4/11/17:
"Hwang-Rajan in Lyndhurst, Samara hosts 25 (1 new, 1 return) at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis took place at two locations: The Riverside Ave. Courts (perhaps also known as The Gallagher Field Courts) in Lyndhurst and The Cedar Grove Courts. Like the day before it, it was once again a beautiful and sunny day (with a peak temperature of 85 degrees) and it led to an amazing evening for tennis as the temps stayed in the mild 70 degree range with no breeze whatsoever...absolutely perfect!
In Lyndhurst, it was yet another GTA Intermediate Invitational First Round Match as "The DH" Dan Hwang faced off against "Ragin" Rajan Shah. Before we get to that result, let's first recap how everything unfolded up at Cedar Grove. After all, the Hwang-Shah encounter was taking place at the same time anyway.
Earlier in the day, "Hollywood" Frank Samara had promised the league that he would begin hosting the session no later than 7:30pm. Just like the night before, he was able to get there early at 7:10.
Upon getting out of his car, he saw a packed parking lot along with four courts full of players...some sitting out or watching while others were competing.
Samara walked past Court Four as he headed toward the bench alongside Court One. As he passed, the opponent of Ted Cedroski seemingly shot him a dirty look. It was quite obvious that their action was not to be intended for the GTA (in all fairness, Ted was friendly to us out on the bench as he and his buddy were leaving at 8:05).
Over on Court Three, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was hitting with someone that Samara did not initially recognize. It later turned out to be "CB" Chris Barbieri (featuring a new, tight buzz cut) while his lady, "Amiable" Andrea Lim would soon join them in that hitting session.
Court Two featured the first official action of the evening as a Mixed Doubles One-Setter was already underway. On one side, it was "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson. And on the other side, it was "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon.
And then on Court One, Frank saw three familiar faces and one new one. On one side of the court, it was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli. And on the other side, it was GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and a new player. It should also be noted that "Coach" Dino Celis was standing at one of the net posts.
The new face is a new recruit that comes to us via both Celis and Martinelli. Her name is Jen "Elegant" Elgart. Like many who come into this league, she was happy to meet some new people who play tennis as it gives her the chance to shake off the rust and return to a sport that she loves.
At 7:20, "Big George" Jorge Solano and Natalia "Nitro" Sout both arrived separately. Around that same time, the usual Cedar Grove host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, made his way across the street.
Samara and Srinivasan both suggested to Sout that she go out on Court Three to enable some more Mixed Doubles to take place there. Meanwhile, Solano would have to wait with the guys on the bench until the backlog situation cleared itself.
Five minutes later, another face that Frank did not initially recognize (while Kris did) made his way toward the gents on the bench. Once he grew closer, it was Samara who got the name out before Srinivasan could - "True Drew" Andrew Kroessler. This was going to be his first outdoor outing of the season.
At 7:40, both "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and "Teej" T.J. Shah arrived separately. They also would have to briefly endure the logjam dilemma.
Five minutes after that, "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo was soon followed in by both "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Spicy" Sally Pillay.
And still another five minutes later, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Hitman" Tom La arrived separately. The mass of people representing the GTA continued to grow larger...and felt left out of the action!
The nearly full moon soon smiled upon us as Cedroski and his hitting partner left Court Four at 8:05. Samara kept directing traffic, so four players were able to take Court Three after Mole/Sout and Barbieri/Lim were ready to take a break and then another four players were able to gather on Court Four once it was freed up by Ted and friend.
At this moment, it was pretty much just Samara as the odd man out (by choice) and Celis to soon accompany him on the bench (due to injury).
Tito "Touch" Castolo, like the night before, was a late arrival at 8:45. His timing was good as Court Three was ripe for the taking. Castolo teamed with his fellow Filipino, Levy Lorenzo, while Samara would pair up with T.J. Shah. Little did they know what type of One-Setter lied ahead of them!
The last and latest arrival was "Rowdy" Rob Gawly at 8:50. He had to sit for a bit before finally getting a chance to become a part of the official action.
