"Santos-Ortega in Wayne, MXD2 Final part of 21 at C.G.!":
GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at two locations: a late afternoon/early evening session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Stealth" Omar Santos and "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega (Edwin reported the result) and then the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts with "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan acting as the host ("Hollywood" Frank Samara had to be a no-show…more on that a little later) and featuring the long-awaited MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament Final between the teams of Tito "Touch" Castolo/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson and "Rowdy" Rob Gawley/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (Laura and Dawn each provided commentary as well).
We also had both "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales reporting their scores from there directly, too.
Let's first go to the results from Edwin in Wayne, the no-show explanation from Frank and then get the report from Kris (with assists from Laura, Dawn, Gen and Jose along the way).
The Wayne Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Edwin Ortega over Omar Santos, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, to become both the New # 21 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division! Edwin: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.
Eddie "O" Magazine reports: We had a match in Wayne, and with Omar coming back from a week lull and vacation, I had the better game than him. We had a competitive battle in the 1st Set with lots of Deuces and eventually ending in a Tiebreak.
The 2nd Set was a little less competitive as I had an early lead of 4-1. Omar had a mini comeback to make it 4-3, but then couldn't keep up for the balance of the set. With me pounding him at the baseline and at the net, we ended it in a little less time than the 1st Set.
Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting and also congratulate him on a solid win!
As I stated in the News e-mail that went out to the group on Saturday, I apologize for the no-show up at Cedar Grove on Friday night (after promising I would host the session that evening).
I was all set to go until a certain succubus set asunder my seemingly certified schedule which then sent my plans into submission with a sudden certitude (I love alliteration)! I was most certainly stuck…and fu@%#&! OK, I will leave it at that…as I've touched upon the circumstances enough already.
Anyway, I thank Kris for stepping up and once again acting as the host (as he usually does).
We now turn this report over to The K and let him take it away!
GTA Friday Night Tennis was a buzzing session with a bunch of players in attendance sans Frank, who was so eager to come and surely missed it as he was tied up to take care of his kids. The highlight of the night was indeed the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament Final and it was a fitting finale that saw amazing plays by all the players.
It was all GTA action as all the courts were put to solid use by our players and indeed it was a great atmosphere with some serious and fun tennis happening all night through to 10pm.
The Cedar Grove Results:
The MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament Final:
Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, to win the 2016 MXD2 Tournament and become the New GTA Mixed Doubles Champions! No Aces (apparently).
The Aura's Oratory: We played for almost 2-1/2 hours. In the 3rd Set, Rob and I had our chances but could not pull it out because of Tito's crafty play and Dawns steady net play. We were up 4-0 in the 3rd Set and then things turned around for them and they came back to tie it at 5-5 and then they broke Rob for 6-5 and Dawn held her serve to win the match! Tito became much more aggressive at the end of the 3rd Set and was all over the court! Congrats to both of them on a well-deserved win!
Dawn's Dissertation: It was an unbelievable match! It went almost for 3 hrs (6:45 to 9:30)! We won the 1st Set, Laura and Rob won the 2nd Set and we won the 3rd Set. We were down in the 3rd Set 0-4 and came back to win it. Some of the games were Deuce about 8 times and the games were very long. Tito was all over the court making great shots. Laura and Rob were steady and played well, too.
The K has his say: It was a great match that saw all the players putting in phenomenal efforts and great care to not give away free points. Rob and Laura played as their classic selves, but with great caution. Dawn was incredible with nonchalant "stand and deliver" stuff where she was unfazed by all the shots thrown at her. Tito was all over the court hell-bent on putting the ball back, and sometimes for good.
After a set a piece, it looked like anyone's game, but Rob and Laura pulled out to a lead great taking the first four games of the 3rd Set before a great comeback by Tito and Dawn!
Samara's Notes: First off, I thank everyone for their timely reporting. Second, I congratulate Tito and Dawn on an impressive victory and offer hearty kudos to The Gawleys for a fine effort as well. And third, without looking back at what has taken place thus far this season…I have to believe this is now the lead contender for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at the end of the season (though I could be wrong). In any event, it is a definite Nominee.
We now turn this report back over to Kris.
Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Nithin Poosala/Stacy Casais, 7-6 (7-3)! No Aces.
The deciding Tiebreak usually means that it's anyone's game, but this match was more in favor of Nithin and Stacy who played superbly and had some amazing rallies. They were leading 5-3 and on the verge of clinching the set. It was Senthil who played par excellence for us to get so many crucial points that first it helped us level the match at 5-All and again to win the crucial game to take it to the Tiebreak. A good start put us in the lead and helped put continuous pressure on Nithin and Stacy. Nithin played very competitively and brought the best out of Stacy who was able to load her forehand shots freely and kept the rallies going at a hot pace.
Jose Gonzales/Jay Phoenix over Richard Reicht/Santosh Reddy, 6-1! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Santosh Reddy.
It was good to Santosh back in action and this was more of a warm-up set for him. Jose and Jay proved to be too strong as they rolled over their opposition with ease.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-1, 6-2! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: We had some really good rallies, but most of them ended in our favor. Overall, it was still pretty good and we had fun.
The K has his say: Gen's appearance here this season has been so limited that it was nice to see her in action. As per Gen, the two sets she played with Doinks were intense with lots of rallies and most points went in their favor. Brenda took charge of the net and Kevin was holding the baseline and putting almost all the balls back. There were interesting exchanges in the rallies between Kevin and Doinks, going toe to toe from the baseline.
Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Stacy Casais, 6-3! No Aces.
Doinks continued to play well in this set also as some of her shots were ridiculously incredible hitting the baseline and deceiving us. I played one of the poorest games and was anything but inspiring to Stacy..:) Unlike Nithin, I couldn't get Stacy to play her best as my unforced errors put us behind the eight ball right from the get-go. Senthil was both crafty and consistent which helped Doinks play freely.
Sairaj Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Santosh Reddy/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
Santosh started serving well and getting back his game, but both Spin and Sairaj were a bit too strong to contend with.
Jose Gonzales/Nithin Poosala over Dino Celis/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2! No Aces.
Both Nithin and Jose were consistent and that was a major factor for their win. Dino has been playing very well in Doubles these days and Jordan can be deadly or off his game and this one was a mixed bag for him.
Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Jose Gonzales/Stacy Casais, 6-2! Senthil: 1 Ace on Jose (a corner slice)!
It was a fairly easy match for Dino and Senthil as both have been doing well together and with their consistency, they also can attack and place the ball well. I had wanted Dino to team up with Stacy to make it more balanced, but it was a good challenge for Jose and Stacy.
It was a great night of amazing tennis with GTA players galore! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: As always, The K Man comes through in a pinch at Cedar Grove! We appreciate all he does for our league there. It turned out to be an epic session and I'm sorry I had to miss it. Samara out!
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