5/8/17:
GTA Monday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts turned out to be better than expected as the day grew longer and then into the night. We now turn this report over to Cedar Grove's "host with the most": "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan (with an assist from "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan along the way).
It turned out to be a gorgeous night for GTA Tennis with the weather holding up and, more importantly, the winds had died down completely making it quite pleasant. With a decent turnout, the courts were buzzing with GTA action until the lights went out.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Jordan Bachvaroff/Dawn Peterson over Joe Rodrigues/Kathy Sheldon, 7-5, 6-3, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 48 and # 49 Ranked Teams respectively! Jordan: 1 Ace on Kathy in the 1st Set!
The evening kicked off with this match that saw plenty of long rallies and a dogged fight from all the players. Indeed, it looked like it could be anybody's match and surely the 1st Set was very tight and close. It was a good match that was quite entertaining. A break of serve was the difference in the 2nd Set, but overall it was a well-fought match by the two teams.
Kris Srinivasan/Genalin Capan over Jorge Solano/Vinnie De Benedetto, 7-6 (7-4)! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: We played this One-Setter from 7:25 to 8:25. We had the early lead at 3-1 and then it was tied up at 3-3. Then, Jorge and Vin went up 5-3 and then when it was 5-4, we saved 2 Match Points and went on to win the game as it was then tied again…this time at 5-5! In the TB, we had leads of 3-2, 4-2, 5-3, 5-4, 6-4 and then closed it out.
The K has his say: This was a cliffhanger that saw the best of Vinnie and Jorge. And, for our side, Gen was outstanding. Vinnie was brilliant with hardly any errors. He was a fortress at the net and not only did nothing go past him, but he also put those away for winners. Some of his overhead shots were simply impressive. He was well-supported by Jorge who was unbelievable in some of the gets. Down
Love-30 on his serve every time, he always fought hard to hold. Gen played smart and won us crucial points whenever we needed them. Even her mishit cross-court shots landed inside in such an angle to take Jorge off the court.
After leading 3-1, we soon lost ground to win any more games for quite sometime (four in a row, in fact). Missing opportunities to close the game, we were in dire straights down 3-5 and facing Match Point. That's when Gen came up with the good stuff to survive and win the next two games. Jorge and Vinnie sparkled to win the next game and placed themselves favorably with 2 more MP's. It was Gen to the rescue as we wiped out those Match Points and forced a TB. An iron-clad grip in the TB helped secure a well-fought victory. Kudos to all the players for keeping it tense! :-)
Samara's Notes: This sounds like it has the potential to be a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. And now we go back to Kris.
Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 7-5! Kris: 1 Ace on Jorge; and Jose: 3 Aces (1 on Kris and 2 on Levy)!
Levy was back in action and it took a couple of games for him to get back his touch. Jose served the best, winning easy points. But for that, it was a good fight overall where it could potentially gone to a TB. Jorge was again incredible at the net, winning on the volleys after we had a barrage of an attack on quite a few occasions. He was brilliant again in some of the gets that he made. Overall, it was an excellent effort by Jorge the entire night. Levy was playing as his usual crafty self, hitting consistently and putting in full effort on every shot. I blew a couple of put-away shots toward the end of the match that proved costly! Still, it was a good match!
2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Janice Wang over Chris Chiaro/Don Moya, 6-2, 6-3! No Aces.
Janice and Don were warming up together first and as Nate and then Chris came in during the midst of our matches, they ended up playing Doubles on the other side. Janice had a good match playing with Nate the other night. So they were prepared to take on the big guns. Janice was rock-solid per Nate and Janice was quite pleased with Nate's game at the net as the pair played strategically to outgun the power players. Consistency, cunning and crafty play was the key.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Janice Wang over Rajan Shah/T.J. Shah, 6-3, 6-3! No Aces.
Nate and Janice continued their assault as T.J. and Rajan became their victims in the second half of the night. They were relentless to some attractive shots played by T.J. and Rajan. They remained the dominant team for the night, which left them as a satisfied lot at the end of their matches.
Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton over Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
This was a good match that saw the crafty Tito hoodwinking his opponents as he was supported ably by Laurie. There were plenty of good plays and the match was a lot closer than the score.
Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! Jordan: 3 Aces on Laurie!
This was a battle and all the players were playing spiritedly. Laurie was screaming, singing and what not. Doinks had gotten her groove and Jordan was serving superbly. He was even able to play his drop shots Tito-style and get his opponents. It's a shame they couldn't finish the 2nd Set (to make this a full match) as the lights went out too soon for that.
Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Levy Lorenzo/Don Moya, 6-1! No Aces.
The highlight of this match was the amazing backhand cross-court rallies between Chris and Don, in which Chris prevailed largely. I did well not to get in the crossfire...:-). Don served lovely, especially the first time he served. He went on to win with ease, but that was the only game his side ever got to see in their favor.
Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan tied with Levy Lorenzo/Don Moya, 1-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
This turned out to be a marathon of a start as Don's service seemingly went on forever in the very first game! 25 minutes before close of play, the first game went for multiple Deuces (no less than a dozen) and ended in a break of serve. Chris then started off in a similar fashion going for a few Deuces on his serve before he was broken.
All in all, it was a night packed with sizzling action! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: Thanks to Kris for acting as host and providing us with this very comprehensive report. And also thanks to Gen for her assist, too.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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