"Kris hosts 10 (1 New) at C.G.!":
GTA Wednesday Night Tennis took place at The Cedar Grove Courts with "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan acting as host. We turn this report over to him now.
It was a night that started off with all the courts being taken away from the GTA players as The Verona Crew invaded promptly usurping three courts with the fourth court going to the Asian couple who preferred to play just with themselves last week.
An "in your face" stance from me helped as the Asian couple feeling the stare caved in and gave up their court. My son Sairaj got to hit a bit with me.
Soon to join us were Jose Gonzales, Brenda Jordan, Dan Martinelli (aka Spin) and my wife Doinks in that order. Later, we would see Dennis Cabanatan, Dino Celis, Senthil Kumar and Abhilash Gadi, new to join our league, thanks to Senthil.
After quite a few blockbuster sessions last week, culminating in the blockbuster bonanza on Sunday featuring the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament, it was a relatively quiet session on yet another beautiful night. We did have a great session on Tuesday though.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Jose Gonzales/Brenda Jordan over Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! Doinks: 1 Ace on Brenda!
The start was kind of lethargic as Sairaj was not playing his usual aggressive game. On the contrary, both Brenda and Jose were steady. It certainly looked like a warm-up for Doinks, but she did hold both her service games.
Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 6-3! No Aces.
It was a fairly good match as it was quite close at 4-3 in favor of Dino and Senthil. Spin did pretty well for us, but we missed out on the very first game that Spin served and he should have held comfortably but for the poor play from me that plagued the entire night. I did enjoy hitting some cross-court rallies against Dino, but Dino and Senthil almost always managed to close the points.
Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 6-1! No Aces.
It was one-sided to some extent as we never cashed in on our opportunities. Jose was sitting out for a while, so it turned out to be a warm-up for him. The pace of Dino's shots and Senthil's steady play kept us honest, indeed.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Jose Gonzales over Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend their #51 Rank in the Doubles Division while Srinivasan/Martinelli entered the division as the New #63 Ranked Team! Spin: 1 Ace on Senthil; and Jose: 1 Ace on Spin!
One of the most pathetic matches I played despite Spin serving well. Senthil was amazing with his skillful touches at the net and had quite a few winners. Jose was serving very well and playing with Senthil boosted his confidence. He was back to playing his usual aggressive game and had some nice backhand "smackeroos"!
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Abhilash Gadi/Doinks Srinivasan over Dennis Cabanatan/Brenda Jordan, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 (STB), as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New #42 and #43 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Debut of Abhilash Gadi.
Senthil had brought his friend, Abhi who we teamed up with Doinks to play against Dennis and Brenda. Dennis was hot, serving well and he got Abhi in a tangle in the 1st Set. But Abhi has got great control and, after the initial hiccup, he was quite steady along with Doinks' proper shots on display…it was a well-contested match that saw the teams split the first two sets. Given that they didn't have enough time for a full deciding 3rd Set, they played a Super Tiebreak that was equally close. It was a satisfying night for these players, but a forgettable one for me for sure.
It was a quiet session, but the weather was absolutely beautiful! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: It killed me to miss the last summer-like night of the season (quite likely), but I had to make sure to help my children with school projects and other homework. As always, thanks to Kris for all he does for the GTA up at Cedar Grove.
And an extra thank you to Senthil for recruiting his friend, Abhilash, into the league as well…plus all that Senthil does for the league as our official Webmaster.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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