8/30 Results.

8/30/17:

"8 play (1 new) at PAC, 21 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as once again "the three-headed monster" of "Hollywood" Frank Samara, "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz and "Richie" Rich Liu acted as the hosts (with Frank reporting); and then the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received results (and sometimes commentary) from seven different competitors – usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, his wife Doinks (aka "The Marathon Woman"), GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, Jay "The Rising" Phoenix, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar.

We will first detail the comings and goings in Nutley before heading up to Cedar Grove.

When Samara pulled into the parking lot at 7:35 and started heading toward the courts at Park Ave. in Nutley, he noticed all four were taken.  Lewkowitz and Liu had their crew on Court Three as they had just started a Doubles Match and also had two more guys waiting on the sidelines.

Involved in the match, it was Rich teaming with "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport to take on Keith and Arunraj "Air" Nair.  As this got underway, Samara had the chance to greet Edgar "Valentino" Valencia and a new player - "ADP" Austin DePol. 

The two guys who had been playing on Court One were nice enough to walk two courts over to tell us they were done as there was already a couple waiting on the bench outside the courts looking to play as well.

So Samara, Valencia and DePol headed over to Court One at 7:45 as Edgar was eager to start hitting with Austin while Frank got caught up on writing the way the festivities were unfolding.

Just five minutes later, Joe "Renegade" Renga made his way onto Court One and now we had our second foursome for some tennis.  And that was as many players as we ever would get...eight!  And eight is great as nobody ever had to sit out and the action kept going and flowing all night long!

Let's get to that action right now!

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:
Dan Praport/Rich Liu over Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New # 45 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  Arunraj: 1 Ace on Dan in the 1st Set.  This got started at 7:35 on Court Three.  Before the start of the 3rd Set, they shifted from Court Three to Court Four once that court became available.  The match ended at 9:15.

Frank Samara/Edgar Valencia over Joe Renga/Austin DePol, 6-2!  Edgar: 1 Ace on Joe; Frank: 1 Ace on Joe; and Austin: 1 Ace on Edgar!  It was the official GTA Debut of Austin DePol. During the changeovers, I wrote notes (but not the winners...save a couple key moments) of how the games flowed.  And here they are now: Austin was broken at Love after a Double Fault set up Triple Break Point, Edgar was broken (started with a slow and short Ace on Joe and he was off an running to Triple Game Point, but then that lead was cut down to Game Point and then a Double Fault made it Deuce and then another Double Fault set up Break Point and then came the break), but Joe was the first to hold serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point and the hold) for a 2-1 lead.  Frank held (started with a corner Ace on Joe and was full steam ahead to Triple Game Point, the hold came on Double Game Point) and then DePol was broken again (Frank hit his patented Windmill Overhead Smash winner for Love-30, but that was where a sideline Ace made it 15-30 and then Frank blew what would have been a sure Overhead winner to level the game at 30-All only to then have it go to Break Point and the break) for 2-3.  Valencia held at Love and then Renga was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-5.  Samara then held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game/Match Point, Deuce, it ended on the 2nd Game/Match Point) to get the win!  We played on Court One from 8:07 to 8:34 and then we decided to switch the teams.

Frank Samara/Austin DePol over Edgar Valencia/Joe Renga, 6-0!  Austin: 1 Ace on Joe; and Edgar: 1 Ace on Frank!  Here's how it went down: Edgar was broken at Love, Frank held serve (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Joe was broken at Love as he hit a Double Fault to set up Love-30 and then another one on Triple Break Point to break himself, Austin held (started with a Double Fault, then he hit a big service-line Ace against Joe for 15-All and then he was off and running to Double Game Point where Frank hit another Windmill Overhead Smash to get the hold), Valencia was broken again (hit a Double Fault for Love-30, it was Triple Break Point where he hit a big Ace up the T against Frank to cut the deficit to Double Break Point, it then went to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) and Samara held again (30-Love, 30-15 where Austin whipped out an even bigger Windmill Overhead Smash to set up Double Game/Match Point and then came the hold) to serve some late night bagels to Edgar and Joe!  This one was also on Court One and it lasted from 8:36 to 8:56.

Edgar Valencia/Austin DePol over Frank Samara/Joe Renga, 6-0!  Edgar: 3 Aces (2 on Joe and 1 on Frank); and Austin: 1 Ace on Joe!  The dirty lowdown: Edgar held serve at Love as he started off with a sideline Ace on Joe and ended the game with a big corner Ace against Frank, Frank was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break), Austin held (started with two Double Faults, it then shifted to 30-All where he hit a sideline Ace on Joe to set up Game Point, but then he hit a Double Fault for Deuce, then came Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Joe was broken at Love after he hit a Double Fault on Triple Break Point, Valencia held again (30-Love shifted to 30-All where Frank blew what looked to be a sure thing of an overhead to set up Game Point, then came a Double Fault to make it Deuce which was where he scored with a big corner Ace against Frank to set up another Game Point and then came the held) and Samara was broken again and this time at Love (Edgar hit a precise drop shot winner which was just beyond Frank's reach...Edgar was surprisingly impressed with Frank's speed and get-making ability as just about all other drop shots failed against him...but it was this last one from Edgar that set up Triple Break/Match Point...and then came the break) as it was his turn to eat a late night bagel along with Joe's second helping!  This one was also on Court One and it lasted from 8:58 to 9:20.
 
Samara's Notes: This was my first time playing with and/or against Edgar and now I have seen firsthand the big serves and forehands that everyone who has played with him before mentions.  He is a very nice guy and was highly complimentary of me the entire evening.  Austin is also an extremely nice guy who also comes loaded with a big serve and forehand...but add to that a lot of height and reach and very fast hands at the net where he is quite comfortable hitting volleys.  I met Joe on Monday and he is somewhat newer to tennis than the rest of us.  I sound like a broken record here where I also talk about how nice he is...but also he is looking to play more and more people and is willing to learn all he can.  It was a fun bunch of Doubles One-Setters.

Arunraj Nair over Keith Lewkowitz, 6-2!  Arunraj: 1 Ace.  These two played on Court Two from 9:10 to 9:35.  Keith, despite the loss, was like a kid in a candy store as he was so very happy to finally get the chance to play some Singles.  He said it felt so much better and was a much greater workout than playing Doubles.  If he had the choice (i.e. the court space), he may never play Doubles again!  LOL!

Dan Praport over Rich Liu, 6-4!  No Aces.  This battle took place on Court Four from 9:12 to 9:44.  Rich had a 4-2 lead only to watch it vanish as the ever-pesky Speed Demon continued to make amazing gets which forced Liu to start hitting shots just slightly past the lines.  Rich's steady improvement was on display here.

Arunraj Nair leading Keith Lewkowitz, 3-2 (Incomplete when they decided to cut it short at 9:50 so as to not be out there in the darkness when the lights go out at 10pm.  It got underway on Court Two at exactly 9:39)!  No Aces.

All in all, it was quite the session!  Now let's take it up to Cedar Grove!

And now we head up to Cedar Grove for the report from multiple sources (I cannot even begin to tell you who sent in which scores as many of them overlap one another…it will usually only be noted when some level of commentary was provided)…so here we go!

The Cedar Grove Results:

Nathan Fernandes over Senthil Kumar, 6-0!  No Aces. 

