8/28/16:
"Samara-Rizzo at NTC, Weldon-Shiao at HP, 12 at AP, 4 at NTC, 12 at C.G.!:
There were five sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: early morning at Nutley Tennis Club (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "The Riz" John Rizzo), another early morning one at Holster Park in Clifton (featuring the Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match between "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao), the usual morning one at Albion Park in Clifton (hosted by Samara, though he joined it as it was already in progress), a late afternoon/early evening session at NTC once again (hosted by Rizzo) and finally at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with a couple of results that were mutually reported by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan).
Toward the end of the week, Samara and Rizzo discussed the possibility of a full Challenge Match at NTC in the early hours of Sunday morning. The only reservations that The Riz had were his own ailments as his foot pain issues are once again rearing their ugly head (similar to last season). But by Saturday, he was able to confirm his ability to make it to the match.
Frank was ready for play on Court Five by 8:45am. John arrived, as scheduled, exactly at 9am. After a five minute hitting session, they got the match underway.
The NTC Result:
Frank Samara over John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 17 Rank in the Advanced Division! Frank: 1 Ace on John in the 2nd Set.
1st Set: Frank held at Love as he started with a drop shot winner, then had a great get/winner combo which was then followed by back-to-back un-returned serves for the hold, John was broken (he hit a drop shot winner for 30-Love, then it went to 30-15, a Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Deuce where a blown drop shot set up Break Point and then came the break) and Samara held again (an un-returned serve for a 15-Love start only to shift to 15-30, but then shift again to Game Point where a passing shot winner secured the hold) for a 3-0 lead. Rizzo held (Love-30, but then he hit a drop shot winner for 15-30 and then it went to Double Break Point where an excellent rally led to Break Point and then it was Deuce where Frank made a great get and hard shot that found a waiting John at the baseline where he sent back a winner for Game Point and then the opposite happened in the next point where John was the one making a get only to send in Frank's direction where a winner was promptly hit to make it 2nd Deuce and then it went to Game Point again, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4rhd Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot winner for Break Point, but then an un-returned serve made it 5th Deuce where another one set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Hollywood was broken (John hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15, but then an un-returned serve made it 15-All only to have John hit a winner and then a winning lob in the next point to set up Double Break Point, the break then came on Break Point) to have his lead cut to 3-2. But from there, The Riz was broken (Frank made a great get that led to the point going to Love-30 which was where John made a truly great get/passing shot combo that was perfectly placed past the oncoming Frank who was tracking it down only to find it just beyond reach and this made it 15-30, it was then 30-All where Frank hit a very impressive passing shot winner of his own for Break Point and that was where John made a great get that surprised Frank enough to blow what should have been a surefire winner of a volley up at the net and that made it Deuce and that was where Frank redeemed himself with a winner for Break Point and then came the break), Frank held (he hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, but it shifted to 15-30 after John hit a winning return, but then John blew a volley for 30-All and then it was Game Point where Frank hit a winning lob for the hold) and then John was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank started things off with a winning return and then he ended things with a winning drop shot return on Triple Break/Set Point! This set began exactly at 9:06 and ended at 9:46.
2nd Set: Frank held (perhaps the best rally of the match as there were great gets on both sides of the net and the pace of the shots was solid...this led to a 15-Love start where Frank hit a winner for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where John hit an excellently angled winning return to cut it to Double Game Point, but then another un-returned serve secured the hold) and John held (another excellent and extended rally to open a game and it again ended 15-Love in the server's favor and then John hit a winner for 30-Love, it also went to Triple Game Point where Frank hit a winner for Double Game Point and then Frank hit a winning lob to cut it to Game Point, then it went to Deuce, Game Point again and the hold) for 1-1. But from there, Samara held again (Frank hit a winner for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again where Frank hit a winner for 3rd Deuce and then hit another winner for Game Point and still another winner to lock down the hold), Rizzo was broken (Frank hit a winning lob and another winner on the way to Triple Break Point, then it was Double Break Point where Frank hit another winner for the break), The Wood held again (started with a sideline Ace and then hit a winner for 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where another hotly-contested and lengthy rally led to Break Point, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point where John hit a winning drop shot return for 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winner for Game Point, it was then 3rd Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot winner to set up Game Point where he then hit another winner to secure the hold), The Riz was broken again (another awesome rally to open a game and it led to 15-Love which was where John hit a winner for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point which would get cut down to Deuce as Frank made a great get/winner combo along the way and then Frank hit another winner to make it Break Point, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning return for Break Point and then came the break) and then Frank held once more (an un-returned serve followed by a passing shot winner made it 30-Love, but then John hit a winning return for 30-15, it was then Double Game/Match Point where John hit a laser-like winning return for Game/Match Point only to have it end with an un-returned serve) to get the win! This match finished at exactly 10:23.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for allowing me to defend my rank against him despite the fact that he did not feel 100 percent. He put forth a very spirited effort and the match was more interesting and competitive than the score indicates.
