5/21/17:
"Phoenix-Truong at C.G., Samara hosts 6 at AP, Kris hosts 4 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: a very early one featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match between Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "The A-Bomb" Andrew Truong (as reported by Jay), the usual late morning/early afternoon session at Albion Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and the frequent one later in the day and evening at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan).
We will first get the result from Jay, then recap all the comings, goings and scores from Albion before later turning this report over to Kris.
The Cedar Grove Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal:
Jay Phoenix over Andrew Truong, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to successfully defend both his # 20 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 4 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Andrew: 1 Ace in the 3rd Set.
Jay has his say: We played from 9am to 10:30. I had no business winning the match. In my opinion, Andrew belongs in the Top 5 of the Advanced Division. The only reason I won is because he is suffering from a bacterial infection. We first tried to play the match on Friday evening, but halfway through the 1st Set he became extremely sick and offered to forfeit the match. I declined the offer because I did not want to win a second match in the tournament by forfeit. We agreed to start over on Sunday, which we did but he coughed throughout the match. All I did was defend throughout the match. Most of my points were off of his errors. He is on a different level than me. I hope he gets better. He was very courteous, humble and professional in his loss, even offering me a few tips on how to improve my game.
Samara's Notes: I thank Jay for his comprehensive write-up and congratulate him on his victory regardless of the circumstances. I also offer a hearty dose of kudos to Andrew for playing the match while dealing with such an ailment. I praise his effort.
And now here is how it all went down at Albion Park.
It was 10:55 when both "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli pulled up to the courts separately.
Already out on the courts was "Stealth" Omar Santos who first sent a text message to Samara around 10:10 asking if there would be a session at Albion and then sent another one ten or so minutes later seeming shocked that nobody was there yet. Frank's reply was that the session would be at 11pm.
Just walking out onto the courts ahead of Samara and Martinelli were the cousins that Kris has dubbed as "The Inseparables", Rajan Shah and T.J. Shah. We found out a little bit more about their background today as Teej told us he first was on the Passaic High School Tennis Team for his first two years of high school. Then he moved to Clifton where he would be on their tennis team for his Junior and Senior years.
Contrary to what we once believed, Rajan was not on those teams with him. It turns out he moved up sometime after that from North Carolina. Many new monikers either were given or can be given to both of them in light of this session as Rajan can be "The Carolina Cousin" or "The Carolina Kid."
Spin likes to call T.J. "Hooker" as in the old William Shatner "showpiece" that was called "T.J. Hooker." But then you also have the store, T.J. Maxx. Maybe his moniker (when he wants to go incognito and perhaps book a hotel room in a different name) should be "Maxx Hooker!"
Anyway, they are two really good guys and solid tennis players and they held court the entire day over the course of four Doubles One-Setters.
Next to arrive was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes strolling in at 11:30.
Once again, "Coach" Dino Celis gamely limped down the hill (though he is progressing quite nicely as the result of physical therapy) around 1pm to make an extended cameo appearance.
At 1:30, a couple arrived and took the South Court. The guy in this twosome was an obvious novice and numbskull as he couldn't keep his balls on his court. Bad enough he was "shanking" some far enough to get over to us, but then he walked right behind us in the middle of a crucial point to go get one of them! Both time-wise and temperament-wise, Samara was getting very close to having another "2:07 moment!"
Serenity now! SERENITY NOW!!!
Given how nice a day it was (sunny and 70 degrees), it was and inexplicably and shockingly low turnout. It serves as a complete mystery as to why that was when you consider the fact that Memorial Day Weekend is next weekend...not this one. Oh well!
Now, let's get to the scores!
The Albion Park Results:
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Omar Santos/Dan Martinelli, 6-3! No Aces. They got this one underway on the North Court at 11am. It was 2-2 before The Shahs of Sunset took three straight games for a 5-2 lead. T.J. was on serve and it was Game/Match Point, but then it went to Deuce. He then hit an un-returned serve to make it 2nd Game/Match Point. It was then 2nd Deuce when another un-returned serve set up the 3rd Game/Match Point. This was where Omar made a nice get/winner combo for 3rd Deuce. It then went to Break Point and the break as his team's lead was cut to 5-3. Spin was then on serve and was broken on the 4th M.P. overall! It ended exactly at 11:38.
