9/24/17:
"The Monk Memorial takes place at AP, C.G.! NTC, C.G. - Pt. 2!":
GTA Sunday Tennis officially got underway at 10:15am in Albion Park in Clifton (though the host, "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at 10am and nine other players...six of them registered for the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament...were there before he arrived) and everyone left the park soon after 12:15 as the Clifton half of this event did not go nearly as long as expected (more on that later). At the same time, a concurrent session featuring the other half of this event was going on at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.
And then there was an early evening session at The Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and a later evening session at Cedar Grove hosted by "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli. But first, let's get to how the tournament events unfolded at Clifton and then at Cedar Grove.
This tournament has become an annual tradition that serves to kick off the fall portion of each tennis season, but today the weather thought it was July 24th rather than September 24th as it was fully sunny with temps starting out around 80 degrees and hitting a peak temperature of 90 degrees!
When Samara arrived at the courts, he saw that all three were full. This was a good thing, however, as he had six of the seven registered players there already holding two of the courts. And he was confident that his good buddy, Dan Martinelli, was only running a little late as he was likely coming to the courts fresh off of getting out of church.
"The Acclerator" Abhilash Gadi was hitting against "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto on Center Court while "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo and "MC Quick" Mike Carucci were doing the same on the South Court.
"The Hit Man" Tom La was sitting on the sidelines near the fence between those two courts while "Stingray" Ray Spadaro was sitting on the bench alongside the North Court where "Bee Gee" Brad Gero was playing tennis with his two sons, Alex and Steve. It seemed the three were taking turns facing one another in half-sets.
And the fact that they had the North Court while we would be relegated to Center Court and the South Court would not prove to be an issue as Spin had wrench to repair the low net on Center Court, plus…
The good news was that with eight players forming four teams, we only needed two of the three courts for the featured event of the day which was the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament. For most of the past week, it was planned to be a 16-Man/8-Team Event with half of it being contested at AP (for many years prior it had been contested at Robin Hood Park in Clifton, aka RHP, until last season when it moved to Albion) while the other half would simultaneously take place at Cedar Grove.
Once Spin arrived at 10:10, Samara sent a text message to "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan who was running the Cedar Grove half of the event to inform him that the Clifton portion had its eight competitors and was moving forward with the tourney. Soon after, Kris sent a reply stating the same situation existed there.
So we were off and running in both locations! With all eight promised participants in attendance, we next headed into the lottery portion of the event as we would have the four highest ranked players (based on the current GTA Rankings) pick the names of the four lowest ranked players that were written on raffle tickets and then placed in the bottom of a plastic bag (sorry, no hat!).
Frank was the highest ranked player, so he drew first. He had Spin hold the bag to ensure all was on the up and up. The raffle ticket he removed had the name "Vin" on it. This meant that the already established and high-ranking team of Samara/De Benedetto would now be competing in this tourney.
It created an interesting situation. If they were defeated in straight sets, they would lose their rank to that team. If the sets were split, however, and a 10-Point Super Tiebreak was needed to decide the winner...then Frank and Vin would be eliminated if they lost, but they would retain their rank as rank cannot be won or lost in a match that does not go the full three sets (unless it is a straight-set match, of course).
Levy was the next highest ranked player, so he drew next (with Frank now holding the bag). His raffle ticket said "Mike" which meant his partner would be Carucci.
Next to choose was Spin and he got a ticket that said "Tom" as in Tom La.
And then Abhi would be left with the ticket that was remaining in the bag. The name on that last ticket was "Ray"…so he got Ray Spadaro.
The initial match-ups, the Semifinals of Albion (which would be considered as Quarterfinals in the overall Monk Memorial Tournament), were determined by the seeding of the team captains. With Samara the highest of the four, his team would face the lowest ranked captain Gadi's team. And that left the other two teams to meet in the other Albion Semi/Monk Memorial Quarter - Lorenzo/Carucci vs. Martinelli/La.
All four teams seemed evenly balanced. The Samara/De Benedetto tandem had the most experience teaming together, but their opponents featured a pairing of vast Doubles experience in Spadaro coupled with a player who is arguably the fastest in the league, Gadi.
Speaking of speed, Carucci always has to be in the conversation of swiftest competitors in the league and he was also aligned with a very experienced Doubles player in Lorenzo. Their opponents, Martinelli and La, both exhibit a solid balance of experience and speed. One could argue that Spin and Tom may have been the most evenly paired tandem of the four teams.
To save time, the 8-Man/4-Team format was presented to the league right with the provision that if the first two sets were split, a 10-Point Super Tiebreak would be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set to also not make everyone play too many sets of tennis in one day. This would hold true for both rounds in each location's Semifinal and Final.
Only the overall Final of the Monk Memorial Tournament (i.e. the Albion winners versus the Cedar Grove winners) would need to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match where a 3rd Set would have to be played if the first two sets were split. The 10-Point STB would no longer be an option.
When "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado arrived at 10:35 and soon got involved in some Doubles action with the Gero family (Big Daddy Brad and his two sons, aka The Gero Brothers), it led to us having a total of twelve official competitors at Albion Park.
Let's first get to the tourney action that took place at AP, then the Non-Tourney full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match featuring Dean and Brad versus Alex and Steve (as The Cedar Grove half of the action will be detailed later in this report).
The AP Results:
Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Dan Martinelli/Tom La over Levy Lorenzo/Mike Carucci, 6-0, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Martinelli/La advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal! Tom: 1 Ace on Levy in the 1st Set. They played this on the South Court from 10:20 to 11:15 (with the 1st Set ending exactly at 10:43 and the next set starting a few minutes later after an extended water break).
