"Chiaro-Shah part of 19 at C.G. as Samara hosts!":
On what was nearly a perfect night weather-wise for GTA Monday Night Tennis, "Hollywood" Frank Samara called a last-minute audible about the idea of hosting a session at The Cedar Grove Courts (usually hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan).
Frank sent a text message to Kris at 6:15 to inform him of his pending arrival around 7pm and that Kris could also inform the entire league via e-mail as well. Mr. Srinivasan did so immediately.
On his way up there, Mr. Samara ran into a bad accident on Route 46 West not far beyond the merge of Route 3 West into it. Frank sent Kris a "running late" text. Also, Kris had indicated to Frank that he would need to leave at 7:15 to pick up Doinks.
Samara arrived at the courts at 7:10. Upon his arrival, he saw "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah hitting with "The Secret Weapon" on Court Four. Court Three was vacant.
On Court Two, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was hitting with "Big George" Jorge Solano.
And on Court One was the only official action that was already underway as "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld was teaming with "Bravo" Brenda Jordan to take on "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson.
Samara made his way over to Court Two to get involved in that hitting session, but within minutes we also had the arrival of "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes. By 7:20, a Doubles One-Setter got started as Samara and Martinelli took on Fernandes and Solano.
Around that same time, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived and went toward Court Four. Not too long after, a GTA Championship Match got underway with Chiaro putting the Title on the line against his Doubles partner, Shah.
Another five minutes later, we had the arrivals of Kris, "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo. I do believe "ME" Michel Encarnacion also showed up around this time. But once he saw a packed house (Court Three was already occupied at this point), he decided to leave.
Doinks made her way over to the courts at 7:40. She was able to get involved in some Women's Doubles action after Bergenfeld left Court One (and the session as well).
"Big Returns" Ralph Bernard arrived at 7:50 and had to sit on the bench for quite a while before being able to get involved in the action.
"Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 7:55. Within another five minutes, we also had The Gawleys (Rowdy Rob and Laura The Aura) sit on the bench near Dino, too.
And we also had a surprise appearance by Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda (who usually only plays at Robin Hood Park in Clifton). She briefly disappeared just when there was an opportunity for her to play some Doubles. By the time she returned, all courts were once again fully engaged.
Even with the GTA having all four courts, we still had somewhat of a logjam. But eventually everyone who did decide to wait around eventually found their way into the action. We ended up with a total of 19 official competitors for the evening…very impressive!
Also, there was a brief and late cameo made by Dwight Thomas Sr. as he came by to address the upcoming M2 Quarterfinal Match where he and his son, Dwight Thomas Jr., will face Chiaro/Shah.
I can go on and on, but let's get to the action!
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets:
Scott Bergenfeld/Brenda Jordan over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-0, 6-2! Scott: 1 Ace on Kat in the 1st Set. Not sure when this one got underway on Court One, but it was over at 7:40.
Nathan Fernandes/Jorge Solano over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! Spin: 2 Aces on Jorge! It went like this: Spin was broken at Love as Nate made a winning Overhead Smash to get things started and Jorge made a winning Overhead Smash for the break, Jorge held at Love as Nate hit a winning Backhand Volley, a winning Overhead Smash and a drop shot winner before an un-returned serve sealed the deal and then Frank got off to a Love-30 start on serve. This meant that the opposition had just taken the first ten points of the match! Finally, Spin made a great get/winner combo to get his team in the game at 15-30, but then it went to Double Break Point and then the break came on Break Point as The Foundation fell to 0-3! Nathan held serve (started with a Double Fault and then it went point for point until 30-All…and Spin had hit a roller of a winning return along the way…but then it went to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point where Nate hit a winner to secure his own hold) and then Martinelli was broken again (Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15 and then it was Love-30 where Spin hit a serve that must have seemed deceptive to Jorge as he reacted late and swung over it…which meant The Doc had a corner Ace for 15-30, but then Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash for Double Break Point where Jorge then blew a volley to make it Break Point, but that was where Nate hit the winner for the break) as The Foundation how now almost completely crumbled to a 0-5 deficit! Solano was then broken (Spin hit a killer return for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15 where Frank hit an angry Overhead Smash that bounced off the top of the tape to turn into a roller of a winner for 30-All and then Spin had another winning return to make it Break Point, Deuce, Break Point and then a scorching winner from Spin for the break) and Samara held (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point with two un-returned serves and then came the hold) as the team also known as Spin City started to get their asses up off the canvas at 2-5. Fernandes was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game/Match Point, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break) and The Doc held (started with a big and true sideline Ace on Jorge and then it went point for point until 30-All, but then it was Break/Match Point, Deuce and then all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, another Game Point and then a Double Fault for 4th Deuce and then another Game Point where Spin made yet another great get/winner combo to secure his own hold) as The Foundation had been rebuilt all the way back up to 4-5! I also must say that I forgot some additional winners in that last game, but basically it was Spin and Nate making most of the gets for their respective teams while Frank and Jorge were more inclined to try to end points with volleys or Overhead Smashes. It was the best game of the match, but another great one was right around the corner with Big George on serve for the third time. Frank got things started with a winning volley for Love-15 and then it was point for point until 30-All, Game/Match Point where Frank hit a roller of a winner off the top of the tape to once again stay alive and make it Deuce, then it was the 2nd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce and then finally on the 4th Game/Match Point…which was the 6th M.P. overall…the hold came! What looked to be an epic comeback for the ages by the man who yells out "AGE!" in a rage (Spin) and his sometimes even more vocal (and loco) partner (Frank) was cut short and denied by Nate and Jorge! We played this one on Court Two from 7:20 to 8:18…just two minutes short of an hour!