As Omar would have to leave not too long after 12noon, he wanted to try to get one more in before he had to get going. So we had Nate take the place of Spin for this next one.
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Omar Santos, 6-4! No Aces. This was also played on the North Court and it lasted from 11:41 to 12:26. Omar left soon after this ended.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara over Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah, 6-4! T.J.: 1 Ace on Nate! It went like this: Nathan held serve (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as Rajan hit a winner along the way, it shifted again to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), Rajan was broken (Love-15 then 15-All before going straight to Double Break Point where T.J. hit a vicious volley winner to cut it down to Break Point, but then Nate hit a winner for the break), Frank held (perhaps the best rally of the match ended with a winning Overhead Smash by Nate for 15-Love and then Nate made a great get/drop shot winner combo for 30-Love where Rajan then made a smoking return winner for 30-15, but then Nate hit another winner to set up Double Game Point where Frank made a slick get/drop shot winner combo to secure his own hold) and T.J. was broken at Love as Frank made a nice drop shot to force an error and then hit a true volley/drop shot winner combo along the way as The Shahs soon found themselves down 0-4! When Fernandes held again (Rajan hit a winning return for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15, then a Double Fault for 30-All where back-to-back un-returned serves took it to Game Point and then the hold), his team's lead became even more commanding at 5-0! But then Raj held (Love-15 would be followed with two un-returned serves on the way to Double Game Point where Nate blew a volley to allow the hold) to get his team on the scoreboard and then Samara was broken (T.J. blew a volley in the first point and then Nate hit a winner for 30-Love, but it soon shifted to Break Point as Rajan hit a winner along the way and then came the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2. Then, Teej held in an amazing battle (Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, Break/Match Point, Deuce where a soft and short slice Ace took Nate by surprise to make it Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where T.J. hit a wicked Overhead Smash winner for Game Point, 3rd Deuce, the 4th Break/Match Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) and Nate the Great was then broken at Love as T.J. hit a winning return along the way to pull to 4-5! But then The Carolina Cousin was broken (Frank hit a very impressive Backhand Volley winner for Love-30, it was then 15-30 where the second best rally of the match set up Double Break/Match Point and then came the break on the 5th M.P. overall) as his team's attempted comeback was thwarted just in time! We played this on the North Court from 12:30 to 1:09.
After a brief break to enjoy the comedy that is the life of Spin, the two teams went back out onto the North Court for a rematch.
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara, 7-5! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Nathan was broken (Frank blew a volley for Love-30 which was where Nate hit a whipping winner to make it 15-30 only to have T.J. respond with a vicious volley winner for Double Break Point, it was then Break Point where Nate blew a drop shot to break himself), Rajan was broken (Triple Break Point where Frank blew a volley to make it Double Break Point and then an un-returned serve made it Break Point, then it went to Deuce, Break Point again and the break), but Frank was the first to hold serve (T.J. blew a volley for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce where Nate made a tremendous get that led to Game Point where Frank hit a winner to secure his own hold) for 2-1. T.J. also held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and then the hold) and then Fernandes was broken again (Nate hit a drop shot winner and an awesome passing shot winner on the way to Triple Game Point which would then get reduced to Deuce, then Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-3. Raj held (30-Love went straight to Break Point, Deuce and then it was all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, Game Point and then an exclamation point of a winning Overhead Smash by T.J., which is the only winner I was able to remember from this game) and Samara was broken (Raj hit a sizzling passing shot winner for Triple Break Point, but then Nate hit a roller over the net for a winner to make it Double Break Point, but then came the break) as his team fell to 2-5! Teej was then broken in another epic struggle (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, 4th Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and then the break in another game where I could no longer remember who hit what winners) and Nate the Great held at Love as Frank hit a missile-like Backhand Volley winner along the way as their team made things interesting at 4-5! The Carolina Cousin was then broken (Frank hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it shifted to 30-All right after Rajan hit a winner, but then came Break Point and the break) to level matters at 5-5! The Wood was then broken in yet another battle (Frank hit a drop shot winner to start at 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as T.J. hit a winner along the way, it was then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce and then all Break Points through to 3rd Deuce, Break Point yet again and then finally the break) and Maxx Hooker then held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game/Match Point as T.J. hit an amazing drop shot winner along the way and then came the hold on the 5th M.P. overall) to curtail the comeback dreams of the opposition as they finally closed the door on them at 2:15 (this one had begun on the North Court at 1:20)!