His late arrival gave us a very impressive total of 25 official competitors for the evening (one of them, Elgart, making her official GTA Debut while Kroessler was making his official GTA Return). The weather was absolutely perfect! It was like a mild summer night where you never feel hot or cold...it was just right!
Let's get to the scores! We first go to Lyndhurst for what turned out to be a fairly epic encounter. And then we will get all the rest that Cedar Grove had to offer.
The Riverside Ave. Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational First Round Match:
Dan Hwang over Rajan Shah, 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, as both entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Players respectively while Hwang also advances to The Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Dan: 5 Aces; and Rajan: 2 Aces!
At Bat with The DH: Rajan is a great competitor. He always exhibited fair play and fair line calls. It really was a pleasure playing with him...and I thank you for the opportunity.
Samara's Notes: I am glad to hear they both enjoyed the match. It sounds like it could be a possible Nominee for Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season's end. Hwang looks to be dangerous as he moves forward in the draw of this tourney.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Herb Reiner/Kathy Sheldon over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 6-3! No Aces. Not sure when this one got underway on Court Two, but it finished at 7:30.
Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli over Chris Chiaro/Jen Elgart, 6-3! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Jen Elgart. Like the match above, we do not know when it got started on Court One...but it ended exactly at 7:31.
Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Chris Barbieri/Andrea Lim, 6-2! Mike: 2 Aces (one on each). This one took place on Court Three roughly from 7:25 to 7:55.
Jorge Solano/Andrew Kroessler over Kris Srinivasan/Jen Elgart, 6-3! Jorge: 1 Ace on Jen. It was the official GTA Return of Andrew Kroessler. Court One hosted this one from 7:40 to 8:20.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Joe Rodrigues, 7-6 (7-3)! No Aces. Court Two was the place to be as this hard-hitting battle went the distance. It got started at 7:45 and finished at 8:35.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over T.J. Shah/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3! Marijus: 3 Aces (2 on T.J. and 1 on Levy)! This one took place on Court Three and lasted from 8pm to 8:42.
Ryan Pienciak/Andrea Lim over Chris Barbieri/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces. Court Four hosted this foursome from 8:10 to 8:32.
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Jorge Solano/Tom La, 6-0! No Aces. A bagel was shockingly served on Court One as it took 33 minutes to get done (8:25 to 8:58)!
Ryan Pienciak/Natalia Sout over Chris Barbieri/Andrea Lim, 6-2! Ryan: 1 Ace on Chris. The same four, but different teams, faced off again on Court Four and it lasted from 8:33 to 9pm.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole, 6-3! No Aces. This one took place on Court Two. It started at 8:38 and ended at 9:13.
Tito Castolo/Levy Lorenzo over Frank Samara/T.J Shah, 7-6 (7-2)! No Aces. In the interest of saving time, I did not note who hit what winners where and when. So here is the basic breakdown: Levy held serve (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, bounced back to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then it shifted again to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Tito was the first to be broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-2. T.J. was also broken (he hit a Double Fault which set up Triple Break Point and then he hit another Double Fault for the Love break) and then Lorenzo held again (Double Fault for Love-30, but then it went straight to Game Point and the hold) to take the lead for his team at 3-2. Samara also held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point was cut down to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and the hold), but then Castolo also held (Love-30 went right to Game Point and the hold) to reclaim the lead at 4-3. Shah then held (started with a Double Fault, but then went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and then Mr. 500 was finally broken in quite the tussle (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) to fall behind at 4-5. And then came a game even more epic and certainly more pivotal as Hollywood was on serve (got off to a Love-30 start only to go straight to Game/Match Point, Deuce and then all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, it was then the 2nd Game/Match Point where Tito hit a roller that held to the net so tightly that it could have painted a line down it had it first been rolled in wet paint...so frustrating as this now make it the 4th Deuce and then all Break Points until 6th Deuce and then a 3rd Game/Match Point, 7th Deuce, Break Point and then the big break) to tie things up at 5-5 as the opposition had just saved 3 Match Points! Tito Touch then held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but then so did Teej (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then it went to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to force the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Levy held his lone serve, then Frank held his first but was broken on his second for 1-2. Tito was broken on his first but held his second for a 3-2 lead. T.J. was broken on his first to make it 2-4 at the changeover and then he was broken again to fall to 2-5. Lorenzo then held his first serve to set up 6-2 and the first Match Point in his team's favor and then he held again to end it right there on the 4th M.P. overall! We had begun this one on Court Three at 8:47 and it ended exactly at 9:58 with just two minutes to spare before lights out at 10pm!
