9/27 Results.

9/27/17:

"Samara hosts 5 at PAC, 26 play (3 new, 1 return) at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and the other at The Cedar Grove Courts which had six different sources reporting results - "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld, "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas, GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan (who will tidy it all up in a bow).

And even though the Cedar Grove session was the one to get started earlier, we will first detail the Nutley session as the Cedar Grove session was truly epic and deserves to close the show.

So it is off to Nutley we go!

When Samara pulled into the parking lot off of Park Ave. at 7:35, he saw that all four courts were full.  The only familiar face was that of "Richie" Rich Liu out on Court Two, but he was with someone that Frank did not recognize.

Sitting on the bench outside the fence alongside Court One was "The Hit Man" Tom La.  Frank greeted him, but before sitting down he called out to Liu to see if they wanted two more for Doubles.  Rich then explained that he had planned on playing a full Singles Match with this mystery man.

While waiting, Tom called Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan to see if he wanted to join us.  It seemed that Dennis was leaning toward heading up to Cedar Grove.  Meanwhile, Samara was fielding text messages from "MC Quick" Mike Carucci (who said he should arrive by 8:30) and "The Riz" John Rizzo (who was interesting in attending if he was needed and only once a court became available).

Well, Court Four did become available at 7:50, so Frank sent a reply to John telling him it would be worthwhile to make the trip from Clifton.  Five minutes later, Court One opened up as well...so Samara and La opted to take that one instead (better lighting, more convenient location).

Then, Frank and Tom entered into a hitting session with one another.  Court Three soon cleared as well.  So now it was just Courts One and Two with any action on them.

Rizzo pulled into the lot at 8:10 and soon took Tom's side in hitting against Frank.  Ten minutes later and after Liu was done playing his non-GTA opponent, he shifted over to Court One for some Doubles.  At exactly 8:23, we had a Doubles One-Setter underway with Rich joining Tom to face Frank and John.

As promised, Carucci arrived precisely at 8:30.  He was odd man out for a while as he sat on the bench alongside Court One watching the action.  He would not have to wait too long, however, for someone to hit with as "The Renegade" Joe Renga.  The two of them went down to Court Three to have a little bit of separation from the official Doubles action taking place on Court One.

When the first Doubles One-Setter finished exactly at 8:53, there was some confusion as to who would compete in the next one.  Rizzo was satisfied to be "one and done" as this was his first action out on a hard court since much earlier in the season (another nickname for The Riz is "Clay Boy" as he competes almost exclusively on the red clay courts of Nutley Tennis Club...until the indoor season at The Wayne Bubble begins, of course...than he transforms into the "Bubble Boy"...LOL!).

La said he was also feeling somewhat sore.  Renga was happy to practice his serve all the way over on Court Four.  Meanwhile, Samara was dealing with a semi-emergency (or, so it seemed at the time) as he found out his ceiling had a leak in his living room at home.  He had to engage in some text messages back and forth with a couple of the members on the church committee (he lives in an apartment on church property...they function as landlord and super in a somewhat quasi fashion) to make sure they would handle the situation.  

During this time period, the two guys still eager to play more (Carucci and Liu) first started hitting against one another and then it led to a half-set (a third of a set, perhaps?) which was won by Mike, 2-1.

Finally, Frank had handled all the B.S. while Tom was talked into going back out there for one more while John was content to watch and occasionally act as the lone "Heckler."

Rizzo got to see quite a battle as the second One-Setter was quite intense in nature (the first one was also quite good).  Yet, it was also a lot of fun.  John and Joe stayed right until the end of the night...a night that was as sticky and steamy as...well, a steam bath!

