7/9/17:
"14 at AP, Mole-Gonzales at RP, Rizzo-Daddio part of 4 at NTC, MXD2 part of 11 at C.G.!":
There were four sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning one at Albion Park in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, an afternoon one at Rose Park in Woodland Park featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Magic" Mike Mole and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales (as reported by both of them), an early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (as he also engaged in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against "Daddy O" Paul Daddio) and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan (as he was also involved in the MXD2 Round of 13 Match where he teamed with his wife Doinks, aka "The Marathon Woman", to take on the team of "The Adonis" Don Moya and "J-Wow" Janice Wang).
First we will details the comings and goings at Albion, then we will report the result from Rose Park, then the scores from NTC and then we will end this report up in Cedar Grove.
Samara pulled up to the courts at Albion Park at 10:55. Arriving at the same time was "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara. As they stepped onto the courts, they saw "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay having a hitting session with one another on the North Court.
On Center Court, "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado was going solo while hitting against both "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto. The South Court was vacant, so Samara decided to sit on it a subtle attempt to hold that court as he suspected more players (GTA or non-GTA) would be on the way.
At 11:05, "Chito" Nick Inciong and "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon each arrived separately. Ten minutes later, GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes stepped onto the courts. Soon, he was going out onto the South Court to have a hitting session with Delgado that would then lead to back-to-back Singles One-Setters.
From 11:25 to 11:35, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "Big George" Jorge Solano all arrived separately. The fourteenth and final competitor to arrive was "The Hamptons Headhunter" Ralph Bernard at 12:40 just as Vin and Suzanne were leaving.
"Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 1:20 and ended up making an hour-long extended cameo appearance. With perfect weather (sunny, dry and with a peak temperature of 80 degrees), the session was one of intense action coupled with much hilarity via The Hecklers. We will touch more on that a little later.
Let's get to the scores!
The Albion Park Results:
Chazz Weldon/Nick Inciong over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-4! Marijus: 3 Aces (2 on Nick and 1 on Chazz); and Nick: 1 Ace on Marijus! Marijus and Sally had been down 1-5 before pulling closer and making it 4-5 before they dropped the pivotal game. They played this one on the North Court from 11:15 to 12:08.
Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. It went like this: Spin held at Love as Vin hit two winning volleys along the way, Suzanne was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, the break came on Break Point) and Vinnie held (un-returned serve for 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) for a 3-0 lead. Frank held (a winning lob from Frank for 15-Love, but then he blew an overhead to make it 15-All only to then have it go straight to Double Game Point as he hit an un-returned serve to set that point up and then he hit a truly un-returnable serve to secure the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but from there it was Martinelli holding again (Frank hit a winner followed by a drop shot in the next point that led to Love-30, then it was 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point where Frank blew a drop shot to make it Deuce and then Suzanne blew a volley to set up Game Point and then came the hold), Bujara getting broken again (started off with back-to-back Double Faults to make it Love-30 which was where Frank hit a sick roller over the net that dropped right over it for the winner and then it shifted to 30-All only to have it go right back to Break Point and then the break) and then De Benedetto held again (an un-returned serve, a blown volley by Frank and a winner from Spin set up Triple Game/Match Point, it went to Double Game/Match Point and then Game/Match Point where the hold finally came) to get the win! We played this one on Center Court from 11:18 to 11:43.
Nathan Fernandes over Dean Delgado, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces. Dean was up 4-1, 4-2 and 5-2 only to then drop the next four games to hand the lead over to Nate at 6-5. But then Delgado won the crucial game to force this to a Tiebreak. In the Breaker, they were at 3-3 at the changeover. Fernandes then went up 6-3 only to have a couple of Match Points get saved by Dean until he went down on the third! The South Court hosted this one from 11:20 to 12:20...exactly one hour long! This may have an outside shot at being a Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of the Year at season's end.
Ryan Pienciak/Vinnie De Benedetto over Senthil Kumar/Jorge Solano, 6-0! No Aces. This was played on Center Court from 11:48 to 12:06.
Senthil Kumar/Jorge Solano over Ryan Pienciak/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. This was also played on Center Court and it lasted from 12:07 to 12:28.
Marijus Kuzavas/Chazz Weldon over Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-2! Marijus: 2 Aces (one on each); and Chazz: 1 Ace on Spin on Match Point! They played this one on the North Court from 12:15 to 12:38.
Nathan Fernandes over Dean Delgado, 6-0! No Aces. The South Court hosted this one from just 12:25 to 12:44. Two One-Setters could not be more opposite from one another. Dean's foot started hurting him badly in this one and he also got exhausted as a result.
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Inciong over Senthil Kumar/Jorge Solano, 6-0! No Aces. This one occupied Center Court from just 12:31 to 12:47.
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Inciong over Nathan Fernandes/Senthil Kumar, 6-1! Ryan: 1 Ace on Senthil. Also played on Center Court, this one lasted from 12:50 to 1:17. After sitting for a while, Nate and Ryan went back out onto the court at 1:33 to hit with each other for a while.