The Skinny: Even though it does not have the most impressive Tiebreak score, this has a solid chance at being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end due to the three saved Match Points, all the drama, solid action throughout and a duration of 1 hour and 11 minutes! Plus, it truly was an epic comeback made by Tito and Levy...the two crafty and cagey veterans! The Filipino Express almost went off the rails, but instead righted itself and rolled right over Samara and Shah! Good stuff!
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Rob Gawley/Tom La, 6-3! No Aces. This one got underway on Court One at 9:05. Not sure when it ended as it went right into another one (with a change of one player) while I was preoccupied in the previous preposterous predicament!
Ryan Pienciak/Andrea Lim over Chris Barbieri/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces. Despite the fairly competitive score, this was a quick one on Court Four as it lasted just fifteen minutes (9:07 to 9:22). From there, Natalia and Andrea had a hitting session with one another for a while until Ryan came back out on Sout's side while Chris did not have to go out on a limb to choose Lim's side in a four-way hitting session that lasted the rest of the evening.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2! Lou: 1 Ace on Kris. Court Two hosted this one from 9:18 to 9:45.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay leading Jorge Solano/Rob Gawley, 4-1 (40-15, but Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. Not sure when they had begun this one on Court One as it came right after that other one. ;-)
All in all, it was an amazing session of GTA Tennis at Cedar Grove where everyone seemingly left happy no matter what their results ultimately were. The weather was amazing...a true summer preview...and it made everyone thankful for the opportunity to play tennis after what had been a rather lousy stretch of weather for more than a month or so...awesome!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
"Hwang-Rajan in Lyndhurst, Samara hosts 25 (1 new, 1 return) at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis took place at two locations: The Riverside Ave. Courts (perhaps also known as The Gallagher Field Courts) in Lyndhurst and The Cedar Grove Courts. Like the day before it, it was once again a beautiful and sunny day (with a peak temperature of 85 degrees) and it led to an amazing evening for tennis as the temps stayed in the mild 70 degree range with no breeze whatsoever...absolutely perfect!
In Lyndhurst, it was yet another GTA Intermediate Invitational First Round Match as "The DH" Dan Hwang faced off against "Ragin" Rajan Shah. Before we get to that result, let's first recap how everything unfolded up at Cedar Grove. After all, the Hwang-Shah encounter was taking place at the same time anyway.
Earlier in the day, "Hollywood" Frank Samara had promised the league that he would begin hosting the session no later than 7:30pm. Just like the night before, he was able to get there early at 7:10.
Upon getting out of his car, he saw a packed parking lot along with four courts full of players...some sitting out or watching while others were competing.
Samara walked past Court Four as he headed toward the bench alongside Court One. As he passed, the opponent of Ted Cedroski seemingly shot him a dirty look. It was quite obvious that their action was not to be intended for the GTA (in all fairness, Ted was friendly to us out on the bench as he and his buddy were leaving at 8:05).
Over on Court Three, "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was hitting with someone that Samara did not initially recognize. It later turned out to be "CB" Chris Barbieri (featuring a new, tight buzz cut) while his lady, "Amiable" Andrea Lim would soon join them in that hitting session.
Court Two featured the first official action of the evening as a Mixed Doubles One-Setter was already underway. On one side, it was "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson. And on the other side, it was "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon.
And then on Court One, Frank saw three familiar faces and one new one. On one side of the court, it was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli. And on the other side, it was GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and a new player. It should also be noted that "Coach" Dino Celis was standing at one of the net posts.
