"Samara hosts 12 at The Bubble!":
GTA Thursday Night Tennis took place at The Wayne Bubble (a Night Owl session) with "Hollywood" Frank Samara assuming hosting duties.
We had a total of twelve official competitors. "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov was a late arrival and found himself in an odd-man-out situation for a while. Thankfully, "The Boss" Bill Bess was around to give him an impromptu lesson on Court Four while Men's Doubles action raged on Courts One, Two and Three.
And now we go to those scores.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tony Shiao/Senthil Kumar over Lou La Forgia/Ryan Pienciak, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), as each team entered the Doubles Division as the New # 48 and # 49 Ranked Teams respectively! Ryan: 3 Aces in the 3rd Set (2 on Senthil and 1 on Tony)!
The Untangled Web by Senthil: Our team jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st Set before Lou and Ryan pulled to 2-5. Then they took the 2nd Set with a bagel and then we had an excellent 3rd Set.
Samara's Notes: This one was the first official action to get underway as the 1st Set of what turned into a full match began on Court Three at 9:20. The match did not end until 11:02. With a 3rd Set score like this one has, this match may have a shot at being a Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. I thank Senthil for the details.
Anish Mehta/Syed Rashid over Tom La/Jonathan La, 6-4! Tom: 2 Aces (one on each); and Jonathan: 1 Ace on Syed. This one took place on Court Two and lasted from 9:40 to 10:13. While the father/son duo won the battle of the Aces, Anish and Syed won the overall war. The two teams decided to play a rematch One-Setter. But first…
Dino Celis/Dennis Cabanatan over Frank Samara/Ryan Sherry, 6-4! Dino: 1 Ace on Ryan. It went like this: Dino held at Love as he started with a slicing sideline Ace on Ryan, Frank held at Love, but Dennis was the first to be broken (15-Love shifted straight to Double Break Point, then Break Point and the break) for 1-2. Ryan was also broken (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 2-2, but then Celis was broken (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, cut down to Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) to fall to 2-3. Samara was also broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then the break) to tie things again at 3-3 and then Cabanatan held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points through to 3rd Deuce, one more Game Point and then the hold) to go up 4-3. Sherry had a Love hold to knot the score once more at 4-4, but then Coach held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) while Hollywood was broken again as it went Love-15 and then point for point to Break/Match Point, Deuce, it then ended on the 2nd Break/Match Point! We played this one on Court One from 9:40 to 10:10.
Samara's Notes: We had two makeshift teams as it was Dino and Dennis (aka DC United) against Frank and Ryan (aka Hollywild). I finally came up with a moniker for Sherry and it is "The Wildman!" This is actually intended as a compliment as he has a swing-away style that pays dividends more often than it does not. He has a powerful forehand, big-time serve and even on defense his shots come back with some offensive grit on them. Once he develops just a little more discipline and gains a speck more consistency, he will truly be dangerous. His game is very impressive for a relative beginner and his overall attitude is great. Since it was a surprisingly close One-Setter, we decided to play another.
Frank Samara/Ryan Sherry over Dino Celis/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Dennis was broken at Love, Ryan held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Dino was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) to find his team quickly down 0-3! But then Frank was broken at Love, Cabanatan held (got off to a 30-Love start, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point cut down to Deuce, but then Game Point and the hold) and Sherry was broken at Love to rapidly level things at 3-3! Celis was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then Samara held at Love to go up 5-3! The Menace held again (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull closer at 4-5, but then The Wildman held (15-Love then point for point to Game/Match Point and the hold) for the win! This rematch lasted on Court One from 10:13 to 10:43.
Samara's Notes: Given the time constraints of indoor tennis, I would rapidly write down the flow of the games on the changeovers without noting who hit what winners. But Ryan and I each had one really big moment in this one (among many other nice shots and/or gets). I had a get to a drop shot as I raced from the baseline to then sizzle a backhand passing shot past Dennis who was at the net but could not get a racquet on it. Ryan had one of the sickest forehand returns I have ever seen as he simply blasted it right off the court and into the wall! We were feeling really good at this point and happy to get a victory which evened the score. It was only fair to play a "rubber match" One-Setter. But first…
Tom La/Jonathan La over Anish Mehta/Syed Rashid, 6-4! No Aces. This rematch took place on Court Two and lasted from 10:15 to 10:50. Team La La Land was also able to even the score. From there, Anish and Jonathan had a hard-hitting practice session with one another.
Dino Celis/Dennis Cabanatan leading Frank Samara/Ryan Sherry, 5-2 (Incomplete)! Dino: 1 Ace on Frank. Here's how it was going: Dino held (15-Love, 15-All, 30-15, sideline Ace on Frank to make it Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point), Frank was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) and Dennis held (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) to take a quick 3-0 lead! Ryan held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, cut down to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but then Celis held again (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) for 4-1. Samara was broken again (Triple Break Point, the break came on Double Break Point) to fall to 1-5, but then Cabanatan failed to seal the deal as he was broken (15-Love, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to make it 5-2 as we had run out of time at 11:05 (we had begun this one on Court One at 10:45).
Samara's Notes: At the changeover at 4-1, we briefly debated what we should do as it was almost 11pm. Court Two still had their match underway, so we decided to play on…but also acknowledged that the action may have to be cut short for an incomplete result. When Celis/Cabanatan went up 5-1, we all agreed that the next game would be the last one. Either DC United would walk away with a 6-1 win or we would end things incomplete. Ryan and I were happy just to avoid an official loss as both Dino and Dennis had seemed to catch their second wind in this one while we may have been just a bit too satisfied with our previous victory.
All in all, it was a lot of fun.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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