The Skinny: Nate was thinking possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end for this one. That would have likely been the case had his team forced the Tiebreak. Instead, I think this one just gets an Honorable Mention. It was an impressive victory for The Shahs of Sunset which capped quite the day for them - 3 out of 4 is better than 2 out of 3 (which ain't bad, according to Meat Loaf), so I guess I gotta say it is pretty damn good on the day!
And now we turn the rest of this report over to Kris.
What started off as just a hitting session turned into a mini session again, but with just four players for the night. We did have Syed Rashid and Mike Sindler just wrapping up some hitting on both days as we started our session.
Samara's Notes: From Melvin Hyman's e-mail about just hitting on Saturday, when he only said "Mike"…I had assumed it was Mike Mole. Now it seems it must have been Mike Sindler instead.
We now go back to Kris.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Ray Spadaro, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4! No Aces.
It was a solid match where Jordan and Doinks punished Ray excessively…a man who was just coming off of an injury and was just trying to get the feel of the game.
We were leading 4-Love and an alarmed Jordan then threw the kitchen sink at Ray pretty much every time. A weak backhand and a stiff shoulder hindered Ray's game and then it became a mental thing. Still, he has some exquisite volleys and forehand shots. The 1st Set was close as we missed out on closing a couple of close games. Ray was game to go for the 2nd Set. We just rolled over our opponents with high energy. Ray said he ran out of fuel in the 1st Set. He was ready to call it a day, but with a second wind and some high octane energy, he started playing with more confidence. We ended up playing the deciding 3rd Set and missed out on opportunities to get to 5-All with a couple of crucial errors that ended the match. Nevertheless, it was well-contested with all the players performing very well. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: Once again, Kris is "the man" up at Cedar Grove. We thank him for all he does for our league there.
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
"Phoenix-Truong at C.G., Samara hosts 6 at AP, Kris hosts 4 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: a very early one featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match between Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "The A-Bomb" Andrew Truong (as reported by Jay), the usual late morning/early afternoon session at Albion Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and the frequent one later in the day and evening at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan).
We will first get the result from Jay, then recap all the comings, goings and scores from Albion before later turning this report over to Kris.
The Cedar Grove Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal:
Jay Phoenix over Andrew Truong, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to successfully defend both his # 20 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 4 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Andrew: 1 Ace in the 3rd Set.
Jay has his say: We played from 9am to 10:30. I had no business winning the match. In my opinion, Andrew belongs in the Top 5 of the Advanced Division. The only reason I won is because he is suffering from a bacterial infection. We first tried to play the match on Friday evening, but halfway through the 1st Set he became extremely sick and offered to forfeit the match. I declined the offer because I did not want to win a second match in the tournament by forfeit. We agreed to start over on Sunday, which we did but he coughed throughout the match. All I did was defend throughout the match. Most of my points were off of his errors. He is on a different level than me. I hope he gets better. He was very courteous, humble and professional in his loss, even offering me a few tips on how to improve my game.
Samara's Notes: I thank Jay for his comprehensive write-up and congratulate him on his victory regardless of the circumstances. I also offer a hearty dose of kudos to Andrew for playing the match while dealing with such an ailment. I praise his effort.
And now here is how it all went down at Albion Park.
It was 10:55 when both "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli pulled up to the courts separately.
Already out on the courts was "Stealth" Omar Santos who first sent a text message to Samara around 10:10 asking if there would be a session at Albion and then sent another one ten or so minutes later seeming shocked that nobody was there yet. Frank's reply was that the session would be at 11pm.
Just walking out onto the courts ahead of Samara and Martinelli were the cousins that Kris has dubbed as "The Inseparables", Rajan Shah and T.J. Shah. We found out a little bit more about their background today as Teej told us he first was on the Passaic High School Tennis Team for his first two years of high school. Then he moved to Clifton where he would be on their tennis team for his Junior and Senior years.