The Skinny: When Tom approached Frank soon after Samara's arrival, he informed the host that he would need to leave around 12:30. Frank warned him that it could cause a possible forfeiture situation as the e-mails about this tourney all along stated that players may possibly be needed to play all the way until 2pm. Well, it seems that La (along with Martinelli) was properly motivated to make fast work of Lorenzo and Carucci. On paper, this seemed like it would be a closer contest. Spin said that Levy seemed to be having an off day while Mike exhibited usual speed in his get-making, but also lacked a bit of consistency.
Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Abhilash Gadi/Ray Spadaro, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Doubles Division while also advancing to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal! In the process, Gadi/Spadaro entered the division. No Aces.
1st Set: Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce where Ray hit a winner to set up Break Point and then came the break...the length of this game caused me to forget the previous winners along the way) and Ray held serve (a winning Overhead Smash by Abhi followed by an un-returned serve which was then followed by a blown volley from Frank set up Triple Game Point, it then went to Double Game Point where Ray hit an amazing winner to secure his own hold) for a 2-0 lead. Vin held (Frank blew a drop shot attempt for Love-15 and then it was point for point until 30-All where Vin hit a winning lob to make it Game Point and then came the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but Abhi also held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then point for point to Game Point which came right after Ray hit a winning lob of his own and then Vin blew a volley to allow the hold) for 3-1. Samara held (Vin blew a volley for Love-15 which was where Frank hit a highly impressive drop shot winner for 15-All and then it was off and running to Double Game Point where Ray hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut that lead to Game Point, but then came the hold) to pull to 2-3, but Spadaro held again (Ray hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, it was 15-All where an un-returned serve got the ball rolling to Double Game Point and then came the hold) and then De Benedetto was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Vin made an awesome get/winner combo along the way, but then it shifted to Break Point as Frank blew an overhead attempt along the way, it went to Deuce and then Break Point again where Abhi executed an emphatic Overhead Smash winner for the break) to fall to 2-5! Gadi was broken (Frank blew a volley and then Abhi hit what could only be described as a get/volley winner which demonstrated both his foot and hand speed to go up 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game/Set Point which was then reduced to Game/Set Point and then it was Deuce where Ray blew a volley attempt to set up Break Point where Vin hit a vicious volley winner for the break) and then Hollywood held again (Vin hit another volley winner for 15-Love, but then Frank blew what should have been a surefire volley winner to make it 15-All only to then redeem himself with back-to-back un-returned serves to go up Double Game Point which was where Ray hit a victorious volley to reduce the lead to Game Point, but then came the hold) to pull to 4-5! Stingray was finally broken (Frank blasted an overblown attempt at an overhead to make it 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game/Set Point which came right after Vin blew a lob attempt, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break) to level the set at 5-5 and then Vintage Vinnie held (Abhi blew a lob attempt for 15-Love, but then Vin did the same for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as both players had similar unforced errors along the way and then came the hold) to take the first lead for his team at 6-5! The Accelerator also held (Abhi blew a drop shot attempt and then Frank hit a drop shot winner to make it Love-30, but then it shifted straight to Game Point as first there was a truly un-returnable serve which was followed in the next point by Abhi hitting a winning roller over the net and then he hit another winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold) to again tie things up and force the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve and then Ray held both of his serves, first by hitting a winning lob and then hitting an awesome winner right onto the sideline and then Vin held the first of his two serves but was broken on his second for 2-3. Abhi hit a Double Fault on his first serve for 3-3 at the changeover, but was then able to hold his second to take a 4-3 lead. Samara hit an un-returned serve to make it 4-4, but was then broken on his second as Ray hit a sizzling passing shot winner to give himself a 5-4 lead as he was about to go on serve. Spadaro then held his first serve to make it 6-4 and Set Point where he was then broken for 6-5, but it was still Set Point for his team with service returning to De Benedetto. He held that first serve for 6-6 at the second changeover and then Frank hit a drop shot winner to secure the hold of Vin's second serve to set up 7-6 and the very first Set Point for his team this set! Gadi was then broken to drop the set with a TB score of 8-6! We had begun this initial set at 10:15 and it ended exactly at 11:18...one hour and three minutes! The other tournament match had already been concluded by this time! After a two minute break, we began the next one.
2nd Set: Ray was broken at Love as Frank hit a winner and a winning drop shot return along the way, Frank was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, then Break Point where Vin hit a winner for Deuce, but then came another Break Point and then the break), but Abhi was the first to hold serve in this set (he started with a Double Fault, but then it was straight to Double Game Point as Ray first scored with an awesome winner which was then followed by a winning volley and then Abhi hit an amazing winner of his own to lock down his own hold) to go up 2-1! Vin was broken (Vin blew a volley for Love-15, but then Ray blew an overhead for 15-All only to then have it go right to Double Break Point where Ray scored with a drop shot winner for the break) to fall to 1-3, but Spadaro was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank opened the game with a winning volley and then Vin hit an excellent passing shot winner to set up Triple Break Point where Frank hit another winner for the break to pull to 2-3. But Samara was also broken again (Abhi made a great get/winner combo and then followed with another winner in the next point to make it Love-30 which was where Ray blew a volley for 15-30 only to have Vin blow an overhead to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Gadi held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as Ray hit a winning volley along the way and then the hold came as the result of a truly un-returnable serve) as his team once again took a seemingly commanding 5-2 lead! But then De Benedetto held at Love as his partner took over the game with a winner followed by a surprising get/winner combo and then a nice passing shot winner for the hold, Stingray was broken at Love as Vin hit a winning volley and then another winner along the way and then Frank hit a winning drop shot return for the break and then The Wood held at Love as his team had just taken twelve straight points to level the set at 5-5! The Accelerator was then broken (Vin blew a volley and then Abhi made another signature get/winner combo to go up 30-Love only to have it all slip away as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Break Point where he then scored with a laser-like passing shot winner down the Doubles Alley which led to him hitting an emphatic fist pump) to fall to 5-6 and then Vintage Vinnie held again as Frank followed up with an almost equally impressive passing shot winner (when compared to the previous one...and it was similar in nature as it was another slice backhand sailing thru the Doubles Alley) and then in the rally of the match it was Frank making a few inspired gets that led to the point and then Vin hit a winner to set up Triple Game/Match Point and then it went to Double Game/Match Point where Frank may have made his best get/winner combo of the match to end it in exciting fashion as his team took five straight gets for the double-dip comeback victory as they truly earned their moniker, The Gravediggers! This set (and match) ended at 11:56.
