11/14/16:
GTA Monday Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts turned into an all-day affair as it got started in the early afternoon with The Main Event being the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match as the GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: Tito "Touch" Castolo and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson put their Titles on the line against 2016 M-Dub Champs: "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.
"The K Man" Kris Srinivasan was able to swing by late in the match and act as an impromptu host and Natalia "Nitro" Sout was a spectator there who say even more of the match than Kris did.
There would be some more spur of the moment action that would take place to carry that session into the late afternoon. Then there was a break.
The later evening session was hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and was also attended by Kris as well. Between the two sessions, we ended up with a total of 15 official competitors.
First, we will recap what took place during the daylight hours. And then we will detail how the evening session unfolded.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match:
Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Chazz Weldon/Fernanda Toker, 6-2, 6-1, to complete their first successful GTA Mixed Doubles Championship defense of their first reign! Dawn: 1 Ace on Fernanda in the 1st Set.
The match was originally scheduled to start at 1pm. Kris Srinivasan sent a text message of the result at 2:36. So we can safely assume the match was played within that time period. Kris only got to witness the final ten minutes of the match. His take on it was that Tito and Dawn were just too good and very punishing.
Toker's Take: Tito was able to poach a lot. The shots that made it to Dawn, she hit very well and was solid. Also, whenever she got her first serve in, it was very strong, fast and good. Tito was freaking amazing. I would call him "The Sneaky Magician." He was sneaking his way to the net and putting away the balls with angles and getting back balls that nobody should be able to get to. He is amazing and he was giving us a tennis lesson! We did everything we could, but it was very frustrating how he would just tap the ball and put it anywhere he wanted to.
Fernanda Toker/Dawn Peterson over Melvin Hyman/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Melvin Hyman.
Fernanda Toker over Melvin Hyman, 6-1! No Aces (apparently).
Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for sending in those additional results along with her commentary. I also thank Kris for making the effort to get over to the courts in the daytime hours to see what was happening with this match.
We will now detail the comings and goings of the evening session.
When Samara pulled up to the courts at 7pm, "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales was doing the exact same thing. Out on Court Four, "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff and "The Rainmaker" Richard Reicht were having a hitting session with one another. Courts One, Two and Three were all vacant.
Jose and Frank soon joined Jordan and Richard in the hitting session, but Samara warned them all that if it ended up evolving into a Doubles One-Setter that his mobility would be greatly limited as he was suffering from severe heel pain in his right foot.
The day before (Sunday) a couple of hours after that session had ended, Frank got a Charlie horse cramp in his right foot! This had never happened to him before. He has had plenty of them in his calf muscles and some in either his hamstrings or quadriceps…but never in the foot! The foot curled up like a claw!
While this only lasted for a couple of minutes, the pain lingered on much longer. And the next day, the pain made its way back to the heel area.
Samara was happy to see "Holy Moly" Mike Mole arrived at 7:10 as he invited Mike to replace him immediately. Frank went back out onto the bench alongside Court Four.
The four of them started a Doubles One-Setter at 7:20. Five minutes after that, Kris and Doinks Srinivasan (aka "The Marathon Woman") came across the street. Frank told them of his predicament and said the only way he would be able to play was if he was able to team with someone young and speedy.
Request granted! At that very moment, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes pulled into the parking lot. The four of them then headed out onto Court One. After a decent hitting session, they got a Doubles One-Setter underway at 7:35 as Nate and Frank teamed to take on Kris and Doinks.
"Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo arrived at 7:45 and he went out onto Court Two while he waited for an invite into the official action.
Natalia returned to Cedar Grove for some more action at 8pm. She soon joined Levy on Court Two for a hitting session.
The Doubles One-Setter on Court Four finished at 8:05 while the One-Setter on Court One ended just three minutes later. This led to Lorenzo taking Samara's place in the next one on Court One while both Jordan and Jose shifted over to Court Two to give Natalia a tennis lesson.
Once Bachvaroff realized that Reicht was leaving at 8:15, he went back to Court Four to have a very lengthy hitting session with Mole that lasted until 9:45!
Sout eventually got involved in some official action at exactly 9:13. Given how mild the evening temps were, we were somewhat surprised with the relatively modest turnout. But then we remembered that the Giants were one half of the Monday Night Football equation and that it was a home game.
