"Gawley-Toker part of 18 at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis took place at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host, but also getting assistance from the usual host, "The K-Man" Kris Srinivasan. The Main Event was the GTA Women's Championship Match between GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and the heretofore undefeated Former Champ: "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.
Samara pulled into the parking lot at 5:55 and was happy to find all four courts vacant. As he headed out onto Court Four (figuring he would hold that one…thought by most to be the best of the four…for the upcoming GTA Women's Championship Match), Gawley soon pulled into the lot as well.
Frank and Laura then had a hitting session in order to warm her up for the soon-to-be-played match (originally scheduled for a 6pm start, but Fernanda had informed Laura that she was running late…and Toker wanted me to note that it was all her boyfriend "T-Rez" Tommy Reszkowski's fault…LOL!).
Natalia "Nitro" Sout was the next to arrive at 6:05. Soon she joined Frank's side in hitting against Laura.
Next onto the courts was "The Pilot" Greg Swierczek at 6:10. Samara shifted to Gawley's side of the court to hit against Swierczek and Sout (so as not to completely exhaust Laura before her match).
Once Toker and Reszkowski arrived at 6:15, Greg and Natalia shifted over to Court Three to have their own hitting session while Frank stepped off to allow Laura and Fernanda to hit against each other.
Tommy took a place next to Frank at the sidelines (right near the net post, actually) and the ladies got their match officially underway at exactly 6:31.
At 6:35, Swierczek and Sout started a "Battle of The Sexes" One-Setter against one another. But Kris arrived soon after that and headed over to their court. Two games in, they decided to scrap it to make way for him and go back to hitting at 6:40. Ten minutes later, it turned into Canadian Doubles (or perhaps King of The Mountain…I'm not sure).
"Rowdy" Rob Gawley arrived at 7:05 and joked about not being invited over to Court Three as their fourth player…until he was (Squash Boy is a sly fox…LOL!). Five minutes after that, "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales also went over to that court and was briefly the "fifth wheel" in a short hitting session until they decided that the first four on that court should be the first four to compete. So now Jose ended up being the odd man out instead.
"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 7:15. Even though he looked dressed to play, he chose not to compete as he is still getting over the effects of a lingering head cold that shut him down for most of last week.
"The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived at 7:25 just as "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff made a drive-by cameo in the parking lot. He stopped for a bit to check out the GTA Women's Championship Match (which was drawing the attention of many spectators at this point).
GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro was the next one to join the group near the fence at 7:30. He would not have to wait for long as the ladies finished up their match at exactly 7:33.
Court Four then hosted a brief hitting session between Ryan and Tommy (Reszkowski was in slacks and dress shoes) and then Rob soon joined Ryan's side in hitting against the dapper T-Rez.
When Tommy and Fernanda left, Chiaro then stepped onto the court in hitting against Pienciak and Gawley. As they needed a fourth, Samara joined The Champ and it soon led to a One-Setter.
At 7:50, "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan each pulled into the parking lot at the same time. They then walked out onto Court One together for a fairly lengthy hitting session.
Five minutes after that, "Coach" Dino Celis, "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Spicy" Sally Pillay all arrived at the same time.
"The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar arrived at 8:20 and five minutes after that, so did "Teej" T.J. Shah. The final official competitor to arrive was "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi (given that moniker as he soon proved that he is one of the fastest get-makers in the league) at 8:40.
We ended up with an impressive total of 18 official players…quite impressive for November 1st. We had all four courts (though we never used Court Two) all night long.
The conditions were quite nice for the first day of November as the temps were still in the lower 50 degree range and there was no wind.
With the temps set to climb the next couple of days, it would make sense for many of our players to get to the courts early to take advantage of the favorable conditions and hopefully hold all the courts once more.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Women's Championship Match:
Laura Gawley over Fernanda Toker, 6-3, 6-1, to complete her first successful GTA Women's Championship defense of her first reign! No Aces. They got it going on Court Four at 6:31.