The Skinny: Samara/De Benedetto saved 3 Set Points prior to the Tiebreaker in the 1st Set and then another 2 SPs in the TB (for a total of five) before ultimately taking it on their very first opportunity. The 2nd Set comeback may have had less drama in terms of Set and/or Match Points, but the atmosphere was seemingly more intense. When they were once again down 2-5, Tom could be overheard saying to Vin at the sidelines that the lengthy match (and perhaps lack of lead) was due to his partner Frank's screw-ups. Much like George Costanza, Samara hears everything! This got him amped up and then came the twelve point run to level the set. In fact, the opposition only won two more points the entire set! But all four players earned rightful accolades over the course of this match. Abhi may have locked down the unofficial title of "fastest player in the GTA" during this battle. Fresh off of a season of cricket where his team made a very impressive run to the Quarterfinals of a league-wide tourney that had over 100 teams (thus, getting to the final eight is quite the achievement), we will now start seeing much more of Mr. Gadi for the balance of this season. What Ray may lack in mobility, he more than makes up for with excellent volleys and sharp-angled returns. Vin's game is similar to Spadaro's as both of these crafty veterans are truly impressive at finishing off points once they get stationed at the net. Even though this was a straight-set affair, this marathon two-setter stands an excellent chance at becoming a Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
Let's get back to the beginning where Tom had said he would need to leave by 12:30. Vin then said he would need to leave by 1pm. It seemed like La may have had a change of heart as the now-fresh tandem (after a lengthy rest) he had with Martinelli was looking to pick the bones of the deservedly exhausted team of Samara and De Benedetto. Frank would have willingly played on, but not in a scenario where the match would potentially had to be cut short by the pending exits of either Tom or Vin. Thus, it was mutually agreed upon to play the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal the following Sunday at Albion at 10:30.
Just a couple of minutes after 12noon, Frank sent a text to Kris to let them know they had the option of not playing that location's Final as it would only be fair to inform them that we were no longer doing it at Albion. Samara also thought to forward that same message to Mrs. Srinivasan (aka Doinks, "The Marathon Woman") just in case Kris was engrossed in the action on the court and unable to see the message.
Well, as it turns out, Doinks was out of town and the gang played on up at Cedar Grove and entirely executed their portion of the tourney. Before we get to all that, there is one more match to report from Albion.
Non-Tournament/2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Dean Delgado/Brad Gero over Steve Gero/Alex Gero, 6-1, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Dean: 2 Aces on Steve! They got this one underway on the North Court around 10:40, but not sure when it ended as I was still busy competing in my match. All I know is it ended after the Martinelli/La versus Lorenzo/Carucci match had finished, but they were done before our match concluded.
We now will detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove. We let The K Man take it away!
It was a beautiful day with the gorgeous sun out and it felt pretty good like we were in the thick of Summer. It sure was a superb day for our Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament. We had planned on getting eight players, a decent number even though it was not a big turnout like we were used to in the past. The question was whether the eight who committed will turn up for the tournament.
Melvin Hyman had ruled himself out earlier in the week and Edgar Valencia was potentially going to be running late. So we had Jay and Sairaj, my sons, as a back-up plan and I truly appreciate their willingness to help out as they lost some of their usual snooze time.
Our players were a committed lot, showing up on time with some of them like Ralph Bernard, Rich Liu, Senthil Kumar and Kevin Doyle leading the pack. Special thanks to Senthil for accepting my last minute invitation and making it a worthwhile tournament.
Samara's Notes: I thank Senthil as well as he had told me at the end of the week that he, like Mel, was also feeling under the weather. Now we go back to Kris.
The top four guys had their blind pick of who would play with them. Ralph, Senthil, Kris and Edwin, in that order, picked Edgar, Rich, Frank and Kevin respectively. It was game on from 10:15 with Team 1 taking on Team 4 and Team 2 clashing with Team 3.
The Cedar Grove High School Coach was involved in his usual Doubles Match with his pals on Court 3 and there was a Singles Match on Court 2 that involved non-GTA folks.
Cedar Grove Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Ralph Bernard/Edgar Valencia over Edwin Ortega/Kevin Doyle, 6-4, 6-0, to advance to the Cedar Grove Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Edwin: 1 Ace on Edgar!
Apparently, the 1st Set was close. And even though the 2nd Set score looks one-sided, they were playing for a while engaging in long rallies. Kevin did say he was feeling a little rusty and even though he didn't want to play, he did it for all Frank Samara does for the league. I should thank Kevin for committing to play. He is a very steady player who makes a fine effort with his diligent play. It looked like both Ralph and Edgar were in an attacking mode.
