10/16/16:
"Frank/Kris host 8-Team M-Dub, part of 21 at C.G.!":
Last year, the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament got underway on Sunday, September 27th. This season, it was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 9th. But then that date became a rainout and it had to be moved to the 16th.
Mother Nature finally smiled upon this event with an absolutely beautiful day as the peak temperature would eventually soar past 70 degrees and it felt more like mid-September (perhaps even early Sept.) than mid-October. And as you will soon see, the tourney played out in an equally satisfying manner.
GTA Sunday Tennis got started before 10am at The Cedar Grove Courts. This would be the first season in a few where we decided not to split the M-Dub into two locations (Clifton and Cedar Grove) as we felt we could get more of the ladies on-board if we just kept it all at C.G. It seems that decision paid off in spades!
As already alluded to, the featured event of the day was the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. As hoped for, it ended up being a 16-Player/8-Team Event in a single elimination format. There would be two rounds of action - The Quarterfinals and The Semifinals. Those rounds would feature full matches except that if the first two sets were split, those matches would be decided by a 10-Point Super Tiebreak.
Before we get to all of that, let's first examine the timing of the entrances. When Samara made his arrival at 9:45, he saw "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas hitting with his wife "Spicy" Sally Pillay on Court Three while Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon were hitting against "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and Natalia "Nitro" Sout on Court Four.
Pulling into the parking lot shortly after Samara was an Asian couple not with the GTA. Samara went into "Hulk mode" as he quickly stormed Court One, but was visibly angry at the prospect of now having only three of the four courts (as four would surely be needed) for this event.
Frank was never rude to the couple who was now starting to get out of their car. But there must have been a distinctively discernable look on his face....because suddenly that same couple decided to get back into their car and leave altogether.
"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas, who was now heading toward the courts himself, added that it may have been Samara's attire. "Hollywood" looked much more like "East L.A." as he had a knitted ski cap pulled down to the eyebrows (covering all his hair) and was wearing a flannel buttoned up like he was ready to get loco! Hey, sometimes it pays to be street...LOL!
Frank then instructed Mike and Brenda to start hitting on Court One while he would hold Court Two on his own. "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues soon joined the hitting session on Court Four.
And by 9:55, it all became a moot point anyway as they started to arrive in droves - "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar (an unexpected arrival in terms of registration, though he did inform Kris ahead of time that he was on his way).
At 10am, "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "Coach" Dino Celis also arrived while "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson made their way courts, but seemingly only to make cameo appearances. Sairaj was dressed to play, but Dawn arrived in blue jeans and with a dog on a leash as she had pulled out of this event with an ongoing injury.
At this moment, we had everyone we needed for this event except one...Robbin "Extra B" Miller, who was a late registrant on Friday night to take the place of Peterson.
Calls and text messages were put into Robbin by both Frank and Fernanda. She soon replied to Toker that she could not make it as her mother was ill and she had to care for her instead.
Thankfully, Dawn was willing to step up and re-enter the draw (jeans and all) in order to save the day by providing eight ladies to form eight teams.
The other issue was that we had ten guys to choose from, but Frank and Kris soon made that a non-issue as they both decided to withdraw from the event so that it would be an eight plus eight situation. Hey, they are not only the two hosts with the most, but they are most gracious hosts as well. ;-)
Samara then wrote the names of the participating men onto ticket stubs as it would be the ladies drawing them from a proper canvas bag (thanks to Dino) in a manner that would befit a Sadie Hawkins dance (most of you young folk don't remember those...LOL!) with the highest-ranked woman picking first and then working our way down the ranks from there. The lowest-ranked lady would then get whichever guy's ticket remained in the bag.
Laura Gawley was the highest ranked woman, so she chose first. Her raffle ticket read "Dino" which meant she would be teaming with Dino Celis...a formidable team!
Sally Pillay was next highest, so she picked next and pulled out a ticket with "Dennis" on it (as in Dennis Cabanatan) and she immediately yelled out "Dennis!" in a most satisfied and happy manner.
Fernanda Toker, now the third highest ranked woman, reached in next. Her raffle ticket read "Chazz" which meant she'd be teaming with Chazz Weldon. Both of them were equally ecstatic as they have been talking about teaming together for a couple of seasons now, but in never came to fruition.
The next highest ranked woman in the draw, Doinks Srinivasan, was next to choose and she pulled the "Joe" ticket out of the bag...which meant she'd be teaming with Joe Rodrigues. J-Rod noticed the way she sheepishly called out his name, "Joe", that she was experiencing something less than unbridled enthusiasm (Billy Mumphrey, she was not! LMAO!).
Kathy Sheldon was the next lady to approach the bag and she produced the "Marijus" ticket from the bag meaning she got Marijus Kuzavas. The man otherwise known as Super Mario made it extra-obvious that he was quite pleased with his situation as he seemed to be getting back at his wife Sally for her very joyous reaction earlier...hmm, interesting.
Brenda Jordan was next up and she drew the "Senthil" ticket, as in Senthil Kumar.
Up next (and last to actually pick) was Dawn Peterson. This brought about an interesting scenario that many in attendance were already realizing. What would happen if she picked the "Tito" ticket? Castolo and Peterson are the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions.
The idea of this tournament is to eventually crown a new Top Contending Team to face the current Champs. Would they be a team in this tourney? And, if so, would their Titles be on the line throughout the event?
