9/15/17:
"Samara hosts 15 (1 new) at C.G.!":
There was just one session of GTA Friday Night Tennis and it occurred at The Cedar Grove Courts. Contrary to what he had reported to the league earlier in the day, "Hollywood" Frank Samara ended up becoming the surprise host of the session as he had a change of plans along the way. He sent a text message to the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, at 6pm stating he would be there by 6:45 to host. Kris, however, did not see that text until 7pm. Minutes after, he sent an e-mail to the entire league to notify them that Samara would be there to host.
In the past, Samara's presence as host has arguably boosted the attendance numbers somewhat...but not on this hot, sticky and steamy evening as the humidity knob was set to full-blast! We ended up having a session that featured fifteen competitors...not bad, but not great for a Friday night in Sept.
As promised, Frank pulled into the parking lot at 6:45. Upon exiting his car, he saw that Court One had a Doubles One-Setter already in progress. It was Mixed Doubles action featuring "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan on one side of the court and "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner and a new lady making her official GTA Debut. Her name is Astrid Kaiser and she is a recruit via "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas who has been on our mailing list for close to a week now.
Kaiser is very nice and seems to be a solid player as well. As always a fan of alliteration, I will give her the moniker of "Astronomical" Astrid. She seemed to enjoy our group and said she will be back again.
Speaking of new faces, on Court Four it was "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff hitting against an unfamiliar face (to Samara, at least). As Frank walked out alone to Court Three while two of Jordan's tennis buddies walked out to Court Two to square off against one another, Bachvaroff told Samara that he wanted to introduce him to his friend, Erdem Alpay.
As soon as Frank heard that name, he knew that Erdem had been included in GTA results via Kris in the past. This time around, Alpay wants to get involved in our league and he gave Samara his e-mail address. He is definitely a solid player and also a very nice guy. Although I've included him in the 15 players that night, he did not get to make his official GTA Return as they had to cut their Doubles One-Setter (which followed a very lengthy hitting session) short when both Erdem and Jordan had to leave. I think a fitting nickname for Mr. Alpay will be "EA Sports!"
Just as Samara started holding Court Three, "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler arrived at 6:50 and made his way toward that court as well. They soon had a hitting session with one another that would soon be joined by Mike's pal, "Sadistic" Syed Rashid, at 7pm. At first, it was Frank and Syed hitting to Mike and it later shifted to Rashid and Sindler hitting to Samara. The three of them were hoping for a fourth player to arrive and join them, but that did not seem to be in the cards.
So, at 7:35, Samara had Rashid and Sindler shift to Court Four for a Doubles One-Setter against Bachvaroff and Alpay while Frank would continue to hold Court Three. Twenty minutes later, "GDP" Guy Dupoux arrived and soon started hitting with Frank.
At 8pm, the two guys on Court Two called it a night and headed home. Fifteen minutes later, seemingly everything went into a state of flux as that was when Jordan and Erdem had to cut short their Doubles One-Setter to go home. Meanwhile on Court One, it was a similar situation as a Doubles One-Setter was shut down prematurely early when both Vin and Herb had to leave. And on Court Four, a half-set of Mixed Doubles (Samara/Jordan versus Dupoux/Kaiser) ended when Brenda and Astrid had to go bye-bye, too.
On top off all this, Natalia "Nitro" Sout, GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan all headed toward the courts at the same time! Samara did some fast thinking and directed Guy to go over to Court Four for Doubles action with Dennis, Syed and Mike (they decided the teams - Cabanatan/Sindler versus Rashid/Dupoux) Meanwhile, Frank volunteered to hit with Laura and Natalia on Court Three. Mrs. Gawley soon said that Mr. Gawley (aka "Rowdy Rob", aka "Squash Boy") was on his way.
Samara and Sout were working over the GTA Women's Champ when "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo was surprisingly the next arrival at 8:20. Within five minutes, Rob rolled in on his motorcycle. Frank was ready to step off and let Rob take his place, but both Gawleys insisted on Frank playing instead of sitting, for a change. It ended up being Samara/Sout versus Lorenzo/Gawley.
At 9:25, "Dynamo" Dino Celis arrived and first started practicing his serve on Court One. Later in the evening, he had the chance to take Laura's side in hitting against Dennis and Guy on Court Four right after Dupoux and Mrs. Gawley had done the same on that court right after a Doubles One-Setter had finished featuring Laura and Dennis taking on Syed and Guy.
All in all, it was a fun and action-packed session...albeit more fitting for a steam room than four tennis courts! Let's get to the scores!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Vinnie De Benedetto/Brenda Jordan over Herb Reiner/Astrid Kaiser, 6-4! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Astrid Kaiser. They played this one on Court One from 6:30 to 7:10 and it would have been even longer, but they decided to forego the changeovers.
Vinnie De Benedetto/Herb Reiner tied with Brenda Jordan/Astrid Kaiser, 5-5 (Incomplete when the guys both had to leave at 7:57...they had begun this "Battle of The Sexes" style One-Setter on Court One at 7:15)! No Aces. Again, they decided not to do the changeovers.
Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Erdem Alpay, 5-4 (Incomplete when both Jordan and Erdem had to leave at 8:15...this one got underway on Court Four at 7:35)! Mike: 1 Ace on Erdem (it was Mike's very first serve of the match while down 1-2)! They were on serve until 2-2 and then Syed was the first to be broken for 2-3. Since it ended as an incomplete One-Setter, it cannot be recorded as the official GTA Return of Erdem Alpay (who, by the way, first made his official GTA Debut in the 2016 Season).
