Samara-Rizzo at NTC!
GTA Monday Tennis took place at The Nutley Tennis Club (a mid-afternoon session featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "The Riz" John Rizzo that was agreed upon earlier in the day).
When Samara pulled into the parking lot of NTC at 3pm, Rizzo was already out on Court Five (their usual court for these matches) waiting for him. Three of the other four courts were occupied by Men's Doubles action. "The Pilot" Greg Swierczek was playing on Court Four and later on Court One.
GTA alumni "Bionic" Bo Folchi and "Dynamic" Denise Savino also took a few moments to watch the Samara-Rizzo match which got underway after a nearly ten minute long hitting session.
The NTC Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Frank Samara over John Rizzo, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 14 Rank in the Advanced Division! Frank: 1 Ace in the 1st Set.
1st Set: Frank held serve (a lengthy rally led to Love-15 which then shifted to Double Game Point as Frank hit a winner, John blew an overhead and Frank hit another winner and then on DGP it was another winner by Frank for the hold), John was broken at Love (Frank hit a winner to set up Triple Break Point and then John blew a drop shot to break himself) and Samara held again and this time it was at Love as he started the game with a sideline Ace. This meant he had just won 12 straight points! But then Rizzo held as an un-returned serve, a winner and another un-returned serve took him straight to Triple Game Point, then on Double Game Point he hit another un-returned serve to secure the hold and get onto the scoreboard. Hollywood was then broken (started with a Double Fault, then a nice get/winner combo by Frank made it 15-All, but then back-to-back winners by John set up Double Break Point where Frank hit a winner for Break Point only to be broken on the next point) to have his lead cut to 3-2. The Riz was broken (a winning drop shot return by Frank set up Triple Break Point, the break came on Double Break Point) and Frank held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All…and there was a drop shot winner from Frank and a winner by John along the way…but then it went to Game Point and the hold) to increase his lead to 5-2. John held (a winning lob by John for 15-Love, then it was 30-Love where Frank hit a winner for 30-15, then came Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5, but Samara held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 after an un-returned serve and an especially impressive winner by Frank as he ran off the court and into the grass to almost hit the shot past the post…but not quite…and back onto the court inside the sideline, but then John hit a winner for 30-All only to have it go to Game/Set Point and then the hold) to take this initial set at 3:41 (we started it at 3:10). After a five minute rest, we were onto the next one.
2nd Set: John held (30-Love where perhaps the rally of the match ended with a drop shot winner from Frank for 30-15, but then John hit a winner for Double Game Point and then John made a great get that forced the error from Frank) to take his first lead of the match, but Frank held as well (there were two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point before that lead was cut to Game Point, but then came the hold) for 1-1. Rizzo held at Love as he started things off with an un-returned serve and finished things off with a winning lob, but Samara also had a Love hold as he hit a winner and an un-returned serve and then a great get/winner combo to finish the game and level the set again at 2-2! The Riz was the first to be broken in this set (John hit a winner for 15-Love, but then it shifted to 15-30 where John hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-All, then it was Break Point where John hit another winning Overhead Smash for Deuce, but then it was Break Point again where John hit another winner to bring it to 2nd Deuce, but then a great get by John was answered by a winner from Frank for Break Point which this time around was ended with a winner from Frank instead of the usual from John and that ended this game) and then The Wood held yet again (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point as Frank hit an un-returned serve followed by back-to-back winners, it was then cut to Game Point but then came the hold) to go up 4-2. John was broken (Frank hit a winning drop shot return and another winner on the way to Triple Break Point which was then reduced to Break Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner for the break) to fall to 2-5, but then Frank was finally broken in this set (Love-15, then 15-All where John hit a scorching return winner which he then followed with another winner on the way to Double Break Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner for Break Point, but then came the break) to have his lead cut to 5-3. But then Rizzo was broken again (Love-15 then point for point all the way to Break/Match Point…and it should be noted that each point alternated with winners from each player until Match Point which ended with an error from John instead of yet another winner) to drop the set and the match at 4:25!
The Skinny: Rizzo was pleased with his performance considering the fact he had played three sets of Doubles the night before and then engaged in both Doubles and Singles action earlier in the day at NTC. Both players exhibited better fitness and quickness than they did in their match with one another the month before. Each played fairly aggressively as well. It made for a fun and competitive match. The weather was in the lower 80 degree range, but the humidity was increasing as the day grew older as rain was on the way (it hit our area around 6pm).
Said rains must have killed the chances of any results being reported from Robin Hood Park, Holster Park or The Cedar Grove Courts.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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