Cedar Grove Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Senthil Kumar/Rich Liu, 5-7, 6-2, 10-4 (STB), to advance to the Cedar Grove Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Frank: 1 Ace on Rich in the 1st Set!
It turned out to be a great match overall and it certainly didn't look like we had a shot in the beginning. We know how effective Senthil can be and he ended up with a terrific partner in Rich. Rich had great serves, but his ground-strokes were superb and his return of serves were amazing. I was lucky to get Frank, who is a solid player with great serves, free-flowing shots and who is quite deft at the net. I was the odd man out whose play would decide the result…or so it looked. We were on serve the first four games before Frank was broken. He was serving beautifully from the Deuce court, but was finding it hard to get his serves going from the Ad court. We were down 3-5 when we dug in hard to tie the match at 5-All. We lost the next game in a jiffy and couldn't take the 1st Set to the distance as we missed our opportunities.
The 2nd Set turned the match on its head in our favor as we won the first four games and just missed out on winning the fifth. Frank was sharp and played smart tennis. We were broken in the fifth game and then an immediate hold for the opposition made it 4-2 in our favor when suddenly one wondered if the momentum had shifted. But we pressed on and tied the match winning the next two games and the set. We were on cruise control for the most part in the Super Tiebreak and we came out unscathed. It was a good match all in all. Rich probably got a bit anxious to put away the match in the 2nd Set. The extra pressure he put on himself worked against him. Senthil was pretty steady holding his serves until he faltered a bit in the 2nd Set and in the STB. Frank was our Ace as he has winning ways about him. He has a great temperament and plays purposefully.
Cedar Grove Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal:
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Ralph Bernard/Edgar Valencia, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the Finals of the Monk Memorial Tournament! Frank: 1Ace on Ralph in the 2nd Set!
Both Ralph and Edgar had attacking shots in the beginning and looked threatening. But Frank is a cool cat and was adept in taming them with his consistent play. Once again, his serves were great and he also showed variety in his play. Ralph did have some sweet shots, especially the screaming one bisecting both of us and a super backhand shot down the line that any hapless foe could only watch rooted on the ground. Edgar was attacking at the net, but we got wise to that. He had a mixed bag trying to attack down the line, but was overcooking his shots.
We played our first match between 10:15 and 11:55. The second one was from 12noon to 1:15 to wrap up an exciting tourney of tennis. Spin did come to see the last part of the morning session.
And, yes, we did have another session in the evening with Spin getting into action once again and acting as the host. He was brilliant like he was well-rested for a few days, exhibiting boundless energy! The highlight indeed was the official on-court return of "The Dragon" Dino Celis, wielding his Federer racquet as he was brilliant with his serves and ground-strokes. His mobility is not there yet, but his balance was good. He was well-supported by Ryan.
The evening session was exciting with high energy action. Jordan Bachvaroff was serving superbly. It was a mixed bag for him at the net, but he still could count on his ground-strokes. Jose Gonzales was serving well, but got injured in the midst of our match. Mike Kazlauskas was serving bombs and putting away the games on his serves with disdain. Arthur Fontanilla was amazing in his ground-strokes and was very consistent with his topspin shots, both backhand and forehand. All in all, it was an eventful Sunday packed with GTA action. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: OK, so you all got the tease for the later session in the evening. I wholeheartedly thank Kris for managing that half of the tourney so successfully. And before we go to Spin's report of that later session, we stay chronological and first go to The Riz for his report from NTC.
The NTC Results:
Mike Mole/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 10-8! No Aces. We played out the games, no Tiebreak.
Alfred Chen/Rich Liu over Mike Mole/Dan Hwang, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner. And now we let Spin close out this report.
A text message from Kris and then one from Dino got me in my car to head up to Cedar Grove on this steamy, sultry September evening. When I arrived, Dino was practicing his serve while Kris, Ryan Pienciak, Jordan Bachvaroff and Jose Gonzales were involved in a One-Setter (Kris gave me the score and I will lead with that). I went over to practice my return game and soon after I was summoned to be the fourth when Jose left.
Mike Kazlauskas/Arthur Fontanilla over Jose Gonzales/Kris Srinivasan, 6-4! Jose: 2 Aces (one on each); and Kris: 1 Ace on Mike!
Ryan Pienciak/Dan Martinelli over Jordan Bachvaroff/Kris Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: This set was close all the way through and could have gone either way. Ryan's serve was on fire. It was a fun set even though the air was thick as a brick.
Ryan Pienciak/Dino Celis over Jordan Bachvaroff/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2! It was the official GTA Return of Dino Celis. Dino: 1 Ace on Kris on his very first serve!
The Spin from Spin: It was the long-awaited return to official action for Dino. His serves were spot on…well-placed and well-paced. He actually got an Ace on his very first serve! His mobility, understandably, was limited. He was about as mobile as a goldfish in a bowl of molasses. In the first three games, he was as rusty as the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" before Dorothy and the Scarecrow oiled him up. After that, Ryan and Dino never looked back as Kris and Jordan had trouble keeping the balls on the court and out of the net.
Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for doing double-duty on such a hot day and then putting on his host hat as well. It is also good to see Dino sticking his toe back in the water and getting back into the official action. When we add the two Cedar Grove sessions together, they had a total of 15 official competitors throughout the entire day and night…quite impressive on such a scorcher!