Nate's Notes: The reigning GTA Intermediate Champ had some great approach shots, volleys and overheads, and plays the game so intelligently.

Jay has his say: Around 7:30, I watched Nate play Senthil in a One-Setter.  I was fascinated by their match because they have a similar style of play, with lots of slices and approach shots.  Nate just did everything better.  I then stepped up to play Nate in a one-setter (which follows).

Nathan Fernandes over Jay Phoenix, 6-0!!  No Aces.

Nate's Notes: Jay made some incredible gets in this set and it's always great to see the passion with which he plays every single point. 

Jay has his say: I tried to beat Nate by putting pace on my shots.  Nate, however, absorbed that pace and placed his shots wherever he wanted to, either with a drop shot or with a deep low-skidding slice.  Nate is not only the fastest and most consistent player in our league, but he has the best drop shot I have ever seen.   He won dozens of points against both of us with that shot. 

Jay Phoenix/Ralph Bernard over Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Nate and Jay for submitting those results and providing their commentary.  That last one sounds like it could possibly be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  And we still have a couple more scores from Nate which follow now. 

Ryan Pienciak/Raj Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 7-5!  Raj: 2 Aces (one on each)!

Nate's Notes: A sorry serving display by yours truly didn't help our cause one bit, but a lot of credit goes to Natalia who kept us afloat with some great gets, lobs and piercing angled ground-strokes.  Raj displayed his touch of seasons past and Ryan displayed flashes of that aggressive brilliance which has helped him rise to # 3 in the GTA Rankings. 

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Ryan Pienciak/Raj Shah, 6-3!  No Aces.

Nate's Notes: Despite the constant barbs and taunting of "Team Double R", "moi" was able to get two service holds.  Natalia played another solid set while the banter on the other side of the net had us in splits at times.  If the GTA ever holds a comedy night for charity - it should be called "Let's rally to serve" and one wouldn't have to look too far for an opening act!

Samara's Notes: I thank Nate for his colorful commentary.  Ryan sent in the same scores sans comments.  Mr. Pienciak also submitted an additional result.

2 out of 3 Sets:

Ryan Pienciak/Raj Shah over Arthur Fontanilla/Natalia Sout, 6-1, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I also thank Ryan for that last one.  And now we go to Senthil for a similar 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match.

2 out of 3 Sets:

Senthil Kumar/Laura Gawley over Dennis Cabanatan/Rob Gawley, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2!  Dennis: 1 Ace on Senthil!

Samara's Notes: We now go to results from Doinks, Spin and Kris in that order.

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

Moka Pathan/Dan Martinelli over Ray Spadaro/Frank Hohorst, 7-6 (7-2)!  No Aces.

The Spin from Spin: Frank and Ray started off playing flawless tennis.  Up 2-0, they were dominating the net area of the court and hitting un-returnable angle shots.  The pace on Moka's strokes did not faze them at all.  Spin did not warm up and it showed.  Frank's net play was a thing of beauty.  My lack of service holds almost cost us the set.  Ray and Moka were very steady throughout the set.  Somehow, we found our footing in the Tiebreaker and went up early and never looked back.

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  Spin: 1 Ace on Frank.

The Spin from Spin: This set was just plain old fun.  Laurie was…well, Laurie…enjoying every minute of the set.  I was as boisterous as ever.  I even asked Frank if he was OK with my antics.  He assured me he was having fun.  I was getting on Doinks' nerves as on two or three occasions my shots went wide and she could not return them shouting out, "Ah come on!"  I also sent a rocket past her that caused her to move off the net for the balance of the match.  I think everyone had a good time.

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan leading Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton, 5-0 (Incomplete went the wind blew out the candles, i.e. the lights went off at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Ralph Bernard tied with Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo, 6-6 (6-6), Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm!  Just possibly two points away from a full conclusion...what a shame!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their contributions to this report…even if, at times…like it was for Monday night, there was some duplication (or even triplication) of the same results.  I'd rather have more than nothing at all. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/28 Results

8/28/17:

"2 play in Wayne, 8 at PAC (1 new, 1 return), 19 play at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Monday Tennis: a late afternoon/early evening one at The Pointview Courts in Wayne (the home courts of "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar) as Senthil battled "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega in three consecutive One-Setters (as reported by Edwin); one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley that was hosted by "the three-headed monster" of "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz, "Richie" Rich Liu and "Hollywood" Frank Samara (as reported by Frank); and then the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we had a veritable slew of reporters that was first made up of the Top 3 players in the league - GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak plus "Instant" Moka Pathan and "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo who submitted his report to "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli (who states that he is simply the messenger).

We will first get the scores from Edwin, then detail the comings and goings in Nutley and finally piece together the full recap of what took place at Cedar Grove.

The Pointview Results:

Edwin Ortega over Senthil Kumar, 6-3!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar over Edwin Ortega, 6-4!  Edwin: 1 Ace.

Senthil Kumar over Edwin Ortega, 7-5!  Edwin: 3 Aces!

The Edwin Edition: Senthil and I played 3 One-Setters.  It was going to be just a couple of sets, but we split the first two so we decided to continue on further.  There were long rallies and a few long Deuce games (one was at least 5 or more), but in the end Senthil held and prevailed.

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting and also his commentary as well.

Now we will detail what transpired in Nutley. 

Samara pulled into the parking lot of The Park Ave. Courts at 7:55.  As he walked up the hill toward the four parallel courts, he saw that they were all full.  But as he looked further, he saw that two of the four had some familiar faces on them.

If we are calling the court closest to the entrance gate Court One (I can't remember if I have been consistent with this in the past...I think I've always called it Court One...but I may have also called it Court Four), then we had some GTA players on Courts Two and Four.

On Court Two, Kaptain Keith was on the sidelines overseeing a hitting session that had "Fantastic" Fausto Murg teaming with a young lady who looked quite familiar and on the other side of the net it was "The Net Minder" Arunraj Nair teaming with a man I knew I had never seen before.  Keith explained that he was not playing because he had an epidural earlier in the day for some back issues, but is cleared to return to action in a day or two.

Over on Court Four it was Richie Rich teaming with Edgar "Valentino" Valencia taking on two young guys that were completely unfamiliar to me.

On Court One, it was a couple having a hitting session with one another and they were there for quite a while and eventually replaced by a pack of people (seemed like four guys and two girls and they were spraying balls all over the place!).

And on Court Three, it was about six to eight high school aged guys (perhaps the Nutley High School Tennis Team, though I did not notice any uniforms).  The good news was that they left at 8:05.

Samara took Court Three to hold it and also to gain the best vantage point to watch the action on Courts Two and Four as simultaneously as possible.

Soon, Fausto and Arunraj shifted over to Court Three to have a hitting session with one another.  This left the young lady and the new guy on Court Two to keep hitting with each other while Keith had conversations with both of them.

At 8:13, Rich and Edgar emerged from their Doubles One-Setter victorious.  I believe the score was 6-3.  When I asked Rich for the info on the new guys, he said they had just met them earlier in the evening.  He did not even know their names.  As Liu and Valencia headed from Court Four to Court Three to challenge Murg and Nair, the two other guys on Court Four immediately entered into a Singles Match against one another...so I decided not to bother trying to get their info.