The Super Moon was unfortunately obscured by the clouds that were already in the sky…the leading indicator that rain was on the way. Thankfully, the entire evening had remained dry.
And we ended up having a bit of a bull session at the end of the night as well. Good times!
Let's get back to results.
Jose Gonzales/Richard Reicht over Mike Mole/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-5! No Aces. These four faced off on Court Four from 7:20 to 8:05.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Doinks: 1 Ace on Nate! It went like this: Doinks held serve (back-to-back winning Backhand Volleys by Kris made it 30-Love and that was where Doinks scored with an impressive sideline Ace against Nate to set up Triple Game Point, it went to Double Game Point and that was where an un-returned serve secured the hold), Nathan held (Nate hit a drop shot winner for 30-Love, then a Double Fault made it 30-15 which was where Nate hit a laser-like passing shot winner to set up Double Game Point and then he repeated that feat with a shot that was just as impressive as the last one to lock down his hold), Kris held (an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where Doinks hit a victorious volley to set up Double Game Point which she then followed with an even more amazing Backhand Volley winner to secure her hubby's hold) and Frank held (Kris blew a volley for 15-Love, it went to 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve along the way and the hold came at the D.G.P.) as we were all on serve at 2-2. Mrs. Srinivasan was the first to be broken (Love-15, 15-All and then off and running to Double Break Point as Frank…despite being gimpy…made a valiant get/winner combo and then Kris blew a volley to allow the break), but Fernandes held again (Frank hit a winning mishit volley, Kris blew a volley and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point, it was then Double Game Point where Frank blew a volley to cut it to Game Point, but then came the hold) to go up 4-2. Mr. Srinivasan also held again (a winning volley by Doinkis followed by a winner from Kris made it 30-Love, it was then Triple Game Point when back-to-back Double Faults cut that lead down to Game Point, but that was where Kris made an awesome get/winner combo with excellent placement that Frank would not have gotten to even if he was at one hundred percent…and that secured the hold), but Samara held again as well (Doinks hit a winning return for Love-15, but then Nate hit a winning volley which blazed the path to Double Game Point, it was then Game Point where Nate blew a volley to make it Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce…and I know I forgot some of the winners along the way, but there was one truly amazing get/winning volley combo by Nate and I think it was to set up one of those Game Points and there was one more Game Point after that 3rd Deuce and then the hold) to put his team up 5-3! The Marathon Woman was then broken again (Kris hit a winning volley for 15-Love, it was 15-All where a Double Fault made it 15-30, then it was Double Break/Match Point where Nate blew a volley to make it Break/Match Point only to redeem himself with an excellent drop shot winner for the break and the win) to end this one on Court One at exactly 8:08 (we had gotten it underway at 7:35)!
The Skinny: The only difference in this one was that everyone held serve except Doinks who was broken twice. But that does not tell the whole story as she was an awesome force at the net with many volleys (some of which were winners while others kept the point alive) and she was actually quite strong during her services as well (with the highlight being the surprise Ace against Nate). She was more on than she was off throughout the entire contest. Kris was sizzling when he was hot, but then at times he got a little overcooked (overenthusiastic?) which led to some unfortunate errors. Nate was his usual ever-present self as he was making gets all over the place (often with consideration to the fact that his partner was less than one hundred percent in his ability to move). Considering his condition, Frank was just happy to not embarrass himself and get off the court with a victory under his belt.