While the above match was going on, the Weldon-Shiao battle got underway up at Holster Park in Clifton. "Coach" Dino Celis got there in time to catch it in its latter stages.
The Holster Park Result:
Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match:
Tony Shiao over Chazz Weldon, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to The Semifinals of The Grove Cup Tournament! Now that Shiao is in The Top 5 of the Advanced Division, he is overqualified for competition in the Intermediate Division and is now immediately removed from it. Tony: 1 Ace in the 1st Set.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: We met at 9:30am and got underway at about 9:50. I got out of bed this morning dreading the long rallies and knew it would be an excruciating match and a testament of my mental and physical state. I went into this match knowing that Chazz's game does not complement my hard-hitting baseline style strokes. So I had to switch it up because the baseline rallies from our previous Intermediate Championship Match did not work in my favor and I fizzled after 20+ strokes in a rally.
In the 1st Set we traded games and then I was able to hold and then break to take the win at 6-3. The 2nd Set was neck and neck until I found myself down 3-4. It was very hot and I had already changed my shirt twice only to have it drenched in my sweat. I decided to make it a shirts vs. skins game while working on my tan. I let my almost 40 year old sexy bod hang out and instantly I felt more comfortable and was able to focus and battle back to be up 5-4. This was when Dino made the cameo and watched on the bench until its conclusion. I told him he better have brought some good luck for me only to find myself losing the next game. It was now 5-5 and Chazz battled back from a 15-40 deficit to even it out which was unnerving. I took the next game on my serve by sticking to the plan and it was now 6-5 and 40-15. I had three Match Points only to have them stripped away like how Taylor Swift got Kanyed on the mic. It took a fourth Match Point for me to take the win. I thank Chazz for the grueling match as he put me to the test. I look forward to playing him in the future.
From The Coach's Clipboard: Even though the agreed-upon start-time was 9:30, this one got officially underway at 9:57. In the 2nd Set, Tony was up 5-4 before Chazz battled back to make it 5-5. Shiao was motivated not to let this one go to a 3rd Set...especially under the sweltering conditions at no-shade Holster Park.
All That Jazz from Chazz: He was determined to win. It was a good match for him. He deserved to win.
Samara's Notes: I thank Dino, Chazz and especially Tony for all of the details on this match. Additionally, I congratulate Tony on his most impressive victory to date. He has to be considered the lead contender for Most Improved Player of The Year...at least at this point in the season.
And now for how the session at Albion unfolded.
Samara pulled up to the curb at 11am just as "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was doing the same. Down on the courts, we saw a Doubles One-Setter going on between the teams of "Lean" Dean Delgado/"DC3" David Cardenas and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues/"The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto (turns out this was already the second Doubles One-Setter of the day) on the North Court. "Big George" Jorge Solano was sitting on the sidelines, already exhausted and sweaty from that initial action.
A father/daughter combo was just leaving Center Court while a couple (the same one from last week) was playing on the South Court (they would soon leave at 11:15).
Samara and Solano started hitting on Center Court. Soon, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes made his way to that same court at 11:10. Mole then stepped on to make it a four-way hitting session. As the sides already had Mike and Jorge on one side of the net with Nate and Frank on the other, Samara decided to let it ride with those teams as Frank felt he needed Nate's legs to make the gets given the fact that the old Wood already had a full Singles Match under his belt already.
Next to arrive was GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro at 11:30. His timing was good as that second Doubles One-Setter on the North Court ended soon after and Rodrigues was ready to leave at that time. Chris took Joe's place in teaming with Vin against Dean and David.
