7/18/17:
"Phoenix-Ortega part of 17 at C.G. as Spin/Gen host!":
GTA Tuesday Night Tennis only took place at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli even though the usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan was also present) with the Main Event being the conclusion of the Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match between Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega (with Jay reporting and providing some additional commentary). "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan also submitted some scores directly.
So we will first go to Jay for the conclusion of the Phoenix-Ortega match as that is what took place first anyway. And then we will turn this report over to Spin and Gen in that order.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match:
Jay Phoenix over Edwin Ortega, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, to successfully defend both his # 16 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 5 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the 20th Annual Grove Cup Tournament! No Aces.
Jay has his say: Edwin played extremely well. I was just a little more consistent on this second day. He is a true sportsman. We then decided to play an additional One-Setter.
Jay Phoenix over Edwin Ortega, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Jay for submitting the concluding result of that match and the additional score in a very timely manner. I also congratulate him on a hard-fought victory (kudos to Edwin for a fine effort as well). Mr. Phoenix is having quite an impressive 2017 Season as he also had a strong run in the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. In the conversation of Most Improved Players of the Year on the men's side, it is my opinion that Jay's name needs to be included in that conversation.
We now turn the rest of this report over to Spin.
Yours truly arrived at Cedar Grove around 7:40. Interlopers had control of Court 1 whilst Court 4 was hosting a set with Mike Mole and Jose Gonzales facing off against Ray Spadaro and Nathan Fernandes.
Kris was frolicking around on Court 3 seemingly practicing returning shots from between his legs. I joined Kris to hit the ball around, but almost in that same instant Rob and Laura Gawley arrived. The table was set. Kris and I were going to attempt to keep pace with the formidable Gawleys.
It was a low-key night attendance-wise which played out well because Courts 1 and 2 were infested by interlopers almost the entire night.
After my arrival, Lou La Forgia, Genalin Capan, Laurie Boughton, Levy Lorenzo, Tito Castolo and Dave Zhu all arrived. Even with a lower turnout, we had a bit of a logjam as 50% of the courts were not under the GTA's control. A crowd of 22 to 24 GTA combatants would have been a nightmare. I also have a strong suspicion that this group of guys might be back.
At one point, the ever effervescent Laurie went over to the lads to let them know people were waiting. They would have none of it. They told Laurie that they got there only 25 minutes earlier. They were there when I got there, so they were on the courts for a lot longer than 25 minutes!
Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole over Nathan Fernandes/Ray Spadaro, 6-1! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Ray Spadaro over Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole, 6-2! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-4! Rob: 1 Ace on Spin!
The Spin from Spin: When Laura and Rob arrived I suggested that Kris and I should take on the Gawleys. My thinking was it would be nice to get a few games from such a well-oiled tandem. As it would turn out, we kept pace with the great ones and actually took the lead at the end of the set and never let it go. It was a fun set with a grand ending…at least for Kris and Spin.
Kris Srinivasan/Lou La Forgia over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-2! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: After hearing this score, maybe Kris and Spin's victory was not so spectacular at all. It looked like the Gawleys were having a rare off-night on this humid evening. The teaming of Lou and Kris is a far stronger tandem than Kris and Spin and it showed with the Gawleys getting only 2 games in this match-up.
Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli over Kris Srinivasan/Rob Gawley, 6-4! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: This was a battle indeed. Rob and Nathan were there normal business-like, quiet selves…however Kris and Spin became more vocal as the set wore on. As the points got tighter and the action heated up, we became more and more boisterous by the minute! It was all in good fun and it made the set a match to remember.
Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan over Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton, 6-3! No Aces.
Dave Zhu/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton, 4-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Rob Gawley leading Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli, 4-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Dino Celis made a late cameo appearance and he joined in the after hours conversation. It turns out that Dave Zhu is a "Game of Thrones" addict and his response to Nate and I talking about it was priceless: He would have none of it!
The night was extremely humid. It was not all that hot, but the air was like soup. The interlopers that commandeered Court 1 did ask if the lights would go on. Again, I have an eerie feeling "They'll be back!"
Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for hosting and providing us with this report. The situation that he addresses is something that I have been concerned with for quite some time now. In fact, it is the main reason why I tried to get a second concurrent session going at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (where my efforts were mostly unsuccessful).
But it will soon become painfully obvious that we need to either try to revive sessions in Nutley or take some of the group to the newly redone courts at Rose Park in Woodland Park. Something will have to give because I fear the idyllic situation we have long had in Cedar Grove will soon change.
OK, before we close this report out…we still have a couple of results to grab from Gen. Obviously, this is not in chronological order with what was already listed above.
Nathan Fernandes/Levy Lorenzo over Jose Gonzales/Genalin Capan, 6-4! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: Jose and I had the early lead at 3-1. Then they tied it up at 3-3. They took two more games (for a total of four straight) to take a 5-3 lead. We pulled to 4-5 before they put us away. We played this one on Court 4 from 8:23 to 8:55.
Levy Lorenzo/Laura Gawley over Lou La Forgia/Genalin Capan, 6-2! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: The last game was a battle with Laura serving. We went back and forth. Lou and I had our chances to break her with 3 Break Points in our favor, but we were unable to convert. Levy and Laura hung in there and finally got the win on their 4th Match Point (at least I think so)! We also played this one on Court 4 and it lasted from 9pm to 9:35.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely reporting of those results (via text) and also for providing some additional commentary as well.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
No comments:
Post a Comment