"Shah-Phoenix part of 7 at RHP, Doinks-Sally part of 18 at C.G.!":
GTA Monday Night Tennis took place at Robin Hood Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and featuring a full 2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match between "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah and Jay "The Rising" Phoenix) and The Cedar Grove Courts (also hosted by Samara and featuring the GTA Women's Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match between "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Spicy" Sally Pillay).
Let's first go to the full RHP recap.
Samara issued an e-mail to the league stating he would be hosting at Robin Hood Park and he predicted his arrival time would be around 6pm.
As his 4pm appointment ended much earlier than expected, Frank pulled up to the curb at 4:45. At that time, he saw two teens on the Entrance Court. On Championship Court, it was a father and his two young children. It seemed to be a tennis circus with balls flying everywhere.
So Samara decided to just chill out in his car. The father and kids left at 5:10 and the teens left at 5:20, but now Frank was in sleepy mode and decided to remain seated behind the wheel.
When he saw that Raj Shah pulled up to the courts at 5:25, Samara finally got his lazy butt out of the car and onto Championship Court. But Raj did not get out of his car right away (he may have been on a call).
It was actually "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto who was the next to hit the courts at 5:35. Then, Shah soon followed. It was a three-way hitting session until "Big George" Jorge Solano arrived at 5:45.
Ten minutes later, it was Frank and Vin versus Raj and Jorge in a Doubles One-Setter. Along the way, Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda took the Entrance Court at 6:10 to practice alone.
At 6:35, Jay Phoenix and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues both arrived at the same time and began hitting with one another on Center Court. Ten minutes later, "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov also arrived. He chose to sit and see what developed in terms of Doubles action.
The Doubles One-Setter lasted exactly one hour, 5:55 to 6:55! Just as it ended, we had a surprise appearance from "The Tigress" Janine Lee. We haven't seen her at RHP in quite some time as she has dealt with one injury after another. Currently, it is her right shoulder.
She said she was waiting for her friend June (or perhaps it is Joon) to arrive as they were going to have a workout/hitting session. I tried to introduce Sachiko and Janine, but a hitting session never happened between them.
In fact, Sachiko left the Entrance Court when she saw "El Tio" Carlos Perez and his grandson, Santiago, heading toward it at 7:05.
Five minutes later, June arrived and I had the chance to meet her. She is an unlikely candidate for competition in the GTA as she lives out in Fort Lee. But she was very nice.
Speaking of "nice," it was also quite nice of The Perez Family to be willing to split the court with June and Janine. But eventually (at 7:30), Carlos and Santiago went out into the park to play soccer.
Once Center Court became available around 7:50, Carlos and Santiago returned to play tennis. And then when June and Janine left the Entrance Court at 8pm, The Perez Family shifted back over to that court instead.
So we had a total of seven official competitors for the night.
The RHP Results:
Raj Shah/Jorge Solano over Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto, 7-6 (7-5)! Jorge: 1 Ace on Frank. It went like this: Frank held serve (Raj blew a volley for 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game Point as Raj hit a winning volley along the way, there was an un-returned serve and a winning Overhead Smash from Jorge along the way as well, but it was an un-returned serve that set up Game Point and another un-returned serve that earned the hold), Raj held (15-Love where Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-All, but then two un-returned serves led to Double Game Point where Jorge secured his partner's hold with a winning volley), but Vinnie was the first to be broken (Jorge hit a winning volley and Raj had a winner of his own on the way to Triple Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce as Frank hit a big-time winning Overhead Smash along the way and then it went to Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce where Raj hit a monster of a winning Overhead Smash for Break Point and then Vin hit a Double Fault to break himself…and there were some other winners during that game…just couldn't remember them all) to go down 1-2. Jorge was broken as well (15-Love shifted to Double Break Point as Frank hit back-to-back winners along the way, but then it shifted to Deuce, Break Point where Frank was victimized by a big-time sideline Ace to make it 2nd Deuce and then it was Game Point, 3rd Deuce and then all Break Points through to 5th Deuce, one more Break Point and then the break) and then Samara held at Love as he started things with a great get/winner combo and had two un-returned serves along the way to go up 3-2. Shah held again as well (Raj hit a winner for 15-Love and then it was point for point to Game Point as Raj hit an awesome Backhand Volley winner along the way as well, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point again where an