"2 play at RHP, Sally-Anna part of 18 at C.G.!":
There were two sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis: a late afternoon one at Robin Hood Park (featuring "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, with Gen reporting), and the usual evening session…and it was a big one…at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with scores and commentary contributions also coming in from "Steady" Sally Pillay and "Automatic" Anna Mazur, the two participants in the remaining GAH6 Semifinal Match which had been started on a previous date).
Before we go to the report from Kris (with the additional information from Sally and Anna along the way), let's first get the RHP recap from Gen.
The RHP Result:
Genalin Capan over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-4)! Mike: 1 Ace.
Mike Mole and I started hitting at 4:15 at RHP. We then played a One-Setter from 4:45 to 5:45.
Mike had early leads at 2-0, 3-1 and 3-2. I got it to 3-3. Mike took the next 2 games for 4-3 and 5-3. Mike was then serving for the match. I saved the 1st Match Point and then broke Mike on serve to extend the set to 4-5. Then I saved 2 more MPs and held my service game to level it at 5-5. Mike held easily at 40-15 then hit a 2nd serve Ace for 6-5. On my serve, it went Love-30, 15-30, 30-All, 30-40 (MP#4), Deuce, Ad-In/Game Point for 6-6 to take us into the TB!
In the TB, I took the leads 3-0, 4-1, 5-2. Mike got it closer at 5-4. I won both my serves for 7-4 to take the win. It was a tight set. Mike was serving well and his 2nd serves were just as good as his 1st serves. Today I was able to do a better job of returning his 1st serves. We had a couple of multiple Deuce games. There was one of my service games that went to at least 8 Deuces. It was a hard-fought battle and I managed to save 4 MPs and then go on to win it in the TB.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her comprehensive reporting. It sounds like a definite Nominee for One-Set Specialty Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
And now we head up to Cedar Grove to let The K take it away!
The Cedar Grove Results:
GAH6 Semifinal Match:
Sally Pillay over Anna Mazur, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Finals of the 6th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Women's Singles Tournament!
Sally's Spicy Dish: Anna and I finally got the match completed this night at CG. We met at 6pm and warmed up with the help of Sairaj. About 15 minutes later, the match was underway. It was difficult to start the match at 4-3, but Anna held her own not feeling the pressure and was able to hold serve to tie it at 4-4. I felt more of the pressure, since Anna had previously won the 1st Set and I knew I needed to take the 2nd Set to get it to a 3rd Set. Anna was steady on her serve, and we both continued to hold our serve for the rest of the set until I was up, 6-5. I was able to play a little more aggressively by attacking Anna's serve and was able to break her to take the 2nd Set, 7-5.
In the 3rd Set, Anna read most of my aggressive forehand shots very well and she played tremendously, defending well and increasing the rally points. At 4-4, I was serving and Anna broke my serve at 30-40, after I was down Love-40, securing the break for 5-4. Knowing that Anna was serving for the match, I tried to hold my focus by playing strong forehand shots and I was able to break her back at 15-40 to tie the set at 5-5. We both held to take the 3rd Set to a Tiebreak. Anna was up 3-1 in the Tiebreak, but I was able get back the mini-break and started hitting some aggressive shots to close out the Tiebreak at 7-3 and take the match. Overall, it was a great match that went the distance with many long rallies. This match could have gone either way.
Samara's Notes: First, I thank Sally for her comprehensive report (Anna reported the score as well) and also congratulate her on a very impressive comeback victory. I also offer major kudos to Anna who has once again extended another opponent (Evonne Tan was the first, earlier this season) to such a degree that the match has to be considered a definite Nominee for Women's Singles Match of The Year.
Now Pillay advances to The Finals to face "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker. This match will have to wait a little over three weeks as Toker is about to leave for a vacation. She should not be penalized by having to withdraw from the Final as she had played all her tournament matches heretofore in a very timely fashion and had been patiently waiting for the conclusion of the Pillay-Mazur match. And it is the Final, so we definitely do not want to have a forfeiture/bye type situation after coming this far. This sounds like a match that will end up being worth the wait.
We now turn this report over to Kris who will first chime in with his opinion on the match above before he details all the other GTA action that took place up at Cedar Grove.
The women continued from where they left off in their Semifinal Match and it was a marathon battle indeed. It could have been anyone's match, but Sally managed to win by the skin of her teeth. Anna was gracious at the end, but she can certainly feel good in giving a great match where she could have locked up the win. It was a determined Sally that helped her edge it out over Anna. It was nice of Anna to come to play the match here and this match helped highlight the night's proceedings.
It was a hectic night of GTA Tennis in Cedar Grove with all the courts at the disposal of our players. There was continuous and constant action starting early and going all the way to the mandatory finish time. We got to see great matches: Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Kevin Doyle/Laura Gawley over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 30 and # 31 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces (apparently).
It was a good tussle and certainly looked like a close match.
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Anna Mazur, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff over Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3! Mike: 1 Ace on Chris!
We were leading 3-2 before an onslaught of fast-paced shots and placements by Chris turned the match around. Good aggressive play by Chris nicely supported by Jordan put us on the back pedal.
Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Raj Boddu, 6-3! Mike: 1 Ace on Jose.
Great serving by both Kaz and Jose and with a lot fewer unforced errors, it was a cinch for us.
Jose Gonzales/Raj Boddu over Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3! Mike: 2 Aces on Jordan; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Mike!
Jose and Boddu both stepped up their serves as Mike's dropped. There were some great gets by Jose that won them critical points.
Lou La Forgia/Dennis Cabanatan over Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4! No Aces (apparently).
It was a battle between the "Lefties" against the "Righties" in which the lefties proved to be the more dynamic duo.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Lou La Forgia/Laura Gawley over Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-4, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 32 and # 33 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces (apparently).
From Lou's feedback, it was a great match and it appeared to end on a satisfying note. It was 5 sets in all for Laura for the night!
Rob Gawley/Natalia Sout over Ryan Pienciak/Kevin Doyle, 6-4! Rob: 7 Aces (4 on Kevin and 3 on Ryan)!
Rob was apparently scoring Aces with his drop serves. I believe he requested the opponents to stay back on the baseline...hahaha.!
Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu over Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (7-4)! Raj: 1 Ace on Jordan; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Raj!
We were leading 5-2 when a combination of sloppy shots from us and solid shot-making by both Chris and Jordan took the match to the distance before we sealed the deal without suffering the agony of a painful loss...:-). Earlier, Raj had some amazing returns of serve that helped break Chiaro on a couple of his services.
Overall, it was an action-packed night with quite a few full matches happening! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting and his colorful and comprehensive reporting. I again thank all those who made contributions to this report.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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