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
"The Monk Memorial takes place at AP, C.G.! NTC, C.G. - Pt. 2!":
GTA Sunday Tennis officially got underway at 10:15am in Albion Park in Clifton (though the host, "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at 10am and nine other players...six of them registered for the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament...were there before he arrived) and everyone left the park soon after 12:15 as the Clifton half of this event did not go nearly as long as expected (more on that later). At the same time, a concurrent session featuring the other half of this event was going on at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.
And then there was an early evening session at The Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and a later evening session at Cedar Grove hosted by "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli. But first, let's get to how the tournament events unfolded at Clifton and then at Cedar Grove.
This tournament has become an annual tradition that serves to kick off the fall portion of each tennis season, but today the weather thought it was July 24th rather than September 24th as it was fully sunny with temps starting out around 80 degrees and hitting a peak temperature of 90 degrees!
When Samara arrived at the courts, he saw that all three were full. This was a good thing, however, as he had six of the seven registered players there already holding two of the courts. And he was confident that his good buddy, Dan Martinelli, was only running a little late as he was likely coming to the courts fresh off of getting out of church.
"The Acclerator" Abhilash Gadi was hitting against "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto on Center Court while "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo and "MC Quick" Mike Carucci were doing the same on the South Court.
"The Hit Man" Tom La was sitting on the sidelines near the fence between those two courts while "Stingray" Ray Spadaro was sitting on the bench alongside the North Court where "Bee Gee" Brad Gero was playing tennis with his two sons, Alex and Steve. It seemed the three were taking turns facing one another in half-sets.
And the fact that they had the North Court while we would be relegated to Center Court and the South Court would not prove to be an issue as Spin had wrench to repair the low net on Center Court, plus…
The good news was that with eight players forming four teams, we only needed two of the three courts for the featured event of the day which was the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament. For most of the past week, it was planned to be a 16-Man/8-Team Event with half of it being contested at AP (for many years prior it had been contested at Robin Hood Park in Clifton, aka RHP, until last season when it moved to Albion) while the other half would simultaneously take place at Cedar Grove.
Once Spin arrived at 10:10, Samara sent a text message to "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan who was running the Cedar Grove half of the event to inform him that the Clifton portion had its eight competitors and was moving forward with the tourney. Soon after, Kris sent a reply stating the same situation existed there.
So we were off and running in both locations! With all eight promised participants in attendance, we next headed into the lottery portion of the event as we would have the four highest ranked players (based on the current GTA Rankings) pick the names of the four lowest ranked players that were written on raffle tickets and then placed in the bottom of a plastic bag (sorry, no hat!).
Frank was the highest ranked player, so he drew first. He had Spin hold the bag to ensure all was on the up and up. The raffle ticket he removed had the name "Vin" on it. This meant that the already established and high-ranking team of Samara/De Benedetto would now be competing in this tourney.
It created an interesting situation. If they were defeated in straight sets, they would lose their rank to that team. If the sets were split, however, and a 10-Point Super Tiebreak was needed to decide the winner...then Frank and Vin would be eliminated if they lost, but they would retain their rank as rank cannot be won or lost in a match that does not go the full three sets (unless it is a straight-set match, of course).
Levy was the next highest ranked player, so he drew next (with Frank now holding the bag). His raffle ticket said "Mike" which meant his partner would be Carucci.
Next to choose was Spin and he got a ticket that said "Tom" as in Tom La.
And then Abhi would be left with the ticket that was remaining in the bag. The name on that last ticket was "Ray"…so he got Ray Spadaro.
The initial match-ups, the Semifinals of Albion (which would be considered as Quarterfinals in the overall Monk Memorial Tournament), were determined by the seeding of the team captains. With Samara the highest of the four, his team would face the lowest ranked captain Gadi's team. And that left the other two teams to meet in the other Albion Semi/Monk Memorial Quarter - Lorenzo/Carucci vs. Martinelli/La.
All four teams seemed evenly balanced. The Samara/De Benedetto tandem had the most experience teaming together, but their opponents featured a pairing of vast Doubles experience in Spadaro coupled with a player who is arguably the fastest in the league, Gadi.
Speaking of speed, Carucci always has to be in the conversation of swiftest competitors in the league and he was also aligned with a very experienced Doubles player in Lorenzo. Their opponents, Martinelli and La, both exhibit a solid balance of experience and speed. One could argue that Spin and Tom may have been the most evenly paired tandem of the four teams.
To save time, the 8-Man/4-Team format was presented to the league right with the provision that if the first two sets were split, a 10-Point Super Tiebreak would be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set to also not make everyone play too many sets of tennis in one day. This would hold true for both rounds in each location's Semifinal and Final.
Only the overall Final of the Monk Memorial Tournament (i.e. the Albion winners versus the Cedar Grove winners) would need to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match where a 3rd Set would have to be played if the first two sets were split. The 10-Point STB would no longer be an option.
When "Lean Daddy" Dean Delgado arrived at 10:35 and soon got involved in some Doubles action with the Gero family (Big Daddy Brad and his two sons, aka The Gero Brothers), it led to us having a total of twelve official competitors at Albion Park.
Let's first get to the tourney action that took place at AP, then the Non-Tourney full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match featuring Dean and Brad versus Alex and Steve (as The Cedar Grove half of the action will be detailed later in this report).
The AP Results:
Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Dan Martinelli/Tom La over Levy Lorenzo/Mike Carucci, 6-0, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Martinelli/La advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal! Tom: 1 Ace on Levy in the 1st Set. They played this on the South Court from 10:20 to 11:15 (with the 1st Set ending exactly at 10:43 and the next set starting a few minutes later after an extended water break).