The Park Ave. Results:

Tom La/Rich Liu over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: John held at Love as Frank and John each hit winners and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point which ended with an excellent get/winner combo by John, Rich held serve (back-to-back un-returned serves followed by a winning volley by Tom set up Triple Game Point where a Double Fault made it Double Game Point only to have Tom hit another winning volley to secure his partner's hold), Frank held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as Rich hit two winning Overhead Smashes along the way, but then Tom blew an overhead to set up Game Point and then Rich blew an overhead to allow the hold) and Tom held at Love as Rich hit a winning Overhead Smash, Tom hit a winner and Rich hit a winning volley along the way and we were all on serve at 2-2.  Rizzo was the first to be broken as he got off to a 15-Love start only to have Rich hit a winning Overhead Smash and Tom hit a blistering volley winner on the way to Double Break Point where Tom hit yet another blast of a volley winner for the break and then Liu held again (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point as Rich hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way and an un-returned serve sealed the deal) to go up 4-2.  Samara held again as well (an un-returned serve followed by a blown overhead by Tom made it 30-Love which was where Rich hit a scorching return winner for 30-15, but then came Double Game Point and another un-returned serve to secure the hold) to pull to 3-4, but from there La also held again (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point as Rich hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way, then a Double Fault made it Game Point, it went to Deuce and Game Point again where a truly un-returnable serve locked down the hold) and then The Riz was broken again in the best game of the set (an un-returned serve followed by a winning lob from John made it 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where another un-returned serve set up Game Point, then Deuce where Tom hit a drop shot winner to make it Break/Match Point where Frank made a great get/winner combo to bring it to 2nd Deuce, it then went to the 2nd Break/Match Point which was where John hit a precise passing shot winner to make it 3rd Deuce which was where Frank came up short on a drop shot attempt which set up the 3rd Break/Match Point where Tom hit a big return winner for the victory) to end the match!  We played this one on Court One from 8:23 to 8:53.

The Skinny: Considering it had been quite some time since he had been out on a hard court, Rizzo moved well and had many moments to be proud of in this one.  Meanwhile, La and Liu gelled well as both like to finish points off up at the net with dramatic Overhead Smashes and swinging volleys.  Samara (as well as The Riz) often surprised the opposition with his get-making ability.  Frank did himself in when trying to be too precise when attempting to end points rather than play them out and let the adversaries do themselves in instead.  All in all, it was a good one that felt closer than the score indicates.

Tom La/Rich Liu over Frank Samara/Mike Carucci, 6-4!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Mike held serve (started with a Double Fault and then back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-15 and then another Double Fault made it 30-All where Frank hit a killer drop shot winner to set up Game Point which was then an excellent rally where Mike's last get made the difference in getting the point and taking the game), Rich held at Love as Tom made a great get/volley combo and followed that with a drop shot volley in the next point and then Frank was the first to be broken in a true battle of a game as 15-Love shifted to 15-30 as Rich hit a passing shot winner along the way and then came another shift to Game Point where Tom hit a winning volley to make it deuce and then it was all Break Points all the way to 3rd Deuce where Tom hit a winning return to set up another Break Point and then came the break...and I likely forgot some winners during that lengthy game) for 1-2.  La held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, then Deuce and it was all Game Points to 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold and at this time I decided to forget about noting who hit what winners in the interest of saving time) and Carucci was broken (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point cut down to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4.  Liu was also broken as he started off with a Double Fault, the game shifted to 30-15 where two more Double Faults caused the shift to Break Point and then came the break and then Samara held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-4.  La was broken (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 15-30, 30-ALl, Break Point where Frank hit a crucial drop shot winner which felt like a momentum-shifter) to knot the score at 4-4!  Well, the momentum did shift...back in favor of the original leaders of the set as MC Quick was broken again and this time it was at Love as he hit a Double Fault on Triple Break Point and then Richie Rich held (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game/Match Point which was set up by a winning mishit volley from Tom and then came the hold) for a hard-fought victory!  This was also done on Court One and it lasted from 9:15 to 9:50.

