9/7/17:
"Ortega-Santos part of 29 at C.G. as Samara hosts!":
There was one extended session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis that got started early with a 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and "Stealth" Omar Santos (as reported by Edwin) and was then taken over later in the evening by host "Hollywood" Frank Samara (his first appearance there in quite some time).
So we will first get to the results submitted by Ortega and then get all the comings and goings later in the night from Samara.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Edwin Ortega over Omar Santos, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, to successfully defend both his # 21 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division! Edwin: 6 Aces (2 in each set)!
Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting of that match and also congratulate him on a hard-fought victory.
When Samara pulled into the lot of the Cedar Grove Courts, he saw GTA Champion:"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes has just pulled in as well. All four courts were occupied, but thankfully all were full with GTA players.
On Court One it was "The Pilot" Greg Swierczek teaming with "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard to take on "Instant" Moka Pathan and "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan.
On Court Two it was "The Hit Man" Tom La and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid having a hitting session with one another.
On Court Three it was "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff paired with "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo to face "The Art Font' Arthur Fontanilla and "GDP" Guy Dupoux.
And on Court Four we had Mixed Doubles action between the teams of "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto/"Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "JB Smooth" Justin Berardo/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson.
The weather was beautiful this particular evening...breezy and cool without being cold...almost perfectly seasonable! Given that fact, we expected our players to come out of the woodwork (or the trees)...and that they did!
At 7:15, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas arrived and she had an unexpected guest following her into the parking lot in a separate car with her very own driver. That guest was none other than the infamous Louise Bysiek!
Many in attendance that night (and I'm sure many more reading this e-mail) still clearly remember Louise's controversial run here in the GTA about five or so years ago. They also may recall the "firebomb" e-mail written by yours truly (Samara) that fell just a hair short of telling Ms. Bysiek that she had become "persona non grata!" No player in the entire history of the league has ever actually been kicked out of it.
Upon her arrival, however, Louise was ladylike and sweet. She first approached Frank who was sitting on the bench alongside Court Four and said how she remembered him and that he pretty much looked the same (she was even kind enough not to mention the added pounds). Likewise, Samara stated that he remembered her as well.
This truly seems to be a new Louise. She was gracious and quite coherent. She mentioned how she had serious leg surgery about four years ago which has kept her away from the game of tennis. She is just getting back out on the courts now, but her mobility is severely limited. Her shot-making is still very much on point. Bysiek is a Former GTA Mixed Doubles Champion and if she can return to form (or close to it), she can still prove to be dangerous in Doubles situations.
Her behavior was impeccable for the balance of the evening as she continued to greet players that she remembered or whenever she met a new face. I do believe that almost everyone deserves a second chance. As long as she continues to conduct herself in this manner, she is more than welcome to attend our sessions in the future.
Let's get back to the arrival times of the players. At 7:20, Frank "Hydro" Hohorst rolled into the lot. Around that same time, usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan came across the street and made a beeline for Court Two which only had three players on it (Tom, Syed and Nate).
We started to head into Logjam City as "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales arrived at 7:35 only to be followed by both "CB" Chris Barbieri and "True Drew" Andrew Kroessler just five minutes later. There was a growing crowd around Samara's bench and it did not end there.
At 7:55, both "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived. Five minutes later, Dupoux returned to the scene (he had to leave at 7:40 to go pick up his wife...it had only been an extended hitting session earlier on Court Three as he sided with Fontanilla against Bachvaroff and Lorenzo).
At 8:10, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli cruised into the lot with his top down (but thankfully with his other top on...LOL!) as he would soon join his fellow Heckler (moi) on the bench.
Finally, court space would become available as some of the earlier attendees decided to head home and/or give those waiting a chance to get into the action. At 8:45, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan crossed the street ready to play. Five minutes later, "Dynamo" Dino Celis made his presence felt as he would get involved in some hitting sessions along the way.
And at 9:40, "Rowdy" Rob Gawley (aka "Squash Boy") found a way to top Spin's earlier entrance as he rolled in on his vintage motorcycle (Spin mentioned the make...but I forget it at this time). He stuck around long enough to take off his helmet, shake some hands, survey the scene and then get back on his bike and head up the hill to head home.
We had a very impressive total of 29 actual players throughout the session. Kris tried to give the credit to Frank for announcing he would be present, but it was more likely due to beautiful weather, rain the night before and the US Open was starting to wind its way down (many were checking in on the progress of the Venus Williams versus Sloane Stephens Semifinal throughout the course of the evening).
After a rough and bumpy run as of late, the night's events (after a bit of a hiccup with those who had to wait) marked a return to smooth sailing as far as these types of sessions go. I thank all those who were a part of it.
Now let's get to those scores!
Vinnie De Benedetto/Brenda Jordan over Justin Berardo/Dawn Peterson, 7-5! No Aces. They estimated they started this one around 6:35 on Court Four and it finished precisely at 7:23.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Greg Swierczek/Ralph Bernard over Moka Pathan/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 93 and # 94 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division! Sairaj: 1 Ace on Ralph in the 2nd Set! Court One hosted the 1st Set from 7pm to 7:34. At that time, they invited others to take over the court but nobody took the bait. So they entered into the next set at 7:35 and the full match finished at exactly 8:08.
