11/6/16:
"Samara hosts 11 at AP, Women's Doubles Titles part of 8 at C.G.!:"
There were two sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning session at The Albion Park Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then a somewhat unusual morning session at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and featuring the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match as the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley/"Spicy" Sally Pillay put their Titles on the line against the 2016 W-Dub Champs: "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon/"C.A.T." Christine Toth).
We will first recount how the Albion session unfolded before we turn this report over to Kris for how the Cedar Grove session developed.
When Samara pulled up to the courts at 9:35, he saw "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo hitting with his son-in-law "The Bostonian" Chris Homick out on the North Court (Levy said they just got there around 9:30). Levy said he also had a friend who would soon be coming as well.
Frank soon took Levy's side as they each hit against Chris until that friend, the fourth player arrived.
And that friend pulled up to the courts at 9:50. He is Sam Wong and we will call him "Mr. Seasons" as he is the owner of one of the finest Chinese restaurants in the area...The Seasons in Styretowne Mall in Clifton.
We hit for a little while when Sam suggested shifting over to the South Court as the North Court had the most leaves on it while also presenting a sight-challenging situation of sunlight and shadows. The South Court was entirely in the sunlight (alleviating the shadow problem while also making the conditions warmer) and was pretty much free of leaves.
We made the shift at 9:55 and got a Doubles One-Setter officially underway exactly seven minutes later.
Just three minutes later at 10:05, a couple and their young daughter took over the North Court. They only stayed, however, until 10:30.
"MC Quick" Mike Carruci arrived at 10:10 and took Center Court to practice his serve until around five minutes later when GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived and started to hit with him. That would eventually lead to a Singles One-Setter.
At 10:30, Frank noticed a text message from Kris up at Cedar Grove stating that he and Doinks would appreciate his presence to host that session to add to the already important atmosphere with the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match about to get underway. But Samara's reply was that we already had six players in attendance at Albion (with surely more on the way).
"J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues was the next to arrive at 10:45. This was just as the Chiaro-Carucci One-Setter finished so then Joe got to hit with Mike for a while. Then, Rodrigues ended up hitting against Chiaro once Carucci decided it was time to leave.
When the second Doubles One-Setter finished on the South Court, Frank and Levy willingly took themselves out of the action to let Chiaro and Rodrigues take their places while Homick and Wong remained on court. They officially got that third Doubles One-Setter underway on the South Court at exactly 11:12.
At that very same minute, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes ended up walking onto the courts and briefly took a seat on the bench next to Samara and Lorenzo.
But when "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi arrived at 11:15, Nate jumped out onto Center Court to hit with him. And Samara and Lorenzo told them that once they felt ready, they would join the two of them for a Doubles One-Setter on the North Court. That eventually got underway at 11:30.
"Coach" Dino Celis and "Holy Moly" Mike Mole made their way (separately) to the courts at 11:40. They each sat on the benches alongside the North Court until Mole was called into action over on the South Court five minutes later while Celis continued to eat his lunch.
When Dino eventually got involved in the official action, he became the eleventh and last official player of the session. But prior to that at 12:10, we had a brief cameo appearance by another new face.
His name is Janz Gonzalez and he recently met Mike Mole who gave him some introductory info to the league. He was unable to play on this occasion as he had just received a recent vaccination which, like most injections, ended up in the crook of his elbow...thus affecting his ability to play. But he hopes to join us soon to make his official GTA Debut.
Let's now go to the results.
The Albion Park Results:
Levy Lorenzo/Chris Homick over Frank Samara/Sam Wong, 6-2! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Sam Wong. It went like this: Levy held serve (Chris hit a winning volley for 15-Love, but it shifted right to Double Break Point as Sam hit a winning passing shot return followed by another winner, but then an un-returned serve cut it to Break Point, it went to Deuce where another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Sam was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All, then it went 15-30 where Sam hit a winner for 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) for 0-2. Chris was broken (Chris made a great get that led to 15-Love, then Frank hit a drop shot winner for 15-All were Levy hit a winning volley for 30-15 only to have Frank hit another drop shot winner for 30-All where a truly un-returnable serve set up Game Point, but then Levy blew a volley to make it Deuce and then Frank hit a winning volley to set up Break Point where Chris blew a volley to break himself) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Frank was also broken (Sam hit a winning volley and Chris blew a volley to make it 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All after Chris hit a winning volley followed by another winner, it then went to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point where Levy hit the winner for the break) to fall to 1-3. Lorenzo held again (15-Love where Frank hit a wicked winner for 15-All, but then it went straight to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve along the way and another one to secure the hold) and Wong was broken again (Love-30 shifted to 30-All with back-to-back un-returned serves, but then it went to Break Point where Levy hit the winner for the break) to fall to 1-5. Homick was also broken again (started with a Double Fault, then it was Love-30 where he hit a truly un-returnable serve to make it 15-30 where another Double Fault set up Double Break Point where Sam hit a net-cord-aided winning return for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2. But Samara was also broken again (an excellent rally led to Love-15 where back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-15, then it was 30-All where another un-returned serve set up Game Point which was where Frank blew an overhead to make it Deuce and then Sam hit a winning volley to make it Game Point again, but then Sam blew a volley to bring it to 2nd Deuce and then came Break/Match Point and the break! We played this one on the South Court from 10:02 to 10:35.