Samara quickly put all those queries to rest as he said a trade would have to be made as we could not have the Champs (with their Titles constantly at stake) in that scenario.
Still, he had Dawn draw a ticket from the bag and it read "Mike" for Mr. Mike Kazlauskas. So no trade would have to be made after all.
And that meant that Natalia Sout would be the one teaming with Tito instead.
As for the match-ups, they were done as they would be in any typical tournament format. The team that was captained by the # 1 Seed (on the women's side) in the draw would face the one helmed by the # 8 Seed. On the other side of the draw, the # 2 Seed's team would face the # 7 Seed's team and on that same side of the draw it would be the # 3 Seed's team versus the # 6 Seed's team.
Getting back to the other side of the draw, the last remaining match-up was the # 4 Seed's team vs. the # 5 Seed's team. As already stated, this was based on the ranking of the women on each of the teams and not the men.
This format led to the following M-Dub Quarterfinal Matches:
On one side of the draw:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley vs. Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout
Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan vs. Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon
And on the other side of the draw:
Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay vs. Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker vs. Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan
There was no rhyme or reason as to which match-ups occupied which courts. It was pretty much a free for all. Celis/Gawley vs. Castolo/Sout ended up on Court One. Cabanatan/Pillay vs. Kazlauskas/Peterson took Court Two. Weldon/Toker vs. Kumar/Jordan would be on Court Three. And Rodrigues/Srinivasan versus Kuzavas/Sheldon would unfold on Court Four.
Three of the four matches would begin at 10:20, but the battle on Court Two did not get started until 10:25 as that court was covered with leaves and Peterson needed some hitting time as she originally did not anticipate becoming an active participant in this event.
But the 16 players involved (plus Frank and Kris) would not be the only GTA stars making the scene.
Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda arrived shortly after 10:25. Had she shown up just a little earlier (in time for the lottery-style drawing), she could have been the eighth entrant on the ladies' side rather than Peterson. She ended up watching the action until 10:55. She then left, but would return twice more (1:10 to 1:30 and 1:50 to 2:10) later in the session (unfortunately, she was never able to get involved in any official action).
"Rowdy" Rob Gawley made a brief cameo appearance at 11:45 to see how his wife Laura was doing in the tourney. Five minutes later, The Pienciaks (Papa Rick and Son Ryan) hit the courts at 11:50 and were actually able to get onto Court Two and soon see some action as that Quarterfinal had finished half an hour earlier.
"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 12:50, initially intending to make an extended cameo appearance as he had his first Sunday football game in quite some time (this time around at Latteri Park in Clifton rather than the usual locale, Robin Hood Park). But like Michael Corleone in "Godfather 3"...just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in! Sore Boy ended up playing back-to-back Doubles One-Setters on Court Four.
The last player to arrive was "The Rainmaker" Richard Reicht at 2pm, but he never got involved in any official GTA action as everyone abandoned the area like someone dropped a bomb at 2:20 (it was a long day, albeit one full of fun and high-octane action). Perhaps he was there for some non-GTA action he had arranged with someone else instead.
So we do not include him (nor Sachiko, nor Rob) in our total of 21 official competitors on the day at RHP. And now we must finally get to all of the results. It was truly an epic session and we will close the report with the opinion of one Mr. Srinivasan as well as my own.
The Cedar Grove Results:
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Kuzavas/Sheldon advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Marijus: 1 Ace on Doinks in the 2nd Set. This one started at 10:20 on Court Four and ended at 11:25.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley over Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 7-5, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Celis/Gawley advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Laura: 1 Ace on Natalia in the 2nd Set. They began this one on Court One at 10:20 and it finished exactly at 11:26.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker over Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan, 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 (STB), as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Weldon/Toker advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! No Aces. This one got underway on Court Three at 10:20 (and was the first to begin of those three all starting in the 10:20 minute), but it was the last of the Quarters to finish at 11:53!
Here's how the STB went: Brenda was broken on her lone serve as Fernanda hit a winner and then Fernanda held both of her serves as Chazz made an incredible get/winner combo for the first one and then he hit an excellent passing shot winner for the second one as they took a 3-0 lead! Senthil held the first of his two serves as Brenda hit a winning volley, but then he was broken on his second when he blew an overhead to make it 1-4! Chazz was broken on his first serve as Brenda hit a drop shot winner for 4-2 at the changeover but then he held his second after hitting a winner for 5-2. Jordan was broken on her first serve after she blew a volley, but she then held her second after what might have been the point of the match ended with a winning Overhead Smash by Senthil for 3-6! Toker held both of her serve after hitting an un-returned one for the first of the two points and then she hit a winning lob to close the second one for an 8-3 lead! Kumar held the first of his two serves for 4-8 at the second changeover and then he held his second as well after hitting a scintillating winner for 5-8! Weldon was broken on both of his serves as Senthil hit a winning Overhead Smash to end the first one and then Brenda hit a drop shot winner to close out the second one and cut the opposition's lead to 8-7! But then she would be broken on both of her serves when Chazz hit a passing shot winner to kill the first one and then the second one got finished on the very first Match Point of the entire encounter!
