"Mixed Doubles at The Wayne Bubble!":
Due to the rain, GTA Wednesday Night Tennis only took place at one location, and it was at The Wayne Bubble Courts. The session was hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (who did not play) while "Hollywood" Frank Samara organized one match for the GTA.
Rizzo was nice enough to bring Samara to the event along with "Dynamic Dee" Denise Savino (and take us back as well). Between the actual members of this new Wednesday Evening Night Owls Group and subs that had arrived, we had twelve players (six men and six women). This enabled us to have Mixed Doubles action on Courts One, Two and Three for the entire evening.
Two of the subs that were already there were "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "T-Rez" Tommy Reszkowski. They were sitting there with Night Owls regular, "Bravo" Brenda Jordan. They then called out Samara for some Mixed Doubles action.
We took Court Two while the other two foursomes took Courts One and Three. Only one of the twelve players wanted to switch after sets were done…so I guess he got overruled.
It ended up being a good thing as we were able to play an entire Mixed Doubles Challenge Match. And it went as follows.
The Wayne Bubble Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Frank Samara/Brenda Jordan over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to become the New # 10 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division! Tommy: 2 Aces on Brenda (1 in the 1st Set and 1 in the 2nd Set); and Frank: 1 Ace on Fernanda in the 1st Set!
We did not do changeovers every two games (only at the end of each set) in order to save time. As such, I wrote down all the games (the breakdown, but not the winners) after each set.
We had a fairly lengthy hitting session to get warmed up before actually play. As such, we got the 1st Set (and it wasn't until we split sets that we decided to make it a full match) started at 9:15.
1st Set: Fernanda was broken (Love-15 to 30-15 to Break Point and then the break), Frank held at Love after starting off with a sideline Ace against Fernanda and Tommy was broken (Love-15, 15-All and then to Double Break Point and the break) to get off to a 0-3 start. Brenda was broken (Triple Break Point cut down to Break Point, but then the break) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but Toker was broken again (Love-15, 15-All and then to Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4. And then Samara held again (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to take a seemingly commanding lead at 5-1, but Reszkowski also held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point where he hit a sideline Ace against Brenda for the hold) to pull to 2-5. Jordan was broken again (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and a Double Fault for the break) and The Argentine Machine finally held (15-Love to 15-30 to Game Point, Deuce, Break/Set Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and then the hold) to pull to 4-5. Hollywood held again, but it was a struggle (15-Love to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Set Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, the 2nd Game/Set Point and finally the hold on what was the 3rd S.P. overall) to take the initial set at 9:45. There was a five minute break before the next set where the teams then switched sides while keeping their return of service sides intact.
2nd Set: Tommy held serve (Love-15 then straight to Double Game Point which was then cut down to Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), Frank held (Love-15 and then straight to Double Game Point and then the hold), Fernanda held at Love, but Brenda was the first to be broken (Love-15, 15-All and then right to Double Break Point which was then reduced to Deuce, Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) for 1-3. Reszkowski held again and this time it was at Love as he was up 30-Love where he hit a soft, slice Ace against Brenda to set up Triple Game Point and then came the hold for 4-1, but Samara also held again (Love-30 went straight to Game Point and then the hold) to pull to 2-4. Toker also held again (15-Love, 15-All and then it went right to Double Game Point and the hold), but Jordan was broken again (Love-15, 15-All and then straight to Double Break/Set Point, it went to Break/Set Point but then came the break) to drop the set and level the match at 10:10. There was another five minute break between sets and then the teams switched sides again while again opting to keep everything "status quo" with their return of service sides.
3rd Set: Fernanda held serve (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and then the hold), Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and then the hold), Tommy held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point and then the hold) and Brenda held (15-Love, 15-All and then it went right to Double Game Point and the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2. Toker held again (Love-15, 15-All and then a Double Fault for 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and then the hold), but Samara was the first to be broken and it was somewhat shockingly at Love to fall to 2-4! Reszkowski was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break), but Jordan held again (15-Love, 15-All and then it went right to Double Game Point and the hold) to knot the score once more at 4-4! The Argentine Machine was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break), but The Wood managed a tough hold after he got off to another Triple Break Point start and it seemed that a second straight Love break was imminent only for his team to then run the table and take it straight to Deuce, Game/Match Point and then the hold for the win at 10:50!
The Skinny: This was a really fun yet competitive match. When you add all the games won throughout the three sets, it would have ended up as a 14-14 tie…that's how close this match was! We were fortunate to win those games at the more advantageous times and take two of those three sets. The true difference maker was that Brenda was finally able to hold serve and do it twice in the 3rd Set. She continues to display her consistent improvement as several of her volleys and fast-paced forehand returns ended up as winners. Speaking of consistent improvement, Tommy (who still has limited experience) continues to amaze with great get-making and some awesome Overhead Smashes winners as well. Fernanda was her usual steady self who also made great gets when they were needed.
After the match, Frank and Fernanda had a one-on-one hitting session to finish off the final ten minutes.
Going forward with the Night Owls, I hope to attend most of the Tuesday night and Wednesday night sessions…even after the 2016 GTA Season officially ends on December 15th. I will continue to go there whenever I can to try to stay in shape and keep the rust off until the 2017 Season officially begins on March 1st (if it is a mild winter, there is a chance we may launch the season on Sunday, February 26th). I also hope to introduce these new Night Owls players to the GTA as I get to know them better.
Samara signing off!
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