un-returned serve secured the hold), but De Benedetto also held (Vin hit a winner for 30-Love, but it shifted to 30-All as Raj hit a drop shot winner and Jorge hit a blast of an Overhead Smash, but then an un-returned serve made it Game Point where Jorge blew an overhead to allow the hold) to go up 4-3. Solano also held (two hideous Unforced Errors from Frank made it 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point as Vin hit a roller over the net for the point, he hit a winning volley and then a winning Overhead Smash along the way, but then it went to Deuce and an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold) to knot the score once more at 4-4! Hollywood had his third straight hold and his second straight at Love as Vin hit a winning volley to start it, there was an un-returned serve in the middle and then Vin hit another winning volley to secure his partner's hold as they went back up at 5-4! The Sultan of Swing also had his third straight hold and this one was at Love as he had two truly un-returnable serves and then secured the hold with another un-returned one to level it again, this time at 5-5! The Vin Man was broken (Raj hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Love-30 where Frank whipped out the Windmill Overhead Smash to make it 15-30, but then Raj hit a winning volley to set up Double Break Point and then he hit another winning volley to get the break), but so was Big George (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then it shifted to 15-30 as Frank made a very nice passing shot winner, but then a winning Overhead Smash by Jorge made it 30-All where a Double Fault set up Break Point which was ended with a winning volley by Vin for the break) and we were headed for the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve, Raj was broken on the first of his two but held his second and then Vinnie was broken on both of his serves to go down 2-3. Jorge was broken on the first of his two serves for 3-3 at the changeover, but he held his second after Raj hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it 4-3! Samara hit an un-returned serve to level it at 4-4, but was then broken on his second for 4-5. Shah once again hit a truly un-returnable serve to make it 6-5 and set up the first Match Point of the match and then he held on his second service as well to end this one after a full hour of action on Championship Court (from 5:55 to 6:55)!
The Skinny: All four players performed quite well, though all would admit there were some muffs they would like to play over as well. This one has an outside chance at consideration for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year, but will likely be outclassed by others with more impressive Tiebreak scores.
2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match:
Raj Shah over Jay Phoenix, 6-3, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Advanced Division! Raj: 2 Aces (one in each set)! This one was contested on Center Court from 7pm to 7:45.
Joe Rodrigues/Jorge Solano over Rafaelo Kazakov/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-1! No Aces. This one took place on Championship Court and it lasted from 7:03 to 7:43.
Joe Rodrigues/Jorge Solano over Frank Samara/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-1! Jorge: 1 Ace on Rafaelo. Here's how it went down: Jorge held (started with a service-line Ace on Rafaelo, then it was 15-All where Jorge hit a drop shot winner for 30-15 and then on Double Game Point he hit an un-returned serve to secure the hold), Rafaelo was broken (Jorge hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15, it was Love-30 before it shifted to Game Point right after Rafaelo hit a winner, but then it was Deuce where Jorge hit another winning drop shot return to set up Break Point and then came the break), Joe held (Joe hit an amazing passing shot winner, Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash and Frank blew a volley on the way to Triple Game Point, it was Double Game Point where the hold came) and Frank was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then it went straight to Double Break Point as Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash and Joe hit a winner along the way, but then it shifted to Deuce where another un-returned serve set up Game Point, but that was where Joe hit a winning Backhand Volley for 2nd Deuce and then it was Break Point where Joe hit an even more magnificent Backhand Volley for the winner and the break) to get off to an 0-4 start! Solano held again and this time it was at Love as he started things off with an un-returned serve and Joe ended things with a scorching passing shot winner as his team went up 5-0. This game was so impressive that Solano mistakenly thought they had already won the match. Kazakov called him back on the court and said for him to finish the thrashing properly. Instead, RK Fire managed to hold his serve and it was at Love as he had two un-returned serves and then Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley on Triple Game Point to secure the hold and get on the scoreboard at 1-5. But then Rodrigues held again (Rafaelo had a winning return for Love-15, but then it was straight to Double Game/Match Point which was the best rally of the match and it ended with a mishit volley winner from Jorge) to get the win! We played this on Championship Court from 7:45 to 8:13.