What was intended to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match got underway on Court Three as Liu/Valencia were seeking revenge against Murg/Nair for the tough loss they were dealt by them just a couple of weeks ago.

"J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues walked onto the courts at 8:25.  At that time, I asked Keith if his two players would be up for some Doubles.  They agreed as long as they could be split up as both of them felt like they are still fairly new to the sport of tennis.

As I approached the young lady, she said (before I could even introduce myself) that I looked familiar to her.  It turns out she is "Neon" Deon Miller who had played with us a few times (she says three years ago...maybe it is that long ago already) at Robin Hood Park.  She has lost some weight since then and her game has improved as well.  She has been playing in Keith and Rich's meet-up group for a couple of seasons now.

Then I met the nice gentleman on the other side of the net.  His name is Joe Renga and he lives right down the street from the Park Ave. Courts.  He got involved with The Kaptain and Liu Crew more recently and was excited about the idea of joining something even bigger as he is looking for more people with which to play tennis.

So we decided it would be the Joe R's versus Hollywood Neon.  And after that One-Setter finished and both Miller and Renga had to leave, Samara and Rodrigues decided to enter into a Singles One-Setter against one another...which we will get to later.

Let's go to the scores!

The Park Ave. Results:

Fausto Murg/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Edgar Valencia, 7-6 (7-5)!  Edgar: 2 Aces (one on each, first on Fausto and then on Arunraj...not back-to-back, but in the same game)!  They got this one underway on Court Three at 8:15.  Not sure when it finished as they went right into the next one.  Remember that the original intent was to play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match.  But the clock had other ideas.

Samara's Notes: I got to watch the first twenty minutes of this set and I decided I have to give new monikers to both Rich and Arunraj.  I said that Liu should be called "The Alley Cat" as he loves to hit straight-line forehand winners right down the Doubles Alley.  It is a highly effective passing shot that he hits regularly.  And I had originally said that Arunraj was "The Net Minder" (which he still is, but was also then being called "The Net Monster" and "The Net Master").  But now I think we have to got with "Air" Nair as he is quite quick and also gets some good elevation leaping for would-be lobs while he is positioned at the net ready to pounce.

Frank Samara/Deon Miller over Joe Rodrigues/Joe Renga, 6-3!  Deon: 1 Ace on Rodrigues; and Frank: 1 Ace on Renga!  It was the official GTA Debut of Joe Renga and the official GTA Return of Deon Miller.  We started hitting on Court Two at 8:35 and got this one officially underway at 8:40.  I did not write down the games during the changeovers, but I did memorize them all and then wrote them down once we were finished (I did not note who hit what winners).  Here's the basic breakdown: Deon held serve (got off to a 30-Love lead, then it was 30-15 when she surprised Rodrigues with a short serve that landed on the T-line for an Ace and that put her up Double Game Point and then came the hold), J-Rod was broken (30-Love shifted to 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Frank held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point which was reduced to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce and a sideline Ace on Renga to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Renegade was broken (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15 and then straight to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) to fall to 0-4.  Miller was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break) and Rodrigues held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point which was then cut down to Deuce and then it was all Game Points to 4th Deuce and then another Game Point and finally the hold) to pull to 2-4.  Samara held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to increase his team's lead to 5-2, bur Renga held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, but then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5.  Neon held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game/Match Point and the hold for the win) to return to the league in victorious fashion!  This One-Setter ended exactly at 9:17.

Samara's Notes: As I stated earlier, Neon Deon has definitely improved since the last time she was in the GTA.  She always had amazing get-making speed, but now her game is much more consistent.  She is playing with greater confidence now as well.  Renga started off a little shaky and seemingly unsure of himself, but later in the One-Setter he started firing off some nice forehand returns and outright winners!  Keith was like: "Where did those come from?!?!"  It led to me joking that we should call him "The Ringer" as perhaps he was holding back his true skill level.  But actually he just started getting hotter as he got more use to our style of play (both Neon and I have offbeat styles that can be quite confounding for the competition).  I think a nickname that has a better "ring" to it (see what I did there...LOL!) is "Renegade" Renga.  He is a really nice guy and I hope he continues to play with us as we move forward.

Fausto Murg/Arunraj Nair leading Rich Liu/Edgar Valencia, 6-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  Arunraj: 1 Ace on Rich.

Frank Samara leading Joe Rodrigues, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.  For this one, I was writing down the games and who hit what winners during the changeovers.  I had the chance to put this one away and make it official, but Joe had other plans!  The dirty lowdown: Joe was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a shift to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break) and Frank held serve (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and then the hold...and the first four points went like this...un-returned serve, a winning return from Joe, another un-returned serve, a winner from Joe to make it 30-All and then the next two points went to the server) for a 2-0 lead.  Rodrigues held (back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-Love, then it went to 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to get on the scoreboard, but Samara held again (Joe hit a winner and then a winning volley to make it Love-30, but then an un-returned serve shifted the momentum and Joe blew an overhead attempt along the way and next it was Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 3-1.  J-Rod also held again (Frank hit a down-the-line passing shot winner which caught the attention of our four guys on Court Three, but then Joe responded with an even more impressive winner for 15-All and he was then off and running to Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-3, but Hollywood held a third straight time (back-to-back drop shot winners made it 30-Love, but then Joe hit another one of those big blast forehand winners to make it 30-15 only to blow a volley and sail it long to set up Double Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold) for a 4-2 lead.  Joe was broken (Joe hit another walloping winner for 15-Love, but then Frank made a great get/winner combo for 15-All and then the momentum took the game to Double Break Point where Joe hit a net-cord-aided winner to bring it down to Break Point, but then Frank hit a winning return which was also aided slightly by the net-cord to get the break) to fall to 2-5!  Frank was then broken for the first time (Frank hit a winner for 15-Love, Joe hit a winner for 15-All, it then went to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then Rodrigues held at Love as he hit three consecutive winners to set up Triple Game Point where he hit a truly un-returnable serve to lock down the hold and pull to 4-5!  Samara was on serve as Joe hit yet another winner to make it Love-15, but then an un-returned serve made it 15-All and then it went to 15-30 and Frank was just about to serve to start the next point when the lights went out and darkness was all around us as the clock struck ten!

Samara's Notes: This was a high-quality One-Setter while it lasted.  It was a shame we did not have time to go the distance as we could have been playing a potential Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.  I had the chance to close it out...and I must say that I did not choke or get tight.  Joe simply took up the aggression a notch and really started hitting those winners at will.  It would have been interesting to see if he could have fully shifted the momentum completely in his favor to get the comeback victory...or would the ever-resilient Samara pull another one out of his as...err, hat!  LOL!

And now we head up to Cedar Grove for the report from multiple sources (I cannot even begin to tell you who sent in which scores as many of them overlap one another)…so here we go!

The Cedar Grove Results:

Moka Pathan/Ray Spadaro over Jordan Bachvaroff/Melvin Hyman, 6-0!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Moka's Brew: We were down 0-1, then up 3-1, down again 3-4, leveled it at 4-4 and then they took the last two games to win it.

Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan over Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak, 7-6 (10-8)!  No Aces.  Chiaro/Pathan had saved 3 Match Points and Fernandes/Pienciak had saved one Match Point!