At 11:45, Anna Kropiewnicki made her way to the courts and Nate recognized her as the friend and new recruit of "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan that made her debut at Cedar Grove earlier in the week. She said that Gen was on her way and then Anna started practicing alone on the South Court. When the Doubles One-Setter on Center Court finished five minutes later, Samara started hitting with her.
Dino arrived at 11:55 and sat out for a while just to watch the action as an excellent Singles One-Setter between Fernandes and Mole was just getting started on Center Court.
Gen arrived at 12:10. She started going solo in hitting against Frank and Anna. Meanwhile, Dean was hitting with Dino on the North Court to warm Celis up before he was about to face Chiaro in a pair of Singles One-Setters.
Delgado then joined Capan for some Mixed Doubles action against Samara and Kropiewnicki.
We ended up with a fairly impressive total of a dozen official competitors at AP.
Let's now get to all the Albion action!
The AP Results:
Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 6-2! No Aces. This one got the session officially started somewhere around 10am (Jorge said he and David started hitting closer to 9:30). Not sure exactly when it ended on the North Court.
Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dean Delgado/David Cardenas, 6-4! David: 1 Ace on Vinnie. This one began somewhere around 10:50 on the North Court and ended exactly at 11:33.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara over Mike Mole/Jorge Solano, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Mike was broken (Nate hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15, there was a Double Fault for Love-30, then it was Triple Break Point where a truly un-returned serve made it Double Break Point and then that was where Jorge blew an overhead for the break), Frank held serve (an excellent rally ended with Nate hitting a winner for 15-Love and then Nate hit an awesome passing shot winner for 30-Love, it then went to Triple Game Point and the hold came on Double Game Point) and Jorge was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point right after Jorge blew an overhead and then Frank hit a spinning backhand shot that forced the error from Mike for the break) to get off to a 0-3 start. Nathan was broken (Frank blew a volley to make it Love-15, it was then Love-30 where Frank redeemed himself with a very impressive winning volley that capped a series of them to make it 15-30, but then Jorge hit a drop shot that led to Double Break Point and then Jorge hit a winning volley for the break) and then Mole held (Nate made an amazing get that took him to the South Court only to still lose the point for 15-Love and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love which was where an extended and exciting rally ended with a whopper of a winner from Mike for Triple Game Point and then came another un-returned serve to make it a Love hold) to pull to 2-3! Samara held again (30-Love, 30-15 and then an un-returned serve for Double Game Point where Nate hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) to go up 4-2, but Solano also held (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it then shifted to 15-30, but then shifted again after Jorge hit a winning Backhand Volley and then came the hold) for 3-4. Fernandes held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold in a game where I lost track of the winners as the sun was baking my brain at this point) and Holy Moly was broken in another game where the winners are not noted (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break/Match Point and another unfortunate Double Fault to end it) to get the "L!" We played this on Center Court from 11:15 to 11:50.
Chris Chiaro/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dean Delgado/David Cardenas, 6-3! David: 1 Ace on Chris! This one was contested on the North Court from 11:35 to 12:05. Two One-Setters in and The Delgado Slump was still in full effect.
Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-1)! Mike: 1 Ace (a very impressive one according to Nate)! Mike was up 5-4 and had three Match Points, but Nate saved them all to begin to mount his comeback! This took place on Center Court from 11:55 to 12:53...just two minutes shy of an hour! This looks to be a possible Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-1! No Aces. This one got underway on the North Court at 12:25. Not sure when it ended as it went into this next one.
Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-3! No Aces. This one finished at exactly 1:09. From there, Dino and Nate had a hitting session with one another.
