"M2 Final part of 20 at C.G.!":
GTA Wednesday 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 M2 Men's Doubles Tournament Final Match between the teams of "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas (aka M&M, aka The Lanky Lithuanians) versus GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/"The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah (aka The One-Two Punch, aka the Still Undefeated Former Champs).
Samara pulled into the parking lot at 7:10, a little later then expected. On Court One, he saw Kuzavas and Kazlauskas already hitting against one another to get warmed up for the big match. Court Two (aka The Lethal Leafy Zone) was vacant.
On Court Three, "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff was just entering into a Singles Match with someone that Samara did not recognize. It turned out to be "J.P." John Paul Landi who has competed in some Doubles action with us in the past. The would-be full match ended at one and a half sets when they cut it short for Doubles with Arvind D'Cunha and someone that I think Jordan said was named Naseem. Anyway, Jordan reported that first set with J.P. as just a One-Setter for the GTA.
And on Court Four and also getting underway at that time was a Mixed Doubles One-Setter featuring "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan versus "Instant" Moka Pathan and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson. Afterward, Moka reported an earlier One-Setter where he teamed with "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner (instead of Dawn) against Doyle/Jordan.
"Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales had pulled up at the same time that Samara did and then ended up riding the bench alongside Court Four with Frank for awhile.
"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 7:20 and he was the next one on the bench. None of the three were eager to go out onto the leaf-fest known as Court Two. In fact, Samara was just hoping to take notes of the M2 Final which was set to start at 7:45.
Kris came across the street five minutes later just as "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was arriving. The K Man is always good at coaxing people to play, so Martinelli and Gonzales got off the bench and headed out to Court Two with Srinivasan and Fernandes.
Chiaro was the next one to arrive at 7:30. He headed out onto Court One to hit with his soon-to-be opponents.
Five minutes after that, "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega and "Coach" Dino Celis both arrived at the same time. They had to occupy the bench with Samara for a while before finally getting out onto Court Four after that Mixed Doubles One-Setter ended at 7:47.
Just as that One-Setter was ending, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan came from across the street. In fact, she just completed a marathon down in Virginia this past weekend. So kudos to Doinks!
Shah, who was running late from work, pulled into the parking lot at 7:55. Still in his work clothes, he did a quick "presto change-o" in his car and emerged like Clark Kent turning into Superman ready for action. Knowing that time was of the essence, he only hit briefly as they got the M2 Final underway on Court One at exactly 8:02.
Samara had shifted from the bench alongside Court Four to the bench alongside Court One to take proper notes. Various players would sit with him along the way as they were in-between official action. Frank never did play.
Natalia "Nitro" Sout was the next to arrive at 8:05. Five minutes later, J-Bach versus J.B. on Court Three then became a foursome when those other two guys arrived. During the Doubles, Jordan hurt his knee again and had to bow out early. The other three held that court for the rest of the evening, but we never really needed it anyway.
"The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar was the last of our competitors to arrive at 8:15 and so we ended up with an impressive total of 20 official players.
The conditions were absolutely amazing for the second day of November as the temps were still in the lower 70 degree range (likely dropping down into the upper 60's as the night progressed) and there was no wind.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Moka Pathan/Herb Reiner over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-4! No Aces. Not sure of the start or stop times, but this One-Setter did take place on Court Four.
Jordan Bachvaroff over John Paul Landi, 6-4! Jordan: 1 Ace. This one got started at 7:10 on Court Three. Not sure when it ended as it went into a would-be 2nd Set and then that was cut short halfway through in favor of Doubles with those two other guys (which was not included as a GTA result).
Moka Pathan/Dawn Peterson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 7-5! No Aces. They opted not to do the changeovers in order to save time. Kevin and Brenda were up 5-2 only to allow Moka and Dawn to come back by winning five straight games to the finish! This took place on Court Four and lasted from 7:10 to 7:47.
Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 6-3! No Aces. Nate and Spin were down 1-3 before they took five straight games to finish this off on Court Two at 8:17 (they had gotten it underway at 7:42)!
Edwin Ortega/Doinks Srinivasan over Kevin Doyle/Dawn Peterson, 7-6 (7-5)! Edwin: 1 Ace on Kevin. Court Four hosted this lengthy battle from 7:55 to 8:45. Afterward, Edwin and Doinks had a hitting session with one another.
M2 Final Match:
Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah over Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, to win the 2016 M2 Tournament and become the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division (aka The Next Top Contenders)! Marijus: 2 Aces on Raj (1 in the 1st Set and 1 in the 2nd Set); Mike: 1 Ace on Raj in the 1st Set; and Raj: 1 Ace on Marijus in the 3rd Set! They got it going on Court One at 8:02.
