8/23/17:
"Toker-Pillay in R.P., 4 play at PAC, 12 play (1 new) at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: an evening one at Votee Park in Ridgefield Park and it featured the GAH7 Semifinal Match between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay (as reported by both Fernanda and "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas); an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Re-Match as reported by "Richie" Rich Liu; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.
The as-scheduled Main Event, the Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match between "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah and "Teej" T.J. Shah did not happen as Raj was a late arrival. It will instead be played this coming Saturday in the morning which is their final deadline as "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda and "Daddy O" Paul Daddio will finish their in-progress Round of 32 Match the night before (Friday).
So we will first get the GAH7 Semi score and details from both Marijus and Fernanda, then the result reported by Rich and finally we will head up to Cedar Grove for the rest.
The Votee Park Result:
GAH7 Semifinal Match:
Sally Pillay over Fernanda Toker, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, to become the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Finals of the 7th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Tournament! No Aces.
The Super Mario Memo: Fernanda was, as always, a human wall returning every ball and digging the balls out from one corner and then the other one.
The 1st Set went 0-1, 1-5, 2-6. Sally was a bit anxious and impatient, attacking the ball early and making the mistake on her first or second shot.
The 2nd Set went 0-4, 2-5, 5-6 and shifted to the Tiebreak and 7-6. Fernanda had Match Point at 2-5, then another at 4-5, then 2 more at 5-6 and still 2 more in the Tiebreak at 6-7 and 7-8, but each time Sally dug in and fought back.
At 0-4 Sally, in my opinion, relaxed and made some crucial adjustments. She accepted the reality of longer rallies and started constructing her points much better. This, somehow, turned the match around.
The 3rd Set went 0-2, 2-3, 6-3. This was pretty much a continuation of what we saw at the end of the previous set. Every game went the distance...some to multiple Deuces.
Overall, this was an impressive performance by both players.
Toker's Take: I had six Match Points and couldn't close out the match! Sally played well during the big points. The match was three hours long, so it was very tough with a lot of Deuce games...but it also was a lot of fun.
Samara's Notes: I thank both Marijus and Fernanda for their timely and detailed reporting. I congratulate Sally on a very impressive victory and also offer kudos to Fernanda for her spirited effort. This is a very likely Nominee for Women's Singles Match of The Year at season's end. If we flipped the 2nd Set and 3rd Set scores, I would confidently bet that it would be the match to beat.
Sally now awaits the winner of the other Semifinal, "J-Wow" Janice Wang versus "Automatic" Anna Mazur, which is set to be played sometime next week. And then the winner of the GAH7 Tournament will challenge GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley for her Title.
We now head to Nutley to get the result from Rich.
The PAC Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Re-Match:
Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Fausto Murg, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 44 Rank in the Doubles Division! No Aces.
The Richie Rich Rundown: Keith and Arun again dominated in another straight-set win. They were down 0-2 and after that cruised the entire way. It seems Fausto and I got something in their heads after losing some and couldn't come back. I did break my strings and had to use a replacement racket. Maybe that was it…haha!
Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for his very timely reporting of that result. We now head up to Cedar Grove.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan over Paul Daddio/Laurie Boughton, 7-5, 6-1, to become the New # 48 and # 49 Ranked Teams respectively in the Mixed Doubles Division! No Aces.
T.J. Shah/Rajan Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Josh Cromwell, 6-2! It was the official GTA Debut of Josh Cromwell. No Aces.
Levy Lorenzo/Janice Wang leading Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: I got there late last night and Kris got there even later.
Samara's Notes: I thank all involved for submitting these results in such a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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