"Scott-Jordan, Doinks-Fernanda part of 17 at C.G.!":
GTA Monday Night Tennis only took place at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara with assistance from usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan).
Samara was a late arrival as he has been busy earlier in the evening and was unsure if he would even attend the session. But along the way, he received notice from "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker that her GAH6 Semifinal Match against "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan on this night rather than this coming Thursday. At that point, Frank committed to being at the session.
When Samara pulled into the lot at 8pm, he saw Doubles action on Court One as Doinks was teaming with her son Sairaj against "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan. There were two outsider guys on Court Two who were there for a quite a while (can't remember when they left for it never mattered as we never needed that court anyway).
On Court Three, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro was teaming with "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes to take on "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Spicy" Sally Pillay. Kuzavas had been scheduled to face "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah in their Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match, but Shah had a last-minute family emergency (I believe he had to take his mother to the hospital). On behalf of those in the GTA, I wish Raj and his family well at this time.
And on Court Four, Kris was teaming with "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas as they faced "The Great" Scott Bergenfeld and "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff in what ended up turning into a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match (funny as the Srinivasan/Kazlauskas team had just been eliminated from the Doubles Division for inactivity the day before).
Samara sat on the bench alongside Court Four for a while. At 8:25, "The West Wing" Rick Pienciak arrived and took a seat next to Frank.
While sitting there, Bergenfeld reported to Samara his earlier full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against Bachvaroff.
And then Toker arrived, as scheduled, at 8:30. Samara then went out onto Court One where the GAH6 Semi would soon take place to actively take notes and help with any calls (only when asked).
The ladies hit a little over five minutes and then the match officially got underway exactly at 8:38.
In the meantime, "Rowdy" Rob Gawley arrived at 8:35 and took the bench alongside Court One as it seemed he would be doing some scouting for his wife, GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, while she was at the US Open.
The last official arrival of the night was "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak at 8:45 as we ended up with a total of seventeen competitors for the session.
But somewhere around 9:30 or so (perhaps earlier), Laura arrived on her way back from the Open to make an extended cameo appearance for the balance of the evening.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 14 Rank in the Advanced Division! Scott and Jordan: 1 Ace each and both in the 1st Set! This took place on Court Four and Scott said the entire match lasted about 90 minutes.
Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-4! No Aces. Not sure when this one began on Court Three, but it ended at 8:05.
Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-2! Sairaj: 3 Aces (2 on Brenda and 1 on Kevin)! Again, not sure when this one got started on Court One, but it was over and done by 8:30.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Kris Srinivasan/Mike Kazlauskas over Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-1, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 43 and # 44 Ranked Teams respectively! Mike: 3 Aces (one on each in the same game in the 1st Set and then a second on Scott in the 2nd Set)! Don't know when they got the 1st Set underway, but it ended at exactly 8:29. And the match was finished at 8:55.
Marijus Kuzavas/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Sally Pillay, 7-6 (8-6)! No Aces. There were multiple Match Points that ended up being saved by Marijus and Nate! They played this one on Court Three from 8:10 to 9:01 and it looks to be an almost certain Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
GAH6 Semifinal Match:
Fernanda Toker over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1, 6-0, to become the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while advancing to The Finals of The 6th Annual Gail-ann Hamiltom Memorial Women's Singles Tournament! No Aces.
