12/8/16:
"Frank/John host 17 (1 New) at The Bubble!:"
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble. Co-hosts and cohorts "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "Mr. Arizona" John Incognito arrived together at 8:40.
Earlier in the day, Samara told Incognito that he suspected there would be a large turnout for this session...and he was right!
It was an impressive total of seventeen official competitors ("Drill Instructor" Don Moya was only able to make an extended cameo appearance as his playing services were never needed).
Let's get to those scores now.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler over Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar, 6-3! No Aces. The first foursome to be sent out onto the courts played this one on Court Two from 9:04 to 9:30.
Chris Chiaro/Syed Rashid over Tony Shiao/John Incognito, 6-4! No Aces. This one took place on Court One and lasted from 9:08 to 9:48.
Frank Samara/Dawn Peterson over Sean McHugh/Kathy Sheldon, 7-5! Frank: 1 Ace on Kathy; and Dawn: 1 Ace on Sean! We decided to forego the changeovers in order to save time, so I only memorized the flow of the games (not who hit what winner and when). So it went like this: Sean held serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Frank held (started with a sideline Ace on Kathy and that sent him on his way to Triple Game Point which would be cut down to Game Point, but then came the hold), but Kathy was the first to be broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and then a Double Fault for the break) to fall to 1-2. Dawn held at Love to extend her team's lead to 3-1, but then McHugh held again (the opening point of this game was a marathon rally that ended up being the rally of the match and it ended Love-15, then Love-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold), but Samara was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) to tie things up at 3-3. Sheldon then held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold) and Peterson was broken (Love-30, then 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5 as the opposition had just taken four straight games! But then The Shillelagh was finally broken (30-Love went straight to Break Point and the break) and then The Wood held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to level matters once more, this time at 5-5! Killer Kat was broken at Love and then Dominant Dawn held in quite a battle as she soon found herself down Triple Break Point which was where she nailed Sean with a big corner Ace for Double Break Point and then she followed that with a near ace against Kathy who just clipped the ball with the frame of her racquet and now it was Break Point, then Deuce, Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, 2nd Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point and finally the hold for the win! We played this one on Court Three from 9:10 to 9:50.
Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler, 6-4! No Aces. They had this rematch on Court Two and it went from 9:32 to 10:07.
Lou La Forgia/Ryan Sherry over Dennis Cabanatan/Tom La, 6-3! Dennis: 1 Ace on Lou. It was the official GTA Debut of Ryan Sherry. The final foursome of the night (though one more player was still on the way) found themselves on Court Four as this one began at 9:35 and finished at 10:15.
The Skinny: "Rippin" Ryan was a sub for the second Thursday night in a row, but neither Samara nor Incognito was there the week before to take his info. He is a tall and lanky guy who hits the ball with a lot of power. He can become a solid addition to the league if he decides to continue playing with us in the future.
John Incognito/Dawn Peterson over Sean McHugh/Kathy Sheldon, 6-1! No Aces. Again, the Mixed Doubles action was on Court Three and again they decided to forego the changeovers. As such, this one only took 25 minutes to complete (9:53 to 10:18). After this, Sean, Kathy and Dawn all decided to call it a night and head home.
Chris Chiaro/Pranav Sinha over Tony Shiao/Syed Rashid, 6-1! No Aces. This one got done on Court One even faster than that last one we reported from Court Three...just 17 minutes to finish (9:58 to 10:15)! Pranav was the seventeenth and final official competitor of the session.
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler over Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar, 6-1! No Aces. This rubber match was also played on Court Two and it lasted from 10:10 to 10:35.
Dennis Cabanatan/Syed Rashid over Tom La/Pranav Sinha, 6-3! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 10:20 to 10:45.
Chris Chiaro/Tony Shiao over Lou La Forgia/Ryan Sherry, 6-4! No Aces. These four faced off on Court Four from 10:21 to 10:56.
Frank Samara over John Incognito, 6-3! No Aces. We made the changeovers but, in an effort to save time, I only noted the flow of the games (not the winners...save a couple possibly pivotal moments). Here's how it went down: Frank was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point where John hit a winning roller over the net for the break), John was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break), Samara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point where John hit a net-cord-aided winner for the break) and Incognito was also broken again (30-Love went straight to Break Point and the break) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2. Hollywood was the first to hold serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but Mr. Arizona was broken yet again (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4. Frank held at Love to take a commanding 5-2 lead, but then John caught a second wind and finally held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5. Samara held once more (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win! We played this one on Court Three from 10:23 to 10:55.
The Skinny: The now lighter and faster Incognito came out on fire as he made several great gets and was able to hang with Samara in the lengthy rallies. When Frank was broken in his first two service games as the result of a roller and then a net-cord shot, he felt that John may have Lady Luck on his side and he got a little nervous. But instead of getting tight, he got focused and cleaned up his game just a bit. Meanwhile, Incognito simply ran out of gas as stamina remains a slight issue until he continues to get healthier. It looked like Samara would be off and running from there. But when John caught his breath on that last changeover, he also caught his second wind and was able to hold serve and at least make the contest a bit closer before its conclusion. If Incognito stays on his current path of healthier eating and an increased amount of activity (playing tennis, working out, etc.), he may very well become a force to be reckoned with next season.
A couple of the match-ups on the other courts started One-Setters that had to be aborted so early as the clock struck eleven, that they were not even worth collecting the scores for as they would only have been a couple games in at the very least.