The Skinny: In the games where I failed to note who hit what winners, the recap is that Tom and Rich continued to do what they both do best...finish off points at the net with winning volleys and Overhead Smashes.  Mike is one of the faster players in the league and he put that on full display with several great gets...including one where he ended up on his knees near the net hitting a sick volley winner which angled its way into the Doubles Alley and then off the court out of the reach of the opposition.  Samara seemed a little extra motivated by his speedy partner as he did his own thing in the get department.  This one was a whole lot of fun and we felt fortunate to get it done on time as it felt like we were closer to the 10pm cut-off time than we actually were.

We now will detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove.  And we will try to do it in chronological order as much as possible.

The Cedar Grove Results:  

Jordan Bachvaroff/Moka Pathan over Edwin Ortega/Scott Bergenfeld, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Scott Bergenfeld.

The Skinny from Scott: No one responded to my e-mail (the Open Challenge for a Singles Match).  I went to the courts at 6:30 and hit with Jordan for half an hour.  Then we played the Doubles One-Setter.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo over Dennis Cabanatan/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 82 and # 83 Ranked Teams respectively!  Arthur: 1 Ace on Tito in the 1st Set; Dennis: 1 Ace on Levy in the 2nd Set; and Levy: 1 Ace on Arthur in the 2nd Set!

When the Levy Breaks: Dennis and Arthur thought they would annihilate us.  Before we started the 1st Set, they asked us if we were sure we wanted to play together.

Samara's Notes: Seems the elder Filipinos had their way with the somewhat younger Filipinos...LOL!  I thank Levy for submitting that result in a very timely manner.  I also thank Scott for his earlier contribution. 

Nathan Fernandes/Lou La Forgia over Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Lou La Forgia over Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Chris Chiaro over Jordan Bachvaroff/Bhumin Desai, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Bhumin Desai.

Samara's Notes: Those first two are not duplicated in error...the first two One-Setters were a "ditto" type situation.  I thank Nate for reporting those results in such a timely way.

Marijus Kuzavas/Laurie Boughton over Bhumin Desai/Sally Pillay, 6-2!  No Aces.

Edgar Valencia/Dan Knitzer over Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Dan Knitzer.

Lou La Forgia/Doinks Srinivasan over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-3!  Marijus: 4 Aces (3 on Lou and 1 on Doinks); and Sally: 1 Ace on Doinks!

Lou La Forgia/Doinks Srinivasan leading Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Marijus and Doinks for that last batch of results...all of which were submitted in a timely fashion.

And now we will let The K take it away for the balance of this report.

It was a very busy night in Cedar Grove as it was packed with GTA action.  As much as I wanted to get an early start, it wound up being at the later stages of prime time.  All the courts were occupied by almost all our players.  Court 3 had three players only having a hitting session.  So I let Doinks be the fourth and soon enough they played Doubles.  That would give me a chance to chill out and gnash on an apple.

Court 1 saw Erdem Alpay playing a Singles One-Setter against Nirav Desai, both of whom are part of Bergen Tennis Club.  After their match, I had a chat with both of them and incidentally welcomed Nirav to the GTA.  Both of them couldn't play or hit more with us as Erdem hurt his elbow and Nirav had to go.

Court 3 was intense with Nate and Lou taking on Chiaro and Moka.  Court 4 was equally intense with Marijus pairing up with Laurie Boughton against his wifey, Sally and Bhumin.  I believe Bhu got invited to our group by Sally and Marijus.  Bhu sure had some nice booming serves and looked like a solid player. Marijus was simply fantastic at the net and he showed he was the boss to all those shots that Sally threw at him.

Samara's Notes: It was actually Arthur who brought Bhu to the courts.  Now back to Kris we go.

Once Court 1 freed up, I got to work a bit on my serves.  In less than a minute, Natalia Sout joined me.  We did notice two people by the court side of Court 4.  It turned out to be Fernanda Toker and Tommy Reszkowski.  They had apparently come here with the intent of playing a full match against me and Doinks.  With Doinks in action in the adjacent court, Natalia was game to team up with me for what would have been a full match.

