7/10

Mole-Nate (14) at HP, 2 at RHP, 4 at NTC, Scott-Andrew, Mole-Sairaj (7) at C.G.!":

GTA Sunday Tennis took place at four locations: Holster Park in Clifton (session hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes), Robin Hood Park in Clifton (a One-Setter between "Double R" Rob Ryan and "Bollywood" Hiren Ramani), The Nutley Tennis Club (hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo) and up at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan, but featuring two full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Matches - "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld versus "Drew True" Andrew Truong and Mole again, but this time against "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan…Scott and Mike sent their scores in directly).

We will first go to the full recap of how things unfolded at HP, then scores from RHP and NTC.  We will then close the report with all that took place up at Cedar Grove.

Tito "Touch" Castolo sent a text message to "Hollywood" Frank Samara at 8:55am that he was heading to Holster Park.  Samara's reply was that he would be there around 10am or a little after.

At 10:15, Castolo sent a follow-up text to Samara stating that they only had three players there.  Frank's reply was that he was already on his way and would be there in about 15 minutes.

When Samara pulled into the parking lot at Holster at 10:30, he saw that "Big Business" Ayman Elbatanony was doing the same thing at the same time.  Frank told Ayman that he could complete the foursome on the Entrance Court while he would shift over to Center Court to hold that one.    

Besides Castolo, there was "Big George" Jorge Solano and "DC3" David Cardenas on the Entrance Court.  This foursome (including Ayman) would soon enter into a Doubles One-Setter.

Meanwhile, on Championship Court there were two interlopers (an older gentleman and a somewhat younger guy...both were very friendly).

Samara would not have long to wait alone as his buddy "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 10:40 with tool in hand to adjust the height of the net on Center Court back to its proper status.  From there, the two of them entered into a hitting session.

At 11am, a new recruit of Samara's arrived.  His name is Nik Agharkar and Spin soon gave him the moniker of "Nik@Nite" as Frank silently predicted he would.  Nik is a good player, but quite rusty as he has been away from the game for about seven years.  He is also a nice guy with a solid sense of humor, so he should fit in quite nicely with the rest of our group.

The Foundation (aka Samara/Martinelli) were soon teaming up against Nik in the hitting session.

At 11:15, just as the two interlopers were leaving Championship Court, Cardenas was also leaving the Entrance Court after that first Doubles One-Setter had concluded.

And at the same time, "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales was heading toward the courts.  Samara told him to take the place of Cardenas on the Entrance Court as Samara and Martinelli would continue to hit against Agharkar until another "fourth person" made their arrival.  And the threesome of Frank, Spin and Nik shifted over to Championship Court after those two guys left at 11:15.

The foursome on the Entrance Court got the second Doubles One-Setter underway at 11:22.  Just a few minutes later at 11:25, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes made his way toward Championship Court to become the fourth player there.  Just five minutes later, they had another Doubles One-Setter underway.

At 11:35, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole made his arrival and then held Center Court while waiting for someone else to arrive.

Just as that second Doubles One-Setter finished on the Entrance Court at 11:55, "Coach" Dino Celis made his way onto the courts at the same time.

The third Doubles One-Setter (the one on Championship Court) ended exactly at 12:02.  From there, everything fell into place as Mole as Fernandes agreed to face each other in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match which would enable Nate to get back into the Advanced Division and be qualified for entry into the upcoming 19th Annual Men's Doubles Tournament.

That left six others.  Samara and Martinelli were quite willing to take themselves out of the action and go into their usual "Hecklers" mode.  That left Jose to team with Ayman against Dino and Nik.  While they were still hitting to warm up, Elbatanony earned himself a new moniker as he inadvertently hit Spin with a laser-like shot while Martinelli was walking along the sidelines.

The nickname is "The Sniper" as he can also be quite precise with his planned shots.  No amount of insensitivity is intended with regard to the recent tragic situation down in Dallas, Texas.  This moniker should be taken as a compliment...similar to the way we call Alfred Chen, "The Assassin."

At 12:25, we had "MC" Mike Carucci make his way to the courts.  Five minutes later, Jay "The Rising" Phoenix did the same.  Soon, they hit against one another on Center Court.

At 12:50, The Mendoza Family (Uni, Dora and daughter Natasha) took over Center Court and had a hitting session where it was just Uni against the two ladies.  They never got involved in any official GTA action.  They ended up leaving at 1:40.

At 1:35 we had our fourteenth official (and final) arrival surprisingly made by Former GTA Champion: "Double R" Rob Ryan.  He reported the result of a Singles One-Setter he had played at Robin Hood Park against "Bollywood" Hiren Ramani just a while earlier (we will get to that one after all of the HP scores).  Rob said that it looked like it would be a Doubles One-Setter, but then "P.S." Pankaj Savaliya and "Nasty" Nilay Patel decided to leave and head back up Jani Court.  Luckily, Hiren stayed around to play.

The HP session ended up with an impressive total of fourteen official competitors and it continued on long after Samara and Martinelli left the park around 2:05.