The Skinny: Senthil and Brenda played aggressively in the 1st Set as each was very comfortable to hit winning volleys up at the net. But Jordan grew fatigued in the 2nd Set and Kumar felt it necessary to have to play the baseline to try to cover more court as the wily opposition smelled blood in the water and targeted Brenda as she grew ever more tired. Still, she battled back. When she was reminded of the format of the tournament heading into the STB, she almost considered just packing it in and giving less than full effort. But her competitive spirit kicked in and did not allow her to do that, so she went down swinging! Kudos to Brenda for fighting back and also to Senthil for ably assisting her as they almost pulled off an upset here. But congrats must go to Chazz and Fernanda as the steady-as-they-go tandem wore down the opposition to advance to hopefully do the same to their next opposing team.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay over Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-2, to become the New # 13 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division (as that was the existing rank of Kazlauskas/Peterson), and Cabanatan/Pillay advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Sally: 1 Ace on Dawn in the 2nd Set. Although this was the last Quarter to get started at 10:25 (on Court Two), it was the first of the four to finish at 11:20.
Non-M-Dub Mixed Doubles One-Setter:
Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 11:35 to 12:10. Kris later said that they missed out on some opportunities.
M-Dub Semifinal:
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker over Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay, 6-3, 5-7, 13-11 (STB), to become the New # 13 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division and advance to the M-Dub Finals! No Aces. Like the previous round, this was the first one to get underway (once again on Court Three and at 11:58), but it was the last to finish. In fact, it closed out the section with all those still in attendance watching intently.
It was 1:50 with Chazz and Fernanda leading the Super Tiebreak with a 4-2 score. But during that first changeover, Weldon was dealing with some serious cramping issues and was getting ready to forfeit! It took both Frank and Kris to convince him to just play out if he was willing to lose it via forfeit anyway. After a five minute injury timeout, they resumed action at 1:55. And it went as follows...
Dennis held the last of his two serves after hitting a drop shot winner to pull to 3-4. Fernanda held the first of her two serves to go up 5-3, but was then broken on her second when Dennis hit a winning return to cut the score to 5-4. Sally was held both of her serves to first level the STB and then take a 6-5 lead! Chazz hit an un-returned serve for 6-6 and then there was the second changeover. Then, Weldon was broken on his second serve as Dennis hit a winning drop shot return to take a 7-6 lead as now he was about to go on serve. Cabanatan was broken on his first serve to make it 7-Up and that was where Sally hit a winner for her team to reclaim the lead at 8-7! Toker was then broken on the first of her two serves for a 7-9 score and the first Match Point! She then held her second with an un-returned serve to pull to 8-9, but it was still the 2nd Match Point! Pillay was then broken on her first serve for 9-9 at the third changeover. She was then broken again to hand over a 10-9 lead to the opposition who now had their first Match Point on the 3rd M.P. overall! Weldon was broken on his first serve after Dennis hit a highly impressive Backhand Volley winner to level it at 10-10! He was also broken on his second to now hand back an 11-10 lead to the opponents as they now had their third Match Point on the 4th M.P. overall! Dennis was broken on the first of his two serves for 11-11 and then Chazz (despite the cramping) made a great get that led to it being 12-11 and the 2nd Match Point (the 5th M.P. overall) for his team with service returning to Fernanda! And that was where they finally got the job done at 2:09!
Samara's Notes: Chazz was happy that he took the advice of Frank and Kris as playing on led to a hard-fought victory and a place in the Finals! Congratulations to him and also to Fernanda who played on despite the fact she was originally hoping to leave the session at 1:30 for work purposes. Much respect to her for playing on for the benefit of all involved and the league itself. Kudos to Dennis and Sally for a very valiant effort in a battle that will likely be a Nominee for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end!
The length of this marathon match obviously got us ahead of ourselves in this report. It may have closed out the session, but there was plenty more action along the way!
M-Dub Semifinal:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the M-Dub Finals! Mike: 1 Ace on Laura (not sure of which set). This match was played on Court Four from 12:01 to 1pm, just 59 minutes total...quite the contrast from the other Semi!
Samara's Notes: And so it will be Celis/Gawley versus Weldon/Toker in the Finals! On paper, it seems to be quite an even match-up...but we will have to see how it plays out on the court (hopefully, in the very near future)! It won't just be the # 13 Rank of Weldon/Toker on the line. The winning team leapfrogs all the way up to the # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division as they become the New Top Contenders entitled to the next Title Shot at the existing GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson!
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Mike Kazlauskas/Rick Pienciak, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 57 and # 58 Ranked Teams respectively! Mike: 1 Ace on Senthil (not sure of which set); and Rick: 1 Ace on Ryan (again, not sure of which set)! These two teams faced off on Court Two from 12:04 to 1pm, just 56 minutes in its entirety!
