10/12/16:
"2 officially at RHP, Samara hosts 7 at C.G.!:
There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: a late afternoon/early evening session at Robin Hood Park in Clifton hosted by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and the usual later session up at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (as the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, was unable to attend due to business-related issues).
We will first go to Gen's recap from RHP.
It was a really nice day. Mike Mole and I agreed to meet up at 4pm to play at RHP. Mike was the first one to get there. Then, Raj Shah and I joined him. We took one side of court started hitting against Mike for about 15 min. Mike suggested playing Canadian Doubles instead we played Singles, first to win 3 games.
Unofficial Results:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 3-2! Mike: 1 Ace (on a second serve).
Mike Mole over Raj Shah, 3-1! No Aces. Raj was not dressed to play. He was wearing jeans.
Then, Raj left to go pick up his son Armaan. Mike and I then played a One-Setter.
The RHP Result:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2! Mike: 1 Ace (on a second serve). We played this one from 5:10 to 5:35.
After our set, Mike practiced serving while I returned them. We ended the session by the time Raj and Armaan got back at 6pm. Raj and Armaan headed to the playground for some playtime.
There were quite a few cameos. Rob Ryan did a drive-by and shouted out "Rematch!!" to Raj. Kenny Barilari walked over to the courts and said hello to us. He briefly talked to me and mentioned he will be performing with his band for a benefit fundraiser on November 26th. He will forward the info to Frank to send to rest of the GTA. Dave Zapusek and Cujo were walking by in the park.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her timely and comprehensive report.
Let's now recap all that transpired up at Cedar Grove.
Around 6:15, "Coach" Dino Celis sent a text message to Samara to see if he'd be interested in heading up to Cedar Grove a little later in the evening. Frank was still working on typing the GTA Tuesday Night Results and said he would need about an hour. Dino was fine with that as it gave him enough time to grab a bite to eat first.
A little after 7:15, Celis picked up Samara at his residence and then they headed up to Cedar Grove. Their arrival time was 7:45.
The Verona Crew had Courts Three and Four while another foursome of outsiders had Court One. Only Court Two featured GTA players as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix was hitting against "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega.
At first, Frank and Dino remained on the sidelines as they thought Jay and Edwin were in the midst of a match with one another. But soon enough, Jay invited them out there as he and Edwin had only been hitting the entire time.
By the time Celis and Samara made their way out to Court Two, Phoenix had already gone over to Ortega's side of the court. And thus, that move decided the teams - Samara/Celis versus Phoenix/Ortega. That Doubles One-Setter got underway at 7:50.
The foursome (two older Mixed Doubles couples) left Court One at 8pm. Within minutes, "J-Bach" Jordan
Bachvaroff had taken it over to practice his serve. He would have to fly solo for a while as it was not until 8:25 when "2 Tall" Dave Zhu arrived to make it a pair.
Five minutes later, that first Doubles One-Setter ended and Jay left. Frank opted out of the next one and so we had Dino and Dave versus Edwin and Jordan. The official action shifted from Court Two to Court One.
That second Doubles One-Setter got underway at exactly 8:33. Two minutes later, The Verona Crew left Court Three but remained on Court Four as it seemed a new foursome replaced the old foursome there.
Samara sent a text message to Srinivasan at 8:40 to let Kris know that Frank and company had made it up there after all. Kris sent a reply stating that he was out on business. From there, the two kept going back and forth via text for most of the rest of the night.
At 9pm, "Instant" Moka Pathan arrived and started hitting with Samara on Court Two (Frank had been holding it ever since the action shifted from Two to One).
Exactly at 9:16, the second Doubles One-Setter had ended. At this time, Ortega left and Pathan took his place.
At 9:35, the Verona Crew left Court Four as they finally called it a night.
