12/4/16:
"Samara hosts 5 at AP, John/Kevin host 19 at The Bubble!:"
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning session at The Albion Park Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then the two back-to-back Night Owl group sessions at The Wayne Bubble co-hosted by "Mr. Arizona" John Incognito and "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle.
We will first report the comings and goings at Albion and then list the results from The Bubble as reported by John and Kevin (with "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kavakov reporting his result directly).
Samara rolled up to Albion earlier than expected at 10:10 (he had previously announced he would be arriving later this week...more in the 10:30 to 10:45 range) where he saw that all three courts were vacant.
As it was still quite chilly at that time of the morning (40 degrees and breezy, but the temps eventually climbed to a decent 48 degrees as the winds died down and it was sunny throughout the entire session), Frank chose to remain in his car.
But by 10:30, he started feeling antsy and he walked down to the courts and took South Court. He then noticed that the Clifton Parks and Recreation Dept. had removed the leaf pile from the corner of South Court and dumped it just outside the courts.
Next to arrive at 11am was "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales. Frank and Jose then had a lengthy hitting session as nobody else was arriving. By 11:30, the two decided to hit until 11:45. If nobody else had arrived by then, they would call it a day.
Soon enough, it was 11:45 and they were still the only two players in attendance. They took a break and sat on the benches alongside the South Court. Both of them checked their phones.
Jose read a text message that said Natalia "Nitro" Sout was on her way, but that she would not arrive until 12:30. From there, Frank sent text messages to (in a quest to find a fourth player) to "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "Coach" Dino Celis.
Celis was the next to arrive at 12:20. Just ten minutes later, Fernandes did the same. Dino and Nate then started hitting against Jose while Frank was writing some notes and checking his phone again.
By 12:35, they began a Doubles One-Setter on the South Court with Samara and Gonzales going up against Fernandes and Celis. Of course, just five minutes after its start, Sout arrived.
And you know how tennis karma goes (not that Natalia deserved any of the negative kind)...but when you have a "fifth wheel" waiting to play, that One-Setter featuring the other four will last all day! Or, at least it will feel that way.
It ended up becoming a Tiebreak One-Setter and one that will surely be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. Just as it drew to a close at 1:23, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was then walking onto the courts to make an extended cameo appearance (having just played his weekly Sunday football game, he was in no condition for competition).
The next Doubles One-Setter of the day featured Dino and Frank versus Nate and Natalia as Jose willingly sat out to sit on the bench with Spin.
That second one only occupied the South Court from 1:33 to 1:56. At that time, Frank had to leave. As Samara headed off into the sunset, it was Gonzales and Sout hitting against Fernandes while Celis and Martinelli watched from the bench.
Given the fact that it was a fairly nice day (especially for the fourth of December), the low turnout was somewhat surprising and definitely disappointing. Still, it ended up being a fun session nonetheless.
The Albion Park Results:
Frank Samara/Jose Gonzales over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 7-6 (12-10)! Jose: 1 Ace on Nathan. It went like this: Frank was broken at Love after Nathan hit a passing shot return winner and a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Triple Break Point and then Dino hit a passing shot winner for the break, Nathan held at Love after Dino hit a winner and then there were two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point and then a third consecutive un-returned serve to secure the hold and then Jose soon found himself down Triple Break Point after Frank blew an overhead and Dino hit a whopper of a winner along the way. This meant that the opposition had just won the first eleven points of the match! Thankfully, Jose then hit back-to-back un-returned serves to cut that deficit to just Break Point only to have Dino hit another winner to earn the break and a 3-0 lead. Dino then held serve (an un-returned serve and a victorious volley by Nate made it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where Nate hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Double Game Point and that was where Jose blew an overhead to allow the hold) for an even more commanding lead of 4-0. Samara held to get his team on the scoreboard (Dino hit a winning roller over the net to make it Love-15 and then it went point for point until 30-All as Jose hit a winning Backhand Volley and Dino did as well, but then it went to Game Point and the hold) and then Fernandes was broken (a 15-Love lead shifted to 15-30 as both Frank and Jose hit winning volleys, but then Jose blew a drop shot attempt to set up 30-All but then it went to Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-2. Gonzales held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as an un-returned serve and an excellent extended rally were part of that shift and then another un-returned serve secured the hold) and then Celis was broken (Jose hit a winner and then Frank hit a winning volley to make it Love-30, then an un-returned serve made it 15-30, but then it went to Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score at 4-4! Hollywood held again and this time it was at Love after he got things started with a winning volley and now his team took their first lead at 5-4 (as they took five straight games to get there)! Nate the Great responded with a hold of his own (Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, it was 15-All before it was on they way to Double Game Point after an un-returned serve and then came the hold) to tie things again, this time at 5-5! Latino Heat held again (Dino blew a volley for 15-Love and then a big Ace up the T against Nate extended that lead to 30-Love, it was then Triple Game Point before going to Double Game Point where Dino blew another volley to allow the hold) to reclaim the lead at 6-5! But Coach managed to hold as well (there were two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point before Jose hit a passing shot winner to bring it down to Double Game Point which was where Nate whacked a winning Overhead Smash to secure his partner's hold) and now we were heading for the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Frank was broken on his lone serve as Dino hit a winning return right at his feet which were right on the baseline, but then Nathan was broken on both of his serves as Jose hit a winning drop shot return on the first one and then Nate blew an overhead on the second one to make it a 1-2 score. Jose was also broken on both of his serves as the second one fell victim to a winning Overhead Smash by Nate to hand a 3-2 lead to his partner Dino who was now about to serve. Dino held his first one for 4-2 at the changeover, but then he was broken on his second as Frank exacted a measure of revenge with a winning return of his own to cut the opposition's lead to 4-3. Samara then held the first of his two serves to knot the score at 4-4, but was then broken on his second to hand a 5-4 lead over to Fernandes who was about to serve. He held the first of his two serves for a 6-4 score and the very first Match Point of the contest. He was then broken on his second, but it was still 6-5 and the 2nd Match Point in his team's favor as service shifted to Gonzales. Jose held the first of his two serves for 6-6 at the second changeover, but he was broken on his second after Dino hit a vicious volley winner to give himself a 7-6 lead and the 3rd Match Point of the set and all in his team's favor. He was broken on both of his serves and the second one fell victim to his own blown volley. Hollywood now inherited an 8-7 lead from the opposition which meant it was the 1st Match Point in his team's favor and the 4th M.P. overall. He also ended up being broken on both of them and the second one was the result of a wicked winner by Dino as now a 9-8 lead was offered up to his partner, Nate the Great. This was now the 5th Match Point overall and the fourth for their team. Nate was broken on his first for 9-9 at the third changeover. He also ended up being broken on his second as Latino Heat now had a 10-9 lead to begin his service. It was now the 6th Match Point overall and the second in his team's favor. He was broken on the first of his two serves, but he held the second after Nate sailed an overhead long as his team was now down 10-11 with The Coach about to go on service! This was now the 7th Match Point and the third that belonged to their opponents. Dino's first serve led to a lengthy rally (one of the better ones of the match, actually) as nobody wanted to offer up an unforced error until Frank finally found a way to execute a drop shot winner just out of Dino's reach to finally end this TB at 12-10! We got this one underway on the South Court at 12:35 and it ended exactly at 1:23!
The Skinny: As stated earlier in this report, this is a definite Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. But it did not start off feeling that way. In fact, it seemed it would be a quick blowout as Nate and Dino jumped out to a fast and dominant 4-0 lead! The lengthy hitting session may have sapped some of the energy out of Frank and Jose. Then sitting for a while in the chilly temps served to ice them as well. When Samara first held serve to make it 1-4, Gonzales was thankful just not to get shut out...but this seemed to light a fire under The Wood. Frank started playing with a combination of both anger and hunger and then that feeling became contagious as Jose also stepped up his game. Suddenly, they had five straight games under their belts. And that was when the overall level of this match was raised as the two teams went game for game as they headed into the Tiebreak! The TB was quite the nail-biter and the only difference in the end was when each player was seemingly getting broken on both of their serves, but Jose managed to hold one of his two when it was needed most...and that was all it would take to eek out a hard-fought "W!"
Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Dino held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All and Natalia hit an excellently timed lob return winner just over Frank's racquet along the way, but then Frank hit a nasty Overhead Smash winner to make it Game Point and then he hit a precise slice of a Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold), Natalia was broken (Frank hit a winning volley for Love-15, but then he blew a drop shot attempt for 15-All, then a Double Fault made it 15-30, but then Frank blew a volley to make it 30-All and then he blasted a blown volley to set up Game Point, but then it went to Deuce where Dino scored with a scorching return winner to make it Break Point and then came the break), Frank held at Love after he hit two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point and then he hit a missile-like passing shot winner that curved around Natalia's body to earn the hold and Nathan was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All as Nate had hit a winner along the way, but then Frank hit a winning volley to set up Break Point only to have Nate hit a crushing Overhead Smash winner for Deuce, but then it was Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Break Point yet again and finally the break) to fall to 0-4! Celis held at Love after Frank got things started with an ugly winner of a mishit Overhead Smash and later set up Triple Game Point with a Backhand Volley winner which was even more of a precise slice shot than his earlier Backhand Volley winner and then came the hold and then Sout was broken once more (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which shifted to 15-30 after Dino hit another one of his knockout return winners which inspired Spin to call him a "tough guy" from the sidelines, it then went to 30-All, Break/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning volley to set up the 3rd Break/Match Point and then that was where the end came) to take a somewhat surprising shutout loss! We also played this one on the South Court and it lasted from 1:33 to 1:56.
The Skinny: While Samara was still taking notes of the prior Doubles One-Setter, it was Nate and Natalia hitting against Dino. Suddenly (and without warning), Sout shifted over to the other side of the court to pair with Celis as she said Fernandes was "the young guy" and could handle it better. We were almost going to run with the teams as such (as Samara would have simply joined Fernandes), but then we all agreed the most even pairing of teams was Nate and Nat versus Dino and Frank instead as the speedy and lanky Fernandes could cover much of the court for his teaming with Sout. But Samara was on the money on this day (despite some overblown outbursts when he made some stupid unforced errors) and Celis seemed to raise the level of his game even higher in this one. Fernandes and Sout played well, but the majority of the points just did not end in their favor.
We now turn this report over to Kevin and John. We go to Kevin's recap first since he was part of the earlier Sunday group (which is actually the 2nd Night Owls Group while the later group is the 1st Night Owls Group). John was present for both groups.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
We played on Court Two and did not switch sides.
Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson over Vladimir Smolyanskiy/Jeanette Pegg, 8-6! No Aces (apparently).
The Kevlar Commentary: It was a tough set. We were down 0-3 and things were looking pretty grim for us. Vladimir and Jeanette were their usual consistent hard-hitting selves. I was a little slow to get going and wasn't providing Robin much support. Also, Vladimir was coming to the net and poaching shots as Jeanette was setting him up with her hard and well-placed shots. However, we hung tough and managed to win a couple games to close the gap. Robin started feeling it at the net and began hitting some winners of her own. She also made her usual share of really good "gets" as she once again demonstrated her running abilities. But Vladimir really had his serves going well and both he and Jeanette continued their high level of play. We were deadlocked at 6-All and decided to forego the Tiebreak and keep playing. Robin's endurance became an asset at that point as Jeanette was slightly winded. Fortunately, Robin and I were able to take the last two games, the set and match at 8-6!
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kevin for not only the result…but his comprehensive commentary as well. We now turn this report over to John for all the scores from the rest of the earlier session and then the later session.
From the 3-5pm session:
Vladimir Smolyanskiy/Brenda Jordan over John Incognito/Marie Easton, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
John Incognito/Brenda Jordan over Bill Bess/Marie Easton, 6-2! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Bill Bess.
Bill Bess/Brenda Jordan over John Incognito/Marie Easton, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
From the 6-8pm session:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Nick Inciong/Tom La over Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), to become the New # 5 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tony Shiao/Ryan Pienciak over John Incognito/Alfred Chen, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 8 Rank in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Mike Sindler/Pranav Sinha over Rafaelo Kazakov/Syed Rashid, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Mike and Syed: 2 Aces each!
Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in those results. I also thank Rafaelo for reporting his result directly.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
"Samara hosts 5 at AP, John/Kevin host 19 at The Bubble!:"
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning session at The Albion Park Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then the two back-to-back Night Owl group sessions at The Wayne Bubble co-hosted by "Mr. Arizona" John Incognito and "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle.
We will first report the comings and goings at Albion and then list the results from The Bubble as reported by John and Kevin (with "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kavakov reporting his result directly).
Samara rolled up to Albion earlier than expected at 10:10 (he had previously announced he would be arriving later this week...more in the 10:30 to 10:45 range) where he saw that all three courts were vacant.
As it was still quite chilly at that time of the morning (40 degrees and breezy, but the temps eventually climbed to a decent 48 degrees as the winds died down and it was sunny throughout the entire session), Frank chose to remain in his car.
But by 10:30, he started feeling antsy and he walked down to the courts and took South Court. He then noticed that the Clifton Parks and Recreation Dept. had removed the leaf pile from the corner of South Court and dumped it just outside the courts.
Next to arrive at 11am was "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales. Frank and Jose then had a lengthy hitting session as nobody else was arriving. By 11:30, the two decided to hit until 11:45. If nobody else had arrived by then, they would call it a day.
Soon enough, it was 11:45 and they were still the only two players in attendance. They took a break and sat on the benches alongside the South Court. Both of them checked their phones.
Jose read a text message that said Natalia "Nitro" Sout was on her way, but that she would not arrive until 12:30. From there, Frank sent text messages to (in a quest to find a fourth player) to "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "Coach" Dino Celis.
Celis was the next to arrive at 12:20. Just ten minutes later, Fernandes did the same. Dino and Nate then started hitting against Jose while Frank was writing some notes and checking his phone again.
By 12:35, they began a Doubles One-Setter on the South Court with Samara and Gonzales going up against Fernandes and Celis. Of course, just five minutes after its start, Sout arrived.
And you know how tennis karma goes (not that Natalia deserved any of the negative kind)...but when you have a "fifth wheel" waiting to play, that One-Setter featuring the other four will last all day! Or, at least it will feel that way.
It ended up becoming a Tiebreak One-Setter and one that will surely be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. Just as it drew to a close at 1:23, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was then walking onto the courts to make an extended cameo appearance (having just played his weekly Sunday football game, he was in no condition for competition).
The next Doubles One-Setter of the day featured Dino and Frank versus Nate and Natalia as Jose willingly sat out to sit on the bench with Spin.
That second one only occupied the South Court from 1:33 to 1:56. At that time, Frank had to leave. As Samara headed off into the sunset, it was Gonzales and Sout hitting against Fernandes while Celis and Martinelli watched from the bench.
Given the fact that it was a fairly nice day (especially for the fourth of December), the low turnout was somewhat surprising and definitely disappointing. Still, it ended up being a fun session nonetheless.
The Albion Park Results:
Frank Samara/Jose Gonzales over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 7-6 (12-10)! Jose: 1 Ace on Nathan. It went like this: Frank was broken at Love after Nathan hit a passing shot return winner and a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Triple Break Point and then Dino hit a passing shot winner for the break, Nathan held at Love after Dino hit a winner and then there were two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point and then a third consecutive un-returned serve to secure the hold and then Jose soon found himself down Triple Break Point after Frank blew an overhead and Dino hit a whopper of a winner along the way. This meant that the opposition had just won the first eleven points of the match! Thankfully, Jose then hit back-to-back un-returned serves to cut that deficit to just Break Point only to have Dino hit another winner to earn the break and a 3-0 lead. Dino then held serve (an un-returned serve and a victorious volley by Nate made it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where Nate hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Double Game Point and that was where Jose blew an overhead to allow the hold) for an even more commanding lead of 4-0. Samara held to get his team on the scoreboard (Dino hit a winning roller over the net to make it Love-15 and then it went point for point until 30-All as Jose hit a winning Backhand Volley and Dino did as well, but then it went to Game Point and the hold) and then Fernandes was broken (a 15-Love lead shifted to 15-30 as both Frank and Jose hit winning