5/9/17:
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts once again turned out to be better than expected, even though the weather throughout the day was fairly good this time around. The GTA also had to contend with the return of The Pickle Ballers on Tuesday nights (occupying all four courts until 7:30)!
We now turn this report over to Cedar Grove's "other host with the most": "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli (with an assist from usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, along the way).
After a day of worry and pulling weeds, an evening of GTA Tennis would be just what the doctor ordered. An early evening e-mail from Kris was a welcome sight.
However, Kris's famous "Flash Alert" e-mail carried some bad news as well. The "clickity clack, clickity clack" of The Pickle Ballers would once again fill the air at Cedar Grove. Yes, those pesky pickles are back in town bringing that annoying sound of plastic being struck by wooden paddles! However, there is a ray of light with those PB'ers…they dabble only in Pickle Ball and do not stick around to play tennis.
I arrived at 7:30 to see a GTA contingent of 8 or so strong amassing on the sidelines ready to invade. My timing was perfect as The Pickle Heads were finished and were already pulling up the tape they use to down-size the playing area and were ready to head home.
We then stormed the Bastille and, at my suggestion, I asked that we occupy as many courts as possible to quell any hostile takeovers. We were able to commandeer 3 courts and, five minutes later, Janice Wang and Don Moya arrived to take the fourth court.
As it would turn out, occupation was unnecessary as everyone who came to play was of GTA pedigree. Dino Celis would arrive as a late cameo sans crutches. He did sport a brand new phone, the Samsung Galaxy 8+. Several months ago we had a conversation in which I stated the Windows format is almost dead in the US. He retorted, "I'll always have my Windows Phone!" Samsung is an android phone. Nuf said!!!
Now we go to the scores and comments.
The Cedar Grove Results:
William Bobila/Fred Suba over Dan Martinelli/Ralph Bernard, 6-4! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: As well as Ralph and Spin played, William and Fred played better. They both get to just about everything and their serving (first and second serves) is well-placed and strong. For a 6-4 score, this set took a long time to complete. William and Fred would make a fine Men's Doubles Team.
Samara's Notes: They have already told me their desire to be in the upcoming M2 Men's Doubles Tournament (they have pre-registered, I guess you can say). I hold off officially announcing it until we move further along with the ongoing GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. We will also soon start the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament, but again…we need the ongoing W2 Women's Doubles Tournament to come closer to conclusion first. And now we go back to Spin.
Nathan Fernandes/Brenda Jordan over Don Moya/Janice Wang, 6-4! No Aces.
Don Moya/Janice Wang over Nathan Fernandes/Brenda Jordan, 7-5! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: These two sets consumed a lot of time. They started around 7:45 and it would be the only sets they would play. The first One-Setter's score was deceiving as many times we overheard Brenda say to Nate, "That was my fault, Nate, my fault." One would think they lost this set. With the final result of the second contest, maybe Brenda should have kept on saying it.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Chris Chiaro/Joe Rodrigues over Jose Gonzales/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 54 and # 55 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Lou La Forgia/Ryan Pienciak over Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 6-3, 6-4, to successfully defend their # 37 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Srinivasan/Castolo entered the division as the New # 56 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Say from The K: Tito and Kris were up 3-0 in the 2nd Set, only to see that lead evaporate. They were up again 4-3, but some silly miscues and greater concentration from Lou and Ryan sealed the deal.
Anish Mehta over Ralph Bernard, 6-4! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Tito Castolo over Lou La Forgia/Ryan Pienciak, 6-1! No Aces.
Chris Chiaro tied with Anish Mehta, 5-5 (Incomplete went the lights went out at 10pm)! Anish: 1 Ace.
The Spin from Spin: This incomplete One-Setter will be known as the "Saved by the Bell" set. Billed as a battle between # 1 and # 2, it lived up to the hype. With time running out and Chris up 5-3, he could have put Anish away. Maybe it was a case of Chris getting too eager to "get 'er done" or maybe it was Anish upping his game to avoid the loss…but with Chris dropping both games 9 and 10, he was certainly on the ropes when the lights went out.
Samara's Notes: I hope this is a preview of Chiaro's next GTA Championship defense as Mehta is now the Top Contender. We now go back to Spin for his final thoughts (much like Jerry Springer's…LOL!).
It was a great night for GTA Tennis. As the temps cooled, the action got hotter. A lot of stars from the GTA came out tonight and they were smacking the tennis balls with power and accuracy. Lou may have set the new standard in power tennis by snapping strings on two different racquets on this night.
On the lighter side, Kris, Spin, Nate, Dino, Janice and Don had a fun conversation that lasted until 10:44! Kris had to leave that conversation early only to return to recover someone's hat (Fred Suba's). Kris informed us that he called Nate and Dino, but neither took the call. So Kris had to return. The question begs: Is it better not to have a phone or to have one and not answer it???
Samara's Notes: I got a call from Fred (while I was at home) to ask me to follow up on his missing cap. I then sent text messages to both Kris and Spin as I figured at least one of them might be there hosting. Thanks to Spin for acting as host and providing us with this very comprehensive report.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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