1st Set: Laura was broken (Laura blew an overhead for Love-15, but then she hit a passing shot winner for 15-All only to then blow a drop shot for 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point where she blew a volley to break herself), Fernanda was broken (Laura hit a passing shot winner for Love-15 and then an excellent rally led to Love-30, it then went to Triple Break Point, then Double Break Point where Laura hit an emphatic Overhead Smash for the break), but then Gawley was the first to hold serve (an un-returned serve made it 30-Love where Laura blew a volley for 30-15 where she then hit a truly un-returnable serve to set up Double Game Point, but then a Double Fault made it Game Point and then Laura blew an overhead to bring it to Deuce where another un-returned serve returned her to Game Point and then another extended rally led to 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold as most of those points were quite lengthy) to go up 2-1. Toker then held as well (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where Laura hit a winning drop shot return for 15-30, but then another un-returned serve made it 30-All and then yet another marathon rally led to Game Point and then came the hold) to level it at 2-2. The Aura held again and this time it was at Love after an un-returned serve had made it 30-Love, but The Argentine Machine was broken (Laura hit a winner to make it Triple Break Point, but then Laura blew what should have been a surefire overhead to reduce it to Double Break Point only to then redeem herself with a winning volley for the break) to fall to 2-4. The Champ was broken (Laura blew an overhead for Love-15, but then she hit a winning volley for 15-All, it then went to Double Break Point where Laura hit an excellent Backhand Volley winner to cut it to Break Point and then she hit a winning volley for Deuce, it then went to Break Point again where one of the best rallies of the match ended with a winner from Fernanda for the break) to have her lead cut to 4-3, but then The Former Champ was broken again (yet another awesome rally, but this one was ended with an amazing get/lob winner by Laura which was much in the style that Fernanda often makes and this opened the game at Love-15 and then Fernanda made a get even more impactful than usual which led to it being 15-All, it was then 15-30 where another extended rally led to 30-All and that was where Laura laid down another pounding Overhead Smash for Break Point where she then got the break with a drop shot return winner) to fall to 3-5. Laura then held and it was once again at Love as she hit an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a whipping and winning volley for 30-Love and then another un-returned serve to set up Triple Game/Set Point where the hold came at 7:11! One minute later, they were onto the next one.
2nd Set: Fernanda was broken at Love as Laura hit another one of her killer Overhead Smashes to make it Love-30 and then Laura hit an equally impressive volley winner to set up Triple Break Point where she hit another winning Overhead Smash for the break and then Laura had another Love hold after a wicked Backhand Volley winner set up Triple Break Point where another winner would then secure the hold. At this point in the match, The Champ had just won fourteen straight points! Toker broke that streak when she went up 15-Love on her next service with an un-returned serve only to be followed by another un-returned serve for 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where Fernanda then hit a winning lob to go up Double Game Point where yet another un-returned serve secured the hold and put her on the scoreboard in this set at 1-2. But from there, Gawley got going once again with another Love hold as she scored with an un-returned serve for 30-Love where the then hit a whopper of a winner to set up Triple Game Point where the hold came for 3-1. The Argentine Machine was broken (Laura hit another powerful Backhand Volley winner for Love-15 and then repeated the same feat for Love-30, it was then 15-30 where Laura hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner for Double Break Point and then came the break) and then The Aura held yet again (un-returned serve for 15-Love and it was straight away to Triple Game Point where Laura blew another seemingly sure thing overhead to cut her lead down to Double Game Point, but then she responded with another whiplash Backhand Volley winner to secure the hold) to take a commanding 5-1 lead! And then Fernanda was broken once more (Fernanda hit a fast-paced passing shot winner for a fist pump and 15-Love lead only to have Laura respond with an un-reachable drop shot winner for 15-All and then it went to 15-30. This is where things got somewhat unfortunate and then controversial. A lengthy rally ended up being interrupted and becoming a Let situation as a ball from Court Three rolled onto Court Four over the baseline and creeping up on Fernanda. It was hard to say who was in control of that point, but it was the type of marathon rally that Toker prefers. The replay of the point ended with what just about everyone in attendance thought was a winner from Laura that skidded off the baseline. That would have made it Double Break/Match Point. Fernanda never called out the score as she headed into her next service where she then lost that point as well. Toker was then lining up to serve again as if it was now Break/Match Point, but Gawley (and those watching) thought the match was now over. The two women came to the net to discuss the situation with Samara and Fernanda seemed genuinely confused about the situation (this is why the server should always audibly call out the score before each and every point). At this point, Frank gave her the option of either accepting the end of the match or holding to the notion that two points ago, Laura's baseline shot was out and not in. Fernanda held to that latter option and another point was played. It ended up being all for naught as a fired up Gawley saw to it to make sure to end the match right then and there (on Break/Match Point) and not open the door for a possible comeback effort from the always resilient Toker! The time at the end of this match was 7:33 (the 1st Set had taken 40 minutes to finish while the second was over in just 21 minutes…making the entire match just one hour and one minute long)!