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Kris Srinivasan over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Joe: 1 Ace on Frank. It went like this: Doinks was broken (a winning volley by Joe and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, but it shifted to Break Point with a winning Backhand Volley by Frank along the way, but then Joe hit a passing shot winner to make it Deuce, it was Game Point where a Double Fault brought it to 2nd Deuce and then Kris hit a winning lob to set up Break Point and then came the break), Frank was broken (Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley for 30-Love, but then Kris blew back-to-back volleys in separate points to make it 30-All, an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then Joe hit a scorcher of a winning return for Deuce and then it was Break Point where Frank did a very un-Samara-like thing and hit a Double Fault to break himself!), Joe was broken (Frank hit a blast of an Overhead Smash for Love-15, it was Love-30 where Kris blew a volley for 15-30 and then a well-placed and fast-paced sideline Ace on Frank made it 30-All, but then it went to Break Point where Kris redeemed himself with a killer volley to get the break), but Kris was the first to hold serve and it was at Love as he started things off with an un-returned serve, Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to set up Triple Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold for a 3-1 lead! D. Srinivasan held (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game Point as Frank blew yet another volley along the way, but Kris hit a winning Overhead Smash only for Kris to end up blowing a volley to allow the hold), but so did Samara (Kris blew two volleys, but the word "blew" may be too harsh a term for both of these as these were more forced errors than unforced...perhaps blown opportunities is more accurate, but now it was Love-30 only for two un-returned serves serving to lead the shift to Game Point where a third un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 4-2. Rodrigues held as well (Frank blew an overhead in the first point and Kris did the same in the second to make it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point only to have back-to-back Double Faults reduce it to Deuce and then it was all Game Points to 3rd Deuce...likely forgot some winners along the way and then it went to Break Point where Joe made an awesome get/winner combo for 4th Deuce and then it went back to Game Point where Joe hit a passing shot winner to secure his own hold), but then K. Srinivasan had his second straight Love hold which was book-ended by a great get by Kris in the opening point and a winning volley by Frank in the closing point as their team took a 5-3 lead! And then The Marathon Woman was broken as she started off with an un-returned serve for 15-Love only to have it all shift to Double Break/Match Point as Kris hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way, it then went to Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve made it Deuce, but then came the 3rd Break/Match Point and the break for the loss! We played this one on Court One from 12:15 to 12:54.
Non-M-Dub Mixed Doubles One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Kris held (Frank hit a winning drop shot return for Love-30, but then it shifted to Game Point as Frank blew an overhead along the way and there was also an un-returned serve as well, then it went to Deuce where Natalia hit a winning lob to set up Game Point once again, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank blew a volley to lead to another Game Point and then came the hold) and Doinks was broken (Natalia hit another winning lob to make it Love-15, it was then 15-All only to lead straight to Double Break Point where Frank blew the volley to allow the break) to get off to a 0-2 start! Natalia was broken (15-Love and then 15-All only to have it go straight to Double Break Point where Frank hit a winning volley for the break), but Frank was broken as well (Kris hit a missile-like winning return for Love-15 where an un-returned serve made it 15-All only to then go right to Double Break Point as Kris hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way and then came the break) to fall to 1-3! K. Srinivasan was broken (an un-returned serve set up 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce...and, yes, winners were forgotten along the way...before it shifted to Break Point and the break), but so was D. Srinivasan (Doinks hit a winning lob for 15-Love and then Natalia hit what became a winning lob return, but only because Frank mistimed the leap for what should have been a winning volley which ended up being a whiff instead to make it 15-All and then a Double Fault led to 15-30, Double Break Point came next only to be followed by the break) for 2-4! Sout was broken again (Love-15, an un-returned serve for 15-All, but then straight to Double Break Point as Doinks hit a winning return and then she hit a winning lob, Kris hit a winning volley to bring it to Break Point only to have Doinks hit yet another winning lob for the break), but Samara held (an awesome rally opened the game in the opposition's favor and then Kris hit a winner to make it Love-30, but then it shifted to Game Point after Frank hit a winner and then an un-returned serve, it then went to Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to knot the score at 4-4! The K Man was broken again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point with two un-returned serves along the way, but then it went to Deuce where Kris blew what should have been an easy drop shot winner to set up Break Point and then came the break), but The Marathon Woman finally held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game/Match Point as Doinks hit a winner along the way, it was then cut to Game/Match Point where the best rally of the match favored the team on serve) as her team scored a comeback victory! We also played this one on Court One and it lasted from 1pm to 1:49.
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Marijus Kuzavas/Dan Martinelli, 6-3! No Aces. Court Four featured this foursome from 1:10 to 1:35.
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Mike Kazlauskas/Dan Martinelli, 6-1! No Aces. Court Four also hosted this gang of four (one different than before) from 1:40 to exactly 2:04!
The Skinny: The Senthil/Ryan tandem had quite the day going 4 and 0 in consecutive sets!
Samara's Notes: I thank all those who participated in the tournament and the session (especially the injured Peterson and the cramping Weldon) to make it another epic day in the history of the league.
Later in the day, Kris sent the following text message to Frank: "Amazing day of tennis! Super atmosphere and an incredible finish!"
The reply from Samara read: "Yes, indeed! If the Final happens soon, it may have been our most successful (in terms of execution) tourney ever."
The last word from Kris: "Today was one of the best! Great atmosphere, good teams and matches!"
Samara's Notes: I think that says it all. But just to add an additional note as to why it was so good was that everything played out at such a clip, that there was non-stop action on every court (thankfully, we had all four throughout the session). And then we had the one Semi (Weldon/Toker vs. Cabanatan/Pillay) that outlasted everything else and then commanded the attention of a captive audience. It was a dramatic way to end the session and I truly believe that those who never got to play (but only had the chance to watch) did not mind it at all as they felt they were witnessing something worthy of their attention. Kudos to all!
All the best,
Frank Samara
"Frank/Kris host 8-Team M-Dub, part of 21 at C.G.!":
Last year, the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament got underway on Sunday, September 27th. This season, it was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 9th. But then that date became a rainout and it had to be moved to the 16th.
