"2 play at RHP, W2 Semi and Kuzavas-Shah part of 24 at C.G.!":
There were two sessions of GTA Thursday 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 "Coach" Dino Celis and the two participants in the Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match featuring "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas versus "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah).
The other big match of the night at Cedar Grove was the last remaining W2 Semifinal Match between the teams of GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "Spicy" Sally Pillay vs. "C.A.T." Christine Toth and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson.
Before we go to the report from Kris now (with additional information added from Marijus, Raj and Dino along the way), let's first get the RHP recap from Gen.
The RHP Result:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3! Mike: 2 Aces (both on second serves)!
Gen's Notes: We hit from 4:30 to 5pm and then played from 5 to 5:30. He took a 2-0 lead and then I leveled it at 2-2 and 3-3. Mike held again and then I was broken. He held again to close it out. We had a couple of multiple Deuce games. Mike was serving well.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely reporting of that action. We now head up to Cedar Grove for the report from Kris.
A couple of tournament matches meant that an active session of GTA Tennis was on the line and indeed the place was swamped with tennis players galore in Cedar Grove. It was all GTA as all courts were available for our players.
The Cedar Grove Results:
W2 Semifinal Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Christine Toth/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division while also advancing to the Finals of the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament! In the process, Toth/Peterson entered the division as the New # 13 Ranked Team. No Aces (apparently).
One of the earliest matches to start was the W2 Women's Doubles Match between Laura and Sally against Christine and Dawn. In the very game that Laura served, Christine and Dawn drew blood by breaking her. But an immediate regrouping by Laura and Sally ensured no further hiccups for the rest of the match. It must be noted that it was extremely hot and muggy, definitely not suited for Dawn. It meant that she couldn't serve as fiercely as she normally does or play her fast-paced shots. Christine was her usual steady self returning balls and lobbing balls deep when Sally and Laura rushed to the net.
Next up for Laura and Sally…the Final against Capan and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.
Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match:
Raj Shah over Marijus Kuzavas 6-7 (7-0), 6-3, 7-5, to become the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament! Marijus: 6 Aces (2 in the 1st Set, 1 in the 2nd Set and 3 in the 3rd Set)! Raj: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.
The Scoop from Super Mario: The 1st Set went 0-1, 1-1, 1-4, 2-4, 2-5, 5-5, 5-6, 6-6, 7-6. We both were broken only once, although every game was very close. Raj was playing great defense. I was making too many mistakes at first, but after cleaning up my game, I was able to break him back. At the end of this set, the humidity started taking its toll on Raj and his racquet became very slippery, so he changed the over-grip.
The 2nd Set went 1-0, 1-1, 3-1 and then to 3-6. Starting the set, I felt I was in control until 3-1, but then my racquet became so slippery that it flew out of my hand during my serve. This shook me up a bit. I became too conscious about this and started making way too many mistakes. This time it was my turn to change the over-grip.
The 3rd Set went 0-3, 3-3, 3-4 to 5-4 and then to 5-7. It took me eight straight lost games to regain momentum. I was serving for the match, but then started making too many mistakes again!
Overall, Raj played great smart defense. He was running down every ball and I needed to be more patient than I was. Congratulations to Raj!
The Sultan's Swing: The match was very competitive. I was literally going to collapse if it went any longer. Marijus has a blazing forehand and he hit a ton of winners in all the sets.
I also think it was very sporting of Marijus to provide me a dampener and a grip for my racquet to ensure a fair and competitive match. He truly is a gentleman on and off the court.
The Say from The K: The Match of the Night indeed belonged to Marijus and Raj Shah. In their match that started at 7:15, it was one of the best-contested I've seen and an absolute thriller as the match went the distance. It certainly was anyone's match as at 3 minutes to 10pm, Marijus was serving to take the 3rd Set to a Tiebreak. It certainly looked like the match would remain incomplete as there would not be enough time to complete the Tiebreak should it happen. Well, Raj did what worked for him as the match progressed. He sliced the balls effectively for great control and, also more importantly, brought the ball down below the knees of Marijus.