The Skinny: When Tom approached Frank soon after Samara's arrival, he informed the host that he would need to leave around 12:30. Frank warned him that it could cause a possible forfeiture situation as the e-mails about this tourney all along stated that players may possibly be needed to play all the way until 2pm. Well, it seems that La (along with Martinelli) was properly motivated to make fast work of Lorenzo and Carucci. On paper, this seemed like it would be a closer contest. Spin said that Levy seemed to be having an off day while Mike exhibited usual speed in his get-making, but also lacked a bit of consistency.
Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Abhilash Gadi/Ray Spadaro, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Doubles Division while also advancing to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal! In the process, Gadi/Spadaro entered the division. No Aces.
1st Set: Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce where Ray hit a winner to set up Break Point and then came the break...the length of this game caused me to forget the previous winners along the way) and Ray held serve (a winning Overhead Smash by Abhi followed by an un-returned serve which was then followed by a blown volley from Frank set up Triple Game Point, it then went to Double Game Point where Ray hit an amazing winner to secure his own hold) for a 2-0 lead. Vin held (Frank blew a drop shot attempt for Love-15 and then it was point for point until 30-All where Vin hit a winning lob to make it Game Point and then came the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but Abhi also held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then point for point to Game Point which came right after Ray hit a winning lob of his own and then Vin blew a volley to allow the hold) for 3-1. Samara held (Vin blew a volley for Love-15 which was where Frank hit a highly impressive drop shot winner for 15-All and then it was off and running to Double Game Point where Ray hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut that lead to Game Point, but then came the hold) to pull to 2-3, but Spadaro held again (Ray hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, it was 15-All where an un-returned serve got the ball rolling to Double Game Point and then came the hold) and then De Benedetto was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Vin made an awesome get/winner combo along the way, but then it shifted to Break Point as Frank blew an overhead attempt along the way, it went to Deuce and then Break Point again where Abhi executed an emphatic Overhead Smash winner for the break) to fall to 2-5! Gadi was broken (Frank blew a volley and then Abhi hit what could only be described as a get/volley winner which demonstrated both his foot and hand speed to go up 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where an un-returned serve set up Double Game/Set Point which was then reduced to Game/Set Point and then it was Deuce where Ray blew a volley attempt to set up Break Point where Vin hit a vicious volley winner for the break) and then Hollywood held again (Vin hit another volley winner for 15-Love, but then Frank blew what should have been a surefire volley winner to make it 15-All only to then redeem himself with back-to-back un-returned serves to go up Double Game Point which was where Ray hit a victorious volley to reduce the lead to Game Point, but then came the hold) to pull to 4-5! Stingray was finally broken (Frank blasted an overblown attempt at an overhead to make it 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game/Set Point which came right after Vin blew a lob attempt, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break) to level the set at 5-5 and then Vintage Vinnie held (Abhi blew a lob attempt for 15-Love, but then Vin did the same for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as both players had similar unforced errors along the way and then came the hold) to take the first lead for his team at 6-5! The Accelerator also held (Abhi blew a drop shot attempt and then Frank hit a drop shot winner to make it Love-30, but then it shifted straight to Game Point as first there was a truly un-returnable serve which was followed in the next point by Abhi hitting a winning roller over the net and then he hit another winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold) to again tie things up and force the Tiebreak! In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve and then Ray held both of his serves, first by hitting a winning lob and then hitting an awesome winner right onto the sideline and then Vin held the first of his two serves but was broken on his second for 2-3. Abhi hit a Double Fault on his first serve for 3-3 at the changeover, but was then able to hold his second to take a 4-3 lead. Samara hit an un-returned serve to make it 4-4, but was then broken on his second as Ray hit a sizzling passing shot winner to give himself a 5-4 lead as he was about to go on serve. Spadaro then held his first serve to make it 6-4 and Set Point where he was then broken for 6-5, but it was still Set Point for his team with service returning to De Benedetto. He held that first serve for 6-6 at the second changeover and then Frank hit a drop shot winner to secure the hold of Vin's second serve to set up 7-6 and the very first Set Point for his team this set! Gadi was then broken to drop the set with a TB score of 8-6! We had begun this initial set at 10:15 and it ended exactly at 11:18...one hour and three minutes! The other tournament match had already been concluded by this time! After a two minute break, we began the next one.
2nd Set: Ray was broken at Love as Frank hit a winner and a winning drop shot return along the way, Frank was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, then Break Point where Vin hit a winner for Deuce, but then came another Break Point and then the break), but Abhi was the first to hold serve in this set (he started with a Double Fault, but then it was straight to Double Game Point as Ray first scored with an awesome winner which was then followed by a winning volley and then Abhi hit an amazing winner of his own to lock down his own hold) to go up 2-1! Vin was broken (Vin blew a volley for Love-15, but then Ray blew an overhead for 15-All only to then have it go right to Double Break Point where Ray scored with a drop shot winner for the break) to fall to 1-3, but Spadaro was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank opened the game with a winning volley and then Vin hit an excellent passing shot winner to set up Triple Break Point where Frank hit another winner for the break to pull to 2-3. But Samara was also broken again (Abhi made a great get/winner combo and then followed with another winner in the next point to make it Love-30 which was where Ray blew a volley for 15-30 only to have Vin blow an overhead to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Gadi held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point as Ray hit a winning volley along the way and then the hold came as the result of a truly un-returnable serve) as his team once again took a seemingly commanding 5-2 lead! But then De Benedetto held at Love as his partner took over the game with a winner followed by a surprising get/winner combo and then a nice passing shot winner for the hold, Stingray was broken at Love as Vin hit a winning volley and then another winner along the way and then Frank hit a winning drop shot return for the break and then The Wood held at Love as his team had just taken twelve straight points to level the set at 5-5! The Accelerator was then broken (Vin blew a volley and then Abhi made another signature get/winner combo to go up 30-Love only to have it all slip away as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash on the way to Break Point where he then scored with a laser-like passing shot winner down the Doubles Alley which led to him hitting an emphatic fist pump) to fall to 5-6 and then Vintage Vinnie held again as Frank followed up with an almost equally impressive passing shot winner (when compared to the previous one...and it was similar in nature as it was another slice backhand sailing thru the Doubles Alley) and then in the rally of the match it was Frank making a few inspired gets that led to the point and then Vin hit a winner to set up Triple Game/Match Point and then it went to Double Game/Match Point where Frank may have made his best get/winner combo of the match to end it in exciting fashion as his team took five straight gets for the double-dip comeback victory as they truly earned their moniker, The Gravediggers! This set (and match) ended at 11:56.