The Skinny: We already knew Chris came with big game as we saw him a couple of months ago in the summer. With better than average height and great range, he likes to get up to the net to finish off points with winning volleys and Overhead Smashes. He also has quite the big serve as well. Sam was the unknown commodity coming into this one. His style is quite similar to the man we used to call "The Legend Killer", Timothy Wong (no relation). They both run around their backhand (most of the time) to hit a lethal and low-slung but fast-paced flat forehand. Homick resides in Boston, so we won't see him again until his next Jersey visit. But hopefully we will see much more of Mr. Wong in the future.
Chris Chiaro over Mike Carucci, 6-0! No Aces. They played this on Center Court from 10:25 to 10:45.
Levy Lorenzo/Chris Homick over Frank Samara/Sam Wong, 6-0! Chris: 1 Ace on Sam. Here's how it went down: Chris held (started with a sideline Ace on Sam and then two more un-returned serves set up Triple Game Point, it was then Double Game Point where a Double Fault brought it to Game Point and then Frank hit a winner to make it Deuce, but then Frank blew a volley to bring it back to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), Sam was broken (Frank hit a winning volley and Sam hit a winner to make it 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point and the break), Levy held (15-Love where Chris blew a volley for 15-All, but then Chris redeemed himself with a winning volley followed by another winner to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) and Frank was broken (Chris hit an awesome volley winner to make it Love-30 where Sam hit a winning volley to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point and Break Point where Sam hit another winning volley to make it Deuce and then it was all Break Points until Frank hit a drop shot winner for 4th Deuce and then Sam hit a winning volley to set up Game Point, but then it went to 5th Deuce where Levy hit a winning volley for Break Point where Sam blew a volley to allow the break) to fall to 0-4! Homick then held again (Chris hit a passing shot winner to start up 15-Love where an excellent rally ended when Chris made a great get only to have Sam hit the winning volley for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point, Deuce where Levy hit a winning roller over the net to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Wong was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All where Levy hit a winner to set up Break/Match Point where Levy then hit a passing shot winner for the break) to take the loss. This rematch was also played on the South Court and it lasted from 10:38 to 11:10. Ignoring the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" train of thought, Levy and Chris decided to switch their service sides in this one...and it ended up paying dividends as they fed their opponents a late morning bagel!
Joe Rodrigues/Chris Homick over Chris Chiaro/Sam Wong, 7-5! No Aces. They also played this one on the South Court. It lasted from 11:12 to 11:45.
Nathan Fernandes/Levy Lorenzo over Frank Samara/Abhilash Gadi, 6-4! Abilash: 1 Ace on Nathan. The dirty lowdown: Levy had a Love hold after an excellent rally led to Triple Game Point where Nathan then hit a drop shot that forced an error, Abhilash held (Love-15 where a slow slicing Ace caught Nathan off guard for 15-All which was on the way to Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold), Nathan held at Love after Frank blew a volley for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where what may have been the best rally of the match led to the hold and then Frank held as well (Frank hit a passing shot winner for 15-30 but then it shifted to 15-30 as Frank blew a volley and Levy hit a winning volley, it then went to 30-All, Break Point where Abhi hit a crushing winner for Deuce and then came Game Point and the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2! Lorenzo was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break...couldn't remember the winners in this one by the time of the changeover), but so was Gadi (Abhi hit a passing shot winner to go up 15-Love where Nathan then hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-All, it was then 15-30 where Frank hit a very impressive winner for 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) to tie things again, this time at 3-3. Fernandes held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 then Frank hit a drop shot winner which began the shift to Break Point, but then it was Deuce where Nate hit a monster Overhead Smash for Game Point which he then followed with an equally impressive winner to the opposite corner for the hold), but Samara was then broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Mr. 500 was broken again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break...couldn't remember the winners in this one as the focus was on counting the M.P.'s) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4, but The Accelerator was also broken again (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15 right after Frank hit a winning volley, but then it shifted again and now it was Break/Match Point where Frank hit a killer Overhead Smash for Deuce, but then came the 2nd Break/Match Point and this is where this one ended on what was the 5th M.P. overall) to take a tough loss! We played this one on the North Court from 11:30 to 12:17.