Famous for his attacking forehand shots, Marijus went for them time and again. But without the right height, that meant a lot of shots going into the net. Raj was able to break the serve of Marijus in the crucial game to win 7-5 in the 3rd Set with just a couple of minutes left before the lights were to go out.
It was an incredible win for Raj and a devastating loss for Marijus. The fact that the two players hugged each other over the net after the match showed the respect they had for each other. Raj, for playing valiantly to an aggressive Marijus who played some shots for winners, had felt that the match was so close that his calm play helped him to edge out Marijus. This was one of the classics that will be in the books as a Nominee for what it was worth.
Raj did start off well leading 5-2 before Marijus put up a good fight, thanks to the egging from the sidelines from Sally. It went to a TB that he will take out Raj. A drop in his level and with Sally away to play on the other side, Raj took control of the 2nd Set. The 3rd Set turned out to be riveting and a nail-biter. It was a tough loss for the big man, but he was magnanimous as always. He even helped Raj regroup by offering a new grip for Raj who seemed to be having a slippery racquet. He went even further to give Raj a dampener and, in the end, the match...:-). It was a great match and congratulations to both the players for such a noteworthy performance.
Samara's Notes: It sounds like a definite Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end. It may even be the match to beat! Congratulations to Raj on one his biggest wins ever (perhaps the biggest), but also kudos to Marijus for such a spirited effort. Next up for Raj in the Semis is someone he is very familiar with from a past Grove Cup – "Double R" Rob Ryan!
And now back to Kris we go.
There were plenty of matches all around and it is very likely some may get missed out on being included in this report if they were not given to me directly.
Jordan Bachvaroff over Scott Bergenfeld, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
Scott was taken out by Jordan in the Singles One-Setter they played. Away on vacation for a week, Scott was not feeling quite fit and it made Jordan's day. Actually, the match was a lot closer but Scott certainly didn't feel good about his game as he felt sluggish.
Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Mike Kazlauskas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
Raj Boddu/Levy Lorenzo over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-2! No Aces (apparently).
Raj Boddu/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4! No Aces.
Dean Delgado/Natalia Sout over Jordan Bachvaroff/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Poor Dean had to wait a bit and got to play just one set, but he had his say even though there were some amazing shots by the kiddo.
Rob Gawley/Levy Lorenzo leading Kris Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 2-1 (Incomplete and on serve when
Levy's elbow acted up and he had to bow out)! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu over Dave Zhu/Rob Gawley, 6-2! No Aces.
Dave Zhu/Rob Gawley over Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu, 6-3! Dave: 2 Aces on Kris; and Rob: 1 Ace on Raj!
It was great serving by Dave that saw some incredible serves both on the sidelines and the tee. Rob played his deft and crafty game to make quite a few winners. Boddu had great shots and gets, but his energy level dropped in the second One-Setter. He was all set to go home after the first one, but stayed on to take advantage of the remaining 25 minutes.
Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan over Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces (apparently).
Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout over Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout, 9-9 (STB)!
They couldn't finish the Super Tiebreak to decide the winners of what would have been a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match…so it ends up being separate One-Setters. Well, they all felt like winners at the end.
Samara's Notes: That last Super Tiebreak, impressive as it is, has to be considered as Unofficial as we do not recognize stand-alone Super Tiebreakers. The next score was reported directly by Dino, but Kris had some additional commentary as well.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Lou La Forgia/Dino Celis over Edwin Ortega/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-1, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 47 and # 48 Ranked Teams respectively! Lou: 1 Ace on Dennis in the 2nd Set.
As Edwin put it, their death was swift, nice and easy. It looked like the teams were not balanced well as Dino and Lou simply overpowered their opponents.
All in all, it was amazing tennis and the atmosphere was buzzing with non-stop GTA action in Cedar Grove. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting and his comprehensive reporting. I also thank all those who made contributions to this report.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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