Dean Delgado/Genalin Capan over Frank Samara/Anna Kropiewnicki, 6-2! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Genalin held (Gen hit a passing shot winner for 30-Love, then it was 30-15 where Gen hit another passing shot winner...both of these were past Anna and down the Doubles Alley...and it was then Double Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold), but Anna was the first to be broken (Love-15, Double Fault for Love-30 and then an un-returned serve for 15-30 where Gen hit a winning volley for Double Break Point, but then another un-returned serve made it Break Point only to have the break come next) for 1-2. Dean held (un-returned serve for 15-Love and it was off and running to Triple Game Point, then it was Double Game Point where Gen blew an overhead for Game Point, but then another un-returned serve locked down the hold) for 3-1, but Samara held again (un-returned serve for 15-Love, then 15-All, but onto Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) to 2-3. But from there, Capan held again as well (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as Frank blew two volleys along the way and an un-returned serve set up the G.P. and then Dean hit a passing shot winner for the hold), Kropiewnicki was broken (Double Fault for Love-30, 15-30 where Dean hit a passing shot winner for Double Break Point and then Gen hit a winning volley for the break) and then Delgado held again (an un-returned serve and a blown volley by Anna made it 30-Love where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash that smashed into Gen...though thankfully she was able to block most of the blow...and then there was a Double Fault for 30-All, it then went to Break Point where Dean hit a passing shot winner for Deuce and then he hit another winner to set up Game/Match Point where he then hit his most amazing winner...he saved his best for last!) to finally get a long-awaited win! We played this one on the South Court from 12:25 to 1pm.
The Delgado Slump finally ends! He needed to be reunited with his old friend and former Mixed Doubles partner, Gen, in order to finally get out of that rut!
We now go back to Nutley for the second session of the day at the Nutley Tennis Club.
The NTC Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, to become the New # 3 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently). Rizzo said he was done by the end of the 2nd Set.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting that score. We now head up to Cedar Grove for the final session of the day. Gen reported, in a very timely fashion, the results in which she was involved. But Kris reported them as well. So we will just now run with the report the way that Kris presented it. Take it away, K Man!
Another quiet night where I had not planned on playing initially, but then we put together a few players once Doinks and Gen had indicated their interest to play. There were really good matches and pretty much all the players had their share of glory.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Scott Bergenfeld/Levy Lorenzo over Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4! No Aces.
It was a very good match in which the result was close indeed. It was a smoking Scott tonight as he unleashed his forehand to his full satisfaction. Jose was controlled and got to play smart tennis. Sairaj's backhand return to Scott's aggressive serves was top notch. His volleys and reflex to many points were impressive. Levy has been playing solid tennis and his phenomenal efforts are very commendable.
Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan over Scott Bergenfeld/Levy Lorenzo, 7-5! Jose: 1 Ace on Scott!
Jose and Sairaj got the result that they missed out on in their earlier match. It was nice of Jose to team up with Sairaj and do so splendidly. It was another tight match.
Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-2! No Aces.
Gen was incredible at the net and Natalia came up with some nice shots. To one of Doinks' superb shots that took Natalia out of the court sideways, her smoking cross-court winner was probably the shot of the night. It was a slow start for Doinks and I had a few errant shots that were casual. I did serve well and Gen probably had more winners.
Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan over Dan Martinelli/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces.
Spin was supposed to give fewer games to the opponents than I did, but then he likes to make the ladies happy. Win or lose, he's a happy chap!
Scott Bergenfeld/Jose Gonzales over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 6-4! No Aces.
Scott had his say brandishing his forehand weapon, ably assisted by Jose. I was unsettled to some extent. Senthil was steady, but could have gotten some assist from me.
Dino Celis/Jose Gonzales over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 6-4! No Aces.
Another match, similar to our earlier one, where I erred quite a few times giving the ball to the net player. Dino was playing solid tennis and Jose did well both from the baseline and the net. Senthil was amazing at the net, taking on multiple shots thrown at him.
Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar over Dino Celis/Jose Gonzales, 6-3! No Aces.
We were settled in by now and smart play by Senthil put continuous pressure on Dino and Jose. We missed closing out one game earlier, thanks to an unprovoked unforced error from me due to a rush of blood to smoke the ball to smithereens...J.
Scott Bergenfeld/Natalia Sout over Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
Scott continued to dominate. After a very good start with a healthy lead, Dave and Doinks blew it and came apart due to Scott's slaughter and good responses from Natalia.
Scott Bergenfeld/Natalia Sout leading Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan, 5-2 (Incomplete due to lights out at 10pm)! No Aces (apparently).
This incomplete match gave the reprieve to Dave and Doinks who would be glad at the time it came, thanks to the mandatory closing time.
All in all, it was another quiet night that managed to kick up some storms and keep the atmosphere charged!
Cheers!
Samara's Notes: The K Man is the man up at Cedar Grove. Thanks to Kris for all his hard work collecting scores and providing us with his reports from his home base.