The Skinny: This was a competitive contest which featured the speedy Gadi going up against the rangy and always ready Fernandes while Samara and Lorenzo did their best to facilitate many of these lengthy rallies. All four players had times where they shifted from hot to cold and then back again. It was a lot of fun.
Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues over Chris Homick/Sam Wong, 6-2! No Aces. The South Court hosted this contest from 11:50 to 12:22.
Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis over Mike Mole/Chris Homick, 6-4! Chris: 1 Ace on Dino. It was 1-1 with Chris on hold where it went to Double Game Point and that was where he hit a really nice Ace up the T against Dino for the hold and then Nathan was broken to fall to 1-3! But then Mike was broken as he hit three Double Faults along the way to have his team's lead cut to 3-2. Dino was broken to fall to 2-4, but from there it was Homick being broken, Fernandes holding, Mole being broken and Celis getting the hold as his team came back by winning the last four straight games! They played this one on the North Court from 12:27 to 12:56.
Frank, Joe and Levy were watching from the benches alongside the North Court. Rodrigues ended up leaving just one minute before the match actually ended.
From there, Lorenzo and Homick also soon left. Fernandes and Mole then had a lengthy drill and hitting session while Celis and Samara watched. Those remaining four left the courts at 2:15.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris and Doinks for their invitation to the Cedar Grove session (which we will detail shortly), but there are still many players who prefer playing in Clifton. This part of the league cannot be abandoned.
In fact, there are still some who wish we would have stayed at Robin Hood Park instead. But the much better condition of the brand new courts at Albion more than justifies the switch. I gladly welcome anyone else to host sessions at RHP. The more concurrent sessions we have going on, the better. The same way we welcome new players - the more, the merrier!
We now turn this report over to The K Man!
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Kathy Sheldon/Christine Toth, 6-2, 6-0, to complete the first successful GTA Women's Doubles Championship defense of their second reign! No Aces (apparently).
The Main Event was the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match between the teams of Laura and Sally against Kathy and Christine. Incidentally, there were few other matches that took place on such a gorgeous Sunday with the sun glowing benevolently with mild temperatures through the day.
Laura and Sally showed their dominance, but Kathy and Christine were certainly not cowed by the pressure piled on them. They dug in hard and played some really nice points. The problem was that they couldn't string a bunch of points together to win some games.
Kris Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan over Marijus Kuzavas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Doinks: 1 Ace on Brenda; and Kris: 1 Ace on Marijus!
Good match for us as we played solid tennis and coupled with unforced errors from Marijus who was warming up, it turned out to be a relatively easy match for us.
Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Brenda Jordan, 6-3! No Aces.
Another good win for us despite Marijus coming on much harder this time around.
Sally Pillay/Christine Toth over Doinks Srinivasan/Kathy Sheldon, 6-2! No Aces (apparently).
Sally was like a bull compared to the soft play by Christine. Still, Doinks and Kathy were giving a good accounting of themselves…well, at least for the first half of the match.
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
Brenda was raring to go for one more set and that, too, after already playing already two previous One-Setters. She insisted on challenging the Champs who didn't take much time to burst her bubble of enthusiasm...J. Still, Brenda is always a good sport!
Marijus Kuzavas over Kris Srinivasan, 6-4! Marijus: 3 Aces!
It was a very close match all the way through. One side of the courts was a bit tough with sun and winds playing a role. I also missed out on an opportunity to lead at 5-4, but it was slightly satisfying on some points which were well-constructed. Marijus had lesser errors, but did lack his usual fire on some of his shots. But he did come up with some nice Aces at the right time.
It turned out to be a great day for tennis, and we sure capitalized it. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: It sounded like a great session…especially with the focus on the ladies. To hit sixty degrees on the first Sunday of November is somewhat of a gift in and of itself. I am glad to see we were able to take advantage of it simultaneously in our two prime locations.