1st Set: Mike held serve (15-Love where Marijus blew a volley for 15-All, then an un-returned serve made it 30-15 where another blown volley by Marijus made it 30-All, then another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then Marijus scored with a winning Backhand Volley to secure his partner's hold), Chris held (Marijus hit a winning volley for Love-15, then it was Love-30 when an un-returned serve made it 15-30 and then a winning Backhand Volley by Raj made it 30-All where another un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then a blown volley by Raj made it Deuce where Raj rebounded with a winner for another Game Point, but then Raj blew another volley to make it 2nd Deuce which was where Marijus came thru with a monster Overhead Smash for Break Point, but then it went to 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Marijus held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All where Mike hit a whopper of an Overhead Smash for 30-15, then it was 30-All where an un-returned serve set up Game Point which was where Mike hit a winning Backhand Volley to secure his partner's hold), but Raj was the first to be broken (an excellent rally led to Love-15, then it was Love-30 where Raj hit a winner for 15-30, then it went to Double Break Point where Chris hit a crushing winner to bring it to Break Point only to have Marijus score with a scorching return winner for the break) to fall to 1-3. Kazlauskas held again (Mike hit a blast of an Overhead Smash for 30-Love where he then scored a corner Ace on Raj to set up Triple Game Point, it went to Double Game Point and then came the hold) to go up 4-1, but Chiaro also held again (15-Love where Marijus hit another sizzling return winner to make it 15-All, then it went to 30-15 and 30-All where an un-returned serve set up Game Point, then it went to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce where Chris hit a winner to set up Game Point again and then Mike blew a volley to allow the hold) to pull to 2-4. Kuzavas held again and this time it was at Love as he started with a sideline Ace on Raj and then Mike hit a winning Backhand Volley for 30-Love and they were off and running from there to a somewhat commanding 5-2 lead! And then Shah was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love followed by another for 30-Love and then Mike blew a sure overhead to set up Triple Game Point, but then it went to Double Game Point where Marijus hit a net-cord winner to make it Game Point and then it went to Deuce, Break/Set Point and the break) to drop the set at 8:30. One minute later, they were onto the next one.
2nd Set: Mike was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love followed by another for 30-Love, but then Marijus blew a volley to make it 30-15 and then it shifted straight to Break Point, then Deuce, then Break Point again where an un-returned serve brought it to 2nd Deuce and then Mike blew a volley to bring it back to Break Point once more and then came the break), Chris held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where Mike blew a volley to make it 30-15 where Raj then made a great get/winner combo for Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold), Marijus was broken (Mike blew a volley for Love-15, then it was Love-30 where an Ace up the T against Raj make it 15-30 only to then have it go to Double Break Point where Raj hit an awesome passing shot winner for the break) and Raj finally held (Chris hit a winner for 15-Love where what was the best rally of the match up until that moment ended with a winning volley by Marijus for 15-All, but then there was an un-returned serve for 30-15, then it went to Double Game Point, Game Point where Mike hit a winning volley to bring it to Deuce where a truly un-returnable serve set up Game Point once more and then another un-returned serve secured the hold) to jump out to a 4-0 lead! Kazlauskas held (15-Love where a rally even greater than the last noteworthy one was finished by an even better winning volley by Marijus to make it 30-Love only to be followed up by an equally impressive winning volley by Marijus to set up Triple Game Point, but then came a Double Fault for Double Game Point where a truly un-returnable serve secured the hold) to get his team on the scoreboard in this set, but then Chiaro held again (Raj hit a big-time Overhead Smash for 15-Love and then Marijus hit a laser-like passing shot winner for 15-All where Raj then hit a winning volley for 30-15 which was where Mike responded with a killer Overhead Smash for 30-All where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then Raj hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) and Kuzavas was broken again (started with two consecutive Double Faults to get off to a Love-30 start where an un-returned serve then made it 15-30 only to have Mike blow a volley to set up Double Break/Set Point which was where Raj blew a volley to make it Break/Set Point, but then came the break for the set) to level the match at exactly 8:57! One minute later, they were onto the next one.