The Skinny: Had we made the comeback a successful one or even if we extended this one to a Tiebreak, this would have surely been a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end as the action was that good and the drama was that intense. But as it stands now, it likely can only claim an Honorable Mention. Still, it was a lot of fun.
GTA Championship Match:
Chris Chiaro over Raj Shah, 6-4, 6-0, to complete the second successful GTA Championship defense of his second reign! No Aces. This one lasted just about an hour on Court Four, roughly from 7:30 to 8:30.
The Skinny: Chiaro wanted to get in the July defense of his GTA Championship before he will be told to wait for the next Top Contender to emerge from the upcoming Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament. In fact, he may even try to give Former Champ: "Instant" Moka Pathan his rematch later this week before the tourney gets underway next week.
Kris Srinivasan/Fernanda Toker over Sairaj Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 6-1! No Aces. This one began on Court Three somewhere around 7:30, but I'm not sure when it ended.
Doinks Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces. They got this one underway on Court One at 7:45, but I'm not sure when this one finished either. It did serve as a nice preview of the upcoming W2 Women's Doubles Tournament as both of these teams are in the draw.
Dino Celis/Fernanda Toker over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-3! No Aces. Not sure when this one began on Court Three, but it ended at 8:55. Dino and Fernanda jumped out to a 4-1 lead before The Gawleys tried to mount a comeback…but it ended up being too little, too late.
Ralph Bernard/Jorge Solano over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 7-5! Ralph: 1 Ace on Levy; and Kris: 1 Ace on Jorge. Not sure when this one got started on Court Two, but it was finished at 9:25.
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah over Frank Samara/Nathan Fernandes, 6-3! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Chris was broken (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15 and then it went point for point to Break Point as there was an un-returned serve along the way and one point where Nate made several amazing gets on the way toward ultimately prevailing and then Nate hit a killer passing shot winner for the break), Frank was broken (Raj hit a blistering return for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15 with back-to-back un-returned serves, but then it shifted to Break Point where Chris hit a crushing return of his own), but Raj was the first to hold serve (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as Raj had a near-ace on Frank along the way and then came the hold) to go up 2-1. Nathan was broken (Love-15 and then point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point where Raj hit the winner for the break) and Chiaro held (Love-15 went right to Double Game Point as Raj hit a drop shot winner and Frank blew an overhead along the way) to take a somewhat commanding lead of 4-1. But then Samara held (Chris hit a winning Backhand Volley for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Point as Nate another amazing passing shot winner along the way and then came the hold) and Shah was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as Raj hit a drop shot winner along the way and both Chris and Nate had winning Overhead Smashes as well, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break) as his team's lead was cut to 4-3. But Fernandes was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank blew a volley, Nate blew an overhead, Frank blew another volley and then Chris hit a winner for the break and then King Crush held again (Chris hit a winner for 15-Love, it then went to 15-All, but then it was off and running to Double Game/Match Point as Chris hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way, but then it was Game/Match Point, Deuce where Raj hit a monster Overhead Smash to set up the 3rd Game/Match Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold and sealed the deal) to get a hard-fought win! We played this on Court Four from 8:40 to 9:15.
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Dan Martinelli/Fernanda Toker, 6-1! No Aces. The Gawleys gained a measure of revenge (albeit against a changed team) on Court Three. This one went from 9:05 to 9:30. After this one, Rob and Laura continued on against one another in a lengthy hitting session.
Dino Celis/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah, 6-3! No Aces. Here's the basic breakdown: Raj held, Nathan held, but Chris was the first to be broken for 1-2. Dino was also broken, but then Shah was broken for 2-3. Fernandes was broken to level it at 3-3, but Chiaro was broken again, Celis held and then The Sultan of Swing was broken again to take somewhat of a stunning loss! They played this one on Court Four from 9:17 to 9:55.
Ralph Bernard/Levy Lorenzo over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! Ralph: 1 Ace on Doinks. They got this one going late on Court One as it started at 9:30. They did forego changeovers to save time. Kris blames his own poor play for the loss, but also acknowledges the strength of Ralph's game. This one ended just prior to the lights going out at 10pm!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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