The Skinny: All's well that end's well as the undefeated streak of Toker came to an end…and she did accept it in most gracious fashion. She went to her bag to take out the GTA Women's Championship Medal (which was still in her possession) which Fernanda then wrapped around Laura's neck and then she gave The Champ a big congratulatory hug in the process. It was a very impressive victory by Gawley.
In the 1st Set, it seemed that Toker was getting Gawley to play her style of match as the rallies were going long and the lobs were flying high. But late in that 1st Set, Laura seemingly figured out Fernanda and was able to shift the match back to her style of play which was more hard-hitting and fast-paced. That fourteen straight point run (which transitioned from the 1st Set to the 2nd Set) clearly shifted the momentum of the match and Toker seemingly never recovered. But some measure of credit must also go to Fernanda who often weathered the storm of heavy, hard-hitting serves from Laura as she blocked many back which created some speedy returns as well.
The Consequences: Toker earned this shot with her GAH6 Tournament victory. But she is still owed another shot (the next shot, actually) as she had been an undefeated Former Champ who had to forfeit her Title due to a serious off-court injury. Gawley is not obligated to make that Title defense until April of 2017 if she so chooses. But Fernanda does get the next shot before anyone else does. If Laura wins that next one as well, then the shot after that is opened up to any lady who is in The Top 10 of The Women's Division at that time. If Toker emerges victorious, then Gawley would get the first rematch as the Former Champ in that latter scenario.
Greg Swierczek/Kris Srinivasan over Rob Gawley/Natalia Sout, 6-1! Rob: 2 Aces on Greg (the slicing drop shot style that Rob does so well)! They played this on Court Three from 7:12 to 7:38.
Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales over Greg Swierczek/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one as well. It lasted from 7:45 to 8:05.
Ryan Pienciak/Rob Gawley over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Ryan held serve (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love where Frank hit a winning return for 15-All, but then it went right to Double Game Point as Frank blew a volley and Ryan hit a drop shot winner along the way and then that lead got cut down to Deuce, it went to Game Point again, 2nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold…I likely forgot the winners once it went to Deuce), Chris was broken (Frank hit a semi-Windmill Overhead Smash that Ryan could not return onto the court for a 15-Love lead, but then it went straight to Double Break Point where Ryan ripped a return winner for the break) and then Rob held (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love, but then Frank redeemed himself with an impressive return winner for 15-All only to see it once again go right to Double Game Point where Chris scored with a scorching return winner to cut that lead down to Game Point where Frank blew an overhead to allow the hold) to take a 3-0 lead! Frank got his team on the scoreboard with a Love hold which started out with an un-returned serve, but then Pienciak held again (Frank blew a volley to set up Triple Game Point where Ryan then blew a volley to make it Double Game Point, but then rebounded with an un-returned serve to secure the hold) and then Chiaro was broken again (Frank blew a volley to make it Love-15, but then redeemed himself with a winning Overhead Smash for 15-All where Chris then blew an overhead to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point, Break Point and then the break) to fall to 1-5! Gawley was then broken (Chris hit a monster Overhead Smash and then Frank hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it then went to 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2. But then Samara was also broken (Frank made a great get/winner combo which caused Ryan to blow an overhead and then an un-returned serve blazed the path to Triple Game Point and what seemed like an oncoming second straight Love hold for Frank only to have Ryan hit back-to-back winning Backhand Volleys on the way to Deuce where Chris blew an overhead to make it Break/Match Point where Chris then blew another overhead to suffer an upset loss) to get the "L" off of Court Four at 8:14 (we had started this one at 7:45)!
The Skinny: This is a perfect example of why matches are not played on paper, they are played on court. As Samara stepped onto the court, he could have sworn he heard a comment from either Ryan or Rob along the lines of "now we have to play these two"…not in a negative complaint manner, but more in the spirit of this may be an uphill battle. Surely it would seem that way on paper. But Chiaro and Samara then proceeded to both wet the bed with mutually bad performances. This is not to take anything away from Pienciak and Gawley who were both very steady throughout the set. After this awful outing, Frank was prepared to stay on the sidelines the remainder of the evening. But he would later be called back into the action…where he would only do marginally better.
Dennis Cabanatan/Levy Lorenzo over Jose Gonzales/Ryan Pienciak, 7-5! No Aces. Court Four also hosted this one which lasted from 8:18 to 9:03. After this, Jose left…but the remaining three had a hitting session until they could eventually get back involved in some official Doubles action.
Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-2! No Aces. They played this on Court Three from 8:19 to 8:44.
Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Frank Samara/T.J. Shah, 6-4! T.J.: 1 Ace on Kris. Here's how it went down: Senthil was broken (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15 where Kris hit a drop shot that led to 15-All, but then it was right to Double Break Point as T.J. hit a winning return and Senthil blew a volley along the way, but then an un-returned serve cut it down to Break Point where Kris blew a volley for the break), T.J. was broken (Frank blew an overhead for Love-15 and then a Double Fault made it Love-30, an un-returned serve made it 15-30 where an impressive Ace up the T against Kris then made it 30-All, then came Game Point where Kris hit a winner for Deuce, then came Break Point and the break), but Kris was the first to hold serve (an un-returned serve followed by a winning volley by Senthil set up 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where Kris hit a whopper of a winner for Double Game Point and then came the hold) to go up 2-1. Frank was broken (T.J. hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, but that went straight to Double Break Point as Frank blew an overhead along the way, it then shifted to Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then came 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-3, but then Kumar was broken again (Kris blew a volley for Love-15, it was 15-All where Frank hit a laser-like winner between the opposition which blazed the path to Double Break Point where Kris blew another volley for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 3-2. Shah was broken again (it went 15-Love then point for point to Game Point as Senthil hit a winning volley and Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way, but then Frank blew an overhead to set up Deuce, it then went to Break Point where a Double Fault caused the break) to fall to 2-4, but then Srinivasan was also broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All where a Double Fault set up Break Point and then it went to Deuce and it would be all Game Points until 3rd Deuce where it then went to Break Point where Frank hit a slice backhand that ended up becoming a net-cord-aided winner for the break…and I honestly could not remember any of the other winners in that lengthy game) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3. Samara was broken again as perhaps the best rally of the match ended with an exchange where it looked like Frank would benefit from another net-cord winner only to have Senthil make a great get and then hit a winning volley that just caught the sideline for Love-15 and then it was off and running to a Love break to go down 3-5! The Webmaster was then broken a third straight time (Frank hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner for Love-15 and then a Double Fault made it Love-30, but it then it would shift to 30-All as Kris hit a winning volley along the way, but then came Break Point where T.J. hit a winning volley of his own for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4! But then Teej was also broken a third straight time except unlike the first two where he was up Game Point, this one was not even close as it got started with a winning lob return from Senthil and ended up being a Love break when they went out quickly at Triple Break/Match Point! We played this one on Court One from 8:46 to 9:21.
The Skinny: Samara stepped up his game somewhat, but was still out of rhythm and lacking any solid form of momentum. All four players had moments to be proud of only to then have others where they had to shake their own heads. Kris was dealing with racquet issues, I believe, as I remember hearing Greg state he thought it may be a cracked frame. I'm not sure if The K Man was playing with that racquet or a borrowed racquet in this one. Senthil may have been the steadiest of the four here, but even he had some rare volley misses which are his usual forte. T.J. may have had the most shots for the highlight reel, but then often sailed some long to negate those other impressive winners.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Chris Chiaro/Abhilash Gadi, 6-3! No Aces. This was contested on Court Three from 8:46 to 9:22.
Chris Chiaro/Senthil Kumar over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-1! Marijus: 1 Ace on Senthil. This was also played on Court Three sans changeovers as they sought to get this one done in time…and they did! It lasted from 9:26 to 9:48, after which Marijus and Senthil had a hitting session that went to lights out at 10pm.
Ryan Pienciak/Levy Lorenzo over T.J. Shah/Abhilash Gadi, 6-2! T.J.: 1 Ace on Ryan (up the T)! Down 2-5, T.J. was broken in a multiple Deuce game that was starting to stretch so long, that a full and proper conclusion was starting to seem in doubt. This one was played on Court Four as they also decided to forego the changeovers. It began at 9:27 and ended at 9:56.
The Skinny: This was the battle that drew the attention of the remaining crowd. It was a hard-hitting affair as all made an array of impressive shots and gets. But the player that drew the most attention was Abhi who earned the moniker of The Accelerator as he made several speedy gets…many of which were rushes to the net to counter drop shots with whipping winners to end the points! We hope to see more of "Oh My!" Gadi, as he displays much potential.
All in all, it was an exciting session which also had much impact on the league itself.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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