The Skinny: Samara/De Benedetto saved 3 Set Points prior to the Tiebreaker in the 1st Set and then another 2 SPs in the TB (for a total of five) before ultimately taking it on their very first opportunity. The 2nd Set comeback may have had less drama in terms of Set and/or Match Points, but the atmosphere was seemingly more intense. When they were once again down 2-5, Tom could be overheard saying to Vin at the sidelines that the lengthy match (and perhaps lack of lead) was due to his partner Frank's screw-ups. Much like George Costanza, Samara hears everything! This got him amped up and then came the twelve point run to level the set. In fact, the opposition only won two more points the entire set! But all four players earned rightful accolades over the course of this match. Abhi may have locked down the unofficial title of "fastest player in the GTA" during this battle. Fresh off of a season of cricket where his team made a very impressive run to the Quarterfinals of a league-wide tourney that had over 100 teams (thus, getting to the final eight is quite the achievement), we will now start seeing much more of Mr. Gadi for the balance of this season. What Ray may lack in mobility, he more than makes up for with excellent volleys and sharp-angled returns. Vin's game is similar to Spadaro's as both of these crafty veterans are truly impressive at finishing off points once they get stationed at the net. Even though this was a straight-set affair, this marathon two-setter stands an excellent chance at becoming a Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
Let's get back to the beginning where Tom had said he would need to leave by 12:30. Vin then said he would need to leave by 1pm. It seemed like La may have had a change of heart as the now-fresh tandem (after a lengthy rest) he had with Martinelli was looking to pick the bones of the deservedly exhausted team of Samara and De Benedetto. Frank would have willingly played on, but not in a scenario where the match would potentially had to be cut short by the pending exits of either Tom or Vin. Thus, it was mutually agreed upon to play the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal the following Sunday at Albion at 10:30.
Just a couple of minutes after 12noon, Frank sent a text to Kris to let them know they had the option of not playing that location's Final as it would only be fair to inform them that we were no longer doing it at Albion. Samara also thought to forward that same message to Mrs. Srinivasan (aka Doinks, "The Marathon Woman") just in case Kris was engrossed in the action on the court and unable to see the message.
Well, as it turns out, Doinks was out of town and the gang played on up at Cedar Grove and entirely executed their portion of the tourney. Before we get to all that, there is one more match to report from Albion.
Non-Tournament/2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Dean Delgado/Brad Gero over Steve Gero/Alex Gero, 6-1, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Dean: 2 Aces on Steve! They got this one underway on the North Court around 10:40, but not sure when it ended as I was still busy competing in my match. All I know is it ended after the Martinelli/La versus Lorenzo/Carucci match had finished, but they were done before our match concluded.
We now will detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove. We let The K Man take it away!
It was a beautiful day with the gorgeous sun out and it felt pretty good like we were in the thick of Summer. It sure was a superb day for our Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament. We had planned on getting eight players, a decent number even though it was not a big turnout like we were used to in the past. The question was whether the eight who committed will turn up for the tournament.
Melvin Hyman had ruled himself out earlier in the week and Edgar Valencia was potentially going to be running late. So we had Jay and Sairaj, my sons, as a back-up plan and I truly appreciate their willingness to help out as they lost some of their usual snooze time.
Our players were a committed lot, showing up on time with some of them like Ralph Bernard, Rich Liu, Senthil Kumar and Kevin Doyle leading the pack. Special thanks to Senthil for accepting my last minute invitation and making it a worthwhile tournament.
Samara's Notes: I thank Senthil as well as he had told me at the end of the week that he, like Mel, was also feeling under the weather. Now we go back to Kris.
The top four guys had their blind pick of who would play with them. Ralph, Senthil, Kris and Edwin, in that order, picked Edgar, Rich, Frank and Kevin respectively. It was game on from 10:15 with Team 1 taking on Team 4 and Team 2 clashing with Team 3.
The Cedar Grove High School Coach was involved in his usual Doubles Match with his pals on Court 3 and there was a Singles Match on Court 2 that involved non-GTA folks.
Cedar Grove Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Ralph Bernard/Edgar Valencia over Edwin Ortega/Kevin Doyle, 6-4, 6-0, to advance to the Cedar Grove Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Edwin: 1 Ace on Edgar!
Apparently, the 1st Set was close. And even though the 2nd Set score looks one-sided, they were playing for a while engaging in long rallies. Kevin did say he was feeling a little rusty and even though he didn't want to play, he did it for all Frank Samara does for the league. I should thank Kevin for committing to play. He is a very steady player who makes a fine effort with his diligent play. It looked like both Ralph and Edgar were in an attacking mode.