Samara left RHP at 8:20 to head to Cedar Grove. He got there by 8:30 only to find that Rodrigues had already beaten him to the punch.
There was quite a logjam of GTA players riding the bench as both Courts One and Two had interlopers.
Court Three had Doubles action featuring "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff taking on The Castolo Brothers (Tito and Felix).
And on Court Four, it was the GTA Women's Championship Tournament Quarterfinal featuring Doinks versus Sally. This one had started an hour prior at 7:30.
Later in the evening, Tito informed Frank of some earlier action and Samara grabbed confirmation of such via text messages to and from Omar "Stealth" Santos.
Riding the bench, by the way, was New GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and his partner, Shah, along with "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas, "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales, Santosh "Ever" Reddy, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and Natalia "Nitro" Sout.
The action on Court Three changed players at 8:45 as Bachvaroff stayed on, but Kazlauskas and The Castolo Brothers stepped off to allow Chiaro, Shah and La Forgia to take their place.
It was at this time that "Stormin" Norman Taclob arrived while "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan was making a drive-by cameo (he would return at 9:25 for what he thought would be just more cameo time, but he was called into action).
We ended up with a total of 18 official players as this session originally got started around 6pm! And we will start off with those early scores first.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Omar Santos over Edwin Ortega, 6-4! No Aces.
Omar Santos tied with Edwin Ortega, 3-3 (Incomplete, scrapped to play Doubles instead). No Aces.
Samara's Notes: Omar said they were originally going to play a full Singles Challenge Match with one another, but opted for Doubles once The Castolo Brothers arrived.
Edwin Ortega/Tito Castolo over Omar Santos/Felix Castolo, 7-5! No Aces.
Edwin Ortega/Felix Castolo over Omar Santos/Tito Castolo, 6-4! Edwin: 2 Aces on Omar!
GTA Women's Championship Quarterfinal Match:
Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 7-5, to become the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Women's Championship Tournament! Sally: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.
The Skinny: Doinks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st Set and led for much of it until Sally rallied to take the set. In the 2nd Set, Doinks had leads of 3-0 and 4-1. Up 4-2, Doinks was broken for Sally to pull to 4-3 and then Sally held after hitting that lone Ace on Game Point to knot the score at 4-4! Srinivasan held to go up 5-4, but Pillay held as well to level it again at 5-5. Then, The Marathon Woman was broken at Love to drop the set and the match as Sally played the role of The Comeback Kid! This one took place on Court Four and lasted from 7:30 to 9:03.
The Consequences: Pillay now awaits the winner of "The Excellent" Evonne Tan versus "The Amazing" Mindy Zhang in one Quarterfinal while the other Quarterfinal will feature "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan versus "C.A.T." Christine Toth. The winner will face Laura "The Aura" Gawley in the Semis.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tito Castolo/Felix Castolo over Mike Kazlauskas/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-1, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 33 and # 34 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces. Not sure when it started, but it ended on Court Three at 8:43.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah over Jordan Bachvaroff/Lou La Forgia, 6-1! Raj: 1 Ace on Jordan. This one also took place on Court Three and it lasted from 8:45 to 9:09.
Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout over Joe Rodrigues/Santosh Reddy, 6-2! No Aces. They played this one on Court Two from 8:50 to 9:23.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah over Jordan Bachvaroff/Lou La Forgia, 6-2! No Aces. This one was contested on Court Three from 9:10 to 9:36. Afterward, Jordan limped off the court with what looked to be a knee injury.
Norman Taclob/Felix Castolo over Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 6-3! No Aces. Court Four hosted this one from 9:11 to 9:43.
Santosh Reddy/Doinks Srinivasan over Sally Pillay/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. This one was conducted on Court Two from 9:27 to 9:58.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah leading Kris Srinivasan/Lou La Forgia, 4-3 and on serve (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. They started this one on Court Three with no changeovers at 9:38.
Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas tied with Norman Taclob/Felix Castolo, 2-2 (Norm was on serve and it was Ad Out when it was lights out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: This was a very exciting session with some consequential results. By the time the sun went down, the weather was perfect! Nobody felt hot. Nobody felt cold. There was no breeze as the air was peaceful and still. As such, many in the crew had wished they could play tennis all night long!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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