All the best,
Frank Samara
"Samara hosts 11 at AP, Women's Doubles Titles part of 8 at C.G.!:"
There were two sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning session at The Albion Park Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then a somewhat unusual morning session at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and featuring the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match as the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley/"Spicy" Sally Pillay put their Titles on the line against the 2016 W-Dub Champs: "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon/"C.A.T." Christine Toth).
We will first recount how the Albion session unfolded before we turn this report over to Kris for how the Cedar Grove session developed.
When Samara pulled up to the courts at 9:35, he saw "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo hitting with his son-in-law "The Bostonian" Chris Homick out on the North Court (Levy said they just got there around 9:30). Levy said he also had a friend who would soon be coming as well.
Frank soon took Levy's side as they each hit against Chris until that friend, the fourth player arrived.
And that friend pulled up to the courts at 9:50. He is Sam Wong and we will call him "Mr. Seasons" as he is the owner of one of the finest Chinese restaurants in the area...The Seasons in Styretowne Mall in Clifton.
We hit for a little while when Sam suggested shifting over to the South Court as the North Court had the most leaves on it while also presenting a sight-challenging situation of sunlight and shadows. The South Court was entirely in the sunlight (alleviating the shadow problem while also making the conditions warmer) and was pretty much free of leaves.
We made the shift at 9:55 and got a Doubles One-Setter officially underway exactly seven minutes later.
Just three minutes later at 10:05, a couple and their young daughter took over the North Court. They only stayed, however, until 10:30.
"MC Quick" Mike Carruci arrived at 10:10 and took Center Court to practice his serve until around five minutes later when GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived and started to hit with him. That would eventually lead to a Singles One-Setter.
At 10:30, Frank noticed a text message from Kris up at Cedar Grove stating that he and Doinks would appreciate his presence to host that session to add to the already important atmosphere with the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match about to get underway. But Samara's reply was that we already had six players in attendance at Albion (with surely more on the way).
"J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues was the next to arrive at 10:45. This was just as the Chiaro-Carucci One-Setter finished so then Joe got to hit with Mike for a while. Then, Rodrigues ended up hitting against Chiaro once Carucci decided it was time to leave.
When the second Doubles One-Setter finished on the South Court, Frank and Levy willingly took themselves out of the action to let Chiaro and Rodrigues take their places while Homick and Wong remained on court. They officially got that third Doubles One-Setter underway on the South Court at exactly 11:12.
At that very same minute, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes ended up walking onto the courts and briefly took a seat on the bench next to Samara and Lorenzo.
But when "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi arrived at 11:15, Nate jumped out onto Center Court to hit with him. And Samara and Lorenzo told them that once they felt ready, they would join the two of them for a Doubles One-Setter on the North Court. That eventually got underway at 11:30.
"Coach" Dino Celis and "Holy Moly" Mike Mole made their way (separately) to the courts at 11:40. They each sat on the benches alongside the North Court until Mole was called into action over on the South Court five minutes later while Celis continued to eat his lunch.
When Dino eventually got involved in the official action, he became the eleventh and last official player of the session. But prior to that at 12:10, we had a brief cameo appearance by another new face.
His name is Janz Gonzalez and he recently met Mike Mole who gave him some introductory info to the league. He was unable to play on this occasion as he had just received a recent vaccination which, like most injections, ended up in the crook of his elbow...thus affecting his ability to play. But he hopes to join us soon to make his official GTA Debut.
Let's now go to the results.
The Albion Park Results:
Levy Lorenzo/Chris Homick over Frank Samara/Sam Wong, 6-2! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Sam Wong. It went like this: Levy held serve (Chris hit a winning volley for 15-Love, but it shifted right to Double Break Point as Sam hit a winning passing shot return followed by another winner, but then an un-returned serve cut it to Break Point, it went to Deuce where another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Sam was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All, then it went 15-30 where Sam hit a winner for 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) for 0-2. Chris was broken (Chris made a great get that led to 15-Love, then Frank hit a drop shot winner for 15-All were Levy hit a winning volley for 30-15 only to have Frank hit another drop shot winner for 30-All where a truly un-returnable serve set up Game Point, but then Levy blew a volley to make it Deuce and then Frank hit a winning volley to set up Break Point where Chris blew a volley to break himself) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Frank was also broken (Sam hit a winning volley and Chris blew a volley to make it 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All after Chris hit a winning volley followed by another winner, it then went to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point where Levy hit the winner for the break) to fall to 1-3. Lorenzo held again (15-Love where Frank hit a wicked winner for 15-All, but then it went straight to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve along the way and another one to secure the hold) and Wong was broken again (Love-30 shifted to 30-All with back-to-back un-returned serves, but then it went to Break Point where Levy hit the winner for the break) to fall to 1-5. Homick was also broken again (started with a Double Fault, then it was Love-30 where he hit a truly un-returnable serve to make it 15-30 where another Double Fault set up Double Break Point where Sam hit a net-cord-aided winning return for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2. But Samara was also broken again (an excellent rally led to Love-15 where back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-15, then it was 30-All where another un-returned serve set up Game Point which was where Frank blew an overhead to make it Deuce and then Sam hit a winning volley to make it Game Point again, but then Sam blew a volley to bring it to 2nd Deuce and then came Break/Match Point and the break! We played this one on the South Court from 10:02 to 10:35.
