4/18/17:
"Omar-Levy, Rafaelo-Mel part of 22 at C.G.!":
GTA Tuesday Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts was pretty much an all-day affair as it got underway in the early afternoon with a GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match between "Stealth" Omar Santos and "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo (as reported by Levy), then a later afternoon 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov and "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman (as reported by Rafaelo) and then the usual evening session (eventually hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, but first managed by the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, as Samara was a late arrival).
Before we get to how the evening session unfolded, let's first report those two full Challenge Matches.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:
Levy Lorenzo over Omar Santos, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, to become both the New # 22 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! No Aces (apparently).
The Levy Lowdown: I was up 5-1 in the Tiebreak of the 2nd Set when I had a huge mental lapse and could not close it out as Omar took six straight points! I tried my best to beat him as it was very hot out in the sun. We played from 1:40 to 4:10!
Samara's Notes: First, I thank Levy for his very timely reporting of this result. Second, I congratulate him on an impressive victory and major leap up the ranks. When he registered for the tourney, his attitude seemed to indicate that he would take a chance on playing some Singles and also use the opportunity to get some exercise. Well, now he finds himself in the Advanced Division as well as the I-M Division and he is also the first player into the Quarterfinals of the tourney. Well done!
And now we go to the result from Rafaelo.
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Rafaelo Kazakov over Melvin Hyman, 6-0, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 23 Rank in the Intermediate Division! In the process, Hyman entered the division as the New # 38 Ranked Player. Mel: 2 Aces!
Samara's Notes: I thank Rafaelo for his timely reporting of this report. I'm also glad to see that Mel got over his recent illness and found an opportunity to enter the I-M Division outside of the tournament.
And now we recap how the night went.
Once again, a certain succubus usurped the plans of one Mr. Samara (who had promised an arrival at The Cedar Grove Courts no later than 7:30). As 7:30 drew near, Frank sent a text message to Kris stating his arrival would occur closer to 8pm.
Sure enough, Samara did pull into the parking lot at 8pm. His anger quickly gave way to a sense of satisfaction as he saw that all four courts were in play by the players of the GTA.
On Court One, it was "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales teaming with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli to take on the mother/son combo of "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan.
On Court Two, there was another Doubles One-Setter already underway as GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro was paired with "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan (playing in denim blue jeans a la Raj Shah, as she had originally intended to only make a cameo appearance) to face the combo of Kris and "Big George" Jorge Solano.
On Court Three, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was hitting with Natalia "Nitro" Sout as "Coach" Dino Celis was giving her instruction. It seemed that "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak had just arrived and was trying to find where he may fit into the picture.
And on Court Four, "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson were in the second of two One-Setters against "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto.
At 8:20, both Levy Lorenzo and Tito "Touch" Castolo arrived separately. Another five minutes after that, "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega had also arrived.
I'm happy to say we had the entire place to ourselves all night long. As such, it was a very enjoyable session despite the chilly temps. Counting all the GTA action that took place at Cedar Grove the entire day, we had a total of 22 official competitors.
At 9:50, "The Whip" Peter Wylie stepped onto Court One with a bucket of balls knowing that he would only have ten minutes to hit them.
Let's get to the scores!
Mike Mole/Vinnie De Benedetto over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 7-6 (10-8)! No Aces. This was played on Court Four prior to Samara's arrival.
Samara's Notes: They had no details to give me, but based on that score alone…I do believe this will be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Specialty Match of The Year at season's end. They then played a rematch.
Mike Mole/Vinnie De Benedetto over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 6-4! Mike: 1 Ace on Joe on Match Point! Not sure when this one had begun on Court Four, but it ended at 8:05.
Chris Chiaro/Genalin Capan over Kris Srinivasan/Jorge Solano, 6-1! Chris: 1 Ace on Kris. Again, not sure when this one got underway on Court Two, but it ended at 8:05.
Jose Gonzales/Dan Martinelli over Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1! No Aces. Like the others above, not sure when it began…but this one got done on Court One exactly at 8:13.
Chris Chiaro/Genalin Capan over Ryan Pienciak/Jorge Solano, 6-3! Chris: 1 Ace on Jorge. Court Two hosted this one from 8:13 to 8:43.
Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Dan Martinelli, 7-6 (8-6)! Spin: 1 Ace on Frank; and Jose: 2 Aces on Doinks (in the same game)! In the interest of saving time, I did not note who hit what winners where and when (though I did note two key moments in the very first game). So here's the basic breakdown: Spin held serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All and that was where Spin made an amazing get/winner combo to set up Game Point where Frank blew an Overhead…a disturbing trend as of late), Frank held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point), but Jose was the first to be broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) for 1-2. Doinks was broken at Love and Martinelli held again (Triple Game Point got cut down to Game Point and then a Double Fault made it Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point where a sideline Ace against Frank earned the hold) to take a lead for his team at 3-2. Samara was broken at Love as his team fell behind at 2-4, but Gonzales was also broken at Love for 4-3. Srinivasan held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and then the hold) to knot the score at 4-4 and then the Doc was finally broken (it was 15-Love when a Double Fault made it 15-All, then it went 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break) to lose the lead for his team at 4-5. Hollywood was broken again (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) to level things once more, this time at 5-5. Latino Heat finally held serve and this time it was at Love as he started off with an Ace up the T against Doinks and then he hit a corner Ace against her to set up Triple Game Point which is where the hold came for a 6-5 lead! But The Marathon Woman had a second straight hold (Love-30 shifted straight to Game Point and the hold) to force the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Spin was broken on his lone serve and then Frank was broken on both of his serves for 1-2. Jose was broken on his first, but held his second for a 3-2 lead. Doinks held the first of her two serves for 3-3 at the changeover and then she held again to take the lead at 4-3. Martinelli hit a Double Fault to make it 3-5, but then he held the second of his two serves to pull to 4-5. Samara was then broken on the first of his two serves for 5-5, but then held his second to make it 6-5 and set up the very first Match Point of the contest. Gonzales held the first of his two serves to save that M.P. and make it 6-6 at the second changeover. But then he was broken on his next serve to hand a 7-6 lead (and 2nd M.P.) over to Srinivasan who seized the opportunity with a hold and a win! We played this one on Court One from 8:18 to 9:07.
The Skinny: Everyone had some really great moments in this match, but I truly believe Doinks to be The MVP in this one. And given both the quality and the drama, I would think it has a shot at being another Nominee for One-Set Doubles Specialty Match of The Year at season's end.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Joe Rodrigues/Mike Mole, 6-4! No Aces. This one took place on Court Three and lasted from 8:20 to 8:50. Afterward, Nate and Nat had another hitting session with one another.
Chris Chiaro over Ryan Pienciak, 6-0! Chris: 3 Aces! This one did not last long on Court Two…just 15 minutes (8:45 to 9pm)! The Champ has been delivering up some Aces as of late. Perhaps King Crush will also be known as King Ace.
Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo over Edwin Ortega/Genalin Capan, 6-0! Tito: 1 Ace on Gen. Court Four hosted these four Filipinos from 8:47 to 9:12. After this one, Gen was done and she went over to the bench outside to socialize with Dino and Spin. The remaining three gentlemen opted for some Canadian Doubles instead.
Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces. They played this one on Court Two from 9:02 to 9:25.
Negotiations as to who were going to play in this next Doubles One-Setter were a back and forth affair as we seem to be dealing with "the walking wounded" as of late. Spin has a sciatica issue that is affecting his lower back while Kris suffered some sort of right shoulder injury over the course of the evening and was prepared to sit out the balance of the session.
But Doinks was eager to play another and she coaxed him back into action. Jose was prepared to leave and that meant that Spin was going to reprise his role as "The Noble Idiot" (a part that he played to great fanfare last season). Thankfully, Gonzales said he was willing to do one more to spare Spin any prolonged agony. Mr. Martinelli was quite thankful for Jose's kind gesture.
Samara said he was willing to "take the bullet" and team with "the damaged goods." Turns out that it would not play out that way at all!
Frank Samara/Kris Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces. Again, here we go with just the flow of the games: Doinks held in an intense battle (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce and then all Game Points through to 6th Deuce and then one more Game Point and then came the hold), Frank held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Jose was the first to be broken as this game also went 15-Love then point for point except it went that way all the way to Game Point, then Deuce, Break Point and the break for 1-2. Kris held at Love and Mrs. Srinivasan was broken at Love after a Double Fault had made it Love-30 as The Wood and The K Man had just taken ten straight points to take a 4-1 lead! When Samara went up 15-Love in his second service game, it became 11 straight points only to go downhill from there as it went right to Double Break Point and then the break came on Break Point to have his team's lead cut to 4-2. But then Gonzales was broken again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and then the break) and Mr. Srinivasan held (Triple Game/Match Point, the hold came on Double Game/Match Point) to earn an impressive victory! We played this one on Court One from 9:10 to 9:45.
The Skinny: Samara stepped up his game in this one, but the true surprise was how well Kris played despite the shoulder injury. As often happens when a player is dealing with an ailment or injury, it actually forces you to play more focused tennis. It feeds the need to try to end points earlier and with more efficient and proficient shots. I do believe this was the case here.
Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces. Court Two hosted this one from 9:27 to 9:52.
This session was such a contrast from the evening before as it was so enjoyable to see the GTA have the run of the place. It was a light-hearted atmosphere full of laughter, yet still highly competitive throughout the entire session. If only all the nights could be like this one.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
No comments:
Post a Comment