4/25/17:
"Marie/Frank host 8 (2 new, 1 return) at Fair Lawn!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis took place at The Fair Lawn Racquet Club as "The Olympian" Marie Salamon invited "Hollywood" Frank Samara to be a sub in her weekly Tuesday Night Tennis group at The Club.
As usual, Marie had two courts booked for two hours (8 to 10pm) to accommodate eight players. I am thankful to her for thinking of me. It gave me the chance to not only see some of the members of her group that I've enjoyed playing with in the past, but also to meet two players I have not seen before.
There were no changeovers as teams held their side of the court for the entire set. Then, at 9pm, we switched up the match-ups.
I had actually memorized the flow of all the games of my first One-Setter and most of my second. But when that second one went to 5-5 after the opposition saved three Match Points against my serve, I lost the will to remember it all. Thus, what follows is a very condensed version of the night's events (when compared to my usual write-up).
It was a fun evening as the action was both competitive and enjoyable.
The Fair Lawn Results:
Frank Samara/George Sienkiewicz over Tim Yu/Marie Salamon, 7-5! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of George Sienkiewicz. We played this one on Court Four from 8:20 to 8:57 (we first had a warm-up hitting session that lasted close to 20 minutes, as did the other foursome on Court Three).
The Skinny: Marie came out on fire as she hit winners in the first two points of the match which led to a Love break of George (normally, he is a dominant server). Tim was then also broken for 1-1. After that, the Samara/Sienkiewicz combo (it was their first time teaming together) fell to 1-5 before taking six straight games to complete an incredible comeback! For the first half of the match, you could have called the Yu/Salamon tandem The Line Painters as Tim almost always hit the sidelines with his sweeping forehand blasts while Marie often found the baseline with her lobs and volleys. But once Frank and George were able to clear their heads somewhat, Sienkiewicz got things going with his big forehand shots and serves while Samara did his thing with the slice backhands (three of which found their way down the Doubles Alley and the last of which was on Match Point) and surprising get-making.
We had time to play one more unofficial bonus game while waiting for the action on Court Three to finish and Tim and Marie took that one…a small moral victory.
J.D. Lee/Marcia Yu tied with Daniel Shtern/Robin Altman, 4-4 (Incomplete as they ran out of time a little past 9pm…they, too, did not start this one on Court Three until around 8:20). No Aces (apparently).
The Skinny: This incomplete One-Setter could not serve as the official GTA Debut of both J.D. Lee and Daniel Shtern (that is not a typo…that is how his last name is spelled). I was told that two of their games went to multiple Deuces and lasted almost as long as the rest of the games combined and that was why they could not get this Mixed Doubles One-Setter done in time.
Marie is the matchmaker of the group and she wanted to test herself against three men once again. So Tim and Frank switched courts so that Mr. Yu could team with his wife, Mrs. Yu (Marcia). Plus, Samara is already familiar with Robin. And that sent J.D. and Daniel over to Court Four where they would finally be able to take part in a completed One-Setter.
George Sienkiewicz/J.D. Lee over Daniel Shtern/Marie Salamon, 6-2! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of both J.D. Lee and Daniel Shtern. This one got underway on Court Four around 9:05, but not sure when it ended as they would then switch teams and get another one started…which we will get to a little later.
Tim Yu/Marcia Yu over Frank Samara/Robin Altman, 7-5! Tim: 1 Ace on Robin (a blast to the corner); and Frank: 1 Ace on Marcia (a deceptive slider that skidded off of the service line and caught her by surprise). We got this one going on Court Three around 9:05 and it finished by 9:50.
The Skinny: The Yu Crew was up 3-1 before Samara/Altman won four straight games for a 5-3 lead. And then at 5-4, Frank was on serve and it went 15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game/Match Point, then Game/Match Point, Deuce, the 3rd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break for 5-5! That would be the first of three straight games for Tim and Marcia as they made an impressive mini-comeback to seal the deal and get the win.
After that one, we started another one. Frank and Robin had a 3-1 lead when we had to stop at 10:05. There were no aces in this makeshift half-set.
George Sienkiewicz/Marie Salamon tied with J.D. Lee/Daniel Shtern, 4-4 (Incomplete when they, too, had to stop at 10:05). No Aces (apparently).
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Marie says she hopes to see more of me up there while she also plans on playing with us more at both Clifton and Cedar Grove (as she already has been a bit lately). We also hope that some of her group's players will make it down our way to join us, too.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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