Moka's Brew: I don't remember the exact way the games went, but it was pretty much back and forth the whole way.  It was a very competitive One-Setter with really good points.

Samara's Notes: This sounds like a likely Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year!  We now get the results that Levy submitted to Spin and then the Doc will explain how it happened.

Tom La/Ray Spadaro over Kevin Doyle/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson over Kathy Sheldon/Laurie Boughton, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division!  In the process, Sheldon/Boughton entered the division as the New # 8 Ranked Team.  Kathy: 1 Ace on Dawn; and Dawn: 1 Ace on Kathy!

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Edwin Ortega/Dennis Cabanatan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to become the New # 32 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Spin from Spin: Dino Celis and I showed up at CG around 9:15.  Levy handed me some post-it notes.  I was going to tell him to send the results directly since I did not play, but he was quite nice about it and he is a nice guy.  When I got home, I saw that what was written was not complete…so I am sending what he wrote.  I am just the messenger here. ;)

Samara's Notes: To clarify what Spin wrote above, he had that the 1^st Set of the Men's Doubles Match was a Tiebreak…but without the TB score.  In those situations, I assume that it was 7-5 as that is the fairest scenario for both players and/or teams. 

We now get a couple more results from Chris.

Chris Chiaro/Ryan Pienciak over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-0!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley leading Ryan Pienciak/Rob Gawley, 6-5 (last game at 40-15, Double Game/Match Point…Incomplete when the lights went off at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their contributions to this report…even if, at times, it was duplication (or even triplication) of the same results.  I'd rather have more than nothing at all.  And I'd rather get it late than never get it…though late reporting often leads to me having to redo the results and then e-mail them a second time around…and some people do not like that!  LOL!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/27 Results.

8/27/17:

"Samara hosts 9 at AP, Mehta-Phoenix part of 6 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual early morning one at Albion Park in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara; and the later evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts which started a little earlier than usual as it first featured the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match between "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and later hosted by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.

First, we will detail all the comings and goings at Albion.  Then we will head up to Cedar Grove…first for the dual recap from Anish and Jay and then we will turn this report over to Doinks.

When Samara pulled up to the courts at Albion Park at 10:45, "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto had just done the same and was already halfway toward the courts.  First, "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado (who was hitting against "Lightning" Lukasz Krzesiewicz on the South Court) called out to Vin inviting him to join their hitting session.  A second later, Frank told Vin that the two of them needed to team together in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match in order to remain active in the Doubles Division.  De Benedetto was down with that.

Then as Frank and Vin continued to head toward the courts, Samara asked Delgado if he and Krzesiewicz would like to be their opponents.  Dean and Lukasz readily agreed.

On the North Court, buddies "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler were also having a hitting session with each other on the North Court.  Center Court was vacant.

After a brief hitting session, the match got underway at 10:50.  Arriving at the same time was "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.  He would not have to wait around alone for long as the next arrival was "The Cohort" Frank Hohorst at 10:55.  This was Hohorst's first time at Albion.  He joined us once before at Cedar Grove.  He usually plays in "The Olympian" Marie Salamon's indoor tennis group in Fair Lawn.

Soon, Chiaro and Hohorst started having a hitting session with one another on Center Court.  Samara suggested this (rather than have them join Rashid and Sindler for Doubles on the North Court) as a way to hold all three courts.

But by the time the 1st Set of the Doubles Match had finished at 11:35, nobody else had arrived yet.  So Frank then said it might make sense to just have the other four play Doubles as each pair were already sitting on the sidelines in need of a water break.

The weather was beautiful as there was no humidity as the temps might have reached 80 degrees...but the sun was hot!  Too much time on the sunny side (the west side) of the court was a recipe not only for sunburn, but also an unquenchable thirst!

The Doubles One-Setter on the North Court was just twenty minutes long (11:38 to 11:58) and Rashid and Sindler decided to leave soon afterward.  This left Chiaro and Hohorst to sit along the fence near the South Court waiting for the Doubles Match to finish (it was about halfway thru the 2nd Set at this time).  During this time period, "The Dynamo" Dino Celis arrived at 11:45 to make an extended cameo appearance and later get involved in a hitting session.

At 12 noon, four interlopers (three men and one woman) took over the North Court.  They were there for quite a while, but I failed to note when they left.  They would later be replaced by a family of four (father, mother and two daughters) who would stay there beyond when we all left.

"MC Quick" Mike Carucci arrived at 12:05 and would soon start hitting against Hohorst on Center Court.  The Doubles Match ended a little more than ten minutes after that.  Dean and Vin both left soon after.

This enabled Chiaro and Krzesiewicz to team up to take on Carucci and Hohorst on the North Court.  They ended up playing back-to-back One-Setters.

"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 12:35 (again in spikes after another day of football) to also make an extended cameo appearance.  He had the chance to hang with Samara and Celis for quite some time.

The official action ended exactly at 1:47 (at which time both Chiaro and Hohorst left).  This led to Dino and Mike hitting against one another on the North Court while Frank, Spin and Lukasz ended up having a bull session along the fence near Center Court.  And, eventually, the hitting session between Celis and Carucci led to their own bull session as well.

The five of us left the courts and the park at 2:50.  It was somewhat of a low turnout given the beautiful weather.  Our guess was that perhaps some of our players went away for the weekend.

Let's get to the action!

The Albion Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dean Delgado/Lukasz Krzesiewicz, 6-4, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Delgado/Krzesiewicz entered the division as the New # 79 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

1st Set: Frank was broken (Vin blew a volley for Love-15, then it was Love-30 when a truly un-returnable serve made it 15-30, but that was where Lukasz hit a winning lob to set up Double Break Point and then he hit an excellent forehand sharply angled return winner for the break) and then Lukasz held serve (Vin blew a volley to make it 15-Love, then it was at 30-Love when a Double Fault made it 30-15, but that was followed with an un-returned serve to set up Double Game Point and then Vin blew another volley to allow the hold) to go up 2-0.  Vinnie held (Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-Love, but then Lukasz hit an amazing Backhand Volley winner which was a winning return from Dean for 30-All, but that was where Frank hit an impressive volley winner of his own to set up Game Point, it went to Deuce only to go back to Game Point and then the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but then Delgado held (Vin and Frank each blew a volley on the way to Triple Game Point, but then Lukasz blew a volley to cut the lead to Double Game Point only to have Vin blow yet another volley to allow the hold) and Samara was broken again (Vin blew a volley, Lukasz hit a drop shot winner and Dean hit a winner of his own on the way to Triple Break Point, it then went to Double Break Point which was where Lukasz hit another one of those unreachable return winners for the break) to fall behind at 1-4.  Krzesiewicz was then broken (Love-30 where an un-returned serve made it 15-30, but then it was Double Break Point where Vin hit an awesome Overhead Smash winner for the break) and De Benedetto held again (back-to-back winning lobs by Lukasz made it Love-30, but then it shifted to 30-All which was where Lukasz made a great get that led to Dean hitting a drop shot winner for Break Point, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-4.  Delgado was broken (Lukasz blew a volley for Love-30, it then went to 15-30 and Double Break Point where Frank blew a volley to make it Break Point, but then came the break) and then Hollywood finally held (Lukasz hit a winner for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Point, it was then Game Point when Frank blew a volley to make it Deuce only to then have it go back to Game Point and then the hold) as he took the lead for his team at 5-4!  Lightning was then broken again (Dean hit an amazing leaping Backhand Volley winner for 15-Love, but then a Double Fault made it 15-All and then it was at 15-30 when Frank hit a sick drop shot return winner to set up Double Break/Set Point where another Double Fault ended the initial set in unceremonious fashion) as the opposition had just taken five straight games for the set (played on the South Court from 10:50 to 11:35)!  The next set began just one minute later as the even score of the previous set meant keeping sides of the court.