Nathan Fernandes/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 7-6 (10-8)! No Aces. The basic breakdown: Kris and Levy got out to a 4-0 lead. From there, it went 4-1, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3 and 5-4. This was where I decided I should be taking some more complete notes. Levy was broken (they earned their way to Game/Match Point only to have it go to Deuce, Break Point and then the break) to level it at 5-5! Nathan then held (30-Love where Kris hit a drop shot winner for 30-15, but then he blew a volley to set up Double Game Point, it was then Game Point where Levy blew a volley to allow the hold) to put his team up 6-5. And then they had an amazing game with Kris on serve as he hit an un-returned serve to get off to a 30-Love start. It then shifted to 30-All where he hit a truly un-returnable serve to set up Game Point, but then he blew a volley to make it Deuce and then Nathan hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner to set up Break/Match Point, it went to 2nd Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point where Levy hit a vicious volley winner for 3rd Deuce, Game Point where Kris blew a volley for 4th Deuce, but then he hit a winner to set up Game Point which was where Levy hit another winning volley to secure the hold and force the Tiebreak! They had begun this one on Court One at 8:10. It was now 8:58 as they headed into the Breaker: Doinks was broken on her lone serve and then Levy held the first of his two serves after Kris made a truly awesome get but then Levy was broken on his second for a 2-1 lead. Nate was now on serve and an excellent and extended rally led to a 2-2 score, but a winning Overhead Smash from Kris caused Nate to be broken on his second serve for 2-3. Kris held the first of his two serves for 4-2 at the changeover which was then followed by another lengthy rally for 4-3 on the second of his two serves. Mrs. Srinivasan hit an un-returned serve to knot the score at 4-4, but then she was broken on her second to make it 4-5. Lorenzo held the first of his two serves after Kris hit an emphatic Backhand Volley winner to make it 6-4 and set up Match Point! But on his second serve, Nate answered with an equally awesome volley winner to cut that lead to 6-5…but it was still a Match Point! Fernandes then held the first of his two serves after hitting a monster Overhead Smash for 6-6 at the second changeover and then we had Kris reply with a similar killer Overhead Smash to hand himself a 7-6 lead and another Match Point as he was about to go back on service. What may have been the rally of the match (or at least of the Tiebreak) ended with a victorious volley from Nate to break Mr. Srinivasan on the first of his two serves. The K Man replied with a truly un-returnable serve on his second go-round to go up 8-7 and have yet another Match Point in his team's favor! The Marathon Woman held the first of her two serves to level things at 8-8 and then she held again after Nate hit a winner as her team now took a 9-8 lead and finally had the first Match Point in their favor in the TB (they had two M.P.'s in their favor against the service of Kris prior to the Breaker)! Service now returned to Mr. 500 and he was broken on that first serve to drop the TB with a score of 10-8 for the opposition! This ended at 9:10…exactly one hour after it started!
The Skinny: With a total of eight Match Points and a 10-8 Tiebreak score, this is a definite Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. In fact, without yet doing the research, it may be a prime contender to take the award! All four parties put forth maximum effort in a battle that earned the attention of those nearby as Frank, Jose and Natalia were all highly interested spectators for a good portion of this contest…especially as it made it to the latter stages.
Doinks was willing to sit out (as she is still dealing with knee issues) to allow Natalia to take her place teaming with Nate in the next battle while Kris and Levy remained a team. Given the fact that they were getting this next one underway at 9:13, they decided to forego the changeovers.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout leading Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo 6-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. Here's how it was going on Court One before they couldn't get it all done: Kris and Levy got off to a 0-1 start before going up 4-1. It was then 4-2 when Kris was broken in a multiple Deuce game for 4-3 and he was, in the words of the late, great Yogi Berra: "starting to get that déjà vu feeling all over again!" Nate was then broken (Game Point, Deuce where Levy hit an excellent passing shot winner for Break Point which was where Nate hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner to make it 2nd Deuce and then Natalia hit a winner for Game Point, it then went to 3rd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Levy was then broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All after Kris first hit a winning mishit volley and then he hit an awesome Backhand Volley winner and then Natalia made an amazing get to set up Break Point where Kris hit another winning volley to bring it to Deuce, but it was Break Point again where Kris blew a volley to allow the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4! Natalia then held (Kris blew two more volleys on the way to Double Game Point and then Natalia hit a passing shot winner to secure her own hold) to level things at 5-5! Srinivasan was now back on serve (Levy hit a venomous volley to set up Double Game Point only to see that lead get cut down to Deuce where Kris blew a volley to make it Break Point and then he blew another volley to break himself) and that was his second straight break to lose the lead at 5-6! Fernandes was on serve and was down 15-30 when the lights went out…serving to kill what could have been "anotha contenda!"
The Skinny: Kris was happy to avoid a second straight official loss for the night, but it would have been so much more exciting and fitting to see if this one was destined to be yet another potential Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. To have two nominees end up getting played back-to-back on the same evening could have been truly amazing.
Nonetheless, it was still a very fun way to close out the session…the end to a lengthy day of GTA action!
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
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