5/23/17:
"Just 2 at AP, Praport-Liu at PAC, Spin hosts 21 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: a session at Albion Park in Clifton (featuring two Singles One-Setters between "Instant" Moka Pathan and "Mr. Science" Mike Mole, as reported by both Moka and Mike), then there was a session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (aka PAC, as "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport and "Richie" Rich Liu played a full 3 out of 5 Sets Match, as reported by both Dan and Rich) and then the usual session at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli).
So we will first recap the action that took place in Clifton, then the comings and goings in Nutley (as it was more than just the Praport-Liu match) and then we will turn this report over to Spin.
Moka's Brew: Mike Mole and I met at AP around 5:30 to hit and play a couple sets. We hit for 10 to 15 minutes and played the following One-Setters:
The Albion Park Results:
Mike Mole over Moka Pathan, 7-6 (8-6)! Mike: 1 Ace.
Moka's Brew: This set was about 50 minutes long. Mike saved 5 Match Points, 4 on his serve down 3-5, and one on my serve at 4-5 and then he eventually went up 6-5, and I held serve to send it to the Tiebreak. I saved a Match Point at 6-5 in the Breaker, but he then won the next two points. I had a hard time reading his serves which led to short balls that he crushed. Mr. Science has another resilient win…this time at my expense.
The Mole Memo: This was a really good set. It lasted from 5:40 to 6:30.
Samara's Notes: It sounds like an almost certain Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end. We now go back to Moka and Mike.
Moka Pathan over Mike Mole, 6-1! No Aces.
Moka's Brew: This set was about 20 minutes long or so. This set was the total opposite as I had a better read on his serves and felt more comfortable with my forehand. I went up 4-0, he then broke my serve, but I went on to win the next two games and the set.
The Mole Memo: It lasted from 6:40 to 7:20.
Samara's Notes: I guess 20 minutes sometimes feels like 40 minutes…or vice versa…LOL! Anyway, I thank both of them for their prompt and detailed reporting.
And now we head to Nutley for the dual report from Dan and Rich.
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
3 out of 5 Sets:
Dan Praport over Rich Liu, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3! No Aces. This is not a rank defense for Praport as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Liu is solely in the Intermediate Division!
The Praport Report: Rich texted me to meet up with him and the Park Ave Courts in Nutley at 7pm. It turns out Rich runs a tennis meet-up group in Nutley and had a bunch of his guys come by as well. We ended up playing three sets. The score does not do justice to the games. We both got a great workout and many games went to multiple Deuces. We played from about 7:15-9pm. At 9, I left and drove by the Demuro Courts and the lights were on finally. Only 1 of the 4 courts was being used.
While we were playing our match on Court 1, on Court 2 it was Dean Delgado, Fausto Murg and one other guy from Rich's meet-up group playing Canadian Doubles. On Court 3, two people in Rich's meet-up played a set and on Court 4 there were another couple of guys Rich knew. When the match on Court 3 ended, one of the guys left and the other joined Dean's court and they played a Doubles One-Setter. These are the only details I know. Maybe Rich can fill you in on the names of the other guys. They may not end up being official for the GTA, but there was some good tennis being played and I would think many of these guys would potentially want to be part of the GTA as well.
The Liu Lowdown: So Dan and I played and once again he kicked my butt. Although I feel I can win against him, it may take a while. I hope I was competitive and I did get in some good forehand hard winners. Dan was getting to all my shots again and seemed to have an awesome backhand to my weak backhand, so that was a major advantage. He certainly deserves his Advanced Division ranking. Others there observing told me afterwards they thought he was incredibly "consistent" and they were very impressed. He consistently won the long rallies and Deuces - we did have many of those. It was definitely a fun night for me.
I'm very glad I found you guys and the GTA. I told some of the other guys there about the GTA and I provided them the blog link, too.
Samara's Notes: I thank both Dan and Rich for their very prompt and detailed reporting. It seems Rich will let each one of his guys decide whether or not they want to become part of our league as well. As that is the case and time is of the essence, the Doubles One-Setter that Dean and Fausto were involved in will have to remain as unofficial. It would be great if we can continue to recruit new talent via Rich's meet-up group. As I always say: "the more, the merrier!" Their involvement will also help to cement our sessions at Park Ave. as an ongoing entity.