The Skinny: We already knew Chris came with big game as we saw him a couple of months ago in the summer. With better than average height and great range, he likes to get up to the net to finish off points with winning volleys and Overhead Smashes. He also has quite the big serve as well. Sam was the unknown commodity coming into this one. His style is quite similar to the man we used to call "The Legend Killer", Timothy Wong (no relation). They both run around their backhand (most of the time) to hit a lethal and low-slung but fast-paced flat forehand. Homick resides in Boston, so we won't see him again until his next Jersey visit. But hopefully we will see much more of Mr. Wong in the future.
Chris Chiaro over Mike Carucci, 6-0! No Aces. They played this on Center Court from 10:25 to 10:45.
Levy Lorenzo/Chris Homick over Frank Samara/Sam Wong, 6-0! Chris: 1 Ace on Sam. Here's how it went down: Chris held (started with a sideline Ace on Sam and then two more un-returned serves set up Triple Game Point, it was then Double Game Point where a Double Fault brought it to Game Point and then Frank hit a winner to make it Deuce, but then Frank blew a volley to bring it back to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), Sam was broken (Frank hit a winning volley and Sam hit a winner to make it 30-Love, but then it went straight to Break Point and the break), Levy held (15-Love where Chris blew a volley for 15-All, but then Chris redeemed himself with a winning volley followed by another winner to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) and Frank was broken (Chris hit an awesome volley winner to make it Love-30 where Sam hit a winning volley to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point and Break Point where Sam hit another winning volley to make it Deuce and then it was all Break Points until Frank hit a drop shot winner for 4th Deuce and then Sam hit a winning volley to set up Game Point, but then it went to 5th Deuce where Levy hit a winning volley for Break Point where Sam blew a volley to allow the break) to fall to 0-4! Homick then held again (Chris hit a passing shot winner to start up 15-Love where an excellent rally ended when Chris made a great get only to have Sam hit the winning volley for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point, Deuce where Levy hit a winning roller over the net to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Wong was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All where Levy hit a winner to set up Break/Match Point where Levy then hit a passing shot winner for the break) to take the loss. This rematch was also played on the South Court and it lasted from 10:38 to 11:10. Ignoring the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" train of thought, Levy and Chris decided to switch their service sides in this one...and it ended up paying dividends as they fed their opponents a late morning bagel!
Joe Rodrigues/Chris Homick over Chris Chiaro/Sam Wong, 7-5! No Aces. They also played this one on the South Court. It lasted from 11:12 to 11:45.
Nathan Fernandes/Levy Lorenzo over Frank Samara/Abhilash Gadi, 6-4! Abilash: 1 Ace on Nathan. The dirty lowdown: Levy had a Love hold after an excellent rally led to Triple Game Point where Nathan then hit a drop shot that forced an error, Abhilash held (Love-15 where a slow slicing Ace caught Nathan off guard for 15-All which was on the way to Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold), Nathan held at Love after Frank blew a volley for 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where what may have been the best rally of the match led to the hold and then Frank held as well (Frank hit a passing shot winner for 15-30 but then it shifted to 15-30 as Frank blew a volley and Levy hit a winning volley, it then went to 30-All, Break Point where Abhi hit a crushing winner for Deuce and then came Game Point and the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2! Lorenzo was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break...couldn't remember the winners in this one by the time of the changeover), but so was Gadi (Abhi hit a passing shot winner to go up 15-Love where Nathan then hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-All, it was then 15-30 where Frank hit a very impressive winner for 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) to tie things again, this time at 3-3. Fernandes held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 then Frank hit a drop shot winner which began the shift to Break Point, but then it was Deuce where Nate hit a monster Overhead Smash for Game Point which he then followed with an equally impressive winner to the opposite corner for the hold), but Samara was then broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Mr. 500 was broken again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break...couldn't remember the winners in this one as the focus was on counting the M.P.'s) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4, but The Accelerator was also broken again (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15 right after Frank hit a winning volley, but then it shifted again and now it was Break/Match Point where Frank hit a killer Overhead Smash for Deuce, but then came the 2nd Break/Match Point and this is where this one ended on what was the 5th M.P. overall) to take a tough loss! We played this one on the North Court from 11:30 to 12:17.