The new face is a new recruit that comes to us via both Celis and Martinelli. Her name is Jen "Elegant" Elgart. Like many who come into this league, she was happy to meet some new people who play tennis as it gives her the chance to shake off the rust and return to a sport that she loves.
At 7:20, "Big George" Jorge Solano and Natalia "Nitro" Sout both arrived separately. Around that same time, the usual Cedar Grove host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, made his way across the street.
Samara and Srinivasan both suggested to Sout that she go out on Court Three to enable some more Mixed Doubles to take place there. Meanwhile, Solano would have to wait with the guys on the bench until the backlog situation cleared itself.
Five minutes later, another face that Frank did not initially recognize (while Kris did) made his way toward the gents on the bench. Once he grew closer, it was Samara who got the name out before Srinivasan could - "True Drew" Andrew Kroessler. This was going to be his first outdoor outing of the season.
At 7:40, both "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and "Teej" T.J. Shah arrived separately. They also would have to briefly endure the logjam dilemma.
Five minutes after that, "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo was soon followed in by both "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Spicy" Sally Pillay.
And still another five minutes later, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Hitman" Tom La arrived separately. The mass of people representing the GTA continued to grow larger...and felt left out of the action!
The nearly full moon soon smiled upon us as Cedroski and his hitting partner left Court Four at 8:05. Samara kept directing traffic, so four players were able to take Court Three after Mole/Sout and Barbieri/Lim were ready to take a break and then another four players were able to gather on Court Four once it was freed up by Ted and friend.
At this moment, it was pretty much just Samara as the odd man out (by choice) and Celis to soon accompany him on the bench (due to injury).
Tito "Touch" Castolo, like the night before, was a late arrival at 8:45. His timing was good as Court Three was ripe for the taking. Castolo teamed with his fellow Filipino, Levy Lorenzo, while Samara would pair up with T.J. Shah. Little did they know what type of One-Setter lied ahead of them!
The last and latest arrival was "Rowdy" Rob Gawly at 8:50. He had to sit for a bit before finally getting a chance to become a part of the official action.
His late arrival gave us a very impressive total of 25 official competitors for the evening (one of them, Elgart, making her official GTA Debut while Kroessler was making his official GTA Return). The weather was absolutely perfect! It was like a mild summer night where you never feel hot or cold...it was just right!
Let's get to the scores! We first go to Lyndhurst for what turned out to be a fairly epic encounter. And then we will get all the rest that Cedar Grove had to offer.
The Riverside Ave. Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational First Round Match:
Dan Hwang over Rajan Shah, 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, as both entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Players respectively while Hwang also advances to The Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Dan: 5 Aces; and Rajan: 2 Aces!
At Bat with The DH: Rajan is a great competitor. He always exhibited fair play and fair line calls. It really was a pleasure playing with him...and I thank you for the opportunity.
Samara's Notes: I am glad to hear they both enjoyed the match. It sounds like it could be a possible Nominee for Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season's end. Hwang looks to be dangerous as he moves forward in the draw of this tourney.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Herb Reiner/Kathy Sheldon over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 6-3! No Aces. Not sure when this one got underway on Court Two, but it finished at 7:30.
Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli over Chris Chiaro/Jen Elgart, 6-3! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Jen Elgart. Like the match above, we do not know when it got started on Court One...but it ended exactly at 7:31.
Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Chris Barbieri/Andrea Lim, 6-2! Mike: 2 Aces (one on each). This one took place on Court Three roughly from 7:25 to 7:55.
Jorge Solano/Andrew Kroessler over Kris Srinivasan/Jen Elgart, 6-3! Jorge: 1 Ace on Jen. It was the official GTA Return of Andrew Kroessler. Court One hosted this one from 7:40 to 8:20.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Joe Rodrigues, 7-6 (7-3)! No Aces. Court Two was the place to be as this hard-hitting battle went the distance. It got started at 7:45 and finished at 8:35.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over T.J. Shah/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3! Marijus: 3 Aces (2 on T.J. and 1 on Levy)! This one took place on Court Three and lasted from 8pm to 8:42.
Ryan Pienciak/Andrea Lim over Chris Barbieri/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces. Court Four hosted this foursome from 8:10 to 8:32.