Frank Hohorst/Fadia Nicolas over Justin Berardo/Louise Bysiek, 6-3! It was the official GTA Return of Louise Bysiek. No Aces. Actually, they started hitting at 7:25 and then at 7:36 they kicked things off "Battle of the Sexes" style with the ladies versus the gents. They played three games that way (I don't know what the score was) before they decided to switch up the teams for a more traditional Mixed Doubles format. This fully finished One-Setter ran from 7:48 to 8:18 on Court Four.
Nathan Fernandes/Tom La over Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid, 6-3! No Aces. They played this on Court Two from 7:32 to 8:22.
Jose Gonzales/Arthur Fontanilla over Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo, 6-4! Jose: 2 Aces (one on each)!
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Andrew Kroessler over Lou La Forgia/Chris Barbieri, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 95 and # 96 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces. Court One hosted this full match from 8:15 to 9:21.
Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo over Guy Dupoux/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1! Guy: 1 Ace on Levy. Court Three hosted this one from 8:24 to 8:54.
Frank Hohorst/Justin Berardo over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! No Aces. It went like this: Frank H. was broken (he hit a winner for 15-Love, then hit a Double Fault for 15-All where Spin made a winning lob for 15-30, an excellent rally led to Double Break Point which would soon rebound to Deuce, Break Point again where an un-returned serve made it 2nd Deuce and then Justin blew a volley to set up Break Point only to blow another volley for the break) and Frank S. held serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 with two un-returned serves and then it became Double Game Point where Justin hit a winning volley to cut it to Game Point, but then Frank H. blew a volley to allow the hold) for 2-0. Justin held (Love-30 shifted to 30-All as Frank H. hit consecutive winning volleys and then Frank S. blew a volley to set up Game Point where Frank H. scored with a winning Backhand Volley for the hold) and then Spin was broken at Love as Justin hit a winning volley to set up Triple Break Point where Frank S. blew what should have been a sure volley winner to cause the break for 2-2! Hohorst held (Double Fault for Love-30 and then back-to-back un-returned serves for 30-All where Justin blew a volley to make it Break Point, but then Frank S. also blew a volley to bring it to Deuce and then it went to Game Point and the hold) and then Samara was broken (it was Love-30 when Justin blew a volley to make it 15-30, but then Frank S. blew another "sure thing" type volley to set up Double Break Point, it went to Break Point where Frank S. redeemed himself with an excellent winner for Deuce, it went to Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4! Berardo had a Love hold after Frank blew an overhead attempt and also an un-returned serve along the way to take a commanding 5-2 lead, but Martinelli held (Justin had an awesome Overhead Smash winner for Love-15 and then there was a Double Fault for Love-30, it then went to Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point which was where Justin hit an Overhead Smash only to have Spin make what is best described as an amazing and defensive reflex get to hit it back for a forced error and the point to make it Deuce where another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold as the team known as The Foundation had just saved 3 MP's to last a little longer) to pull to 3-5! Hydro was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, Spin makes another awesome get that leads to 15-All, a Double Fault for 15-30 and then a blown volley set up Double Break Point and then came the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4, but Hollywood was broken again (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All which came right after an un-returned serve, but then a net-cord-aided volley winner from Justin set up Break/Match Point, but then another un-returned serve earned a Deuce, it went back to Break/Match Point where yet another un-returned serve set up the 2nd Deuce only to have it go to still another Break/Match Point...the 6th MP overall and that was where what might have been the rally of the match finally leading to the downfall of Spin City...aka The Foundation) to take a tough loss! We played this one on Court Four from 8:25 to 9:07.
The Skinny: As has been happening lately, The Wood and The Doc got off to a fast start only to crumble and allow their opponents to go on a hot streak. At least this time around, they showed that longstanding resiliency for which they are known for to almost fight their way back into this one. Samara's time away from tennis this past week hurt his game as he made many uncharacteristic errors. That led to Spin taking his game up a notch to attempt to make up for it. Hydro held down the fort for his team while JB Smooth got off to a shaky start...but Berardo got his act together just in time to take the win!
Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid, 7-5! Syed: 3 Aces on Louise! This was contested on Court Two from 8:27 to 9:07. Nate reported that the opposition were gentlemen (with emphasis on the "gentle" part) when it came to hitting to Louise (save those serves from Syed...LOL!) and Fernandes/Bysiek saved 3 Match Points along the way! A hitting session between Kris and Dino soon took over the court.
Guy Dupoux/Fadia Nicolas over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! Guy: 4 Aces (two on each)! They begun this one on Court Three precisely at 9pm and it ended exactly at 9:59 with less than a minute left to play before lights out at 10pm! Jose and Doinks had been down 1-4 before fighting back to make things interesting (and long)! They were lucky to get this one done in time.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Hohorst over Jordan Bachvaroff/Tom La, 7-5! Tom: 2 Aces on Nate; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Frank! They started this one on Court Four at 9:11 and it ended exactly at 9:52. It helped that they decided to forego the changeovers. Nate and Frank saved one Match Point on their way to rallying back to win this one! The high quality tennis throughout this contest caused many at court side to view the action quite intently. Afterward, Nate and Jordan had a hitting session that lasted until it was lights out at ten.
Once again, this was truly a great session that somewhat set the table for the balance of the season as we transition out of summer and into autumn. Kudos!
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354
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