All in all, it was a solid session and a nice show of momentum even as we draw so near to the end of the 2016 Season.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
"Frank/John host 17 (1 New) at The Bubble!:"
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble. Co-hosts and cohorts "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "Mr. Arizona" John Incognito arrived together at 8:40.
Earlier in the day, Samara told Incognito that he suspected there would be a large turnout for this session...and he was right!
It was an impressive total of seventeen official competitors ("Drill Instructor" Don Moya was only able to make an extended cameo appearance as his playing services were never needed).
Let's get to those scores now.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler over Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar, 6-3! No Aces. The first foursome to be sent out onto the courts played this one on Court Two from 9:04 to 9:30.
Chris Chiaro/Syed Rashid over Tony Shiao/John Incognito, 6-4! No Aces. This one took place on Court One and lasted from 9:08 to 9:48.
Frank Samara/Dawn Peterson over Sean McHugh/Kathy Sheldon, 7-5! Frank: 1 Ace on Kathy; and Dawn: 1 Ace on Sean! We decided to forego the changeovers in order to save time, so I only memorized the flow of the games (not who hit what winner and when). So it went like this: Sean held serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Frank held (started with a sideline Ace on Kathy and that sent him on his way to Triple Game Point which would be cut down to Game Point, but then came the hold), but Kathy was the first to be broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and then a Double Fault for the break) to fall to 1-2. Dawn held at Love to extend her team's lead to 3-1, but then McHugh held again (the opening point of this game was a marathon rally that ended up being the rally of the match and it ended Love-15, then Love-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold), but Samara was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) to tie things up at 3-3. Sheldon then held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted to Game Point and the hold) and Peterson was broken (Love-30, then 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5 as the opposition had just taken four straight games! But then The Shillelagh was finally broken (30-Love went straight to Break Point and the break) and then The Wood held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to level matters once more, this time at 5-5! Killer Kat was broken at Love and then Dominant Dawn held in quite a battle as she soon found herself down Triple Break Point which was where she nailed Sean with a big corner Ace for Double Break Point and then she followed that with a near ace against Kathy who just clipped the ball with the frame of her racquet and now it was Break Point, then Deuce, Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, 2nd Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point and finally the hold for the win! We played this one on Court Three from 9:10 to 9:50.
Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler, 6-4! No Aces. They had this rematch on Court Two and it went from 9:32 to 10:07.
Lou La Forgia/Ryan Sherry over Dennis Cabanatan/Tom La, 6-3! Dennis: 1 Ace on Lou. It was the official GTA Debut of Ryan Sherry. The final foursome of the night (though one more player was still on the way) found themselves on Court Four as this one began at 9:35 and finished at 10:15.
The Skinny: "Rippin" Ryan was a sub for the second Thursday night in a row, but neither Samara nor Incognito was there the week before to take his info. He is a tall and lanky guy who hits the ball with a lot of power. He can become a solid addition to the league if he decides to continue playing with us in the future.
John Incognito/Dawn Peterson over Sean McHugh/Kathy Sheldon, 6-1! No Aces. Again, the Mixed Doubles action was on Court Three and again they decided to forego the changeovers. As such, this one only took 25 minutes to complete (9:53 to 10:18). After this, Sean, Kathy and Dawn all decided to call it a night and head home.
Chris Chiaro/Pranav Sinha over Tony Shiao/Syed Rashid, 6-1! No Aces. This one got done on Court One even faster than that last one we reported from Court Three...just 17 minutes to finish (9:58 to 10:15)! Pranav was the seventeenth and final official competitor of the session.
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler over Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar, 6-1! No Aces. This rubber match was also played on Court Two and it lasted from 10:10 to 10:35.
Dennis Cabanatan/Syed Rashid over Tom La/Pranav Sinha, 6-3! No Aces. Court One hosted this one from 10:20 to 10:45.
Chris Chiaro/Tony Shiao over Lou La Forgia/Ryan Sherry, 6-4! No Aces. These four faced off on Court Four from 10:21 to 10:56.
Frank Samara over John Incognito, 6-3! No Aces. We made the changeovers but, in an effort to save time, I only noted the flow of the games (not the winners...save a couple possibly pivotal moments). Here's how it went down: Frank was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point where John hit a winning roller over the net for the break), John was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break), Samara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point where John hit a net-cord-aided winner for the break) and Incognito was also broken again (30-Love went straight to Break Point and the break) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2. Hollywood was the first to hold serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but Mr. Arizona was broken yet again (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4. Frank held at Love to take a commanding 5-2 lead, but then John caught a second wind and finally held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5. Samara held once more (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win! We played this one on Court Three from 10:23 to 10:55.
The Skinny: The now lighter and faster Incognito came out on fire as he made several great gets and was able to hang with Samara in the lengthy rallies. When Frank was broken in his first two service games as the result of a roller and then a net-cord shot, he felt that John may have Lady Luck on his side and he got a little nervous. But instead of getting tight, he got focused and cleaned up his game just a bit. Meanwhile, Incognito simply ran out of gas as stamina remains a slight issue until he continues to get healthier. It looked like Samara would be off and running from there. But when John caught his breath on that last changeover, he also caught his second wind and was able to hold serve and at least make the contest a bit closer before its conclusion. If Incognito stays on his current path of healthier eating and an increased amount of activity (playing tennis, working out, etc.), he may very well become a force to be reckoned with next season.
A couple of the match-ups on the other courts started One-Setters that had to be aborted so early as the clock struck eleven, that they were not even worth collecting the scores for as they would only have been a couple games in at the very least.
All in all, it was a solid session and a nice show of momentum even as we draw so near to the end of the 2016 Season.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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