3rd Set: Raj held (Love-15 where Raj hit a winning volley for 15-All where Mike then blew a volley to make it 30-15, then it was 30-All when Marijus scored with a winning Backhand Volley to make it Break Point which was where Chris made one of his usual spectacular get/winner combos to bring it to Deuce which then was where Chris scored with an awesome passing shot winner as he bellowed a "come on!" as it set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Marijus and Mike switched up their service sides with Marijus now going on serve (15-Love where Mike blew a volley for 15-All where he then redeemed himself with an amazing winning volley for 30-15 where a truly un-returnable serve set up Double Game Point where then another un-returned serve secured the hold) to make it 1-1. Chris held (back-to-back un-returned serves for 30-Love and then Chris hit a winner to set up Triple Game Point, it went to Double Game Point and then came the hold), but so did Mike (Marijus hit an impressive winning volley for 15-Love and then Raj blew a volley for 30-Love, it was then Triple Game Point where Raj hit a blistering winner for Double Game Point, but then came the hold) as all were on serve at 2-2. Shah held again and this time it was at Love as Chris made another amazing get/winner combo for 15-Love and then an Ace up the T against Marijus made it 30-Love and then on Triple Game Point it was another un-returned serve to secure the hold to go up 3-2. Kuzavas was then broken (Mike blew a volley to make it Love-15 and then it was Love-30 where Raj hit a missile-like return winner to set up Triple Break Point which was where Marijus made an awesome get/winner combo for Double Break Point and then it went to Break Point only to have Chris hit a winning return for the break) to go down 2-4. Chiaro held again (Raj hit a winning volley for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where Marijus blew a volley to make it 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point and then an excellent extended rally led to the hold) to go up 5-2 and then Kazlauskas was broken (Mike hit an impressive Backhand Volley winner for 15-Love, it was then 15-All where Marijus followed up what his partner had done two points earlier with one of the most impressively angled Backhand Volley winners ever seen to make it 30-15 which was where Raj hit a bomb of an Overhead Smash to make it 30-All and then came Break/Match Point where Marijus blew what looked to be a certain overhead as it sailed long past the baseline as Chris let out one more "come on!" as a release responding to the fact that this hard-hitting war had just ended at 9:23!
The Skinny: It was truly a seesaw battle as the big boys from Lithuania came out on fire in the 1st Set and it seems like they caught Chiaro and Shah somewhat off-guard. From the sidelines, we overheard Raj tell Chris that he "had an idea" as they were about to enter into the 2nd Set. We never heard exactly what that idea was, but it obviously paid off as they were able to reverse the momentum in that set and level the match. The 3rd Set started off even as all four held serve through to 2-2. It seemed like it may be the set where both tandems fought right until the very end and possibly head to a Tiebreak. Instead, Kuzavas and Kazlauskas lost some of the accuracy on their attempted overheads (they did manage two beautiful volley winners at the net late in the set, however) while both Chiaro and Shah sharpened their focus and made sure to finish off their opponents before the clock struck ten. It was definitely an impressive outing for all involved as the spectators were often wowed by the velocity of the shots and the agility of the get-making…even from the big men. All around, good stuff…kudos to all…and a hearty dose of congratulations goes to Chris and Raj for a hard-fought victory!
The Consequences: The Chiaro/Shah tandem is now the Top Contending Team to the reigning GTA Doubles Champions: "Stormin" Norman Taclob and Tito "Touch" Castolo. They can get that shot prior to a winner emerging from the Final of the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament (that Final is now set for this coming Saturday night). Or we can have a scenario after that Final where there are two teams waiting in line for a shot at The Champs.
From there, whatever four players can get together to get the match scheduled can lead to which challenging team gets the first shot. Also, per the stipulations of each tournament, when The Monk Memorial Champs emerge from the Final…they will actually leapfrog into the # 2 rank/spot in the Doubles Division. But each team will deserve a shot before any other teams are entitled to one.
And if the reigning Champs lose that first match, then as Former Champs they will be entitled to an immediate Rematch before the second team can get their shot. I'm sure much (if not all) of this will carry over into the 2017 Season…which gives us an interesting cliffhanger ending to this season, for sure.
Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces. Court Two hosted this one from 8:23 to 8:54.
Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales over Dino Celis/Edwin Ortega, 6-4! No Aces. These four faced off on Court Four from 9pm to 9:45.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. They got this one underway on Court Two at 9:20. At 9:26 (while still in the first game), they shifted over to Court One once they realized it was available after the M2 Final had finished. By 9:27, it was only 1-0. At 3-3, none of the four had held serve! From there, Nate was the first to hold and then Doinks was broken at Love after hitting a Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point! Then, Natalia held after Senthil blew an overhead (rare for his steady hand at the net) to set up Double Game/Match Point and then came the hold at 9:55!
All in all, it was yet another exciting and impactful session which also was a lot of fun.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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