Erdem Alpay over Nirav Desai, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Nirav Desai.

Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 7-6 (7-2)!  Kris: 1 Ace on Fernanda!

Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout tied with Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 4-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

We had started our match about 8:15 and couldn't wrap it up in its entirety. In what would have been the 1st Set (now a stand-alone One-Setter), it was a close match for the first half, going neck and neck.  The night was extremely humid and it affected Natalia big-time right from the get-go.  After a couple of games, she looked like she may faint and she found it hard to play her aggressive shots.  I insisted that she drink water and hydrate herself well and not to worry about the points.  To her credit, she pulled herself up well and showed the Olympian stuff in her.  On the other side, we had the other lady as fresh as a daisy with her partner as fit as a fiddle.  I was as cool as a cucumber at least for most part of the match and it turned out to be exciting one.  Fernanda, as usual, was as steady as a rock with some amazing gets and consistent play.  Tommy was brilliant at the net playing aggressive shots and overall playing a very competitive match.  Despite her low energy because of the humidity, Natalia played with high intensity and showed her absolute commitment and involvement.  We were up 5-3 before a superb comeback by Fernanda and Tommy to take the next three games.  Under pressure, we showcased our steely determination to win the next game and put away the TB handsomely.

With big momentum and mojo on our side, we won the first two games in the would-be 2nd Set rapidly.  But Tommy would do well to break that momentum with some attacking shots to go up quickly 40-15 before his serves let him down a bit as he would soon face Break Points...6 of them and he survived all of them to eke out a hold.  Soon, it was 2-All before we ramped up our game and took it to 4-2!  We made crucial errors that deprived us of going up 5-2 and again, in the last game of the night, as I made tactical errors invading into Natalia's territory to intercept the balls that pretty much were played to her all night long.  Fittingly, Fernanda won the last point as the lights went out to make it 4-All.  It was a great and intense match that saw all the players doing well and having plenty of moments to cherish.

Samara's Notes: While it is a shame this match did not get to see its proper finish, that would-be 1st Set may now end up becoming a Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  We now turn it over to Kris again.

Doinks teamed up with Lou to play against the formidable Marijus and Sally.  Doinks said that Lou was brilliant, unleashing his lethal weapon.  He was terrific in serving and his ground-strokes were spot-on.  Lou specifically did tell Doinks that she was amazing and played exceptionally well.  They won the first One-Setter easily, leading with big margin before a comeback.  So it was in the second One-Setter leading 6-5 and Doinks serving 30-All when the lights went off where Lou and Doinks were shy of two points in beating Marijus and Sally in a full match and clinching the number uno spot.  The number one team did have many unforced errors, but did well to stage a comeback at the right time.

Samara's Notes: For the record, this would have been a Non-Title Match for a couple of reasons.  One, Lou and Doinks are not yet ranked as a team in the Mixed Doubles Division, so they cannot take a shot at the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.  Second, Marijus and Sally have been instructed to first defend their Titles against Former Mixed Doubles Champ: Tito Castolo and a partner of his choosing.  If they get past them, then they must wait to face the team that will emerge as the winners from the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament.  Had Lou and Doinks emerged victorious in a full match, they would have entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 2 Ranked Team (i.e. Top Contenders) and they would also then have a guaranteed shot at the Titles in their future. 

OK, now we go back to Kris one last time.

Earlier in the evening, Doinks paired up with Jordan to play against Edgar Valencia and Dan K from The Nutley Crew.  It was a winning night for Edgar.

In the midst of our match entered "The Dragon" Dino Celis.  He did have the company of "Rowdy" Rob Gawley for some time before Rob buzzed off on his bike.  All in all, an intense and humid night packed with action.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for being "the host with the most" up at Cedar Grove.  And I again thank all the others who contributed to this report as well...and I welcome all the new players as we have two groups making their way into the GTA - Bergen Tennis Club and the Nutley Meet-Up Crew.

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354