Mother Nature finally smiled upon this event with an absolutely beautiful day as the peak temperature would eventually soar past 70 degrees and it felt more like mid-September (perhaps even early Sept.) than mid-October. And as you will soon see, the tourney played out in an equally satisfying manner.
GTA Sunday Tennis got started before 10am at The Cedar Grove Courts. This would be the first season in a few where we decided not to split the M-Dub into two locations (Clifton and Cedar Grove) as we felt we could get more of the ladies on-board if we just kept it all at C.G. It seems that decision paid off in spades!
As already alluded to, the featured event of the day was the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. As hoped for, it ended up being a 16-Player/8-Team Event in a single elimination format. There would be two rounds of action - The Quarterfinals and The Semifinals. Those rounds would feature full matches except that if the first two sets were split, those matches would be decided by a 10-Point Super Tiebreak.
Before we get to all of that, let's first examine the timing of the entrances. When Samara made his arrival at 9:45, he saw "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas hitting with his wife "Spicy" Sally Pillay on Court Three while Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon were hitting against "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and Natalia "Nitro" Sout on Court Four.
Pulling into the parking lot shortly after Samara was an Asian couple not with the GTA. Samara went into "Hulk mode" as he quickly stormed Court One, but was visibly angry at the prospect of now having only three of the four courts (as four would surely be needed) for this event.
Frank was never rude to the couple who was now starting to get out of their car. But there must have been a distinctively discernable look on his face....because suddenly that same couple decided to get back into their car and leave altogether.
"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas, who was now heading toward the courts himself, added that it may have been Samara's attire. "Hollywood" looked much more like "East L.A." as he had a knitted ski cap pulled down to the eyebrows (covering all his hair) and was wearing a flannel buttoned up like he was ready to get loco! Hey, sometimes it pays to be street...LOL!
Frank then instructed Mike and Brenda to start hitting on Court One while he would hold Court Two on his own. "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues soon joined the hitting session on Court Four.
And by 9:55, it all became a moot point anyway as they started to arrive in droves - "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar (an unexpected arrival in terms of registration, though he did inform Kris ahead of time that he was on his way).
At 10am, "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "Coach" Dino Celis also arrived while "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson made their way courts, but seemingly only to make cameo appearances. Sairaj was dressed to play, but Dawn arrived in blue jeans and with a dog on a leash as she had pulled out of this event with an ongoing injury.
At this moment, we had everyone we needed for this event except one...Robbin "Extra B" Miller, who was a late registrant on Friday night to take the place of Peterson.
Calls and text messages were put into Robbin by both Frank and Fernanda. She soon replied to Toker that she could not make it as her mother was ill and she had to care for her instead.
Thankfully, Dawn was willing to step up and re-enter the draw (jeans and all) in order to save the day by providing eight ladies to form eight teams.
The other issue was that we had ten guys to choose from, but Frank and Kris soon made that a non-issue as they both decided to withdraw from the event so that it would be an eight plus eight situation. Hey, they are not only the two hosts with the most, but they are most gracious hosts as well. ;-)
Samara then wrote the names of the participating men onto ticket stubs as it would be the ladies drawing them from a proper canvas bag (thanks to Dino) in a manner that would befit a Sadie Hawkins dance (most of you young folk don't remember those...LOL!) with the highest-ranked woman picking first and then working our way down the ranks from there. The lowest-ranked lady would then get whichever guy's ticket remained in the bag.
Laura Gawley was the highest ranked woman, so she chose first. Her raffle ticket read "Dino" which meant she would be teaming with Dino Celis...a formidable team!
Sally Pillay was next highest, so she picked next and pulled out a ticket with "Dennis" on it (as in Dennis Cabanatan) and she immediately yelled out "Dennis!" in a most satisfied and happy manner.
Fernanda Toker, now the third highest ranked woman, reached in next. Her raffle ticket read "Chazz" which meant she'd be teaming with Chazz Weldon. Both of them were equally ecstatic as they have been talking about teaming together for a couple of seasons now, but in never came to fruition.
The next highest ranked woman in the draw, Doinks Srinivasan, was next to choose and she pulled the "Joe" ticket out of the bag...which meant she'd be teaming with Joe Rodrigues. J-Rod noticed the way she sheepishly called out his name, "Joe", that she was experiencing something less than unbridled enthusiasm (Billy Mumphrey, she was not! LMAO!).
Kathy Sheldon was the next lady to approach the bag and she produced the "Marijus" ticket from the bag meaning she got Marijus Kuzavas. The man otherwise known as Super Mario made it extra-obvious that he was quite pleased with his situation as he seemed to be getting back at his wife Sally for her very joyous reaction earlier...hmm, interesting.
Brenda Jordan was next up and she drew the "Senthil" ticket, as in Senthil Kumar.
Up next (and last to actually pick) was Dawn Peterson. This brought about an interesting scenario that many in attendance were already realizing. What would happen if she picked the "Tito" ticket? Castolo and Peterson are the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions.
The idea of this tournament is to eventually crown a new Top Contending Team to face the current Champs. Would they be a team in this tourney? And, if so, would their Titles be on the line throughout the event?
Samara quickly put all those queries to rest as he said a trade would have to be made as we could not have the Champs (with their Titles constantly at stake) in that scenario.