1st Set: Doinks was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point where Fernanda hit a winning return for the break), Fernanda held serve (Doinks hit a winner for Love-15, but it then shifted to Double Game Point right after an extended rally and then Doinks blew a volley to allow the hold) and Srinivasan was broken again (Doinks hit a winner for 15-Love, but then it went straight to Double Break Point where Doinks hit a winning volley for Break Point, but then Fernanda hit a passing shot winner for the break) to get off to a 0-3 start. Toker was then broken as well (Fernanda hit a winning lob for 15-Love and it then went point for point to 30-All right after Doinks had hit a winner to level the game and then there was a Double Fault to set up Break Point where Doinks hit a very aggressive winning volley for the break) to allow her opponent onto the scoreboard. But from there, The Marathon Woman was broken again (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All which was where Doinks hit a winning Backhand Volley for 30-15, but then there was another Double Fault for 30-All and that was where Fernanda made an incredible get/lob combo for Break Point, but then Doinks responded with a high-reaching volley to make it Deuce, but then came Break Point again and a winner from Fernanda for the break), The Argentine Machine held (30-Love was where Doinks hit a monster of a return for 30-15, then Double Game Point where Doinks hit a winner for Game Point and then Doinks hit a net-cord return for Deuce, then it was Break Point, 2nd Deuce where Fernanda hit a passing shot winner for Game Point and then Fernanda made another awesomely executed lob for the hold) and then Doinks was broken once again and this time it was at Love as Fernanda had hit a winning drop shot return to make it Love-30 and it was off and running from there as this set concluded at exactly 9:03 (they had begun it on Court One at 8:38).
2nd Set: Fernanda held (15-Love where Doinks made a winning return for 15-All and it then went point for point to Game Point as it was an un-returned serve that set up the G.P. and another un-returned serve to earn the hold), Doinks was broken at Love once again after starting off with two straight Double Faults, Toker held again (Love-15 and then back-to-back lengthy rallies brought it to 30-15 where Fernanda made a great get only to have Doinks send it back as a winner for 30-All, but then came another one of those Fernanda get/dig/lobs for Game Point and then an un-returned serve locked down the hold), Srinivasan was broken in a battle (Love-15 and another amazing lob by Fernanda for Love-30 and it then went to Triple Break Point where Doinks hit a winner for Double Break Point and then she hit another winner to make it Break Point, then it was Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then Doinks blew a volley for 2nd Deuce and then came Break Point and the break), The Argentine Machine held once more (15-Love and then an un-returned serve for 30-Love where Fernanda then hit a winner to set up Triple Game Point, but then Fernanda hit a winner for Double Game Point and then Doinks made a winning return for Game Point, but then came the hold) and The Marathon Woman was broken once again (Love-30 where perhaps the best rally of the match ended with another incredible get by Fernanda that resulted in a drop shot winner to set up Triple Break/Match Point which was where an un-returned serve cut that down to Double Break/Match Point and then another extended rally resulted in it becoming Break/Match Point, but then a Double Fault ended this game, set and match in anti-climactic fashion) to eat a bagel in this 2nd Set which finished exactly at 9:30!
The Skinny: We say it all the time, but this match did feel closer than One and None! Doinks put forth a spirited effort and often played with aggression. Sometimes it paid off and other times it did not. She sometimes engaged in the lengthy rallies that Fernanda has mastered so well, but down the stretch she decided she would prefer to just go for broke – winner or unforced error. To Toker's credit, it is truly amazing the gets that she is making while still not 100 percent from the skiing accident/major leg injury she suffered at the beginning of this year. Doinks may be The Marathon Woman, but Fernanda makes marathon-length rallies look more like a sprint. She will be tough to deal with in the Finals. She now awaits the winner of the other Semi, Sally Pillay versus "Automatic" Anna Mazur, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday night.
Scott Bergenfeld/Rob Gawley over Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak, 6-0! Rick: 1 Ace on Rob. This one took place on Court Four from 9pm to 9:20.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Sally Pillay over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-0, 6-1, to become the New # 11 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division! Sally: 1 Ace on Kevin in the 1st Set. They got this match underway on Court Three at 9:10 and it ended exactly at 9:53.
Kris Srinivasan/Ryan Pienciak over Scott Bergenfeld/Rob Gawley, 6-4! No Aces. This one took place on Court Four from 9:21 to 9:50. They then went straight into another one just to see what they could get in, but Marijus took the place of Scott.
Marijus Kuzavas/Rob Gawley leading Kris Srinivsasn/Ryan Pienciak, 2-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…I think they decided to forego the changeovers as well)! No Aces.
It was a very exciting and monumental session. I'm glad that I ended up hosting it. Samara signing off!
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