The additional results were sent in by Mole, Gonzales, Celis and Phoenix.  All are thanked for their efforts.

The HP Results:

Tito Castolo/Ayman Elbatanony over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one was played on the Entrance Court from 10:40 to 11:15.

Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Tito Castolo/Ayman Elbatanony, 6-3!  No Aces.  This was also contested on the Entrance Court and it lasted from 11:22 to 11:55.

Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli over Nathan Fernandes/Nik Agharkar, 6-2!  Nik: 1 Ace on Frank.  It was the official GTA Debut of Nik Agharkar.  This one was conducted officially on Championship Court from 11:30 to 12:02.  It went like this: Spin was broken (a winning return from Ayman made it Love-30 and then went to Triple Break Point which was where back-to-back un-returned serves cut it down to Break Point, but then came the break), Nik was broken (started off with three consecutive Double Faults to set up Triple Break Point where a sideline Ace against Frank made it Double Break Point and then Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Break Point, but then came another Double Fault for the break), but Frank was then the first to hold serve (Nate hit a big-time winner for Love-15 and then it went point for point until it was 30-All where Frank had just hit a missile-like passing shot winner to get there and then Spin hit a winning lob for Game Point and then an un-returned serve secured the hold) for 2-1.  Nathan then had a Love hold as he got thing started with an un-returned serve and Nik hit a drop shot winner along the way, but then Martinelli held (un-returned serve for 15-Love where Nik hit a winner for 15-All and then an awesome extended rally ended with a big Overhead Smash from Frank for 30-15 and then it went to Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, but then Game Point again and un-returned serve earned the hold) to go up 3-2.  Agharkar was broken again and this time at Love as three consecutive Double Faults led to Triple Break Point as his team fell to 2-4.  Samara held again (a winning Backhand Volley by Nik for Love-15 and then it went point for point to Break Point as Frank hit two un-returned serves along the way and then he hit another to make it Deuce, then it was Break Point again where Nate blew a volley to make it 2nd Deuce where Spin hit a monster of a passing shot winner for Game Point and then came the hold) to go up 5-2.  And then Fernandes was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then it shifted to 15-30 right after an extended rally led to a winning Backhand Volley from Frank, but then it was 30-All where Nik blew a volley to set up Break/Match Point, then came Deuce, the 2nd Break/Match Point, the 2nd Deuce, the 3rd Break/Match Point and finally came the break) to take the loss. 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 6-1, 6-2, to become the New # 29 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  Mike: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.  This one started on the Entrance Court at 12:08 and ended exactly at 1:08, but at 12:55 it seemed like almost a five minute break as Mike had busted a string on his racquet and then returned with a replacement. 

Jose Gonzales/Ayman Elbatanony over Dino Celis/Mike Carucci, 6-2!  Nik: 2 Aces (one on each)!  Jose and Ayman had leads of 3-1 going all the way to 5-1, then 5-1.  It then went to 2-5 with Nate up next for serve.  It went to Triple Break/Match Point where a corner Ace on Ayman made it Double Break/Match Point, but then came the break for the loss!  They played this one on Championship Court from 12:08 to
12:35.

Jose Gonzales/Jay Phoenix over Dino Celis/Mike Carucci, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was 2-1 with Jay on serve in a game that had multiple Deuces (too many to count!) before he finally held for his team to go up 3-1.  Dino held and Jose was broken at Love to make it 3-3!  At that point, the services of Samara and Martinelli were once again needed.  This one was played on Championship Court from 12:43 to 1:28.

Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4!  Spin: 1 Ace on Mike.  Mike held (an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, but then a Double Fault made it 30-15 and that was where Nathan hit a winning Backhand Volley for Double Game Point and then another un-returned serve secured the  hold) and Spin was broken (started off with a corner Ace on Mike and then Frank hit a big-time winning Windmill Overhead Smash for 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point right after Nate hit a winner to set that up and then came the break) as his team was now down 0-2!  Nathan was broken (Frank hit his usual monster Overhead Smash to make it Love-30 which was where Nate hit a drop shot winner for 15-30 and then it went to Double Break Point where an un-returned serve cut it to Break Point, but then came the break) and Frank held (un-returned serve for 30-Love, then it went to 30-15, Double Game Point was cut down to Deuce, but then Game Point again and then the hold) to level things at 2-2.  Mole was broken as he started with back-to-back Double Faults, then on Triple Break Point he hit an un-returned serve for Double Break Point, but that was yet another Double Fault caused the break) and Martinelli held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All as Mike had a hit a nice winner early and then he hit a winning drop shot return for Break Point, then an un-returned serve made it Deuce, then came Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a nice Backhand Volley winner for Game Point and then the hold) to put The Foundation up 4-2.  But from there, Fernandes held as well (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, then the hold and it should be noted that each serve to Spin was un-returned, but The Doc fought back in one point where he made multiple gets until he prevailed and yelled out "AGE!" and then he also had a winning Overhead Smash in another point...but it wasn't enough), Samara was broken (Love-30, then an un-returned serve for 15-30 where Mike hit a drop shot winner for Double Break Point, but then it went straight to Deuce only to go to Break Point again and then the break), Holy Moly held in a crazy battle (an un-returnable serve followed by an un-returned serve made it 30-Love which was where Spin made a great get/winner combo for 30-15 and then there was a Double Fault for 30-All, but then Nate hit a winning Backhand Volley for Game Point which was where Spin made an even greater get/winner combo for Deuce, then there was a Double Fault for Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) and The Doc was broken (Frank blew a volley to set up Triple Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve made it Double Break/Match Point and then Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut it to Break/Match Point, but then came the break) as Team Youth took four straight games for a win against the team also known as Spin City!  We played this on the Entrance Court from 1:12 to 2:02.