Guy Dupoux/Astrid Kaiser leading Frank Samara/Brenda Jordan, 2-1 (Incomplete when both ladies had to leave at 8:15...this half-set had started with that original intent announced by Brenda as she knew she'd have to go early as she was exhausted from the earlier action...and it was begun on Court Three at 8:05)! No Aces.
Syed Rashid/Guy Dupoux over Dennis Cabanatan/Mike Sindler, 6-2! Guy: 1 Ace on Mike. Court Four hosted this foursome from 8:20 to 9:05.
Levy Lorenzo/Laura Gawley over Frank Samara/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All where Laura hit a wicked winner to set up Break Point, but then an un-returned serve made it Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold), Laura held at Love with two un-returned serves on the way there, but then Natalia was the first to be broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, 15-All and then Natalia made a great get on the way to Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce, then Break Point, 2nd Deuce where Levy made an amazing get to set up Break Point and then came the break) for 1-2. Levy held at Love and then Samara was broken (Love-15 where Laura blew an overhead attempt for 15-All, but then she redeemed herself with a winning volley followed by a winning drop shot return to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) to fall to 1-4. Gawley held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, then it shifted to 15-30 as Natalia made a great get/winner combo along the way, but then another un-returned serve followed by a truly un-returnable serve caused the shift to Game Point, it went to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce and yet another Game Point which Levy finished off with a wicked winner) and Sout was broken again and it game at Love after Levy had hit another winner to make it Love-30! We played this one on Court Three from 8:25 to 8:50. Afterward, Samara was willing to step off as he rightfully felt that he stunk up the joint...but The Gawleys would not hear of it. Laura had Rob take her place instead. Luckily, she would not have to wait all too long to get back into some official action.
Levy Lorenzo/Rob Gawley over Frank Samara/Natalia Sout, 6-2! No Aces. The dirty lowdown: Levy held serve (Levy hit a whip of a winner for 15-Love, it then went 30-Love, 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then the hold) and Natalia was broken (Natalia made an amazing get that led to winning the point for 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where Frank hit an awesome winner to set up Double Game Point which would soon be reduced to Deuce as Rob hit a drop shot that forced the error along the way, then it was Break Point where she hit a Double Fault to break herself) for 0-2. Rob was broken (un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then Rob blew an overhead for 15-All before heading straight to Double Game Point which would be cut down to size as we went to Deuce with Natalia making another great get along the way, but then it went to Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Frank held as he hit a net-cord-aided winner for 15-Love and then he made a wild get/net-cord-aided winner combo to set up Triple Game Point which ended when Levy launched a missile-like return right at Natalia near the net who had the presence and quick hands to block it back for a highly impressive volley winner to secure her partner's hold and level the set at 2-2! But from there, Lorenzo held again (Rob hit a well-executed drop shot winner for 15-Love, it went to 15-All before going straight to Double Game Point right after an un-returned serve, it was then Game Point and the hold), Sout was broken again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Levy blew an overhead and then Frank made another highly surprising get/winner combo along the way, but then it shifted again to Break Point after Frank blew a drop shot attempt and then came the break), Gawley held (Frank blew his attempt at his patented Windmill Overhead Smash when he mistimed it and whiffed on it and that was then followed by another precision-made drop shot winner from Rob for 30-Love, then came 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) and Samara was broken (15-Love soon shifted to Double Break/Match Point after Frank blew another overhead attempt by sailing it just a bit too long and then Levy scored with a wicked return winner to set up the DB/MP which he would then end with another walloping winner!) to take a tough loss! This, too, was played on Court Three and it lasted from 8:55 to 9:29. Samara's level picked up just a bit in this one with some really sweet gets, but they were negated by some misfired overhead attempts. Sout played well overall, but was miffed that she had yet to hold serve in two straight One-Setters. Gawley was his crafty self, as usual. Lorenzo, was the true story of the night as he was almost always spot-on and he then decided to head home on a high note (much like George Costanza scoring with a great one-liner at a board meeting) as a two-time winner!
Dennis Cabanatan/Laura Gawley over Syed Rashid/Guy Dupoux, 6-3! Laura: 1 Ace on Syed. These four played on Court Four from 9:07 to 9:40. I know that Dennis is quite familiar with the GTA Women's Champion's work, but I don't think that Syed and Guy were. I overheard and/or witnessed enough moments to deduct that they were highly impressed with her game.
After this One-Setter and on Court Four, Laura had a session with Guy where she asked him to hit his hardest serves to her. It then morphed into a hitting session where Dino took her side and Dennis took Guy's side.
Frank Samara/Mike Sindler over Rob Gawley/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces. Since we were starting this one at 9:30 on Court Three, we decided to forego the changeovers in the hopes of getting in a complete One-Setter (which we did). As such, I did not write down all the games until after we were done. I did remember the flow of the games, but not who hit what winners where and when. Alas, the basic breakdown: Natalia was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Frank held (15-Love, 15-All and then right to Double Game Point and the hold), Rob held at Love, Mike held at Love, Sout was broken at Love, Samara held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold) and Gawley was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Break/Match Point, Deuce, it ended on the 2nd Break/Match Point). This one came to a proper conclusion at exactly 9:49.
Mike, Rob and Natalia were still hungry for more tennis, but Frank wanted to write down the games while he could still remember them. So Samara asked Syed to take his place. It led to Rashid teaming with Sindler to take on Gawley and Sout. As they only had ten minutes to play (they again decided to forego the changeovers), I did not bother to collect the incomplete score.
After lights out at 10pm, there was a little bit of chit-chat...but no enduring bull session as everyone seemed to desire an escape from the steam room conditions and head home to a cooler climate.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
862-596-3354
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