4/27/17:
"Ortega-Tailor part of 25 at C.G. as Samara hosts!":
GTA Thursday Night Tennis took place at The Cedar Grove Courts as "Hollywood" Frank Samara acted as host after being a slightly late (7:45pm) and somewhat surprise arrival. Usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan arrived at the courts at almost the exact same time.
At that time, three of the four courts there were under our control while we would have to go without Court One (occupied by four of the Cedar Grove regulars not associated with our group) for most of the night (we finally got it back around 9:20).
But before we get to how the evening session unfolded, it had actually started earlier at 5:30 as "Eddie O" Edwin Ortega and "Tailor Made" Raj Tailor got together for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match. They also ended up playing a One-Setter after that.
So we will go to those scores before doing the usual recap of events.
The Cedar Grove Courts:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:
Raj Tailor over Edwin Ortega, 6-2, 6-1, as he becomes both the New # 25 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of The GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Raj: 2 Aces (one in each set)!
The Raj Report: It was a good match with some nice rallies. We then played a One-Setter.
Raj Tailor over Edwin Ortega, 6-3! No Aces. Edwin had jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but then Raj took six straight games for the win.
Samara's Notes: I thank Raj for his very timely reporting of that result. I also congratulate him on his impressive victory. Next, he will face the very crafty "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo in the Quarters.
Upon my arrival, I saw that Court One was already occupied by the four guys who we can call "The Anti-GTA Contingent." I pretty much knew they would be there most of the night and I was right. This would lead to a backlog situation for us for most of the evening, but thankfully all our good peeps took it in stride and used it as an opportunity to take a breather and socialize with others on the bench.
On Court Two, it was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes teaming with "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport to take on "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "J-Wow" Janice Wang (and she really is starting to "wow" people with her game…especially that lethal two-handed backhand that she wields).
On Court Three, a One-Setter was just about to get underway as "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues was paired with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli as they faced one of our powerhouse Mixed Doubles teams – "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay. Spin played some of his best tennis in this one (as did his partner, Joe) and it seemed that the comedic barbs sent his way from one Mister Marijus this past Sunday may have struck a nerve…LOL!
And on Court Four, "The A-Bomb" Andrew Truong and "Holy Moly" Mike Mole were already squaring off against "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Drill Instructor" Don Moya.
Sitting on the bench were "Teej" T.J. Shah (who had just arrived) along with "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson. They reported their earlier scores to Samara.
At 7:55, Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan made his arrival. At 8:35, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan did the same. Five minutes later, Omar "Stealth" Santos was also heading toward the courts.
Ten minutes more, "Coach" Dino Celis began an extended cameo appearance. And five minutes later (at 8:55), Tito "Touch" Castolo was the final arrival of the evening.
This led to an amazing total of 25 official competitors throughout the extended session. The weather underperformed expectations as Mother Nature unleashed her daughter, Misty Drizzle, upon us. And later in the night, it went from a mist to a very low fog…like we were playing in the clouds. Despite the damp and humid conditions, the GTA Tennis action was quite heavenly! And here is the rest of it…
Andrew Troung/Brenda Jordan over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-0! Andrew: 2 Aces (one on each)! I neglected to ask which court it was played on and what the approximate start and stop times were.
Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Andrew Truong/Dawn Peterson, 6-3! No Aces. Same as above in terms of time played and on which court.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Dan Praport over Jordan Bachvaroff/Janice Wang, 6-0, 6-1! No Aces. Not sure when this one got started on Court Two, but it finished at 8:05.
Jose Gonzales/Don Moya over Andrew Truong/Mike Mole, 6-1! No Aces. Again, not sure when this one began on Court Four, but it ended at 8pm.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Joe Rodrigues/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! Sally: 1 Ace on Joe (a deceptive weak one after several "First In" blasts); and Marijus: 1 Ace on Spin (the usual missile from the big man)! This one went game for game as no team could take a two-game lead over the other. But then when it was 4-5 with Joe on serve, it went to Break/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce and then it finally finished on the 3rd Break/Match Point at exactly 8:41 (they had begun this one on Court Three at 7:50)!
Dennis Cabanatan/T.J. Shah over Kris Srinivasan/Jose Gonzales, 6-3! Dennis: 1 Ace on Kris. Court Four hosted this foursome from 8:10 to 8:42.
Andrew Truong/Mike Mole over Dan Praport/Janice Wang, 6-3! No Aces. They played this on Court Two from 8:10 to 8:35.
Don Moya/Doinks Srinivasan over Andrew Truong/Mike Mole, 6-4! Don: 2 Aces on Mike; and Andrew: 1 Ace on Don! This one was also played on Court Two and it lasted from 8:40 to 9:20.
Nathan Fernandes/Janice Wang over Jose Gonzales/Sally Pillay, 6-4! No Aces. This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Three from 8:46 to 9:20.
Dennis Cabanatan/T.J. Shah over Joe Rodrigues/Omar Santos, 6-3! Omar: 1 Ace on Dennis; and T.J.: 1 Ace on Omar! These four faced off on Court Four from 8:48 to 9:21.
Three One-Setters all ended within a minute of one another while the four guys finally abandoned Court One just minutes earlier. Suddenly, we all were in a panic trying to figure out the next round of matches. We knew we wanted to get Samara and Castolo into the action to maximize the turnout total.
In fact, Tito was the first to make some kind of decision when he said he would team with Frank. Their opposition would be Marijus and Kris on Court Four.
On Court Three, Nate took the role of Charlie in "Charlie's Angels" as it was just him with the three remaining ladies (as he teamed with Doinks against Sally and Janice).
Andrew had wanted to play Singles all night long and he finally got his wish as he went over to Court One to square off against Dennis. And then Omar and Mike went to do the same on Court Four.
I do believe the two Singles One-Setters still featured the changeovers, but I do know that the two Doubles One-Setters decided to forego them in the hopes of getting the action completed (only one of two could claim that).
Since the next four One-Setters all began on or around 9:25, we will go in the order of how they finished (though I could not grab the times along the way).
Dennis Cabanatan over Andrew Truong, 6-2! No Aces.
Mike Mole over Omar Santos, 6-3! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Doinks Srinivasan over Sally Pillay/Janice Wang, 6-2! No Aces.
Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan leading Frank Samara/Tito Castolo, 6-5 (with Tito on serve at 15-All as the lights went off at 10pm)! Marijus: 1 Ace on Frank (a big one near the sideline)! Since we did not do the changeovers, I did not write down the flow of the games along the way. In fact, I am going off memory right now as I type this the next day…but this is how I believe they went: Kris seemed destined for a Love hold as he quickly went to Triple Game Point, but the hold came on Double Game Point, Frank held in a 3-Deuce game, Marijus had a hold identical to Kris (Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) and then Tito held at Love as we were all on serve at 2-2! Srinivasan was the first to be broken as I think he went from up 30-Love to Break Point and the break while I believe Samara (that's me…heehee) did the exact opposite as I held by going from down Love-30 to Game Point and then the hold for a 4-2 lead for my team. Kuzavas held again and this was the service where he had the Ace on me (I think he again went to Triple Game Point, but would hold on Double Game Point) to pull to 3-4, but Castolo held again (on Game Point, I believe) to extend his team's lead to 5-3. But The K Man held on Double Game Point and then Hollywood was broken at Love to level it at 5-5! Super Mario held yet again (may have been at Love, not entirely sure) to go up 6-5! Tito Touch was then on serve and it was at 15-All as the lights went out to close out the night! While it was a shame it went unfinished, we could all walk away saying we didn't lose…LOL! All in all, it still was a lot of fun.
Samara signing off!
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