We ended up with a surprisingly low total amount of official players...just seven! Wow! Especially at this time of year on a day and night as beautiful as this one was.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Jay Phoenix/Edwin Ortega, 6-1! No Aces. It went like this: Jay was broken at Love and then Dino held serve in an epic struggle as Frank got things started with a big Overhead Smash for 15-Love only to then muff a volley for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point, Deuce and then all Break Points until 4th Deuce and then all Game Points until 6th Deuce, Break Point, 7th Deuce, Game Point and the hold (obviously I could no longer who hit what winners and when during that game) to go up 2-0. Edwin was broken (Love-15 where Frank blew a volley for 15-All and then Dino hit a sizzling passing shot winner for 15-30, then there was a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point and then yet another Double Fault to break himself) and Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 after Edwin blew a volley and Dino hit another highly impressive passing shot winner, but it shifted again to Break Point until it went to Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce where Dino hit the winning volley to set up Game Point and then came the game) to go up 4-0! Phoenix held to get his team on the scoreboard (Dino hit a winning return and then Frank hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it then shifted to 30-All as Frank first blew a volley and then he muffed an overhead as well and then Dino hit a blast of a passing shot winner to set up Break Point, but then an un-returned serve made it Deuce, another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), but Celis held again and this time it was at Love as Dino opened the game with a crushing Backhand Volley and then Frank closed out the game with a winning volley for a 5-1 lead! And then Ortega was broken again (Edwin blew a volley for Love-15 and then he hit a Double Fault to make it Love-30, but then an un-returned serve started the shift to 30-All only to have Dino hit another winner blast of a winner to set up the Break/Match Point where Frank hit a winning drop shot return) to take the loss. We played this one on Court Two from 7:50 to 8:30. At this time, Jay left.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Edwin Ortega over Dino Celis/Dave Zhu, 6-3! No Aces. Jordan and Edwin jumped out to a 3-1 lead and then Ortega was on serve in a game that went to at least a dozen Deuces (perhaps more) only to be broken to have his team's lead cut to 3-2. It would then go to 3-3 before Bachvaroff and Ortega could right the ship and prevent the opposition from winning another game. Zhu was having an off night and it may have been due to rust as we have not seen him at the courts for a while. This one was played on Court One from 8:33 to 9:16.
Moka Pathan/Jordan Bachvaroff over Dino Celis/Dave Zhu, 6-2! No Aces. It was 2-2 before Pathan and Bachvaroff went up 5-2. Zhu was on serve and it was Double Break/Match Point only to hit a Double Fault to end it! This one also took place on Court One as it began at 9:19 and finished at 9:55. Dave picked up the level of his game for a while here only to see it elude him once again. Despite the loss, Dino was the MVP of the night as he was overall the most consistent. Moka got off to a shaky start, but then found his groove and Jordan was pretty much on the money in both of these last two sets.
It should also be noted that Dave was very willing to give up his spot in this last one to allow Frank to come back in as Zhu felt bad about the way he had played in the previous One-Setter. But Samara insisted that he play again as the best way to get out of a rough patch is to play through it…and it did work, for the most part.
All the best,
Frank Samara
"2 officially at RHP, Samara hosts 7 at C.G.!:
There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: a late afternoon/early evening session at Robin Hood Park in Clifton hosted by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and the usual later session up at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (as the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, was unable to attend due to business-related issues).
We will first go to Gen's recap from RHP.
It was a really nice day. Mike Mole and I agreed to meet up at 4pm to play at RHP. Mike was the first one to get there. Then, Raj Shah and I joined him. We took one side of court started hitting against Mike for about 15 min. Mike suggested playing Canadian Doubles instead we played Singles, first to win 3 games.
Unofficial Results:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 3-2! Mike: 1 Ace (on a second serve).
Mike Mole over Raj Shah, 3-1! No Aces. Raj was not dressed to play. He was wearing jeans.
Then, Raj left to go pick up his son Armaan. Mike and I then played a One-Setter.
The RHP Result:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2! Mike: 1 Ace (on a second serve). We played this one from 5:10 to 5:35.
After our set, Mike practiced serving while I returned them. We ended the session by the time Raj and Armaan got back at 6pm. Raj and Armaan headed to the playground for some playtime.
There were quite a few cameos. Rob Ryan did a drive-by and shouted out "Rematch!!" to Raj. Kenny Barilari walked over to the courts and said hello to us. He briefly talked to me and mentioned he will be performing with his band for a benefit fundraiser on November 26th. He will forward the info to Frank to send to rest of the GTA. Dave Zapusek and Cujo were walking by in the park.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her timely and comprehensive report.
Let's now recap all that transpired up at Cedar Grove.
Around 6:15, "Coach" Dino Celis sent a text message to Samara to see if he'd be interested in heading up to Cedar Grove a little later in the evening. Frank was still working on typing the GTA Tuesday Night Results and said he would need about an hour. Dino was fine with that as it gave him enough time to grab a bite to eat first.
A little after 7:15, Celis picked up Samara at his residence and then they headed up to Cedar Grove. Their arrival time was 7:45.
The Verona Crew had Courts Three and Four while another foursome of outsiders had Court One. Only Court Two featured GTA players as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix was hitting against "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega.
At first, Frank and Dino remained on the sidelines as they thought Jay and Edwin were in the midst of a match with one another. But soon enough, Jay invited them out there as he and Edwin had only been hitting the entire time.