Contrary to what we once believed, Rajan was not on those teams with him. It turns out he moved up sometime after that from North Carolina. Many new monikers either were given or can be given to both of them in light of this session as Rajan can be "The Carolina Cousin" or "The Carolina Kid."
Spin likes to call T.J. "Hooker" as in the old William Shatner "showpiece" that was called "T.J. Hooker." But then you also have the store, T.J. Maxx. Maybe his moniker (when he wants to go incognito and perhaps book a hotel room in a different name) should be "Maxx Hooker!"
Anyway, they are two really good guys and solid tennis players and they held court the entire day over the course of four Doubles One-Setters.
Next to arrive was "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes strolling in at 11:30.
Once again, "Coach" Dino Celis gamely limped down the hill (though he is progressing quite nicely as the result of physical therapy) around 1pm to make an extended cameo appearance.
At 1:30, a couple arrived and took the South Court. The guy in this twosome was an obvious novice and numbskull as he couldn't keep his balls on his court. Bad enough he was "shanking" some far enough to get over to us, but then he walked right behind us in the middle of a crucial point to go get one of them! Both time-wise and temperament-wise, Samara was getting very close to having another "2:07 moment!"
Serenity now! SERENITY NOW!!!
Given how nice a day it was (sunny and 70 degrees), it was and inexplicably and shockingly low turnout. It serves as a complete mystery as to why that was when you consider the fact that Memorial Day Weekend is next weekend...not this one. Oh well!
Now, let's get to the scores!
The Albion Park Results:
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Omar Santos/Dan Martinelli, 6-3! No Aces. They got this one underway on the North Court at 11am. It was 2-2 before The Shahs of Sunset took three straight games for a 5-2 lead. T.J. was on serve and it was Game/Match Point, but then it went to Deuce. He then hit an un-returned serve to make it 2nd Game/Match Point. It was then 2nd Deuce when another un-returned serve set up the 3rd Game/Match Point. This was where Omar made a nice get/winner combo for 3rd Deuce. It then went to Break Point and the break as his team's lead was cut to 5-3. Spin was then on serve and was broken on the 4th M.P. overall! It ended exactly at 11:38.
As Omar would have to leave not too long after 12noon, he wanted to try to get one more in before he had to get going. So we had Nate take the place of Spin for this next one.
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Omar Santos, 6-4! No Aces. This was also played on the North Court and it lasted from 11:41 to 12:26. Omar left soon after this ended.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara over Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah, 6-4! T.J.: 1 Ace on Nate! It went like this: Nathan held serve (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as Rajan hit a winner along the way, it shifted again to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), Rajan was broken (Love-15 then 15-All before going straight to Double Break Point where T.J. hit a vicious volley winner to cut it down to Break Point, but then Nate hit a winner for the break), Frank held (perhaps the best rally of the match ended with a winning Overhead Smash by Nate for 15-Love and then Nate made a great get/drop shot winner combo for 30-Love where Rajan then made a smoking return winner for 30-15, but then Nate hit another winner to set up Double Game Point where Frank made a slick get/drop shot winner combo to secure his own hold) and T.J. was broken at Love as Frank made a nice drop shot to force an error and then hit a true volley/drop shot winner combo along the way as The Shahs soon found themselves down 0-4! When Fernandes held again (Rajan hit a winning return for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15, then a Double Fault for 30-All where back-to-back un-returned serves took it to Game Point and then the hold), his team's lead became even more commanding at 5-0! But then Raj held (Love-15 would be followed with two un-returned serves on the way to Double Game Point where Nate blew a volley to allow the hold) to get his team on the scoreboard and then Samara was broken (T.J. blew a volley in the first point and then Nate hit a winner for 30-Love, but it soon shifted to Break Point as Rajan hit a winner along the way and then came the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2. Then, Teej held in an amazing battle (Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, Break/Match Point, Deuce where a soft and short slice Ace took Nate by surprise to make it Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where T.J. hit a wicked Overhead Smash winner for Game Point, 3rd Deuce, the 4th Break/Match Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) and Nate the Great was then broken at Love as T.J. hit a winning return along the way to pull to 4-5! But then The Carolina Cousin was broken (Frank hit a very impressive Backhand Volley winner for Love-30, it was then 15-30 where the second best rally of the match set up Double Break/Match Point and then came the break on the 5th M.P. overall) as his team's attempted comeback was thwarted just in time! We played this on the North Court from 12:30 to 1:09.