The Skinny: This was a competitive contest which featured the speedy Gadi going up against the rangy and always ready Fernandes while Samara and Lorenzo did their best to facilitate many of these lengthy rallies. All four players had times where they shifted from hot to cold and then back again. It was a lot of fun.
Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues over Chris Homick/Sam Wong, 6-2! No Aces. The South Court hosted this contest from 11:50 to 12:22.
Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis over Mike Mole/Chris Homick, 6-4! Chris: 1 Ace on Dino. It was 1-1 with Chris on hold where it went to Double Game Point and that was where he hit a really nice Ace up the T against Dino for the hold and then Nathan was broken to fall to 1-3! But then Mike was broken as he hit three Double Faults along the way to have his team's lead cut to 3-2. Dino was broken to fall to 2-4, but from there it was Homick being broken, Fernandes holding, Mole being broken and Celis getting the hold as his team came back by winning the last four straight games! They played this one on the North Court from 12:27 to 12:56.
Frank, Joe and Levy were watching from the benches alongside the North Court. Rodrigues ended up leaving just one minute before the match actually ended.
From there, Lorenzo and Homick also soon left. Fernandes and Mole then had a lengthy drill and hitting session while Celis and Samara watched. Those remaining four left the courts at 2:15.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris and Doinks for their invitation to the Cedar Grove session (which we will detail shortly), but there are still many players who prefer playing in Clifton. This part of the league cannot be abandoned.
In fact, there are still some who wish we would have stayed at Robin Hood Park instead. But the much better condition of the brand new courts at Albion more than justifies the switch. I gladly welcome anyone else to host sessions at RHP. The more concurrent sessions we have going on, the better. The same way we welcome new players - the more, the merrier!
We now turn this report over to The K Man!
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Kathy Sheldon/Christine Toth, 6-2, 6-0, to complete the first successful GTA Women's Doubles Championship defense of their second reign! No Aces (apparently).
The Main Event was the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match between the teams of Laura and Sally against Kathy and Christine. Incidentally, there were few other matches that took place on such a gorgeous Sunday with the sun glowing benevolently with mild temperatures through the day.
Laura and Sally showed their dominance, but Kathy and Christine were certainly not cowed by the pressure piled on them. They dug in hard and played some really nice points. The problem was that they couldn't string a bunch of points together to win some games.
Kris Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan over Marijus Kuzavas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! Doinks: 1 Ace on Brenda; and Kris: 1 Ace on Marijus!
Good match for us as we played solid tennis and coupled with unforced errors from Marijus who was warming up, it turned out to be a relatively easy match for us.
Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Brenda Jordan, 6-3! No Aces.
Another good win for us despite Marijus coming on much harder this time around.
Sally Pillay/Christine Toth over Doinks Srinivasan/Kathy Sheldon, 6-2! No Aces (apparently).
Sally was like a bull compared to the soft play by Christine. Still, Doinks and Kathy were giving a good accounting of themselves…well, at least for the first half of the match.
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 6-0! No Aces (apparently).
Brenda was raring to go for one more set and that, too, after already playing already two previous One-Setters. She insisted on challenging the Champs who didn't take much time to burst her bubble of enthusiasm...J. Still, Brenda is always a good sport!
Marijus Kuzavas over Kris Srinivasan, 6-4! Marijus: 3 Aces!
It was a very close match all the way through. One side of the courts was a bit tough with sun and winds playing a role. I also missed out on an opportunity to lead at 5-4, but it was slightly satisfying on some points which were well-constructed. Marijus had lesser errors, but did lack his usual fire on some of his shots. But he did come up with some nice Aces at the right time.
It turned out to be a great day for tennis, and we sure capitalized it. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: It sounded like a great session…especially with the focus on the ladies. To hit sixty degrees on the first Sunday of November is somewhat of a gift in and of itself. I am glad to see we were able to take advantage of it simultaneously in our two prime locations.
All the best,
Frank Samara
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