2nd Set: Vinnie was broken (started off up 15-Love only to then have Vin blow a volley and then have Lukasz hit a winning return on the way to Double Break Point and then came the break) and Dean held at Love after Frank blew a volley, Lukasz hit a winning volley and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where Vin then blew a volley to allow the hold for 2-0.  Frank held (15-Love was where the next point almost totally reversed the momentum as Vin hit what looked to be a winning volley only to have Dean make an absolutely amazing get which pulled him off the court and hit a short shot that just made it back over the net where Vin was waiting only to then blow what should have been an easy volley as he instead dumped it into the net and two points later Dean hit a blistering passing shot winner to set up Double Break Point only to then have it bounce back to Deuce and then on Game Point it was Dean who blew what should have been a surefire Overhead Smash winner to allow the hold), but Lukasz held as well (Frank hit another well-executed drop shot return winner for Love-30, but then it shifted to 30-All as Lukasz hit a drop shot winner of his own along the way, but then it went to Break Point where Lukasz hit a winning lob to make it Deuce and then Vin blew a volley to set up Game Point and then came the hold) to go up 3-1.  De Benedetto held (Vin blew a volley for Love-30, but then came a game-changer of a point as Lukasz hit a roller over the net which seemed like it should hit the court a second time to be a winner only to have Frank make a last-second get and send it back to Lukasz who then hit another solid shot only to have a waiting Vin nail a vicious volley winner and the momentum led to Frank whipping out his Windmill Overhead Smash on the next point and that soon took the game all the way to Game Point, but then it went to Deuce where Vin hit a great scoop volley winner to set up Game Point where he then hit an almost identical scoop volley winner for the hold) and then Delgado was broken at Love after Vin hit an excellent return winner to set up Triple Break Point and now the set was leveled at 3-3!  Samara held again (Frank made a great get that led to the point for 15-Love, but then Dean hit a winning lob for 15-All from which it was off and running to Double Game Point as Lukasz blew an overhead along the way and then came the hold), but Krzesiewicz was broken this time around (Lukasz hit a nice drop shot winner for 15-Love, but then hit a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point where Vin blew a volley for 2nd Deuce where Vin redeemed himself with a winning Overhead Smash to set up Break Point, it went to 3rd Deuce where a Double Fault made it Break Point again and then came the break) to fall to 3-5.  Then it truly was Vintage Vinnie as he got things started with an un-returned serve and then hit a victorious volley winner on Triple Game/Match Point for a Love hold and the victory (which came at exactly 12:16)!     

The Skinny: Vin admittedly had an off day...especially early on as he missed several volley attempts in a row.  But he came back strong in the end when it was needed the most!  Like De Benedetto, Lukasz was hot and cold.  His speedy gets and solid return winners were quite impressive, but he also muffed several volleys along the way.  Frank and Dean balanced each other out somewhat as the steadier hands for each team.  Down 1-3 in the 2nd Set, Vin said to Frank that they like digging holes for themselves.  That was when Samara coined the team with the moniker - The Gravediggers!  It was a close contest and a fun match overall.

Chris Chiaro/Frank Hohorst over Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler, 6-0!  No Aces.  This one was played on the North Court from 11:38 to 11:58.

Chris Chiaro/Lukasz Krzesiewicz over Mike Carucci/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  No Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 12:18 to 12:56.

Mike Carucci/Frank Hohorst over Chris Chiaro/Lukasz Krzesiewicz, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  This was also played on the South Court and lasted from 12:57 to 1:47.  There was a lot of solid hitting and great get-making in lengthy rallies during this one (and the one before).  Perhaps it has a shot at being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

And now we head up to Cedar Grove and start with the Mehta-Phoenix match.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Anish Mehta over Jay Phoenix, 6-1, 7-5, to successfully defend his # 5 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Anish: 5 Aces (four of which were in the first few games and then there was another later in the set)!

The AM News: We started the match at 5:30.  I had a solid amount of Aces early mixed in with some service winners before my serve left me in the 2nd Set.  I was leading 4-1 in that set when Jay came back to even things after I let my guard down.  I broke back and was able to serve it out at the end.

Jay has his say: I agree.  I couldn't handle his first serves.  The match only became competitive when he started missing his first serves which allowed me to return more effectively.  His first serve is not only fast, but it has some kick which is extremely difficult to handle.  He is also a superb service returner and he likes to sneak into the net where is very strong.  I like his chances against anybody in the GTA.

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Anish on a very impressive victory and thank both of them for their very timely reporting.  We now turn it over to Doinks.

I saw Mike Mole and Omar Santos playing.

Samara's Notes: Neither reported anything to me (and both are usually good about that sort of thing), so I will have to assume they wanted to keep it all as unofficial.  Back to Doinks!

Dave Zhu and Jane Fan also came, but they were just hitting.

Samara's Notes: Nice to know that Jane was back out on the courts as earlier reports indicated we might not get to see her hitting ever again.  OK.  I will stop interrupting!  We turn it over to Doinks one last time.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Greg Swierczek/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Greg Swierczek/Sairaj Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (10-8)!  Sairaj: 1 Ace on Doinks on Match Point!

Dino Celis came to practice his serves.  The Srinivasans will be away Monday night, so we won't be there to collect any scores.  You should tell the players that whoever wins their sets/matches should e-mail and/or text you their scores.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for reporting those results as well as her suggestion at the end…which makes sense as we very rarely get results reported by the losers…LOL!  By the way, that last One-Setter sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/26 Results.

8/26/17:

"Shah-Shah part of 9 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis and both took place at The Cedar Grove Courts.  There was a morning one that featured the Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match between "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah and "Teej" T.J. Shah (they are not related…and the result was reported by Raj).  And then there was an evening one where we received results from both "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.

So we first get the morning result from Raj and then the evening scores from Gen and Doinks.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match:

Raj Shah over T.J. Shah, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  T.J.: 1 Ace in the 1^st Set; and Raj: 1 Ace in the 2^nd Set!

The Sultan says: We started at 10:20am and ended around 12 noon.  It was a very tough match, with almost every game going to multiple Deuces.  He's got great strokes, a good tennis IQ, and is deceptively fast, I just got lucky in the big points.  I'm sure he will be in the Top 10 of the Advanced Division soon. 

The Consequences: Raj advances to the Round of 16 where he will face "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado.

Samara's Notes: I thank Raj for submitting that result in such a timely and comprehensive manner.  And now we let the ladies take it away!

Kris Srinivasan/Genalin Capan over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: Kris and I were up 4-0.  They took the next two games to make it 4-2.  Then we took the next two for the win.  We played this one on Court Four from 7:55 to 8:35.

Earlier in the evening we were just hitting.  We started around 5pm.  It was Melvin Hyman and I on one side against Mike Mole.  Then Guy Dupoux started hitting with Mike on Court Three while I continued hitting with Mel on Court Four.