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Jorge Solano/Tom La, 6-0! No Aces. A bagel was shockingly served on Court One as it took 33 minutes to get done (8:25 to 8:58)!
Ryan Pienciak/Natalia Sout over Chris Barbieri/Andrea Lim, 6-2! Ryan: 1 Ace on Chris. The same four, but different teams, faced off again on Court Four and it lasted from 8:33 to 9pm.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole, 6-3! No Aces. This one took place on Court Two. It started at 8:38 and ended at 9:13.
Tito Castolo/Levy Lorenzo over Frank Samara/T.J Shah, 7-6 (7-2)! No Aces. In the interest of saving time, I did not note who hit what winners where and when. So here is the basic breakdown: Levy held serve (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, bounced back to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then it shifted again to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Tito was the first to be broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-2. T.J. was also broken (he hit a Double Fault which set up Triple Break Point and then he hit another Double Fault for the Love break) and then Lorenzo held again (Double Fault for Love-30, but then it went straight to Game Point and the hold) to take the lead for his team at 3-2. Samara also held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point was cut down to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and the hold), but then Castolo also held (Love-30 went right to Game Point and the hold) to reclaim the lead at 4-3. Shah then held (started with a Double Fault, but then went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and then Mr. 500 was finally broken in quite the tussle (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) to fall behind at 4-5. And then came a game even more epic and certainly more pivotal as Hollywood was on serve (got off to a Love-30 start only to go straight to Game/Match Point, Deuce and then all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, it was then the 2nd Game/Match Point where Tito hit a roller that held to the net so tightly that it could have painted a line down it had it first been rolled in wet paint...so frustrating as this now make it the 4th Deuce and then all Break Points until 6th Deuce and then a 3rd Game/Match Point, 7th Deuce, Break Point and then the big break) to tie things up at 5-5 as the opposition had just saved 3 Match Points! Tito Touch then held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but then so did Teej (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then it went to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to force the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Levy held his lone serve, then Frank held his first but was broken on his second for 1-2. Tito was broken on his first but held his second for a 3-2 lead. T.J. was broken on his first to make it 2-4 at the changeover and then he was broken again to fall to 2-5. Lorenzo then held his first serve to set up 6-2 and the first Match Point in his team's favor and then he held again to end it right there on the 4th M.P. overall! We had begun this one on Court Three at 8:47 and it ended exactly at 9:58 with just two minutes to spare before lights out at 10pm!
The Skinny: Even though it does not have the most impressive Tiebreak score, this has a solid chance at being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end due to the three saved Match Points, all the drama, solid action throughout and a duration of 1 hour and 11 minutes! Plus, it truly was an epic comeback made by Tito and Levy...the two crafty and cagey veterans! The Filipino Express almost went off the rails, but instead righted itself and rolled right over Samara and Shah! Good stuff!
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Rob Gawley/Tom La, 6-3! No Aces. This one got underway on Court One at 9:05. Not sure when it ended as it went right into another one (with a change of one player) while I was preoccupied in the previous preposterous predicament!
Ryan Pienciak/Andrea Lim over Chris Barbieri/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces. Despite the fairly competitive score, this was a quick one on Court Four as it lasted just fifteen minutes (9:07 to 9:22). From there, Natalia and Andrea had a hitting session with one another for a while until Ryan came back out on Sout's side while Chris did not have to go out on a limb to choose Lim's side in a four-way hitting session that lasted the rest of the evening.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Nathan Fernandes/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2! Lou: 1 Ace on Kris. Court Two hosted this one from 9:18 to 9:45.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay leading Jorge Solano/Rob Gawley, 4-1 (40-15, but Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces. Not sure when they had begun this one on Court One as it came right after that other one. ;-)
All in all, it was an amazing session of GTA Tennis at Cedar Grove where everyone seemingly left happy no matter what their results ultimately were. The weather was amazing...a true summer preview...and it made everyone thankful for the opportunity to play tennis after what had been a rather lousy stretch of weather for more than a month or so...awesome!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
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