Still, he had Dawn draw a ticket from the bag and it read "Mike" for Mr. Mike Kazlauskas. So no trade would have to be made after all.
And that meant that Natalia Sout would be the one teaming with Tito instead.
As for the match-ups, they were done as they would be in any typical tournament format. The team that was captained by the # 1 Seed (on the women's side) in the draw would face the one helmed by the # 8 Seed. On the other side of the draw, the # 2 Seed's team would face the # 7 Seed's team and on that same side of the draw it would be the # 3 Seed's team versus the # 6 Seed's team.
Getting back to the other side of the draw, the last remaining match-up was the # 4 Seed's team vs. the # 5 Seed's team. As already stated, this was based on the ranking of the women on each of the teams and not the men.
This format led to the following M-Dub Quarterfinal Matches:
On one side of the draw:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley vs. Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout
Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan vs. Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon
And on the other side of the draw:
Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay vs. Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker vs. Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan
There was no rhyme or reason as to which match-ups occupied which courts. It was pretty much a free for all. Celis/Gawley vs. Castolo/Sout ended up on Court One. Cabanatan/Pillay vs. Kazlauskas/Peterson took Court Two. Weldon/Toker vs. Kumar/Jordan would be on Court Three. And Rodrigues/Srinivasan versus Kuzavas/Sheldon would unfold on Court Four.
Three of the four matches would begin at 10:20, but the battle on Court Two did not get started until 10:25 as that court was covered with leaves and Peterson needed some hitting time as she originally did not anticipate becoming an active participant in this event.
But the 16 players involved (plus Frank and Kris) would not be the only GTA stars making the scene.
Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda arrived shortly after 10:25. Had she shown up just a little earlier (in time for the lottery-style drawing), she could have been the eighth entrant on the ladies' side rather than Peterson. She ended up watching the action until 10:55. She then left, but would return twice more (1:10 to 1:30 and 1:50 to 2:10) later in the session (unfortunately, she was never able to get involved in any official action).
"Rowdy" Rob Gawley made a brief cameo appearance at 11:45 to see how his wife Laura was doing in the tourney. Five minutes later, The Pienciaks (Papa Rick and Son Ryan) hit the courts at 11:50 and were actually able to get onto Court Two and soon see some action as that Quarterfinal had finished half an hour earlier.
"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 12:50, initially intending to make an extended cameo appearance as he had his first Sunday football game in quite some time (this time around at Latteri Park in Clifton rather than the usual locale, Robin Hood Park). But like Michael Corleone in "Godfather 3"...just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in! Sore Boy ended up playing back-to-back Doubles One-Setters on Court Four.
The last player to arrive was "The Rainmaker" Richard Reicht at 2pm, but he never got involved in any official GTA action as everyone abandoned the area like someone dropped a bomb at 2:20 (it was a long day, albeit one full of fun and high-octane action). Perhaps he was there for some non-GTA action he had arranged with someone else instead.
So we do not include him (nor Sachiko, nor Rob) in our total of 21 official competitors on the day at RHP. And now we must finally get to all of the results. It was truly an epic session and we will close the report with the opinion of one Mr. Srinivasan as well as my own.
The Cedar Grove Results:
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Kuzavas/Sheldon advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Marijus: 1 Ace on Doinks in the 2nd Set. This one started at 10:20 on Court Four and ended at 11:25.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley over Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 7-5, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Celis/Gawley advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Laura: 1 Ace on Natalia in the 2nd Set. They began this one on Court One at 10:20 and it finished exactly at 11:26.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker over Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan, 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 (STB), as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division, and Weldon/Toker advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! No Aces. This one got underway on Court Three at 10:20 (and was the first to begin of those three all starting in the 10:20 minute), but it was the last of the Quarters to finish at 11:53!
Here's how the STB went: Brenda was broken on her lone serve as Fernanda hit a winner and then Fernanda held both of her serves as Chazz made an incredible get/winner combo for the first one and then he hit an excellent passing shot winner for the second one as they took a 3-0 lead! Senthil held the first of his two serves as Brenda hit a winning volley, but then he was broken on his second when he blew an overhead to make it 1-4! Chazz was broken on his first serve as Brenda hit a drop shot winner for 4-2 at the changeover but then he held his second after hitting a winner for 5-2. Jordan was broken on her first serve after she blew a volley, but she then held her second after what might have been the point of the match ended with a winning Overhead Smash by Senthil for 3-6! Toker held both of her serve after hitting an un-returned one for the first of the two points and then she hit a winning lob to close the second one for an 8-3 lead! Kumar held the first of his two serves for 4-8 at the second changeover and then he held his second as well after hitting a scintillating winner for 5-8! Weldon was broken on both of his serves as Senthil hit a winning Overhead Smash to end the first one and then Brenda hit a drop shot winner to close out the second one and cut the opposition's lead to 8-7! But then she would be broken on both of her serves when Chazz hit a passing shot winner to kill the first one and then the second one got finished on the very first Match Point of the entire encounter!
The Skinny: Senthil and Brenda played aggressively in the 1st Set as each was very comfortable to hit winning volleys up at the net. But Jordan grew fatigued in the 2nd Set and Kumar felt it necessary to have to play the baseline to try to cover more court as the wily opposition smelled blood in the water and targeted Brenda as she grew ever more tired. Still, she battled back. When she was reminded of the format of the tournament heading into the STB, she almost considered just packing it in and giving less than full effort. But her competitive spirit kicked in and did not allow her to do that, so she went down swinging! Kudos to Brenda for fighting back and also to Senthil for ably assisting her as they almost pulled off an upset here. But congrats must go to Chazz and Fernanda as the steady-as-they-go tandem wore down the opposition to advance to hopefully do the same to their next opposing team.