2 out of 3 Sets:

Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan over Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Gen and Doinks for reporting these results in a very timely manner.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/25 Results.

8/25/17:

"Pienciak-Kumar in Wayne, Weldon-Ortega part of 12 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: there was a special session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne featuring the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match between "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar (with both reporting); and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts which started early with a 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match featuring "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon going up against "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega (with Chazz reporting) and where we also received results reports from "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley.

So we now get the lone result from Wayne and then go to Cedar Grove for the rest of the report.

The Nellis Drive Result:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Ryan Pienciak over Senthil Kumar, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  No Aces.

The Ryan Report: We met at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne around 7pm.  I was down 0-2, leveled it at 2-2 and again at 3-3 before taking three games to win the 1^st Set at 6-3.  In the 2nd Set I was up 3-0, 3-1 and then took the rest for 6-1.  Senthil played well.  There were a lot of Deuce games that were close, but ultimately I think I was just able to get out of my own way more than usual, if that makes any sense.

The Untangled Web: Ryan played a great match with very few unforced errors.  He runs like a teenager and got to all my shots.  I struggled with my slice and approach shots the whole evening…which led to many unforced errors. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting of this match.  And I congratulate Ryan on a very impressive victory.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Chazz Weldon over Edwin Ortega, 6-2, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 15 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

All That Chazz: The 1^st Set lasted from 4:30 to 5:17 and the 2^nd Set lasted from 5:19 to 5:44.

Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for reporting that result.  We now go to Jose and then to Laura.

Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout over Ray Spadaro/Michel Encarnacion, 6-1!  Jose: 2 Aces (one on each); and Michel: 1 Ace on Natalia! 

Jose Gonzales/Rob Gawley over Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout, 6-3!  No Aces.

Tito Castolo/Arthur Fontanilla over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Dennis Cabanatan/Laurie Boughton, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 5 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Cabanatan/Boughton entered the division as the New # 50 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Jose and Laura for submitting their results in a very timely manner.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/24 Results.

8/24/17:

"Gonzales-Pathan in C.G. plus Panda forfeit to Daddio!":

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from both competitors in the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match between "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Instant" Moka Pathan.  And that was it…nothing else!

Usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan was away.  And frequent back-up host, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was not there either.  I also was unable to attend the session.

It is very unfortunate that nothing else was reported as I'm willing to bet we likely had at least another dozen players there.  I have it on good authority that the evening before (GTA Wednesday Night Tennis) where we reported 12 official competitors, we actually had 22 or 23 of our players in attendance.

It is one thing if people just choose to engage in practice hitting sessions rather than play sets or matches.  That is understandable.  But when they are playing matches and then failing to report them, it is the league that suffers.  And it is particularly disappointing and disheartening when you consider the fact that if it wasn't for the league, many of these players would not even know one another.  And now they feel as if it is not worth their time or effort to report their match results to it…very sad.

To be fair, one of the newer players (I won't mention names) who played Wednesday night did try to report the action he was involved in…but he did not know the names of the other players.  At least the attempt was admirable.  The problem is that there were other players there who both know the names and know better as well.

I know I have been less involved in attending sessions this season (with valid reason…multi-faceted, actually, and most already know why…so I won't beat it to death), but I have not been less active in the administration of the league (save the occasional oversight on inactivity eliminations and the like).  So it would be very easy for me to give up and toss my efforts aside as well.

But I won't do that because there are also many others who are diligent in their reporting and offering of help in managing the sessions…which all helps the league run effectively.  It is their efforts that reinvigorate my own…and they already know who they are, but I thank them again here and now.

Speaking of unfortunate incidents, later in the evening on Thursday night, it was also revealed that "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda has been ill.  And as he has yet to recover, he feels that he cannot continue his in-progress Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match against "Daddy O" Paul Daddio (the conclusion of which had been scheduled for Friday night).

Because the match was actually started a couple of weeks ago (the 1^st Set was nearly finished when rain cut the match short), it cannot be handled as a simple withdrawal as some of the other matches in this Grove Cup tournament (and other similar tourneys) were.  Instead, it has to be handled as a forfeit rather than a withdrawal and Panda's rank will be lost to Daddio.

In the GTA when someone has to pull out of an in-progress match, the balance of the remaining games is then awarded to the other player (though we do note the forfeit).  And that is how this match will be listed below after the reporting of the Gonzales-Pathan match.

There was no GTA action at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "Hollywood" Frank Samara not only did a drive-by, but also a walk-up at 8:15 and saw that three of the four courts were in use…but none of our guys were there.

So we now get the lone actual result from Cedar Grove and then report the forfeited result as well.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Moka Pathan over Jose Gonzales, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Jose: 3 Aces; and Moka: 1 Ace!

Moka's Brew: We played from 6:05 to 7:25pm.  In the 1st Set, I went down 0-2 and again at 2-3, but then took three straight games to go up 5-3 and then take the set at 6-4.

In the 2nd Set, I went up 2-0 then it leveled at 2-2.  I then went up 4-2 and it leveled again at 4-4.  Finally, I took the set at 6-4.

Jose played well as he made me hit a lot of extra shots.  I had to adjust and play a slightly more conservative game.  It was a close match with a lot of multiple Deuce games that could've easily gone either way.

Jose has his say: I played as hard as I could, but Moka was the better player.  He was firing on all cylinders.  I hope he goes on to win the tournament.

The Consequences: Pathan advances to the Quarters where he will face the most recent Former GTA Champ: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.

Samara's Notes: I thank Moka and Jose for submitting their result in such a timely and comprehensive manner.     

Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match:

Paul Daddio over Nihar Panda, 7-5 (Panda was up 5-4, but then forfeited the balance of the match), 6-0, to become the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  No Aces.

The Consequences: Daddio advances to the Round of 16 where he will face "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport.  And we hope that Panda can recover in time to challenge GTA Intermediate Champ: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar for his Title by the August 31^st deadline.  Nihar is the Top Contender entitled to the next shot by virtue of his winning the 2017 GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/23 Results.

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 7^th 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 2^nd Set and 3^rd 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

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/22 Results.

8/22/17:

"4 play at PAC, 10 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match as reported by "Richie" Rich Liu; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from "Magic" Mike Mole, "GDP" Guy Dupoux, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

So we will first get the result reported by Rich and then we will head up to Cedar Grove for the rest.

The PAC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Fausto Murg, 6-0, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 44 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Liu/Murg entered the division as the New # 78 Ranked Team.  Rich: 2 Aces in the 1^st Set.

The Richie Rich Rundown: Keith and Arun were on fire beating me and Fausto.  Maybe it was a bit of luck, but it was a beating for sure.  The match took about one hour to complete.  It was a great summer night under the clouds in Nutley.

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for reporting that result and happy to see some scores start pouring in from Nutley.  We now head up to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Arthur Fontanilla over Mike Mole, 7-5!  No Aces. 

The Mole Memo: We played from 7pm to 8:30.

Tito Castolo/Guy Dupoux over Ryan Pienciak/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Guy Dupoux over Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Edwin Ortega/Dave Zhu over Moka Pathan/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!   No Aces.

Edwin Ortega/Dave Zhu over Moka Pathan/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!  No Aces.

