7/2/17:
"Samara hosts 12 at AP, 2 play at RP, Shah-Kris part of 10 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual late-morning/early-afternoon one at Albion Park in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, there was an early evening one at Rose Park in Woodland Park featuring back-to-back One-Setters between "Magic" Mike Mole and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales (as reported by Mike) and the usual evening one hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan where he also engaged in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah.
First, we will detail all the comings and goings at Albion, then grab the couple of scores sent in by Mike and then let Kris take over the balance of this report.
Samara pulled up to Albion at 11:05 just as "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado was doing the same. As they walked down the hill together, they saw that all three courts were full.
On the North Court there were two interlopers...though one of them started to look familiar to Frank (and that would be confirmed a little later).
On Center Court, there was a Doubles One-Setter already in progress featuring "The Hit Man" Tom La and "Chito" Nick Inciong taking on "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto.
And on the South Court, "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard was flying solo in a hitting session against both "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler. Delgado soon took Bernard's side in the session and it would then lead to a Doubles One-Setter.
Along the sideline, it was the New GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes hanging with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara. So, with just two of the three courts at our disposal, we already had a logjam situation!
Thankfully, it would not last long as the two guys on the North Court left at 11:15. It was at that moment that Samara knew for sure he recognized one of them. So Frank called out, "Paul!" There was an immediate response (a confirmation, if you will) from the man. He has competed on and off with us for the past couple of seasons. It was "Prime Minister" Paul Mysliewiec.
Samara welcomed Paul back (and the same for his opponent, too), but he said he would hold off for now as he had just returned to the U.S. from Peru. He wasn't sure how much time he'll have for tennis going forward and he also wasn't certain as to whether or not his friend would want to be part of a league. So their action would remain unofficial.
The good news was that we now had full use of all three courts fairly early on in the session. Frank, Nate, Spin and Suzanne took the North Court for what would have been a hitting session. But then the action on Center Court ended and it made sense to trade Fernandes for De Benedetto.
This led to Spin and Vin versus Frank and Suzanne on the North Court while Center Court would host Pienciak/Inciong going up against Fernandes/La as Ryan and Nick (the top-seeded team in the ongoing M2 Men's Doubles Tournament) wanted to get some practice teaming together.
And on this hot and humid Sunday of the quasi July 4th weekend, there would be no other players arriving. So we only had twelve official competitors. Also, "Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 12:40 to make an extended cameo appearance. The last official action of the session ended exactly at 1:42, but Frank, Spin and Dino had a bull session that lasted all the way until 2:30.
Now time for some action!
The Albion Park Results:
Tom La/Nick Inciong over Ryan Pienciak/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-2! Ryan: 1 Ace on Nick on the very first point of the match! They got this one underway on Center Court somewhere around 10:45 and it ended exactly at 11:23.
Ralph Bernard/Dean Delgado over Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler, 7-5! No Aces. Ralph and Dean jumped out to a 5-2 lead only to have Syed and Mike level it at 5-5 before dropping the last two games to take the loss! This was played on the South Court from 11:15 to 12:03.
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Inciong over Nathan Fernandes/Tom La, 6-3! Ryan: 1 Ace on Tom. Center Court hosted this one from 11:25 to 12noon.
Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. It went like this: Frank was broken (15-Love shifted to Double Break Point as Frank blew a volley and then he blew a drop shot attempt along the way), Spin held serve (an un-returned serve followed by a truly un-returnable serve made it 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All as Frank hit a winning return along the way, but then Vin scored with a winning mishit volley to set up Game Point only to have Frank hit an even more impressive winning return to bring it to Deuce and from there it went Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, Double Fault for 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point, 6th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold...and I stopped trying to remember who hit what winners where and when once we went beyond Deuce), Suzanne was broken (Spin hit a winning drop shot return for Love-15 to get the ball rolling and then a Double Fault would set up Triple Break Point, then it was Double Break Point when the break came) and Vinnie held (Frank hit a winning lob and then he hit a winning return to make it Love-30, but that shifted to Game Point as Spin hit a winning mishit volley along the way, then Frank hit another winning return to bring it to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and then the hold) as Spin and Vin jumped out to a 4-0 lead! Samara held at Love as he hit a drop shot winner, then Suzanne hit a winner of her own, then Frank hit a passing shot winner and then he secured his own hold with a winning volley to get his team on the scoreboard, but the Martinelli held again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All and that was right after Frank hit a whopper of an Overhead Smash winner, but then came the point of the match as Suzanne hit what looked to be a winning lob only to have Spin chase it down and hit what has to be called an over-the-shoulder flapjack shot which had Suzanne so stunned that it sailed by her as a winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Bujara was broken again (started off with two Double Faults and then Spin hit an awesome winner to set up Triple Break/Match Point where yet another Double Fault reared its ugly head to end this one in anticlimactic fashion) to take the loss. We played this one on the North Court from 11:30 to 12:02.