M-Dub Quarterfinal:
Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay over Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-2, to become the New # 13 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division (as that was the existing rank of Kazlauskas/Peterson), and Cabanatan/Pillay advanced to the M-Dub Semifinals! Sally: 1 Ace on Dawn in the 2nd Set. Although this was the last Quarter to get started at 10:25 (on Court Two), it was the first of the four to finish at 11:20.
Non-M-Dub Mixed Doubles One-Setter:
Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 11:35 to 12:10. Kris later said that they missed out on some opportunities.
M-Dub Semifinal:
Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker over Dennis Cabanatan/Sally Pillay, 6-3, 5-7, 13-11 (STB), to become the New # 13 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division and advance to the M-Dub Finals! No Aces. Like the previous round, this was the first one to get underway (once again on Court Three and at 11:58), but it was the last to finish. In fact, it closed out the section with all those still in attendance watching intently.
It was 1:50 with Chazz and Fernanda leading the Super Tiebreak with a 4-2 score. But during that first changeover, Weldon was dealing with some serious cramping issues and was getting ready to forfeit! It took both Frank and Kris to convince him to just play out if he was willing to lose it via forfeit anyway. After a five minute injury timeout, they resumed action at 1:55. And it went as follows...
Dennis held the last of his two serves after hitting a drop shot winner to pull to 3-4. Fernanda held the first of her two serves to go up 5-3, but was then broken on her second when Dennis hit a winning return to cut the score to 5-4. Sally was held both of her serves to first level the STB and then take a 6-5 lead! Chazz hit an un-returned serve for 6-6 and then there was the second changeover. Then, Weldon was broken on his second serve as Dennis hit a winning drop shot return to take a 7-6 lead as now he was about to go on serve. Cabanatan was broken on his first serve to make it 7-Up and that was where Sally hit a winner for her team to reclaim the lead at 8-7! Toker was then broken on the first of her two serves for a 7-9 score and the first Match Point! She then held her second with an un-returned serve to pull to 8-9, but it was still the 2nd Match Point! Pillay was then broken on her first serve for 9-9 at the third changeover. She was then broken again to hand over a 10-9 lead to the opposition who now had their first Match Point on the 3rd M.P. overall! Weldon was broken on his first serve after Dennis hit a highly impressive Backhand Volley winner to level it at 10-10! He was also broken on his second to now hand back an 11-10 lead to the opponents as they now had their third Match Point on the 4th M.P. overall! Dennis was broken on the first of his two serves for 11-11 and then Chazz (despite the cramping) made a great get that led to it being 12-11 and the 2nd Match Point (the 5th M.P. overall) for his team with service returning to Fernanda! And that was where they finally got the job done at 2:09!
Samara's Notes: Chazz was happy that he took the advice of Frank and Kris as playing on led to a hard-fought victory and a place in the Finals! Congratulations to him and also to Fernanda who played on despite the fact she was originally hoping to leave the session at 1:30 for work purposes. Much respect to her for playing on for the benefit of all involved and the league itself. Kudos to Dennis and Sally for a very valiant effort in a battle that will likely be a Nominee for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end!
The length of this marathon match obviously got us ahead of ourselves in this report. It may have closed out the session, but there was plenty more action along the way!
M-Dub Semifinal:
Dino Celis/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Kathy Sheldon, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the M-Dub Finals! Mike: 1 Ace on Laura (not sure of which set). This match was played on Court Four from 12:01 to 1pm, just 59 minutes total...quite the contrast from the other Semi!
Samara's Notes: And so it will be Celis/Gawley versus Weldon/Toker in the Finals! On paper, it seems to be quite an even match-up...but we will have to see how it plays out on the court (hopefully, in the very near future)! It won't just be the # 13 Rank of Weldon/Toker on the line. The winning team leapfrogs all the way up to the # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division as they become the New Top Contenders entitled to the next Title Shot at the existing GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson!
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Mike Kazlauskas/Rick Pienciak, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 57 and # 58 Ranked Teams respectively! Mike: 1 Ace on Senthil (not sure of which set); and Rick: 1 Ace on Ryan (again, not sure of which set)! These two teams faced off on Court Two from 12:04 to 1pm, just 56 minutes in its entirety!