All the best,
Frank Samara
"Samara-Rizzo at NTC, Weldon-Shiao at HP, 12 at AP, 4 at NTC, 12 at C.G.!:
There were five sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: early morning at Nutley Tennis Club (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "The Riz" John Rizzo), another early morning one at Holster Park in Clifton (featuring the Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match between "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao), the usual morning one at Albion Park in Clifton (hosted by Samara, though he joined it as it was already in progress), a late afternoon/early evening session at NTC once again (hosted by Rizzo) and finally at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with a couple of results that were mutually reported by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan).
Toward the end of the week, Samara and Rizzo discussed the possibility of a full Challenge Match at NTC in the early hours of Sunday morning. The only reservations that The Riz had were his own ailments as his foot pain issues are once again rearing their ugly head (similar to last season). But by Saturday, he was able to confirm his ability to make it to the match.
Frank was ready for play on Court Five by 8:45am. John arrived, as scheduled, exactly at 9am. After a five minute hitting session, they got the match underway.
The NTC Result:
Frank Samara over John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 17 Rank in the Advanced Division! Frank: 1 Ace on John in the 2nd Set.
1st Set: Frank held at Love as he started with a drop shot winner, then had a great get/winner combo which was then followed by back-to-back un-returned serves for the hold, John was broken (he hit a drop shot winner for 30-Love, then it went to 30-15, a Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Deuce where a blown drop shot set up Break Point and then came the break) and Samara held again (an un-returned serve for a 15-Love start only to shift to 15-30, but then shift again to Game Point where a passing shot winner secured the hold) for a 3-0 lead. Rizzo held (Love-30, but then he hit a drop shot winner for 15-30 and then it went to Double Break Point where an excellent rally led to Break Point and then it was Deuce where Frank made a great get and hard shot that found a waiting John at the baseline where he sent back a winner for Game Point and then the opposite happened in the next point where John was the one making a get only to send in Frank's direction where a winner was promptly hit to make it 2nd Deuce and then it went to Game Point again, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4rhd Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot winner for Break Point, but then an un-returned serve made it 5th Deuce where another one set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Hollywood was broken (John hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15, but then an un-returned serve made it 15-All only to have John hit a winner and then a winning lob in the next point to set up Double Break Point, the break then came on Break Point) to have his lead cut to 3-2. But from there, The Riz was broken (Frank made a great get that led to the point going to Love-30 which was where John made a truly great get/passing shot combo that was perfectly placed past the oncoming Frank who was tracking it down only to find it just beyond reach and this made it 15-30, it was then 30-All where Frank hit a very impressive passing shot winner of his own for Break Point and that was where John made a great get that surprised Frank enough to blow what should have been a surefire winner of a volley up at the net and that made it Deuce and that was where Frank redeemed himself with a winner for Break Point and then came the break), Frank held (he hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, but it shifted to 15-30 after John hit a winning return, but then John blew a volley for 30-All and then it was Game Point where Frank hit a winning lob for the hold) and then John was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank started things off with a winning return and then he ended things with a winning drop shot return on Triple Break/Set Point! This set began exactly at 9:06 and ended at 9:46.
2nd Set: Frank held (perhaps the best rally of the match as there were great gets on both sides of the net and the pace of the shots was solid...this led to a 15-Love start where Frank hit a winner for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where John hit an excellently angled winning return to cut it to Double Game Point, but then another un-returned serve secured the hold) and John held (another excellent and extended rally to open a game and it again ended 15-Love in the server's favor and then John hit a winner for 30-Love, it also went to Triple Game Point where Frank hit a winner for Double Game Point and then Frank hit a winning lob to cut it to Game Point, then it went to Deuce, Game Point again and the hold) for 1-1. But from there, Samara held again (Frank hit a winner for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again where Frank hit a winner for 3rd Deuce and then hit another winner for Game Point and still another winner to lock down the hold), Rizzo was broken (Frank hit a winning lob and another winner on the way to Triple Break Point, then it was Double Break Point where Frank hit another winner for the break), The Wood held again (started with a sideline Ace and then hit a winner for 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where another hotly-contested and lengthy rally led to Break Point, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point where John hit a winning drop shot return for 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winner for Game Point, it was then 3rd Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot winner to set up Game Point where he then hit another winner to secure the hold), The Riz was broken again (another awesome rally to open a game and it led to 15-Love which was where John hit a winner for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point which would get cut down to Deuce as Frank made a great get/winner combo along the way and then Frank hit another winner to make it Break Point, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning return for Break Point and then came the break) and then Frank held once more (an un-returned serve followed by a passing shot winner made it 30-Love, but then John hit a winning return for 30-15, it was then Double Game/Match Point where John hit a laser-like winning return for Game/Match Point only to have it end with an un-returned serve) to get the win! This match finished at exactly 10:23.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for allowing me to defend my rank against him despite the fact that he did not feel 100 percent. He put forth a very spirited effort and the match was more interesting and competitive than the score indicates.