After a brief break to enjoy the comedy that is the life of Spin, the two teams went back out onto the North Court for a rematch.
Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Frank Samara, 7-5! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Nathan was broken (Frank blew a volley for Love-30 which was where Nate hit a whipping winner to make it 15-30 only to have T.J. respond with a vicious volley winner for Double Break Point, it was then Break Point where Nate blew a drop shot to break himself), Rajan was broken (Triple Break Point where Frank blew a volley to make it Double Break Point and then an un-returned serve made it Break Point, then it went to Deuce, Break Point again and the break), but Frank was the first to hold serve (T.J. blew a volley for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce where Nate made a tremendous get that led to Game Point where Frank hit a winner to secure his own hold) for 2-1. T.J. also held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and then the hold) and then Fernandes was broken again (Nate hit a drop shot winner and an awesome passing shot winner on the way to Triple Game Point which would then get reduced to Deuce, then Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-3. Raj held (30-Love went straight to Break Point, Deuce and then it was all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, Game Point and then an exclamation point of a winning Overhead Smash by T.J., which is the only winner I was able to remember from this game) and Samara was broken (Raj hit a sizzling passing shot winner for Triple Break Point, but then Nate hit a roller over the net for a winner to make it Double Break Point, but then came the break) as his team fell to 2-5! Teej was then broken in another epic struggle (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, 4th Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and then the break in another game where I could no longer remember who hit what winners) and Nate the Great held at Love as Frank hit a missile-like Backhand Volley winner along the way as their team made things interesting at 4-5! The Carolina Cousin was then broken (Frank hit a winning return to make it Love-30, it shifted to 30-All right after Rajan hit a winner, but then came Break Point and the break) to level matters at 5-5! The Wood was then broken in yet another battle (Frank hit a drop shot winner to start at 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as T.J. hit a winner along the way, it was then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce and then all Break Points through to 3rd Deuce, Break Point yet again and then finally the break) and Maxx Hooker then held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game/Match Point as T.J. hit an amazing drop shot winner along the way and then came the hold on the 5th M.P. overall) to curtail the comeback dreams of the opposition as they finally closed the door on them at 2:15 (this one had begun on the North Court at 1:20)!
The Skinny: Nate was thinking possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end for this one. That would have likely been the case had his team forced the Tiebreak. Instead, I think this one just gets an Honorable Mention. It was an impressive victory for The Shahs of Sunset which capped quite the day for them - 3 out of 4 is better than 2 out of 3 (which ain't bad, according to Meat Loaf), so I guess I gotta say it is pretty damn good on the day!
And now we turn the rest of this report over to Kris.
What started off as just a hitting session turned into a mini session again, but with just four players for the night. We did have Syed Rashid and Mike Sindler just wrapping up some hitting on both days as we started our session.
Samara's Notes: From Melvin Hyman's e-mail about just hitting on Saturday, when he only said "Mike"…I had assumed it was Mike Mole. Now it seems it must have been Mike Sindler instead.
We now go back to Kris.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Ray Spadaro, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4! No Aces.
It was a solid match where Jordan and Doinks punished Ray excessively…a man who was just coming off of an injury and was just trying to get the feel of the game.
We were leading 4-Love and an alarmed Jordan then threw the kitchen sink at Ray pretty much every time. A weak backhand and a stiff shoulder hindered Ray's game and then it became a mental thing. Still, he has some exquisite volleys and forehand shots. The 1st Set was close as we missed out on closing a couple of close games. Ray was game to go for the 2nd Set. We just rolled over our opponents with high energy. Ray said he ran out of fuel in the 1st Set. He was ready to call it a day, but with a second wind and some high octane energy, he started playing with more confidence. We ended up playing the deciding 3rd Set and missed out on opportunities to get to 5-All with a couple of crucial errors that ended the match. Nevertheless, it was well-contested with all the players performing very well. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: Once again, Kris is "the man" up at Cedar Grove. We thank him for all he does for our league there.
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
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