Gen hosts 3 at HP, Kris hosts 12 at C.G. as M2 begins!":
GTA Friday Night Tennis ended up taking place both at Holster Park in Clifton (with "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan acting as host) and The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan with an additional score also being sent in by Laura "The Aura" Gawley).
Let's first go to the recap from Gen and then Kris will finish the balance of this report.
Mike Mole and I agreed to meet at 3pm at HP despite the weather being hot and humid. We started hitting at 3:15. After 30 minutes of hitting, I was already exhausted and needed to get a drink of water. Of course Mike didn't seem bothered by the heat and told me this is just a "warm-up". We proceeded to start a One-Setter. Chazz Weldon sent me a text earlier and said he would be joining us, too. Chazz arrived 5 minutes after we started the set.
The HP Results:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-0! Mike: 3 Aces! This set took just 14 minutes for Mike to put away!
Chazz Weldon over Mike Mole, 6-2! Mike: 1 Ace. This set lasted 50 minutes.
It started with an exchange of breaks. Mike was broken on his service game. Chazz's first service game was a battle. It went to at least 5 Deuces and lasted 10 to 12 minutes (close to the time my previous set lasted). Then finally Mike converted his 3rd Break Point to get the break back for 1-1. Mike was broken on his service game again. Chazz held his serve on the 4th Game Point after another 5 Deuce battle on his service game. Chazz took the lead at 3-1. Mike was broken on serve. Chazz held for 5-1. Mike was on serve at Break Point 30-40. He took next 3 points to get it to Deuce, Game Point and then scored an Ace to get another game for 2-5. Chazz held again to close out the set.
There were some really good exchanges and extended rallies throughout their entire set. Chazz is consistent and a very patient player. Mike likes pace and at times ended up rushing the points. There were moments when Mike hit some nice put-away cross-court winners, but inconsistency in his game today was a factor. Chazz was only broken once in his service games.
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3! No Aces. This one lasted 32 minutes...much better than the bagel set. Mike had the lead at 5-1. I saved 2 MPs to get it to 2-5. Mike was broken on his service game to extend the set. Then he broke back to close out the set on the 3rd MP.
Chazz had to leave after our set. Mike and I ended up hitting for another 20 minutes. We ended the session by 6:20.
We got in a lot of tennis played despite the scorching heat. It was fun. Thanks to both Mike and Chazz for playing today.
Samara's Notes: And thanks to Gen for hosting and providing us with such a comprehensive report.
We now head up to Cedar Grove to let Papa K take it away!
The courts were buzzing with action and the close matches added a feverish tempo to the atmosphere as the players were thrilled even in the humid conditions.
The Cedar Grove Results:
M2 Quarterfinal Match:
Moka Pathan/Nathan Fernandes over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar 6-1, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, to successfully defend their # 30 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Semifinals of The M2 Men's Doubles Tournament! In the process, Srinivasan/Kumar entered the division as the New # 36 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The first of the M2 Quarterfinals matches took place on Friday evening. After the initial outlook of what appeared to be a one-sided affair turned out to be an exciting and competitive match that went to three sets to be decided. We were up against two solid players in Moka and Nate. That didn't deter us, but only inspired us to do as well as we could. Unfortunately, we fell short so badly in the 1st Set as Nate and Moka overpowered us with a combination of some amazing overheads by Nate, plenty of unforced errors on our part in contrast to almost none by our opponents. In no time, we lost the set 6-1.
The 2nd Set turned out to be a fiery one as we mounted an ultra-aggressive attack at the net keeping continuous pressure on Nate and Moka. I should thank Senthil for teaming up with me at short notice. He was brilliant at taking on Moka's brutal shots at the net and, more importantly, set up nicely for me to close some handsome points at the net. Still, it was a doggone fight as even points that we should have won or so we thought were brilliantly overturned. Nate's incredible move to take Senthil's superb drop shot was out of this world. Moka's down-the-line shots and his aggressive cross-court shots were simply marvelous. So we had absolutely no freebies whatsoever. We had to earn our points and we did in one helluva mindset that upped the pressure on our opponents and cracked the nerves. Thus, it was a completely different set as we rolled up our sleeves and put a premium on our skills. Senthil is a steady hand with a calming effect. As we kept our nose in front, we were able to create the pressure we couldn't in the 1st Set. The set went the distance and after being down 0-3 in the TB, we did well to earn a bunch of points at the net to win the set dramatically. This was after saving a Match Point prior to the TB at 4-5, thanks to a superb serve by Senthil, that almost aced Moka.
We lost the plot in the final set with some terrible unforced errors that resulted in a quick 5-1 lead for Nate and Moka. This was after we missed a hold and also an easy break. This is when we showed the play that got us going in the 2nd Set. We won the next two games, but lost the momentum and the match in the next game. It was a poor day for me in the "serve" department as the ball felt heavy in the humid conditions.
It turned out to be a fascinating match. Kudos to Nate and Moka on a well-deserved victory! They played beautifully, fully in control for most of the match. We did well to give them a scare and make it an interesting match.
Samara's Notes: That was a great way to get the M2 Tournament started. We now go to Laura for the lone score that she sent in before we go back to Kris.
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Laura for sending that one in directly and in a very prompt manner. And now we go back to Kris.
Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Santosh Reddy/Marie Salamon, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
Apparently, the kiddo's return of serves was brutal and red hot.
Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Sairaj Srinivasan/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces (apparently).
Jorge Solano/Santosh Reddy over Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4! No Aces (apparently).
After leading 3-1, Sairaj and Doinks blew some of the games with double faults and unforced errors.
Samara's Notes: As always, thanks to Kris for being the host with the most up at Cedar Grove.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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