By the time Celis and Samara made their way out to Court Two, Phoenix had already gone over to Ortega's side of the court. And thus, that move decided the teams - Samara/Celis versus Phoenix/Ortega. That Doubles One-Setter got underway at 7:50.
The foursome (two older Mixed Doubles couples) left Court One at 8pm. Within minutes, "J-Bach" Jordan
Bachvaroff had taken it over to practice his serve. He would have to fly solo for a while as it was not until 8:25 when "2 Tall" Dave Zhu arrived to make it a pair.
Five minutes later, that first Doubles One-Setter ended and Jay left. Frank opted out of the next one and so we had Dino and Dave versus Edwin and Jordan. The official action shifted from Court Two to Court One.
That second Doubles One-Setter got underway at exactly 8:33. Two minutes later, The Verona Crew left Court Three but remained on Court Four as it seemed a new foursome replaced the old foursome there.
Samara sent a text message to Srinivasan at 8:40 to let Kris know that Frank and company had made it up there after all. Kris sent a reply stating that he was out on business. From there, the two kept going back and forth via text for most of the rest of the night.
At 9pm, "Instant" Moka Pathan arrived and started hitting with Samara on Court Two (Frank had been holding it ever since the action shifted from Two to One).
Exactly at 9:16, the second Doubles One-Setter had ended. At this time, Ortega left and Pathan took his place.
At 9:35, the Verona Crew left Court Four as they finally called it a night.
We ended up with a surprisingly low total amount of official players...just seven! Wow! Especially at this time of year on a day and night as beautiful as this one was.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Jay Phoenix/Edwin Ortega, 6-1! No Aces. It went like this: Jay was broken at Love and then Dino held serve in an epic struggle as Frank got things started with a big Overhead Smash for 15-Love only to then muff a volley for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point, Deuce and then all Break Points until 4th Deuce and then all Game Points until 6th Deuce, Break Point, 7th Deuce, Game Point and the hold (obviously I could no longer who hit what winners and when during that game) to go up 2-0. Edwin was broken (Love-15 where Frank blew a volley for 15-All and then Dino hit a sizzling passing shot winner for 15-30, then there was a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point and then yet another Double Fault to break himself) and Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 after Edwin blew a volley and Dino hit another highly impressive passing shot winner, but it shifted again to Break Point until it went to Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce where Dino hit the winning volley to set up Game Point and then came the game) to go up 4-0! Phoenix held to get his team on the scoreboard (Dino hit a winning return and then Frank hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it then shifted to 30-All as Frank first blew a volley and then he muffed an overhead as well and then Dino hit a blast of a passing shot winner to set up Break Point, but then an un-returned serve made it Deuce, another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), but Celis held again and this time it was at Love as Dino opened the game with a crushing Backhand Volley and then Frank closed out the game with a winning volley for a 5-1 lead! And then Ortega was broken again (Edwin blew a volley for Love-15 and then he hit a Double Fault to make it Love-30, but then an un-returned serve started the shift to 30-All only to have Dino hit another winner blast of a winner to set up the Break/Match Point where Frank hit a winning drop shot return) to take the loss. We played this one on Court Two from 7:50 to 8:30. At this time, Jay left.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Edwin Ortega over Dino Celis/Dave Zhu, 6-3! No Aces. Jordan and Edwin jumped out to a 3-1 lead and then Ortega was on serve in a game that went to at least a dozen Deuces (perhaps more) only to be broken to have his team's lead cut to 3-2. It would then go to 3-3 before Bachvaroff and Ortega could right the ship and prevent the opposition from winning another game. Zhu was having an off night and it may have been due to rust as we have not seen him at the courts for a while. This one was played on Court One from 8:33 to 9:16.
Moka Pathan/Jordan Bachvaroff over Dino Celis/Dave Zhu, 6-2! No Aces. It was 2-2 before Pathan and Bachvaroff went up 5-2. Zhu was on serve and it was Double Break/Match Point only to hit a Double Fault to end it! This one also took place on Court One as it began at 9:19 and finished at 9:55. Dave picked up the level of his game for a while here only to see it elude him once again. Despite the loss, Dino was the MVP of the night as he was overall the most consistent. Moka got off to a shaky start, but then found his groove and Jordan was pretty much on the money in both of these last two sets.
It should also be noted that Dave was very willing to give up his spot in this last one to allow Frank to come back in as Zhu felt bad about the way he had played in the previous One-Setter. But Samara insisted that he play again as the best way to get out of a rough patch is to play through it…and it did work, for the most part.
All the best,
Frank Samara
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