volleys, but then Jose blew a drop shot attempt to set up 30-All but then it went to Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-2. Gonzales held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as an un-returned serve and an excellent extended rally were part of that shift and then another un-returned serve secured the hold) and then Celis was broken (Jose hit a winner and then Frank hit a winning volley to make it Love-30, then an un-returned serve made it 15-30, but then it went to Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score at 4-4! Hollywood held again and this time it was at Love after he got things started with a winning volley and now his team took their first lead at 5-4 (as they took five straight games to get there)! Nate the Great responded with a hold of his own (Nate hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, it was 15-All before it was on they way to Double Game Point after an un-returned serve and then came the hold) to tie things again, this time at 5-5! Latino Heat held again (Dino blew a volley for 15-Love and then a big Ace up the T against Nate extended that lead to 30-Love, it was then Triple Game Point before going to Double Game Point where Dino blew another volley to allow the hold) to reclaim the lead at 6-5! But Coach managed to hold as well (there were two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point before Jose hit a passing shot winner to bring it down to Double Game Point which was where Nate whacked a winning Overhead Smash to secure his partner's hold) and now we were heading for the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Frank was broken on his lone serve as Dino hit a winning return right at his feet which were right on the baseline, but then Nathan was broken on both of his serves as Jose hit a winning drop shot return on the first one and then Nate blew an overhead on the second one to make it a 1-2 score. Jose was also broken on both of his serves as the second one fell victim to a winning Overhead Smash by Nate to hand a 3-2 lead to his partner Dino who was now about to serve. Dino held his first one for 4-2 at the changeover, but then he was broken on his second as Frank exacted a measure of revenge with a winning return of his own to cut the opposition's lead to 4-3. Samara then held the first of his two serves to knot the score at 4-4, but was then broken on his second to hand a 5-4 lead over to Fernandes who was about to serve. He held the first of his two serves for a 6-4 score and the very first Match Point of the contest. He was then broken on his second, but it was still 6-5 and the 2nd Match Point in his team's favor as service shifted to Gonzales. Jose held the first of his two serves for 6-6 at the second changeover, but he was broken on his second after Dino hit a vicious volley winner to give himself a 7-6 lead and the 3rd Match Point of the set and all in his team's favor. He was broken on both of his serves and the second one fell victim to his own blown volley. Hollywood now inherited an 8-7 lead from the opposition which meant it was the 1st Match Point in his team's favor and the 4th M.P. overall. He also ended up being broken on both of them and the second one was the result of a wicked winner by Dino as now a 9-8 lead was offered up to his partner, Nate the Great. This was now the 5th Match Point overall and the fourth for their team. Nate was broken on his first for 9-9 at the third changeover. He also ended up being broken on his second as Latino Heat now had a 10-9 lead to begin his service. It was now the 6th Match Point overall and the second in his team's favor. He was broken on the first of his two serves, but he held the second after Nate sailed an overhead long as his team was now down 10-11 with The Coach about to go on service! This was now the 7th Match Point and the third that belonged to their opponents. Dino's first serve led to a lengthy rally (one of the better ones of the match, actually) as nobody wanted to offer up an unforced error until Frank finally found a way to execute a drop shot winner just out of Dino's reach to finally end this TB at 12-10! We got this one underway on the South Court at 12:35 and it ended exactly at 1:23!
The Skinny: As stated earlier in this report, this is a definite Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. But it did not start off feeling that way. In fact, it seemed it would be a quick blowout as Nate and Dino jumped out to a fast and dominant 4-0 lead! The lengthy hitting session may have sapped some of the energy out of Frank and Jose. Then sitting for a while in the chilly temps served to ice them as well. When Samara first held serve to make it 1-4, Gonzales was thankful just not to get shut out...but this seemed to light a fire under The Wood. Frank started playing with a combination of both anger and hunger and then that feeling became contagious as Jose also stepped up his game. Suddenly, they had five straight games under their belts. And that was when the overall level of this match was raised as the two teams went game for game as they headed into the Tiebreak! The TB was quite the nail-biter and the only difference in the end was when each player was seemingly getting broken on both of their serves, but Jose managed to hold one of his two when it was needed most...and that was all it would take to eek out a hard-fought "W!"
Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Dino held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All and Natalia hit an excellently timed lob return winner just over Frank's racquet along the way, but then Frank hit a nasty Overhead Smash winner to make it Game Point and then he hit a precise slice of a Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold), Natalia was broken (Frank hit a winning volley for Love-15, but then he blew a drop shot attempt for 15-All, then a Double Fault made it 15-30, but then Frank blew a volley to make it 30-All and then he blasted a blown volley to set up Game Point, but then it went to Deuce where Dino scored with a scorching return winner to make it Break Point and then came the break), Frank held at Love after he hit two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point and then he hit a missile-like passing shot winner that curved around Natalia's body to earn the hold and Nathan was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All as Nate had hit a winner along the way, but then Frank hit a winning volley to set up Break Point only to have Nate hit a crushing Overhead Smash winner for Deuce, but then it was Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Break Point yet again and finally the break) to fall to 0-4! Celis held at Love after Frank got things started with an ugly winner of a mishit Overhead Smash and later set up Triple Game Point with a Backhand Volley winner which was even more of a precise slice shot than his earlier Backhand Volley winner and then came the hold and then Sout was broken once more (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which shifted to 15-30 after Dino hit another one of his knockout return winners which inspired Spin to call him a "tough guy" from the sidelines, it then went to 30-All, Break/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winning volley to set up the 3rd Break/Match Point and then that was where the end came) to take a somewhat surprising shutout loss! We also played this one on the South Court and it lasted from 1:33 to 1:56.
The Skinny: While Samara was still taking notes of the prior Doubles One-Setter, it was Nate and Natalia hitting against Dino. Suddenly (and without warning), Sout shifted over to the other side of the court to pair with Celis as she said Fernandes was "the young guy" and could handle it better. We were almost going to run with the teams as such (as Samara would have simply joined Fernandes), but then we all agreed the most even pairing of teams was Nate and Nat versus Dino and Frank instead as the speedy and lanky Fernandes could cover much of the court for his teaming with Sout. But Samara was on the money on this day (despite some overblown outbursts when he made some stupid unforced errors) and Celis seemed to raise the level of his game even higher in this one. Fernandes and Sout played well, but the majority of the points just did not end in their favor.
We now turn this report over to Kevin and John. We go to Kevin's recap first since he was part of the earlier Sunday group (which is actually the 2nd Night Owls Group while the later group is the 1st Night Owls Group). John was present for both groups.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
We played on Court Two and did not switch sides.
Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson over Vladimir Smolyanskiy/Jeanette Pegg, 8-6! No Aces (apparently).
The Kevlar Commentary: It was a tough set. We were down 0-3 and things were looking pretty grim for us. Vladimir and Jeanette were their usual consistent hard-hitting selves. I was a little slow to get going and wasn't providing Robin much support. Also, Vladimir was coming to the net and poaching shots as Jeanette was setting him up with her hard and well-placed shots. However, we hung tough and managed to win a couple games to close the gap. Robin started feeling it at the net and began hitting some winners of her own. She also made her usual share of really good "gets" as she once again demonstrated her running abilities. But Vladimir really had his serves going well and both he and Jeanette continued their high level of play. We were deadlocked at 6-All and decided to forego the Tiebreak and keep playing. Robin's endurance became an asset at that point as Jeanette was slightly winded. Fortunately, Robin and I were able to take the last two games, the set and match at 8-6!
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kevin for not only the result…but his comprehensive commentary as well. We now turn this report over to John for all the scores from the rest of the earlier session and then the later session.
From the 3-5pm session:
Vladimir Smolyanskiy/Brenda Jordan over John Incognito/Marie Easton, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
John Incognito/Brenda Jordan over Bill Bess/Marie Easton, 6-2! No Aces (apparently). It was the official GTA Return of Bill Bess.
Bill Bess/Brenda Jordan over John Incognito/Marie Easton, 6-3! No Aces (apparently).
From the 6-8pm session:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Nick Inciong/Tom La over Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), to become the New # 5 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tony Shiao/Ryan Pienciak over John Incognito/Alfred Chen, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 8 Rank in the Doubles Division! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Mike Sindler/Pranav Sinha over Rafaelo Kazakov/Syed Rashid, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Mike and Syed: 2 Aces each!
Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in those results. I also thank Rafaelo for reporting his result directly.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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