The K has his say: I was a late show with Doinks and was just involved in a hitting session.  There was a decent crowd, but plenty of hitting by players that included Dino Celis, Laura and Rob Gawley.  I thought Spin was sublime playing with Moka.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank all involved for submitting these results in such a timely manner.     

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

8/21 Results.

8/21/17:

"Kevin/Chris host 8 at C.G.! Major Mixed Doubles development!":

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts co-hosted, in an impromptu manner, by "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.

So we will first get the result reported by Kevin and then we will turn this report over to Chris.  And in the middle of all that we will discuss a major development that has now occurred in the Mixed Doubles Division.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Non-Title Match:

Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, to successfully defend their #1 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division, but not the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.  No Aces.

The Kevlar Commentary: We got underway at about 6:45 and the match lasted around two hours.  It was a pretty tight match most of the way with a lot of tough rallies.  But Brenda and I each made a few mistakes in the 2nd Set while Tito and Dawn remained very consistent (Tito was flawless) and the top ranked mixed doubles team prevailed in the end. 

Samara's Notes: In the aftermath of this match, Dawn informed me that she feels too much pressure teaming with Tito and having to defend the Titles…especially knowing the schedule that lies ahead.  They would have to defend against the winners of the in-progress MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament.  If they won that one, they would then later have to defend the Titles against the winners of the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament (to start sometime in early October).

So the solution is that they will now forfeit the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.  The winners of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament will become the New Champs.  Their first defense will be against Tito and a new partner of his choosing.  She must be an already established player in the GTA.  If she is already ranked in a Mixed Doubles Team that she wants to remain loyal to, she can refuse his request.

In the meantime, Castolo/Peterson will still be the # 1 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division until the 2017 MXD2 Champs take that slot upon winning that tournament and the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.

We now go to the scores from Chris.

Chris Chiaro over Nathan Fernandes, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley leading Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Kevin and Chris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and submitting these results in such a timely manner.     

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/20 Results.

8/20/17:

"4 (2 new) at NTC, Gero-Gero part of 12 at AP, 4 at NTC, 6 at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted an early morning session at Nutley Tennis Club; the usual late-morning to early-afternoon session at Albion Park in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, but it actually got off to an earlier than usual start as "Bee Gee" Brad Gero battled his elder son Steve Gero in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match; an early evening session at NTC once again hosted by The Riz; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

So we will first go to NTC for the first Riz Report, then up to Albion for all the comings and goings there, then back to NTC for the second Riz Report and then we will turn this report over to Kris.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Denise Savino over Steve O'Hara/Dolores Krazanowski, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, to successfully defend their # 39 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  The team of O'Hara/Krazanowski enters the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 47 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Steve O'Hara and Dolores Krazanowski.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting that result in a very timely manner.  We now head into the full recap of all that took place at Albion.

When "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at Albion Park at 10:55, he saw "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon hitting with "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto on the North Court, "Sadistic" Syed Rashid practicing his serve on Center Court and "Bee Gee" Brad Gero and his elder son Steve sitting on the bench alongside the South Court.

As it turns out, they had just finished playing a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against one another.  Both were too exhausted to stick around for Doubles action and left soon after.

As they were leaving, "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara arrived at 11am and waited on Center Court as Syed had already shifted over to the North Court to hit with Chazz and Vin by this time.  So Frank went over to Center Court to hit with Suzanne.

GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 11:15 and was able to make it a foursome for some Doubles on the North Court.

At 11:40, Fadia Nicolas arrived and made her way over to Center Court.  Before she could even start hitting with Frank and Suzanne, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived five minutes later and he was once again still in his football spikes.  But he was willing to take one for the team and go back to his car to grab his racquet for some Mixed Doubles action.

"Richie" Rich Liu arrived at 12:20 and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales did the same ten minutes later.  They hit with each other on the North Court while waiting for some Doubles action which came their way another ten minutes later (except it was on the South Court).

Dino Celis arrived at 1:10 with a bucket of balls and soon began practicing his serve.  He later said half-jokingly/half-seriously that he is abdicating the "Coach" moniker as there are others who have taken over those unofficial duties.  For now, we will call him "The Dynamo" until we can think of a better nickname.

We ended up with a total of twelve official competitors for the day.  It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday that was breezier than expected and not all that humid.  The temps would climb into the upper 80 degree range.

Let's get to the scores!

The Albion Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Steve Gero over Brad Gero, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to become the New # 36 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  Brad said they got started soon after they arrived at 8:30 and likely finished around 11:50!  Quite obviously, both were exhausted afterwards.  The match was played on the South Court.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Syed Rashid/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-1!  No Aces.  This one took place on the North Court and lasted from 11:27 to 11:55.  Once again, Vin picked the teams.  Lately, he has earned another moniker - "The Masochist!"  Guess it was appropriate that he teamed with "The Sadist" (aka "Sadistic" Syed Rashid).  Together, we can call them S&M...LOL!

Dan Martinelli/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Fadia was broken as she started off with two Double Faults (she decided to forego the "First In" option offered her by Frank), but then Spin hit a winner for 15-30 before it went to Double Break Point where she hit another Double Fault to break herself!  Frank then held serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All as Fadia made a great get/drop shot winner combo along the way, but then an un-returned serve set up Game Point which was ended with a Windmill Overhead Smash by Frank) to take a 2-0 lead for his team.  Spin held as well (Love-30 shifted to Game Point with an un-returned serve and a winner from Spin along the way, but it then went to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce where Frank blew a volley to set up Game Point and then Suzanne also blew a volley to allow the hold) and Suzanne was broken (Love-30, un-returned serve for 15-30, Double Fault for Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to level the score at 2-2.  Nicolas held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, but then onto Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce as Frank hit a drop shot winner along the way, it then went to Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), but Samara was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4.  Martinelli held (an un-returned serve got it started at 15-Love and then it was point for point to Game Point as Frank hit a winning volley along the way and there was also another un-returned serve and then came the hold) for a somewhat commanding lead at 5-2.  Bujara held as well (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which then shifted to 15-30 as Fadia first hit a winner and then hit a winning return along the way, but then two more un-returned serves shifted it to Game Point where yet another un-returned serve secured the hold) to pull to 3-5!  But Fadia (she said her nickname is not Fani...her e-mail address just makes some people think it is) held once again and this time it was at Love as she hit a winner and then made another amazing get/winner combo to set up Triple Game/Match Point which she ended with her third awesome get/winner combo of the match to end it!  We played this on Center Court from 11:52 to 12:32.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Syed Rashid/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-2!  No Aces.  This rematch One-Setter took place on the North Court and lasted from 11:57 to 12:26.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Jose Gonzales/Rich Liu, 6-2!  No Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 12:40 to 1:13.  Afterward, Nate and Jose had a hitting session with one another and it eventually led to a Singles One-Setter between them.