Cedar Grove Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Senthil Kumar/Rich Liu, 5-7, 6-2, 10-4 (STB), to advance to the Cedar Grove Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals as both teams entered the Doubles Division! Frank: 1 Ace on Rich in the 1st Set!
It turned out to be a great match overall and it certainly didn't look like we had a shot in the beginning. We know how effective Senthil can be and he ended up with a terrific partner in Rich. Rich had great serves, but his ground-strokes were superb and his return of serves were amazing. I was lucky to get Frank, who is a solid player with great serves, free-flowing shots and who is quite deft at the net. I was the odd man out whose play would decide the result…or so it looked. We were on serve the first four games before Frank was broken. He was serving beautifully from the Deuce court, but was finding it hard to get his serves going from the Ad court. We were down 3-5 when we dug in hard to tie the match at 5-All. We lost the next game in a jiffy and couldn't take the 1st Set to the distance as we missed our opportunities.
The 2nd Set turned the match on its head in our favor as we won the first four games and just missed out on winning the fifth. Frank was sharp and played smart tennis. We were broken in the fifth game and then an immediate hold for the opposition made it 4-2 in our favor when suddenly one wondered if the momentum had shifted. But we pressed on and tied the match winning the next two games and the set. We were on cruise control for the most part in the Super Tiebreak and we came out unscathed. It was a good match all in all. Rich probably got a bit anxious to put away the match in the 2nd Set. The extra pressure he put on himself worked against him. Senthil was pretty steady holding his serves until he faltered a bit in the 2nd Set and in the STB. Frank was our Ace as he has winning ways about him. He has a great temperament and plays purposefully.
Cedar Grove Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal:
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Ralph Bernard/Edgar Valencia, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the Finals of the Monk Memorial Tournament! Frank: 1Ace on Ralph in the 2nd Set!
Both Ralph and Edgar had attacking shots in the beginning and looked threatening. But Frank is a cool cat and was adept in taming them with his consistent play. Once again, his serves were great and he also showed variety in his play. Ralph did have some sweet shots, especially the screaming one bisecting both of us and a super backhand shot down the line that any hapless foe could only watch rooted on the ground. Edgar was attacking at the net, but we got wise to that. He had a mixed bag trying to attack down the line, but was overcooking his shots.
We played our first match between 10:15 and 11:55. The second one was from 12noon to 1:15 to wrap up an exciting tourney of tennis. Spin did come to see the last part of the morning session.
And, yes, we did have another session in the evening with Spin getting into action once again and acting as the host. He was brilliant like he was well-rested for a few days, exhibiting boundless energy! The highlight indeed was the official on-court return of "The Dragon" Dino Celis, wielding his Federer racquet as he was brilliant with his serves and ground-strokes. His mobility is not there yet, but his balance was good. He was well-supported by Ryan.
The evening session was exciting with high energy action. Jordan Bachvaroff was serving superbly. It was a mixed bag for him at the net, but he still could count on his ground-strokes. Jose Gonzales was serving well, but got injured in the midst of our match. Mike Kazlauskas was serving bombs and putting away the games on his serves with disdain. Arthur Fontanilla was amazing in his ground-strokes and was very consistent with his topspin shots, both backhand and forehand. All in all, it was an eventful Sunday packed with GTA action. Cheers!
Samara's Notes: OK, so you all got the tease for the later session in the evening. I wholeheartedly thank Kris for managing that half of the tourney so successfully. And before we go to Spin's report of that later session, we stay chronological and first go to The Riz for his report from NTC.
The NTC Results:
Mike Mole/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 10-8! No Aces. We played out the games, no Tiebreak.
Alfred Chen/Rich Liu over Mike Mole/Dan Hwang, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner. And now we let Spin close out this report.
A text message from Kris and then one from Dino got me in my car to head up to Cedar Grove on this steamy, sultry September evening. When I arrived, Dino was practicing his serve while Kris, Ryan Pienciak, Jordan Bachvaroff and Jose Gonzales were involved in a One-Setter (Kris gave me the score and I will lead with that). I went over to practice my return game and soon after I was summoned to be the fourth when Jose left.
Mike Kazlauskas/Arthur Fontanilla over Jose Gonzales/Kris Srinivasan, 6-4! Jose: 2 Aces (one on each); and Kris: 1 Ace on Mike!
Ryan Pienciak/Dan Martinelli over Jordan Bachvaroff/Kris Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces.
The Spin from Spin: This set was close all the way through and could have gone either way. Ryan's serve was on fire. It was a fun set even though the air was thick as a brick.
Ryan Pienciak/Dino Celis over Jordan Bachvaroff/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2! It was the official GTA Return of Dino Celis. Dino: 1 Ace on Kris on his very first serve!
The Spin from Spin: It was the long-awaited return to official action for Dino. His serves were spot on…well-placed and well-paced. He actually got an Ace on his very first serve! His mobility, understandably, was limited. He was about as mobile as a goldfish in a bowl of molasses. In the first three games, he was as rusty as the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" before Dorothy and the Scarecrow oiled him up. After that, Ryan and Dino never looked back as Kris and Jordan had trouble keeping the balls on the court and out of the net.
Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for doing double-duty on such a hot day and then putting on his host hat as well. It is also good to see Dino sticking his toe back in the water and getting back into the official action. When we add the two Cedar Grove sessions together, they had a total of 15 official competitors throughout the entire day and night…quite impressive on such a scorcher!
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
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