Chazz Weldon/Ralph Bernard over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 7-5! Marijus: 2 Aces (both to Chazz on consecutive services to Chazz in the same game); and Sally: 1 Ace on Chazz! It was at 5-5 with Marijus on serve when he was broken. This took place on the North Court and lasted from 12:51 to 1:45.
Samara's Notes: Marijus and Sally were kind enough to bring a very large umbrella and a cooler stocked with various beers. They invited both Spin and Vin to partake in the festivities and boy, did they! Frank rode the bench with them (though he never had a drop to drink) and this led to the re-formation of The Hecklers (though Marijus referred to them as The Three Stooges).
Spin uttered a few foolish remarks despite only having two mild alcoholic beverages (there's a name for that...which I will refrain from mentioning since it may be offensive). As Vin was contemplating taking a call from his wife (as he was already late in coming home), The Doc said: "Put your wife on the phone with Spin and I." Now there's two of him?!?! Uh oh! LOL!
We started calling Ralph Bernard, the "Hamptons Headhunter" since he told us last Sunday that he was heading out to the Hamptons after leaving that session somewhat early. This time around, the same thing was happening again and this inspired Spin to say, "Hampton comes alive!" Not long after that, Mr. Martinelli said (not about Sally, but someone else, actually) "She's speisty!" This is a cross between "she's speedy" and "she's feisty."
Vin left after this one, but Dino took his place on the bench alongside Court One (though he kept quiet). We talked Marijus and Sally into sticking around for one more.
Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-1! No Aces. Also played on the North Court, this one lasted from 1:50 to 2:22.
Samara's Notes: With Nate's team up 5-1 and service being his, Marijus calls out to Sally:"At 5-1, we come alive!" Somewhere earlier in the action, commentator Spin exclaimed (and, no, this is not a typo): "The shot of the shet so far!"
I know a lot of this is the type of stuff where "you had to be there" to truly appreciate it. Suffice to say, it is the hardest that Spin, Vin and I have laughed in quite some time.
We now go to Rose Park in Woodland Park for the result submitted simultaneously by Jose and Mike (literally, their text messages arrived within a minute of the other).
The Rose Park Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Jose Gonzales over Mike Mole, 7-5, 6-3, to become the New # 30 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division! Jose: 2 Aces (one in each set)!
The Heat Sheet: We played from 3:15 to 4:50.
The Mole Memo: It was a pretty good match. Jose was the better player...good shots, moved around the court well.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting and congratulate Jose on an impressive victory. We now go to Nutley for some results from The Riz.
The NTC Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Paul Daddio over John Rizzo, 6-3, 6-1, to become the New # 33 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: With a victory over an Advanced Division level player, Daddio goes directly into the Advanced Division as well. Those who have seen Paul's skill sets would not argue this anyway. And now Daddio is qualified for entry into the Grove Cup. We now go back to John for a couple more scores.
Joe Rodrigues/Paul Daddio over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 6-4! No Aces.
John Rizzo/Alfred Chen over Joe Rodrigues/Paul Daddio, 7-6 (7-1)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely reporting of those results. We now turn the balance of this report over to Kris.
There was some serious tennis action on a lazy Sunday evening. The first match to take place was the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Round of 13 Match featuring Don/Janice against Kris/Doinks. This started a few minutes after 6pm. Mike Kazlauskas came to the courts about the same time we got our match started. With no other players present, he decided to shoot an e-mail to the group desperately looking for more players so he can have a match.
Don was at his best in all departments with loaded serves, aggressive shots and overheads. He was superbly supported by Janice with steady play and great gets. For us, Doinks was decent in the rallies…but we surely didn't come up with our best plays. It was a great and comfortable win for Don and Janice that they richly deserved. Best wishes to them to do well in the tournament.
Don continued to show his aggressive play teaming with Natalia as we dropped our game and the match incidentally.
We soon got to see Brenda Jordan and Jordan Bachvaroff watching the match from the sidelines before Brenda got into action at the request of Big Mike Kaz. Jordan chose to rest for the night. Dan Martinelli (aka Spin), Melvin Hyman and, lastly, Tito Castolo showed up to be involved in an engaging match.
It was good to see The Dwights (aka Dwight Thomas Sr. and Jr.) back in action. They would just have a hitting session as I didn't get to involve them in any of our Doubles play. The evening was great and Dino Celis showed up in the latter part to get involved in a lengthy tennis tips session.
The Cedar Grove Results:
MXD2 Round of 13 Match:
Don Moya/Janice Wang over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to become the New # 6 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of The MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament! No Aces.
Mike Kazlauskas/Brenda Jordan over Melvin Hyman/Dawn Peterson, 6-4! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Don Moya/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 39 and # 40 Ranked Teams respectively! Don: 3 Aces on Janice (2 in the 2nd Set and 1 the 3rd Set)!
Mike Kazlauskas/Melvin Hyman over Doinks Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 6-2! No Aces.
Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces.
The K has his say: This looked like the match of the night as it was closely contested and anyone's game till the end! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for performing his hosting duties on behalf of the GTA up at Cedar Grove.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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