While the above match was going on, the Weldon-Shiao battle got underway up at Holster Park in Clifton. "Coach" Dino Celis got there in time to catch it in its latter stages.
The Holster Park Result:
Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match:
Tony Shiao over Chazz Weldon, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to The Semifinals of The Grove Cup Tournament! Now that Shiao is in The Top 5 of the Advanced Division, he is overqualified for competition in the Intermediate Division and is now immediately removed from it. Tony: 1 Ace in the 1st Set.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: We met at 9:30am and got underway at about 9:50. I got out of bed this morning dreading the long rallies and knew it would be an excruciating match and a testament of my mental and physical state. I went into this match knowing that Chazz's game does not complement my hard-hitting baseline style strokes. So I had to switch it up because the baseline rallies from our previous Intermediate Championship Match did not work in my favor and I fizzled after 20+ strokes in a rally.
In the 1st Set we traded games and then I was able to hold and then break to take the win at 6-3. The 2nd Set was neck and neck until I found myself down 3-4. It was very hot and I had already changed my shirt twice only to have it drenched in my sweat. I decided to make it a shirts vs. skins game while working on my tan. I let my almost 40 year old sexy bod hang out and instantly I felt more comfortable and was able to focus and battle back to be up 5-4. This was when Dino made the cameo and watched on the bench until its conclusion. I told him he better have brought some good luck for me only to find myself losing the next game. It was now 5-5 and Chazz battled back from a 15-40 deficit to even it out which was unnerving. I took the next game on my serve by sticking to the plan and it was now 6-5 and 40-15. I had three Match Points only to have them stripped away like how Taylor Swift got Kanyed on the mic. It took a fourth Match Point for me to take the win. I thank Chazz for the grueling match as he put me to the test. I look forward to playing him in the future.
From The Coach's Clipboard: Even though the agreed-upon start-time was 9:30, this one got officially underway at 9:57. In the 2nd Set, Tony was up 5-4 before Chazz battled back to make it 5-5. Shiao was motivated not to let this one go to a 3rd Set...especially under the sweltering conditions at no-shade Holster Park.
All That Jazz from Chazz: He was determined to win. It was a good match for him. He deserved to win.
Samara's Notes: I thank Dino, Chazz and especially Tony for all of the details on this match. Additionally, I congratulate Tony on his most impressive victory to date. He has to be considered the lead contender for Most Improved Player of The Year...at least at this point in the season.
And now for how the session at Albion unfolded.
Samara pulled up to the curb at 11am just as "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was doing the same. Down on the courts, we saw a Doubles One-Setter going on between the teams of "Lean" Dean Delgado/"DC3" David Cardenas and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues/"The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto (turns out this was already the second Doubles One-Setter of the day) on the North Court. "Big George" Jorge Solano was sitting on the sidelines, already exhausted and sweaty from that initial action.
A father/daughter combo was just leaving Center Court while a couple (the same one from last week) was playing on the South Court (they would soon leave at 11:15).
Samara and Solano started hitting on Center Court. Soon, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes made his way to that same court at 11:10. Mole then stepped on to make it a four-way hitting session. As the sides already had Mike and Jorge on one side of the net with Nate and Frank on the other, Samara decided to let it ride with those teams as Frank felt he needed Nate's legs to make the gets given the fact that the old Wood already had a full Singles Match under his belt already.
Next to arrive was GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro at 11:30. His timing was good as that second Doubles One-Setter on the North Court ended soon after and Rodrigues was ready to leave at that time. Chris took Joe's place in teaming with Vin against Dean and David.
