7/17

Samara hosts 15 at HP, Riz hosts 5 at NTC, Scott-Andrew part of 20 at C.G.!":

On a hot and sweltering Sunday, it turns out there were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: Holster Park in Clifton (with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host), The Nutley Tennis Club (with "The Riz" John Rizzo acting as host) and The Cedar Grove Courts (earlier in the day it was a full 2 out of 3 Set Challenge Rematch between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "Drew True" Andrew Truong and then later in the day with "Papa K" Kris Srinivasan acting as host).

Samara's e-mail to the league had originally stated that he would be at Holster Park somewhere in the10am to 10:30 area.  Instead, he pulled into the parking lot at 9:35, fielded a phone call and then headed up to the courts at 9:40.

Upon his arrival, he saw that two of the three courts were already taken.  On the Entrance Court, there were a group of five players (an older man, three young guys and one younger gal...all either Polish or Russian...and all quite good...especially one of the younger guys).  And on Championship Court, a grandfather was giving a hitting lesson to his eleven year old granddaughter.

So Samara took Center Court and waited.  He did not have to wait all that long as "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto arrived at 9:50.

The two of them started hitting and they also discussed wanting to team together in order to get ready for the action they will face in the upcoming M2 Men's Doubles Tournament. 

Another five minutes later, we had the surprise arrival of "Mr. G" Mark Grossman...who we have not seen in action in quite some time.  Soon, he entered into the hitting session.

And then at 10am, we first had "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales heading toward the courts...but not far behind was "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues.

Under normal circumstances, Samara would have bowed out to let the other four play first.  But Frank really wanted to get some court time with Vin.  Jose said he was only going to play a One-Setter and then have to leave anyway.  So we decided upon Samara/De Benedetto versus Gonzales/Grossman with Joe sitting it out in the cool shade outside the fence.

Just a few minutes later, "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon came through the gate and he took the bench alongside the Entrance Court.

And then I could not even note the times of all of the next arrivals: "MC" Mike Carucci, "Lean" Dean Delgado and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar.  Suddenly, we had a logjam situation on our hands!

At 10:35, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro made his arrival.  Just as he did, the grandpa and the granddaughter left Championship Court.  But there were four players already ahead of Chris in the wait for courts.  So while those four took the court, Chiaro found himself becoming the first of the next waiting party.

Another five minutes later, "Coach" Dino Celis joined him.  And still another five minutes after that, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli hit the courts.

Now we had a bunch of guys on the bench alongside Championship Court.  Spin proposed taking a foursome over to the new courts at Albion Park since that renovation was completed on Friday.  But at 10:46, the first Doubles One-Setter of the day ended on Center Court.  Samara offered up that all four would clear that court for the next four that had arrived (Gonzales was leaving entirely).

And that was what happened as Frank, Vin and Mark stepped outside the gate and sat down in the grass in the shady tree-covered area just outside the courts.  Just minutes later, they were joined by "Holy Moly" Mike Mole.

So now we had a third foursome...we just needed a court as the other eight players were already on two of the three courts.

Thankfully, the party of five on the Entrance Court left at 11am.  The four that had been outside the fence took that court and that led to two Doubles One-Setters with it being Samara/De Benedetto against Mole/Grossman.

Carucci left at 11:20 after his Doubles One-Setter had concluded.  Five minutes later, Tito "Touch" Castolo arrived and was able to take Mike's place on Championship Court.

At 12:05, "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov hit the courts and took the bench as he had to wait a while to play.  Half an hour later, he finally had the chance to start hitting with Mole on Championship Court.

And when Jay "The Rising" Phoenix was the last and fifteenth arrival of the session at 12:55, Mike let Jay take his place in hitting against Rafaelo.  This would eventually lead to a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match.

Mole joined Samara, Martinelli, Celis and Rodrigues in a bull session that was taking place in the shady area outside the fence.  That quintet ended up calling it a day at 1:10 as they all headed home separately.

The additional result of Phoenix-Kazakov was sent in by Rafaelo and he is thanked for their efforts.

The HP Results:

Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jose Gonzales/Mark Grossman, 6-4!  Vinnie: 1 Ace on Mark.  It was the official GTA Return of Mark Grossman.  It went like this: Jose was broken at Love after Frank hit a winning drop shot return, Frank was broken (winners by Jose then Mark made it Love-30 where Frank hit an impressive winner that almost went around the post as he ended up nearly running onto Championship Court in the process of the get...it was now 15-30, but then Mike hit a winning return for Double Break Point where then there was a great rally that led to Break Point, but then came the break), Mark was broken (a winner by Jose made it 15-Love, but then Frank hit a winning return for 15-All, but then Jose hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-15, it then was 30-Al where a Double Fault set up Break Point and then came the break), but Vinnie was the first to hold (back-to-back winning Overhead Smashes by Vin made it 30-Love, then it was Triple Game Point where Mark hit a winning lob for Double Game Point, but then came the hold) to go up 3-1.  Gonzales held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All where Mark hit a winning Overhead Smash for Game Point and then came the hold), but so did Samara (15-Love shifted to 15-30, then it was 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold...did not note the winners in that game so as not to keep the opposition standing and waiting in the sweltering heat...and the same holds true for the next two games) to go up 4-2.  Grossman also held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and De Benedetto was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point where he hit a short drop shot style Ace against Mark to bring it to Deuce, then it was Break Point again and on 2nd Deuce it was Frank who blew a gift of an overhead to make it Break Point yet again and then came the break) to knot the score at 4-4!  Latino Heat was broken at Love for the second time this One-Setter as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Love-30 and then Hollywood held again (Jose hit a winning return for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game/Match Point after Vin hit a winning volley and Frank made a very nice get/winner combo to set up that D.G.M.P.) to get the win!  We played this one on Center Court from 10:12 to 10:46.

The Skinny: It is a shame I did not note the winners in those three games as they were very likely the three most exciting games of this One-Setter.  And there were many winners in those games.  Jose scored some drop shot winners against Vin.  Vin was successful with his usual volleys and Overhead Smashes.  Frank was in get-making mode on this occasion and while Mark was not hitting as many winners as the other three, he was very steady with his solid forehand shots.

Joe Rodrigues/Mike Carucci over Chazz Weldon/Dean Delgado, 6-4!  Joe: 1 Ace on Dean.  This one was contested on Championship Court from 10:45 to 11:20 and it was definitely the "Upset of The Day!"  In the beginning just after the hitting session had ended, Joe asked Dean somewhat incredulously: "These are the sides you want to stay with?"  It had been Chazz and Dean lined up against Joe and Mike all along in the hitting session...but that seemed like a mismatch for actual competition.  Delgado just shrugged his shoulders and away they went into the contest.  Well, it looks like Carucci decided to "pull a Costanza" and go out on a high note after this stunning victory...LOL!

Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli over Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar, 6-2!  No Aces.  They played this on Center Court from 10:55 to 11:25.

Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Mike Mole/Mark Grossman, 6-2!  Mark: 1 Ace on Vin.  Here's how it went down: Vinnie held (Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley for 15-Love, then there was a Double Fault for 15-All and it continued on point for point to Game Point as Mike hit a winning return along the way and then it went to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Mike was broken (Love-15 and then an un-returned serve for 15-All, but then right to Double Break Point where Mark hit a winning Overhead Smash for Break Point, but that was where Vin hit a winning volley for the break) to go down 0-2.  Frank was broken at Love to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Mark was also broken (Vin hit a drop shot winner for Triple Break Point and then that was cut to Break Point where Frank hit a highly impressive winning return for the break) to fall to 1-3.  De Benedetto held again (Frank hit a drop shot winner and then there was an un-returned serve for 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 and Double Game Point where Vin hit a drop shot winner for the hold) and Mole was broken again (Frank hit a winner for Love-15, then it was Love-30 where a Double Fault set up Triple Break Point, an un-returned serve cut that to Double Break Point, but another Double Fault caused the break) to fall to 1-5.  Samara was broken again in a seesaw game as he got out to a Triple Game/Match Point lead only to have Vin blow an overhead to cut it to Double Game/Match Point and then that was where Mark hit a winning return to make it Game/Match Point and then it went to Deuce where Mark hit another winning return to set up Break Point and then came the break!  His team's lead was now cut to 5-2, but Grossman was also broken again despite starting with a formidable sideline Ace against Vin, it then shifted to 15-30 after Vin hit a winning Backhand Volley, then at 30-All came the rally of the match that led to Break/Match Point and then came the second best rally of the match which was finished with a volley by Vin that hit off of the net-cord and that was all that was needed to make it an unreachable shot!  We played this one on the Entrance Court from 11:05 to 11:44.  We took a two minute breather before launching into a rematch.  But first...

Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli, 6-4!  No Aces.  This rematch took place on Center Court from 11:28 to 12:09.

Joe Rodrigues/Tito Castolo over Chazz Weldon/Dean Delgado, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Championship Court at 11:30 and it also ended at 12:09.

Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Mike Mole/Mark Grossman, 6-4!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown: Vinnie was broken (un-returned serve for 15-Love, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, Mike blew an overhead to make it 30-All, then Break Point where Mike hit a scorching winner for the break), Mike was broken (an un-returned serve for 30-Love and then back-to-back winning Overhead Smashes by Vin made it 30-All, but then Mark had a winning Overhead Smash of his own for Game Point, but that was where Frank hit a high-quality winning return to make it Deuce and then on Break Point it was Vin once again with a winning Overhead Smash to cause the break), but Frank was the first to hold serve (a winning Overhead Smash by Vin and an un-returned serve blazed the path to Triple Game Point which was where Mike hit a monster of a winner to make it Double Game Point, but then came the hold) to go up 2-1.  Mark was broken (Vin blew a volley to make it 15-Love, but then that went straight to Double Break Point as Frank hit a winning drop shot return along the way and then Frank hit a winner for the break) and De Benedetto held (Mike hit another big winner and Vin blew an overhead to make it Love-30, but then that went right to Game Point as Vin hit a winner and Frank hit a winning lob along the way and then it was an un-returned serve that earned the hold) to go up 4-1.  Mole held (un-returned serve for 15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All which was where Mark hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-15, but then Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash of his own to make it 30-All, but then it went to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold) to pull to 2-4, but then Samara had a Love hold as he started off with an un-returned serve, Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Triple Game Point where Frank hit a winner of his own to lock it down at Love to go up 5-2!  Grossman held as well (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as Frank hit a screen-shot winner along the way, but then it shifted to Game Point as Vin blew a volley along the way, but then Vin hit a successfully winning volley for Deuce, but that was where Mike made an amazing get/winner combo to set up Game Point again and then came the hold) to pull to 3-5.  And then came the craziest game of the match and the day with service returning to The Vin Man.  All but one winner was forgotten about in this one as concentration had to be kept on the number of wasted Match Points that went by as Vin got out to a Triple Game/Match Point lead only to have it go to Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank made a very nice get/winner combo to set up the 4th Game/Match Point, but then 3rd Deuce, 5th Game/Match Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point and then the break to have his team's lead cut to 5-4!  But Holy Moly was also broken and it would happen at Love in rather anti-climatic fashion (when considering the previous game) as Frank hit a drop shot winner and a winning volley and then Vin hit a winning volley of his own to set up Triple Break/Match Point which was where the break occurred on the 6th M.P. overall!  We played this one on the Entrance Court from 11:46 to 12:32.

From there, Vin had to go as he was already running late to return home.  Mike invited Rafaelo over to Championship Court for a hitting session over there while the rest of the guys still in attendance had a rowdy bull session outside the fence and in the shade. 

As stated earlier, when Jay made his arrival...it allowed Mike to finally leave the court and join the B.S.  The hitting session between Phoenix and Kazakov eventually led to the following... 

Jay Phoenix over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-0!  No Aces.

Jay Phoenix over Rafaelo Kazakov, 7-5!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Even though the Bergenfeld-Truong rematch up at Cedar Grove took place earlier in the day, let's first go to John for his recap from NTC.  Then, we will have Scott start the report from Cedar Grove which Kris will finish.

The NTC Results:

Alfred Chen/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  We saved 5 Match Points down 4-5 and then we led 6-4 in the Tiebreak only to lose the last 4 points!

Samara's Notes: That sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  Let's grab a couple more scores from John before we take it up to C.G.
 
Alfred Chen/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Tom La, 6-4!  No Aces.

Alfred Chen/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Tom La, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in those scores.  Now we go to Scott, to be followed by Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Rematch:
Scott Bergenfeld over Andrew Truong, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 35 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Andrew: 2 Aces!  Scott: 1 Ace (a self-described cheap second serve one). 

The Great Scott Report: I played Andrew at The C.G. courts early in the morning.  The match started at around 9am.  He won the 1st Set, 6-3, as he was on his game early.  I came back and won the 2nd Set, 6-1, and the 3rd Set, 6-2.  The heat was definitely a factor.  We were both laboring late in the match. All in all, it was a great workout!  The match was over around 10:30.

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for providing us with that report.  We now let Papa K take it away!

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Scott Bergenfeld/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces (apparently).

A very close and well-contested match that could have gone either way.  Scott was incredible with his shots. Full credit goes to Marijus and Sally for excellent serving and rallies.  Doinks got back some confidence, but it still is not fully there yet.

Mike Mole/Sairaj Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Brenda Jordan, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Dan Martinelli/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-4!  No Aces.

Hats off to Spin for serving and playing brilliantly after playing in the morning and mowing his lawn.  He was a bundle of energy and sprinted like a kid.  Both Natalia and Brenda played great and it sure was fun.

Tony Shiao/Doinks Srinivasan over Ryan Pienciak/Fernanda Toker, 7-6 (7-4)!  Ryan: 2 Aces (one on each)!

Tony Shiao/Doinks Srinivasan over Ryan Pienciak/Brenda Jordan, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

Marijus Kuzavas/Jordan Bachvaroff over Scott Bergenfeld/Dave Zhu, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

Dino Celis/Mike Mole over Sairaj Srinivasan/Joe Rodrigues, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

Mike Mole/Sally Pillay over Sairaj Srinivasan/Joe Rodrigues, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Jordan Bachvaroff/Dave Zhu, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

Dan Martinelli/Brenda Jordan leading Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 5-3 (Incomplete)!  No Aces.

Overall, it was an exciting weekend of full-blown GTA Tennis at CG.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I always sound like a broken record here, but we really can't thank Kris enough for all he does up at Cedar Grove to benefit the GTA.  Kudos!

All the best,
Frank Samara