There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Tennis: an afternoon session at Mountainside Park in Montclair (featuring the GTA Intermediate Title Tournament Semifinal Match between “Big Kaz” Mike Kazlauskas and “The Pilot” Greg Swierczek, result reported by Mike) at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by “The K Man” Kris Srinivasan, but with an earlier result and details sent in by “Bravo” Brenda Jordan).
So we will first go to Montclair for the full recap from Mike and then up to Cedar Grove for the results from Brenda and Kris.
The Mountainside Park Result:
GTA Intermediate Title Tournament Semifinal Match:
Greg Swierczek over Mike Kazlauskas, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, to become both the New # 16 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 1 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Finals of the GTA Intermediate Title Tournament! No Aces.
The Kaz says: We played the Semifinal for GTA Intermediate Title at 3pm in Montclair. The conditions were far from the best. It was very windy and a lot of our shots sailed either long or wide.
In the 1st Set, we could not hold serves. I think for the first four games we broke each other for 2-2. Then Greg broke my serve and held his for 4-2. I was able to hold my serve and Greg held his for 5-3. I was able to even out the score at 5-5. Greg broke my serve in the next game for 6-5 and I was not able to break him on the last service game, so he took the set at 7-5. In this set, I tried to play more aggressively as I tried to put extra pace on the ball with my forehand. However, Greg was able to put up a great defense and my shots were sailing either wide or long and I did not approach the net at all.
In the 2nd Set, I am pretty sure each of us was broken in the few first games. I remember that I was leading for the first time in the match up 3-2. However, Greg came back and was leading 5-4 again. I evened out the score at 5-5. I held serve and broke Greg to take this set at 7-5. I changed my strategy in this set as I was attacking Greg's backhand more, and I was approaching the net more aggressively. However, this strategy took its toll as I started feeling very tired and was not serving that well anymore.
In the 3rd Set, I started out serving and held serve and broke Greg in the second game for a 2-0 lead. I felt like I was in control of my game and the momentum of the match and my concentration slipped a bit. Greg broke my serve for 1-2, held his serve, broke me again and held his serve again to take a 4-2 lead. We were able to hold our serves for the next few games to 5-4 and then Greg was serving out the set and was able to hold his serve for the set and match at 6-4.
Greg was great by defending and mercilessly attacking my second serve, which put a lot of pressure on my first serve. In the last set, I hit a couple of really good serves only to be blocked/returned to my court for a winner.
In the 1st Set, we could not hold serves. I think for the first four games we broke each other for 2-2. Then Greg broke my serve and held his for 4-2. I was able to hold my serve and Greg held his for 5-3. I was able to even out the score at 5-5. Greg broke my serve in the next game for 6-5 and I was not able to break him on the last service game, so he took the set at 7-5. In this set, I tried to play more aggressively as I tried to put extra pace on the ball with my forehand. However, Greg was able to put up a great defense and my shots were sailing either wide or long and I did not approach the net at all.
In the 2nd Set, I am pretty sure each of us was broken in the few first games. I remember that I was leading for the first time in the match up 3-2. However, Greg came back and was leading 5-4 again. I evened out the score at 5-5. I held serve and broke Greg to take this set at 7-5. I changed my strategy in this set as I was attacking Greg's backhand more, and I was approaching the net more aggressively. However, this strategy took its toll as I started feeling very tired and was not serving that well anymore.
In the 3rd Set, I started out serving and held serve and broke Greg in the second game for a 2-0 lead. I felt like I was in control of my game and the momentum of the match and my concentration slipped a bit. Greg broke my serve for 1-2, held his serve, broke me again and held his serve again to take a 4-2 lead. We were able to hold our serves for the next few games to 5-4 and then Greg was serving out the set and was able to hold his serve for the set and match at 6-4.
Greg was great by defending and mercilessly attacking my second serve, which put a lot of pressure on my first serve. In the last set, I hit a couple of really good serves only to be blocked/returned to my court for a winner.
Samara’s Notes: First, I congratulate Greg on a very impressive victory. I also offer kudos to Mike for a spirited effort. Furthermore, I am highly impressed with Mike’s reporting skills as well. This sounds like a definite Nominee for Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season’s end.
And now we head up to Cedar Grove for the scores from Brenda (which will come first) and Kris.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Kevin Doyle and I arrived at the courts at 7:15. All courts except one were filled.
Dawn Peterson was hitting with Ralph Bernard, so Kevin and I asked them to play Doubles.
Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan over Ralph Bernard/Dawn Peterson, 8-6! No Aces (apparently).
This was my first time meeting Ralph. He's a pretty hard hitter with an incredibly hard first serve. Kevin was playing his best. He was able to return Ralph's forehand with some very strong, deep shots. When it was tied 6-6, we decided to play until someone won, instead of doing a Tiebreaker.
We were all pretty tired afterward, but Ralph decided to play more and joined another group who needed a fourth.
Samara’s Notes: I thank Brenda for her comprehensive report. And now we go to Kris for the rest.
It was a night with an active session of GTA Tennis that saw some riveting matches.
Rob Ryan over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
Rob Ryan over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
Jordan had a long weekend of tennis which was almost exclusively Singles. As he likes Singles, he chose to play Ryan and the fatigue factored big-time in his play. But that should not take away from the crafty play of Rob who seemed to play effortlessly. Some of the rallies I saw were pretty good with Jordan doing well and the score was a surprise.
Samara’s Notes: This was initially reported as a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match, but as Ryan is still in the Grove Cup Tournament…it must be two separate One-Setters. And now we go back to Kris.
Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Rob Ryan/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2! No Aces.
Chris was incredible with his shots, especially the ones bisecting the two players.
Rob Ryan/Dino Celis over Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
Rob had some punishing shots at me and Dino was quite impressive with his overall play. His backhand shots moving into the ball with great pace were awesome. I had quite a few misses and weak shots that set us back despite attacking shots from Chris.
Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Rob Ryan/Dino Celis, 6-3! No Aces.
Once I steadied myself, it was a lot easier for us as the scintillating shots of Chris took care of the counterattack thrown at us by Rob and Dino.
Senthil Kumar/Jose Gonzales over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-0! No Aces.
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Senthil Kumar/Jose Gonzales, 6-3! No Aces.
Samara’s Notes: Jose reported those two scores to Kris who then forwarded them to me. And now we go back to Kris once more.
Ralph Bernard/Sairaj Srinivasan over Omar Santos/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Bernard was solid and so was Omar. It was a good match, but the attacking players prevailed.
It was good to see Spin (aka Dan Martinelli) who came late, but as always was a good sport to take out his racquet. As Omar left, it ended up being Ralph, Spin and Doinks hitting the ball until the lights went out at 10pm. I got to hit the ball with Dino for the last part of the evening as Dino put away all my short balls to the cleaners!
With schools reopening, it remains to be seen how active the evening sessions are going to be during the weeknights, but then tennis can be addictive for some of us! Cheers!
Samara’s Notes: As always, I thank Kris for being the host with the most up at Cedar Grove.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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