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Kris Srinivasan over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Joe: 1 Ace on Frank. It went like this: Doinks was broken (a winning volley by Joe and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, but it shifted to Break Point with a winning Backhand Volley by Frank along the way, but then Joe hit a passing shot winner to make it Deuce, it was Game Point where a Double Fault brought it to 2nd Deuce and then Kris hit a winning lob to set up Break Point and then came the break), Frank was broken (Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley for 30-Love, but then Kris blew back-to-back volleys in separate points to make it 30-All, an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then Joe hit a scorcher of a winning return for Deuce and then it was Break Point where Frank did a very un-Samara-like thing and hit a Double Fault to break himself!), Joe was broken (Frank hit a blast of an Overhead Smash for Love-15, it was Love-30 where Kris blew a volley for 15-30 and then a well-placed and fast-paced sideline Ace on Frank made it 30-All, but then it went to Break Point where Kris redeemed himself with a killer volley to get the break), but Kris was the first to hold serve and it was at Love as he started things off with an un-returned serve, Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to set up Triple Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold for a 3-1 lead! D. Srinivasan held (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game Point as Frank blew yet another volley along the way, but Kris hit a winning Overhead Smash only for Kris to end up blowing a volley to allow the hold), but so did Samara (Kris blew two volleys, but the word "blew" may be too harsh a term for both of these as these were more forced errors than unforced...perhaps blown opportunities is more accurate, but now it was Love-30 only for two un-returned serves serving to lead the shift to Game Point where a third un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 4-2. Rodrigues held as well (Frank blew an overhead in the first point and Kris did the same in the second to make it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point only to have back-to-back Double Faults reduce it to Deuce and then it was all Game Points to 3rd Deuce...likely forgot some winners along the way and then it went to Break Point where Joe made an awesome get/winner combo for 4th Deuce and then it went back to Game Point where Joe hit a passing shot winner to secure his own hold), but then K. Srinivasan had his second straight Love hold which was book-ended by a great get by Kris in the opening point and a winning volley by Frank in the closing point as their team took a 5-3 lead! And then The Marathon Woman was broken as she started off with an un-returned serve for 15-Love only to have it all shift to Double Break/Match Point as Kris hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way, it then went to Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve made it Deuce, but then came the 3rd Break/Match Point and the break for the loss! We played this one on Court One from 12:15 to 12:54.
Non-M-Dub Mixed Doubles One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Kris held (Frank hit a winning drop shot return for Love-30, but then it shifted to Game Point as Frank blew an overhead along the way and there was also an un-returned serve as well, then it went to Deuce where Natalia hit a winning lob to set up Game Point once again, then it was 2nd Deuce where Frank blew a volley to lead to another Game Point and then came the hold) and Doinks was broken (Natalia hit another winning lob to make it Love-15, it was then 15-All only to lead straight to Double Break Point where Frank blew the volley to allow the break) to get off to a 0-2 start! Natalia was broken (15-Love and then 15-All only to have it go straight to Double Break Point where Frank hit a winning volley for the break), but Frank was broken as well (Kris hit a missile-like winning return for Love-15 where an un-returned serve made it 15-All only to then go right to Double Break Point as Kris hit a winning Backhand Volley along the way and then came the break) to fall to 1-3! K. Srinivasan was broken (an un-returned serve set up 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce...and, yes, winners were forgotten along the way...before it shifted to Break Point and the break), but so was D. Srinivasan (Doinks hit a winning lob for 15-Love and then Natalia hit what became a winning lob return, but only because Frank mistimed the leap for what should have been a winning volley which ended up being a whiff instead to make it 15-All and then a Double Fault led to 15-30, Double Break Point came next only to be followed by the break) for 2-4! Sout was broken again (Love-15, an un-returned serve for 15-All, but then straight to Double Break Point as Doinks hit a winning return and then she hit a winning lob, Kris hit a winning volley to bring it to Break Point only to have Doinks hit yet another winning lob for the break), but Samara held (an awesome rally opened the game in the opposition's favor and then Kris hit a winner to make it Love-30, but then it shifted to Game Point after Frank hit a winner and then an un-returned serve, it then went to Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to knot the score at 4-4! The K Man was broken again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point with two un-returned serves along the way, but then it went to Deuce where Kris blew what should have been an easy drop shot winner to set up Break Point and then came the break), but The Marathon Woman finally held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game/Match Point as Doinks hit a winner along the way, it was then cut to Game/Match Point where the best rally of the match favored the team on serve) as her team scored a comeback victory! We also played this one on Court One and it lasted from 1pm to 1:49.
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Marijus Kuzavas/Dan Martinelli, 6-3! No Aces. Court Four featured this foursome from 1:10 to 1:35.
Non-M-Dub Doubles One-Setter:
Senthil Kumar/Ryan Pienciak over Mike Kazlauskas/Dan Martinelli, 6-1! No Aces. Court Four also hosted this gang of four (one different than before) from 1:40 to exactly 2:04!
The Skinny: The Senthil/Ryan tandem had quite the day going 4 and 0 in consecutive sets!
Samara's Notes: I thank all those who participated in the tournament and the session (especially the injured Peterson and the cramping Weldon) to make it another epic day in the history of the league.
Later in the day, Kris sent the following text message to Frank: "Amazing day of tennis! Super atmosphere and an incredible finish!"
The reply from Samara read: "Yes, indeed! If the Final happens soon, it may have been our most successful (in terms of execution) tourney ever."
The last word from Kris: "Today was one of the best! Great atmosphere, good teams and matches!"
Samara's Notes: I think that says it all. But just to add an additional note as to why it was so good was that everything played out at such a clip, that there was non-stop action on every court (thankfully, we had all four throughout the session). And then we had the one Semi (Weldon/Toker vs. Cabanatan/Pillay) that outlasted everything else and then commanded the attention of a captive audience. It was a dramatic way to end the session and I truly believe that those who never got to play (but only had the chance to watch) did not mind it at all as they felt they were witnessing something worthy of their attention. Kudos to all!
All the best,
Frank Samara
Amazing spirit and vibe from all players. Fun to go at each other!
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