Dino Celis/Rob Ryan over Jose Gonzales/Jay Phoenix, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Championship Court at 1:42 and then Jose sent a text message of the result at 2:27 (Dino sent a text of the same score at 5:10).

Rob Ryan over Mike Mole, 6-0!  No Aces.

Mike Mole over Jay Phoenix, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  Mike sent a text message of these last two results at 3:52.

Rob Ryan over Jay Phoenix, 7-5!  Rob: 1 Ace.  Jay sent this last one via e-mail.

The RHP Result:

Rob Ryan over Hiren Ramani, 6-2!  Hiren: 1 Ace!  This one actually took place before Rob's first-ever appearance at Holster Park (he loved it), but we report it here just to ease the flow of this report (and we learned of it once Rob got to HP).

We now go to NTC for some scores from The Riz.

The NTC Results:

Tom La/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 6-0!  No Aces (apparently).

Tom La/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 8-6!  No Aces (apparently).  Rather than play a Tiebreak, they decided to do it "old school" style and play out the games until one team won by two.

Tom La/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Samara's Notes: I thank John for sharing those scores with us.  We now head up to Cedar Grove for reports from Scott, Mike and Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Andrew Truong, 1-6, 6-0, 6-3, to return to the Advanced Division as the New # 37 Ranked Player and also return to the Intermediate Division as the New # 35 Ranked Player!  Truong enters the Intermediate Division as the New # 36 Ranked Player.  No Aces.

The Great Scott Report: We played a full match at the courts in Cedar Grove around 4:30. He took the 1st Set from me at 6-1. He completely dominated the set. The 2nd Set I won 6-0. It was a completely different ball game. I found my groove and he was trying to hit too hard and made a lot of unforced errors. The 3rd Set I also won 6-3...a much more competitive set. All in all, it was a good match. It felt great to get back into the swing of things again!

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for the timely reporting of this match.  It is also great to have young Mr. Bergenfeld back in the mix as he is a talented competitor who has been with us (until fairly recently) for a good number of years now.

From here, we let Papa K take it away as he echoes what Mike reported plus provides us with much more.

We had some decent action at our regular tennis courts despite a relatively low turnout.

First off, it was Senthil Kumar involved in a hitting session with Scott Bergenfeld and Mike Sindler.  I took the next court to hit a bit with Sairaj.  As Raj Shah joined us, Scott left.  Mike Mole was the last to come.

Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar over Raj Shah/Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

After a good start by us leading 4-2, it was a nice comeback by Raj and Mike taking the next three games
as we slipped up a bit. We regrouped well to take it to the distance.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Sairaj Srinivasan over Mike Mole, 6-3, 6-2, to become both the New # 30 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 10 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.

The Say from Papa K: Kiddo did well in the rallies, aided by some Double Faults by Mole to take out the big man in straight sets.  Mike was magnanimous to play with Sairaj.  This match will give plenty of confidence and motivation to Sairaj to play more tennis this summer.

Holy Cow from Holy Moly: The kid kicked my butt!

Samara's Notes: To say that this win is incredible is a bit of an understatement.  For those that do not know, Sairaj will turn twelve years old next month!  He is turning out to be quite the player, indeed!  I also want to point out the "Marathon Man" tennis performance of Mr. Mole.  Scroll back up through this report and just see how much tennis he played in one day.  Incredible!  And he was not done…look at this next one…and the one after that!

Raj Shah over Mike Mole, 6-0!  No Aces.

It was a quick One-Setter by Raj as we then had a hitting session.

Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar over Raj Shah/Mike Mole, 7-6 (8-6)!  Raj: 1 Ace on Kris!

It was yet another close match that could have gone either way at the end, even though I blew a sitter that could have secured a 6-4 win.  That blip almost cost us the set as we lost the game to make it 5-All.  Raj and Mike had a Match Point for 7-5 when a lovely return to a terrific serve by Raj ended up in an overcooked shot by Raj.  We saved another Match Point in the Tiebreak after an Ace on me by Raj.  After all the hard work, it was a shame that this ended on a Double Fault.  Raj was brilliant.  Mike did very well in the rallies. For us, Senthil anchored our boat beautifully as he kept us in play against some terrific shots by both Raj and Mike.  He also set me up for some good shots at the net.

Overall, it turned out to be a great night of brisk tennis.  Cheers!

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

All the best,
Frank Samara