The Skinny: Spin and Vin were a team of contrasts. While Martinelli was running around the court like a young whimsical boy roaming the countryside making get after get, De Benedetto (with his bad heel) revived an old unwanted moniker from the past: "Statue Boy!" He could hardly move! Any shot hit to him that was more than two paces away was a likely winner. On one such shot, he looked like The Leaning Tower of Pisa as a slight lean coupled with the faintest of racquet motions was about all the effort he could muster! Of course, The Doc could not stop ribbing his partner...who always takes it in good-natured stride. And Suzanne continues to show improvement and play more aggressively with each outing. Except for a couple of foolish errors, Frank was very much on the money in this one.
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Inciong over Nathan Fernandes/Dean Delgado, 6-3! No Aces. Center Court hosted this one from 12:05 to 12:42 as the Top Contenders (aka the Top Seeds) continued their winning ways.
By this time, Ralph had already left for the day as he told us he was heading for The Hamptons. Meanwhile, buddies Syed and Mike had a lengthy hitting session with one another on the South Court.
Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! Spin: 1 Ace on Suzanne. Here's how it went down: Frank was broken at Love as Spin hit two winning drop shot returns along the way, Spin held (he started off with a short and soft Ace on Suzanne and then hit an un-returned serve for 30-Love which was where Frank hit an emphatic winner for 30-15, it went to Double Game Point and then it was Game Point where Frank whipped out his Windmill Overhead Smash to make it Deuce, then it went to Break Point, 2nd Deuce and all Game Points thru to 4th Deuce and then yet another Game Point and finally the hold...once again, did not attempt to remember any winners past the initial Deuce) and Suzanne was broken at Love as she hit a Double Fault for Love-30 which was where Spin hit a drop shot winner to set up Triple Break Point where another Double Fault caused the break and led to a 0-3 deficit. This One-Setter was off to a similar start to the previous one, but here is where it broke stride with that one as Vinnie was broken (Frank hit a passing shot winner for Love-15 and then Frank hit a winning volley for Love-30, it was 15-30 where Suzanne hit a winner to set up Double Break Point and then Frank hit a drop shot winner for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 3-1. But from there, Samara was broken again (Spin hit a winning drop shot return and Vin hit a winner on the way to Triple Break Point, but then Suzanne hit a drop shot winner of her own to make it Double Break Point but then the break came next), Martinelli held again (Vin hit a winner for 15-Love and then Frank hit two consecutive winners for 15-30, but then it shifted again to Game Point and then the hold) and Bujara was broken again (Double Fault for Love-30, it shifted to 30-All, then it was Break/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve made it 2nd Deuce and then it was the 3rd Break/Match Point where Spin hit an impressive Overhead Smash for the break) to get the "L!" We played this one on the North Court from 12:10 to 12:40.
The Skinny: This One-Setter was very much like the previous one in terms of score and the overall momentum. All the issues that came to light in the first one were here again in this one...mainly Vin's lack of movement, the usual ball-busting, etc. Both of them were a lot of fun.
Dino arrived just as this one finished. Suzanne left soon after and then so did Vin. There was a brief bull session featuring Frank, Spin, Dino, Nate and Ryan. Then Pienciak decided to challenge Fernandes to a One-Setter. The other three decided to stay and watch as they shifted into "Hecklers" mode.
Nathan Fernandes over Ryan Pienciak, 6-0! No Aces. The North Court hosted all fifteen minutes of this one as it lasted from 1:02 to 1:17.
Nathan Fernandes over Ryan Pienciak, 6-2! No Aces. Nate was broken for 0-1, but then he went up 2-1. It then was 2-2 and then all Nate from there...though Ryan played much better in this one. Again, the North Court was the host and this one lasted from 1:18 to 1:42.
Both of them left soon after, but Frank, Spin and Dino stuck around until 2:30 to have a bull session.
We now head to Woodland Park for the Rose Park results sent in by Mike.
The Rose Park Results:
Mike Mole over Jose Gonzales, 6-4! No Aces.
Jose Gonzales over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-5)! Jose: 4 Aces!
The Mole Memo: Both were played in the time span of 6pm to 7:50.
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Mike for his very timely reporting of these scores. The second one may have an outside shot at being a Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
We now head up to Cedar Grove to let The K take it away!
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Raj Shah over Kris Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 7 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Melvin Hyman over Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1! No Aces.
Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Melvin Hyman, 6-2! No Aces.
Jose Gonzales/Tito Castolo over Kris Srinivasan/Peter Corso, 6-4! No Aces.
Jose Gonzales/Rob Gawley over Dennis Cabanatan/Peter Corso, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting the GTA sessions up at Cedar Grove and always sending in his reports in a very timely manner.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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