We now turn this report over to Spin.
Once again, a text from Kris Srinivasan (the usual host) started my evening. It would turn out to be an evening of fast-paced tennis, hi-jinx and hilarity.
Kris had sent out a league-wide e-mail (not of the flash alert variety) indicating we would not hear the clash of plastic and wood as The Pickler Ballers were nowhere in sight at the Cedar Grove courts.
Upon my arrival, only Nathan Fernandes was seated on the bench. The courts, however, where filled with Dills and Claussens (pickles). It was apparent that Kris had sent out his own variety of "fake news" to the league.
Shorty afterwards, Tito Castolo, Chris Chiaro, Tom La and Mike Kazlauskas arrived. When Kris arrived only moments later, the gathering crowd gave him a rousing round of applause. Kris could only smile as he stated he had also sent out a retraction indicating that indeed the presence of the pesky Picklers would pervade the courts until 7:30.
Now to the scores!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Syed Rashid/Tito Castolo over Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-4! Mike: 1 Ace on Syed; and Syed: 1 Ace on Mike!
Nathan Fernandes/Tom La over Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli, 6-1! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: Chris and Spin got there clocks cleaned in this one. The action was great and it was competitive, but all the important points fell the way of Nate and Tom. Those two got to just about everything, even when Chris was sending laser shots all over the court. Tom and Nate should be called "The Get Makers". Spin turned out to be the prediction maker. With Chris and Spin up 1-0, Nate and Tom took the second game. I blurted out the score as 1-5 instead of 1-1. Before we knew it, it was indeed 5-1 for Nate and Tom!
Nathan Fernandes/Tom La over Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli, 7-6 (7-3)! Tom: 1 Ace on Spin!
The Spin from Spin: This set was a grand one indeed. If only the TB score was closer, it could have been considered as a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. The action was intense. Everyone lifted their game and this set lasted a good 55 minutes or so. We gave it our all, knowing that after this set (with the ever-increasing crowd size) we would not play again on this night. Chris and Tom left afterwards, but Nate and I stayed around and it turned out to the right move as a great evening got even better as it went on into the night.
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler over Rob Gawley/Andrew Kroessler, 7-5! No Aces.
Ryan's Rant: Ryan pointed out that he and Mike were down 2-5 in this set before storming back.
Rob Gawley/Andrew Kroessler over Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler, 7-5! No Aces.
Senthil Kumar/T.J. Shah over Levy Lorenzo/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2! Jordan: 1 Ace on Senthil.
Senthil Kumar/T.J. Shah over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 6-1! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: Turns out that T.J. and Nate are true gentlemen of the GTA. With an abundance of players, neither one could make up their minds on who should team with Senthil. I said, "Let's flip a coin." No one had a coin, so T.J. said, "Let's do rock, paper, scissors!" Nate went with paper. Paper was not the right choice as T.J. laid out the scissors and cut Nate right out of that set.
Don Moya/Laurie Boughton over Rajan Shah/Janice Wang, 6-4! No Aces.
Don Moya/Laurie Boughton over Rajan Shah/Janice Wang, 6-3! No Aces.
Syed Rashid/Tito Castolo over Mike Kazlauskas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces.
Rob Gawley/Andrew Kroessler leading Ryan Pienciak/Mike Sindler, 4-1 (Incomplete went the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Mike Kazlauskas/Doinks Srinivasan leading Syed Rashid/Tito Castolo, 2-1 (Incomplete went the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Senthil Kumar/Jordan Bachvaroff leading Kris Srinivasan/T.J. Shah, 5-4 (Incomplete went the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Jordan's Journal: Jordan stated that he was serving at 5-4 with a very good chance of getting this set in the books. However, the lights again had their say and extinguished any hope for a complete result.
It was a night to remember. This night would have everything...great tennis, lots of competitors, laughter and jokes by Levy, Nate and Kris (with some pickles on the side).
The weather was perfect and the turnout was high. Everyone stayed after the lights went out until around 10:15. Even after I left, some were still at the courts. It was a great night for GTA Tennis.
Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for acting as the alternate host for the GTA up at Cedar Grove. His write-ups are always very entertaining. It is greatly appreciated. I'm also glad to see such strong attendance numbers there after a brief downturn.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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