Syed Rashid/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2!  Syed: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  Here's how it went down: Frank was broken (back-to-back impressive passing shot winners from Fadia to get things started at Love-30, but then Syed blew a volley to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point and the break), Syed was broken (Fadia hit a well-executed drop shot volley winner for 15-Love, 30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, shift to Break Point where Syed hit a winning volley for Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Suzanne was broken at Love as Syed first hit a winner and then a sizzling winning return on the way to Triple Break Point, but then Fadia was the first to hold serve (back-to-back winners by Fadia make it 30-Love and then Frank hit a winner of his own for 30-15, then came Double Game Point and the hold) to take a 3-1 lead for her team.  Samara was broken again (15-Love where Syed hit a winner for 15-All and then Fadia hit a crushing return winner for 15-30, it went to 30-All where Fadia hit a repeat performance return winner for Break Point which was where Frank hit an emphatic winner to bring it back to Deuce and then because he felt Fadia was challenging him on his serve, he then hit a truly un-returnable serve to set up Game Point only to have it then go to 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4!  Rashid held (Fadia hit a winner for 15-Love and then it went point for point until 30-All where he then scored on Suzanne with a slow and short Ace to set up Game Point, but then it went to Deuce and it was all Game Points all the way to 4th Deuce and then there was another Game Point where Frank blew an overhead to allow the hold) to take a commanding 5-1 lead!  Bujara held as well (back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-Love where first Fadia and then Syed both delivered crushing return winners to level the score at 30-All, but then came another un-returned serve to set up Game Point, it went to Deuce and then Game Point again where Frank hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) to pull to 2-5, but Nicolas held again (Fadia hit a screen-shot winner that almost clipped Syed in the back of the head to go up 15-Love, but then Frank hit a winner to reverse the momentum and then came the shift to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win!  We also played this one on Center Court and it lasted from 12:41 to 1:20.

Nathan Fernandes over Jose Gonzales, 6-2!  Jose: 1 Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 1:20 to 1:42.

Syed Rashid/Fadia Nicolas over Rich Liu/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1!  Fadia: 1 Ace on Rich!  This one took place on Center Court and lasted from 1:24 to 1:47.

Jose Gonzales/Rich Liu over Nathan Fernandes/Syed Rashid, 6-3!  Another one played on Center Court as it got underway at 1:55 and ended exactly at 2:28.

During the above One-Setter, Frank, Spin and Dino had a bull session that ended at 2:30.

We now head to NTC for the second Riz Report.

The NTC Results:

3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:

William Bobila/Tom La over Paul Daddio/John Rizzo, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 63 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

William Bobila/Paul Daddio over John Rizzo/Tom La, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Again, I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner.  We now turn this report over to Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Ryan Pienciak/Raj Shah over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Senthil Kumar over Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley, 7-6 (7-2)!  Laura: 1 Ace on Senthil!

Ryan Pienciak/Senthil Kumar leading Moka Pathan/Kris Srinivasan, 5-4 (Incomplete…Moka was serving at Deuce when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

That last One-Setter had the potential to be our third Tiebreaker One-Setter of the night!  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/19 Results.

8/19/17:

"2 play at AP, Kris/Laura host 8 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan hosted an early evening session at Albion Park in Clifton that featured a "Battle of The Sexes" One-Setter where she faced "Magic" Mike Mole; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts co-hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley.

So we will first go to Albion for Gen's recap and then we will turn this report over to Kris and Laura.

The Albion Park Result:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-4!  Mike: 2 Aces (in the same service game)!

Gen's Notes: We played this one from 5:20 to 6pm.  First, we started hitting around 4pm.  Mike held serve and then broke mine for a 2-0 lead.  I then broke back and held my serve for 2-2.  We had an exchange of breaks for 3-3.  We then both held for 4-4.  Mike then held again and I was broken on serve to end it.  It was a pretty good One-Setter.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for reporting that result in a very timely manner.  We now head up to Cedar Grove where we will first hear from Kris and then Laura.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Jose Gonzales/Laurie Boughton over Kris Srinivasan/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Levy Lorenzo/Laura Gawley over Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton, 6-3, 7-5, to successfully defend their # 26 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: The 2nd Set was very close.  Levy and I were down 1-4 and came back to win. It was a fun night of tennis!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.  And thanks to Laura for directly reporting her result (with some commentary) as well.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/17 Results.

8/17/17:

"2 play at NTC, Marijus-Kris part of 14 at C.G. as Kris hosts!":

There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis and both got started around the same time: "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted a session at The Nutley Tennis Club that featured two and a half One-Setters (not men…LOL!) against "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan with the Main Event being the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match where Kris had to face "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas (who also sent in details and commentary).

So we will first go to NTC for The Riz Report and then we will turn this report over to Kris with a contribution from Marijus along the way.

The NTC Results:

John Rizzo over Anish Mehta, 6-4!  No Aces. 

John Rizzo over Anish Mehta, 6-4!  No Aces.

John Rizzo leading Anish Mehta, 4-1 (Incomplete - stopped due to darkness)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for submitting those scores in a very timely manner.  We now turn this report over to Kris.

It was another beautiful day for GTA Tennis and the evening started with my match against Marijus. There were other matches, but we also saw plenty of hitting sessions…most notably the lengthy one between Mike Mole and Guy Dupoux who didn't get to play any matches.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Kris Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Marijus: 3 Aces (1 in the 1^st Set and 2 in the 2^nd Set)!

The Super Mario Memo: It was a good match.  I know that Kris is adjusting some elements of his game, so he was not very confident in his strokes today.  Nevertheless, he was fighting hard and I had to work for this win.

The K has his say: Marijus was solid, relentless and thumped me up good with his booming serves and his attacking shots, especially to the short balls.  He had his share of errors to let me win a few games.  It is probably an understatement to say that I got a good shellacking, but I sure seemed to be in a shell.  Fair to say that I underperformed badly, but congratulations to Marijus on a clinical performance!  Objectively looking, it was a pleasure to see his lovely serves and power-packed shots.  What a contrast it was…his sweetly-timed shots to my mishits and misses!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Marijus and Kris for their very prompt reporting.  I also congratulate Super Mario on his very impressive victory.  He is now the third player to advance to the Quarters of the Cup.

We now go back to Kris for the balance of this report.

Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan over Nathan Fernandes/Syed Rashid, 6-0!  Marijus: 2 Aces on Syed!

Levy Lorenzo/Janice Wang over Moka Pathan/Herb Reiner, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Kevin Doyle/Syed Rashid, 6-2!  Spin: 1 Ace on Kevin!

3 out of 5 Sets:

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Edwin Ortega/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Moka Pathan over Marijus Kuzavas/Dennis Cabanatan, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

Good stuff indeed!  First Nathan and Moka saved 4 Match Points!  They managed to tie the score 5-All.  Marijus and Dennis, after leading 6-5, couldn't close the set.  It was a downward spiral for Marijus and Dennis in the TB as they faced 3 Match Points against them.  Great serves from Marijus and smart net play by Dennis helped them erase the deficit to keep it tight at 6-All at the second changeover.  A casual chat with folks on the sidelines during that changeover saw a loss of focus and the set/match.

Samara's Notes: Despite the somewhat anticlimactic ending, this still may have a shot a being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  We now go back to Kris for just a little bit more.

Nathan Fernandes over Dennis Cabanatan, 6-0!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Edwin Ortega over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.

There was an active hitting of the balls…first Kris against Spin and Doinks, then Doinks against Nate and lastly Doinks and Janice against Nate and Don.  Back to work as Dino Celis did get to see some action in the fading night, but would exit with Spin early just as the lights went out.

All in all, it was an evening packed with action.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354