At 11:45, Anna Kropiewnicki made her way to the courts and Nate recognized her as the friend and new recruit of "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan that made her debut at Cedar Grove earlier in the week. She said that Gen was on her way and then Anna started practicing alone on the South Court. When the Doubles One-Setter on Center Court finished five minutes later, Samara started hitting with her.
Dino arrived at 11:55 and sat out for a while just to watch the action as an excellent Singles One-Setter between Fernandes and Mole was just getting started on Center Court.
Gen arrived at 12:10. She started going solo in hitting against Frank and Anna. Meanwhile, Dean was hitting with Dino on the North Court to warm Celis up before he was about to face Chiaro in a pair of Singles One-Setters.
Delgado then joined Capan for some Mixed Doubles action against Samara and Kropiewnicki.
We ended up with a fairly impressive total of a dozen official competitors at AP.
Let's now get to all the Albion action!
The AP Results:
Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 6-2! No Aces. This one got the session officially started somewhere around 10am (Jorge said he and David started hitting closer to 9:30). Not sure exactly when it ended on the North Court.
Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dean Delgado/David Cardenas, 6-4! David: 1 Ace on Vinnie. This one began somewhere around 10:50 on the North Court and ended exactly at 11:33.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara over Mike Mole/Jorge Solano, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Mike was broken (Nate hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15, there was a Double Fault for Love-30, then it was Triple Break Point where a truly un-returned serve made it Double Break Point and then that was where Jorge blew an overhead for the break), Frank held serve (an excellent rally ended with Nate hitting a winner for 15-Love and then Nate hit an awesome passing shot winner for 30-Love, it then went to Triple Game Point and the hold came on Double Game Point) and Jorge was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point right after Jorge blew an overhead and then Frank hit a spinning backhand shot that forced the error from Mike for the break) to get off to a 0-3 start. Nathan was broken (Frank blew a volley to make it Love-15, it was then Love-30 where Frank redeemed himself with a very impressive winning volley that capped a series of them to make it 15-30, but then Jorge hit a drop shot that led to Double Break Point and then Jorge hit a winning volley for the break) and then Mole held (Nate made an amazing get that took him to the South Court only to still lose the point for 15-Love and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love which was where an extended and exciting rally ended with a whopper of a winner from Mike for Triple Game Point and then came another un-returned serve to make it a Love hold) to pull to 2-3! Samara held again (30-Love, 30-15 and then an un-returned serve for Double Game Point where Nate hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) to go up 4-2, but Solano also held (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it then shifted to 15-30, but then shifted again after Jorge hit a winning Backhand Volley and then came the hold) for 3-4. Fernandes held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold in a game where I lost track of the winners as the sun was baking my brain at this point) and Holy Moly was broken in another game where the winners are not noted (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break/Match Point and another unfortunate Double Fault to end it) to get the "L!" We played this on Center Court from 11:15 to 11:50.
Chris Chiaro/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dean Delgado/David Cardenas, 6-3! David: 1 Ace on Chris! This one was contested on the North Court from 11:35 to 12:05. Two One-Setters in and The Delgado Slump was still in full effect.
Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-1)! Mike: 1 Ace (a very impressive one according to Nate)! Mike was up 5-4 and had three Match Points, but Nate saved them all to begin to mount his comeback! This took place on Center Court from 11:55 to 12:53...just two minutes shy of an hour! This looks to be a possible Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-1! No Aces. This one got underway on the North Court at 12:25. Not sure when it ended as it went into this next one.
Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-3! No Aces. This one finished at exactly 1:09. From there, Dino and Nate had a hitting session with one another.
