their de facto leader named Zoltar introduced himself to Frank.
There are about six of them in the mix that will always require at least one court on Sundays. We may even end up mixing them into our group. So it should be known that we will only have two of the three courts there for the first couple of hours on Sundays.
Around 10:30 or so, Samara took Solano's side in hitting against Cardenas as they waited for a fourth player to arrive.
When the Doubles One-Setter ended at 10:43, Gonzales left a couple minutes later just as "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was making his arrival.
Somewhere around 11am, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro sent a text message to Samara asking him where the group was. Frank sent an almost immediate reply as he had checked his cell phone soon after. But Chiaro never did arrive.
"Quick Draw" Chris Lehmann arrived at 11:10 and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker made her way onto the courts just five minutes later.
"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes stepped onto the courts at 11:30 and "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov did the same fifteen minutes later.
The latest arrival of the day was Celis at 1:55, but it would only be for a hitting session against Martinelli and Fernandes. We ended up with a total of twelve official competitors.
Nobody ever sent in any results from Robin Hood Park or The Cedar Grove Courts.
The RHP Results:
Chazz Weldon/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole, 6-1! Mike: 1 Ace on Vinnie. This one took place on the Entrance Court from 10:10 to 10:43.
Chazz Weldon/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 6-2! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of David Cardenas. This was also played on the Entrance Court and it lasted from 10:50 to 11:21.
Mike Mole/Vinnie De Benedetto over Chris Lehmann/Dan Martinelli, 7-6 (12-10)! No Aces. Mike and Vin jumped out to a 4-2 lead. During this time, Nate had joined Frank along the sidelines to watch. As the sun was getting quite hot (courts are set up properly in a North to South fashion…unlike RHP…but there is virtually no shade at Holster unless you go out into the park), Fernandes found himself a new "Nathan Hill" to catch some cool under the trees. Vin was broken on serve as he hit a Double Fault on Break Point to have his team's lead cut to 4-3. They then went up 5-3 and Mike was on serve. When they were up Double Game/Match Point, Samara suggested that Fernandes get back on court to get into the next match. A Double Fault cut it to Game/Match Point and then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break for 5-4. When Chris held to level it at 5-5, Frank joked with Nate that this was "tennis karma" as a match will always go long once someone is waiting to get on court. It should also be noted that Mike said he had time for one more, but was now way past his planned-on departure time. Samara then made a "joke" prediction of this one going to a Tiebreak that would result in a TB score of 12-10! Sure enough, De Benedetto was broken again to make it 5-6. But then Martinelli was also broken as he hit a Double Fault for Triple Break Point and then the break came on Double Break Point to force this one into the as-predicted Tiebreak. In the Breaker: Mike was broken on his lone serve after Spin hit a return that rolled over the net-cord tape to hit the court on the opposite side, but then Chris was broken on both of his serves. Vin was also broken on both of his serves and the second was the result of a winning Overhead Smash by Chris for a 2-3 score. Then, Chris blew what should have been another sure overhead as Spin was broken on the first of his two serves for 3-3 at the changeover. Spin failed to hold his second as well as his team was now down 3-4. Mole was broken on the first of his two serves as Chris hit a passing shot winner and then Mike was also broken on his second as Spin hit what may have been the most impressive winning return of his GTA career as his team was now up 5-4! Lehmann was broken on both of his serves as his team dropped to 5-6 for the third Match Point overall and the first in the Tiebreak. De Benedetto was then broken on the first of his two serves as Spin hit an impressive passing shot winner for 6-6 at the second changeover, but then Vin held the second of his two serves as he ended that point with a winning Overhead Smash for 7-6 to set up the 4th Match Point! Martinelli then held the first of his two serves as Chris hit a winning Overhead Smash, but was then broken on his second to fall to 7-8 and set up a 5th Match Point! Mike was broken on the first of his two serves to level it at 8-8 and then he was broken again as Spin hit another winning return as his team went up 9-8 and had the first Match Point in their favor (the 6th M.P. overall)! Chris was broken on the first of his two serves for 9-9 at the third changeover and was broken again to fall to 9-10 which was now the 7th M.P. overall and the sixth in the opposing team's favor. Vin was broken on the first of his two serves to level it again, this time at 10-10! He then held his second serve to go up 11-10 for the 8th M.P. overall (the 7th in his team's favor) with service now going back to Spin. He was then broken on his first serve to take one hell of a tough loss! They played this one on Center Court from 11:25 to 12:22!
The Skinny: This will be a definite Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. In fact, this may very well be the one to beat…for now. The drama was intense and the action was often hard-hitting. It was a fun one to watch and that made it worth the wait for those that were looking to play next. It also made Frank look like he was Samaradamus!
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 7-5! No Aces. This one took place on the Entrance Court and lasted from 11:27 to 12:23…another lengthy and fiercely contested battle!
Chris Lehmann/Fernanda Toker over Rafaelo Kazakov/Nathan Fernandes, 6-4! No Aces. They played this one on Center Court and it lasted from 12:30 to 1:03.
Rafaelo Kazakov/Nathan Fernandes over Frank Samara/Fernanda Toker, 6-4! Frank: 1 Ace on Rafaelo. It went like this: Fernanda was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 as Nate hit an Overhead Smash along the way, but then an un-returned serve made it 30-All, but then a winning volley from Nate made it Break Point where an excellent rally led to Deuce, but then Rafaelo hit a winner for Break Point which was where Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for the break), Rafaelo held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold), Frank was broken in a battle (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point where Frank hit a very impressive winner off the sideline for Deuce where he then nailed Rafaelo with a big Ace up the T for Game Point, then it was 2nd Deuce where another un-returnable serve set up Game Point and then it was 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point where Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for the break) and Nathan held (Rafaelo hit a winner and then Nate had an un-returned serve to go up 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) as his team took a somewhat commanding lead at 4-0. Toker then held (Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, but then it shifted to 30-15 where Nate hit another winning Overhead Smash for 30-All, then it went to Game Point and the hold), Kazakov was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point where Frank hit a missile-like winner through the middle of the opposition to make it Deuce, then it went to Break Point and the break), Samara held (Nate hit a drop shot winner to make it Love-30, but then it shifted to 30-All with another un-returnable serve along the way and then Fernanda hit a winner for Game Point, but then Nate hit a winning volley for Deuce, Game Point where Nate hit a winning drop shot return for 2nd Deuce, but then came Game Point and the hold) and Fernandes was broken (Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point where Nate blew an overhead to break himself) to level the score at 4-4! But then The Argentine Machine (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, but then it went straight to Double Break Point as Nate hit a winning return and then a winning lob which was then followed by a drop shot winner from Rafaelo along the way, it then went to Break Point, but then came the break) and RK Fire held at Love as he hit a winning lob followed by another winner which was then followed by a winning Overhead Smash by Nate to set up Triple Game/Match Point where Rafaelo hit his most impressive winner of the day as he sent a shot right to the sideline and it then sailed off the court out of reach of the opposition! This one was played on Center Court from 1:05 to 2pm.
The Skinny: Both Samara and Toker had a two-week layoff from playing tennis. Fernanda already had a couple of sets to shake off her rust, but she also became somewhat hurt and exhausted along the way. Frank did some things well…other things not so well. He actually returned to action with a bigger serve than we have seen from him in quite some time. He also made some very nice gets as he dropped at least five pounds since the last time he had played. But he lacked discipline and touch in some of his shot-making and his team ultimately paid the price as a result. Still, it was a nice One-Setter to close out a highly competitive session. Many of these sets lasted nearly an hour. It seems that the beautiful new courts of Holster Park inspired an increased level of play from the competitors. Kudos to all!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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