Dean Delgado/Genalin Capan over Frank Samara/Anna Kropiewnicki, 6-2! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Genalin held (Gen hit a passing shot winner for 30-Love, then it was 30-15 where Gen hit another passing shot winner...both of these were past Anna and down the Doubles Alley...and it was then Double Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold), but Anna was the first to be broken (Love-15, Double Fault for Love-30 and then an un-returned serve for 15-30 where Gen hit a winning volley for Double Break Point, but then another un-returned serve made it Break Point only to have the break come next) for 1-2. Dean held (un-returned serve for 15-Love and it was off and running to Triple Game Point, then it was Double Game Point where Gen blew an overhead for Game Point, but then another un-returned serve locked down the hold) for 3-1, but Samara held again (un-returned serve for 15-Love, then 15-All, but onto Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) to 2-3. But from there, Capan held again as well (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as Frank blew two volleys along the way and an un-returned serve set up the G.P. and then Dean hit a passing shot winner for the hold), Kropiewnicki was broken (Double Fault for Love-30, 15-30 where Dean hit a passing shot winner for Double Break Point and then Gen hit a winning volley for the break) and then Delgado held again (an un-returned serve and a blown volley by Anna made it 30-Love where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash that smashed into Gen...though thankfully she was able to block most of the blow...and then there was a Double Fault for 30-All, it then went to Break Point where Dean hit a passing shot winner for Deuce and then he hit another winner to set up Game/Match Point where he then hit his most amazing winner...he saved his best for last!) to finally get a long-awaited win! We played this one on the South Court from 12:25 to 1pm.
The Delgado Slump finally ends! He needed to be reunited with his old friend and former Mixed Doubles partner, Gen, in order to finally get out of that rut!
We now go back to Nutley for the second session of the day at the Nutley Tennis Club.
The NTC Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, to become the New # 3 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently). Rizzo said he was done by the end of the 2nd Set.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting that score. We now head up to Cedar Grove for the final session of the day. Gen reported, in a very timely fashion, the results in which she was involved. But Kris reported them as well. So we will just now run with the report the way that Kris presented it. Take it away, K Man!
Another quiet night where I had not planned on playing initially, but then we put together a few players once Doinks and Gen had indicated their interest to play. There were really good matches and pretty much all the players had their share of glory.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Scott Bergenfeld/Levy Lorenzo over Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4! No Aces.
It was a very good match in which the result was close indeed. It was a smoking Scott tonight as he unleashed his forehand to his full satisfaction. Jose was controlled and got to play smart tennis. Sairaj's backhand return to Scott's aggressive serves was top notch. His volleys and reflex to many points were impressive. Levy has been playing solid tennis and his phenomenal efforts are very commendable.
Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan over Scott Bergenfeld/Levy Lorenzo, 7-5! Jose: 1 Ace on Scott!
Jose and Sairaj got the result that they missed out on in their earlier match. It was nice of Jose to team up with Sairaj and do so splendidly. It was another tight match.
Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-2! No Aces.
Gen was incredible at the net and Natalia came up with some nice shots. To one of Doinks' superb shots that took Natalia out of the court sideways, her smoking cross-court winner was probably the shot of the night. It was a slow start for Doinks and I had a few errant shots that were casual. I did serve well and Gen probably had more winners.
Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan over Dan Martinelli/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces.
Spin was supposed to give fewer games to the opponents than I did, but then he likes to make the ladies happy. Win or lose, he's a happy chap!
Scott Bergenfeld/Jose Gonzales over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 6-4! No Aces.
Scott had his say brandishing his forehand weapon, ably assisted by Jose. I was unsettled to some extent. Senthil was steady, but could have gotten some assist from me.
Dino Celis/Jose Gonzales over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 6-4! No Aces.
Another match, similar to our earlier one, where I erred quite a few times giving the ball to the net player. Dino was playing solid tennis and Jose did well both from the baseline and the net. Senthil was amazing at the net, taking on multiple shots thrown at him.
Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar over Dino Celis/Jose Gonzales, 6-3! No Aces.
We were settled in by now and smart play by Senthil put continuous pressure on Dino and Jose. We missed closing out one game earlier, thanks to an unprovoked unforced error from me due to a rush of blood to smoke the ball to smithereens...J.
Scott Bergenfeld/Natalia Sout over Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
Scott continued to dominate. After a very good start with a healthy lead, Dave and Doinks blew it and came apart due to Scott's slaughter and good responses from Natalia.
Scott Bergenfeld/Natalia Sout leading Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan, 5-2 (Incomplete due to lights out at 10pm)! No Aces (apparently).
This incomplete match gave the reprieve to Dave and Doinks who would be glad at the time it came, thanks to the mandatory closing time.
All in all, it was another quiet night that managed to kick up some storms and keep the atmosphere charged!
Cheers!
Samara's Notes: The K Man is the man up at Cedar Grove. Thanks to Kris for all his hard work collecting scores and providing us with his reports from his home base.
All the best,
Frank Samara
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