10/20/17:
"10 play at PAC, 18 play (1 return) at C.G.!":
There were two concurrent sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "Hollywood" Frank Samara acted as host as some of the players were there as a result of "Richie" Rich Liu's Meet-Up Group while others were GTA veterans such as "The Riz" John Rizzo and "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport; the other was at The Cedar Grove Courts as we received results from "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak along with the usual co-hosts (aka The First Couple of Cedar Grove) "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.
We will first recap the comings and goings at Park Ave.
Samara thought he was getting there early when he pulled into the parking lot at 6:50, but then he saw Rizzo, Liu and "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto standing together on Court One waiting for a fourth player to arrive. Shockingly, Courts Two, Three and Four were all vacant (but not for long)!
With just the four of us hitting for a while, we decided to start playing with the teams being Frank and Vin versus John and Rich. We said that if it ends up just being the four of us, it could be played as a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match. If, however, a fifth or seventh wheel shows up…it would be limited to just a One-Setter to allow others to play. We got the official action underway exactly at 7:01.
At 7:10, "Kaybee" Kyle Eng arrived and took Court Two to start practicing his serve. Just when it was starting to seem like we may be faced with the "fifth wheel" situation, both "Muha" Muhammad Haque and Edgar "Valentino" Valencia made their way to Court Two as well.
Then, for just a bit, we thought we may have a "seventh wheel" situation. But at 7:20, it was "Fantastic" Fausto Murg arriving to save the day.
Once our 1st Set ended at 7:30, we decided to make it a full Doubles Challenge Match on Court One. Around that same time, two outsiders took Court Four.
At 7:35, "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport arrived and took Court Three. Just when it seemed like he may be the odd man out (a ninth wheel, if you will), just a few minutes later we saw "DC-10" David Caicedo arriving and we suggested he head over to Court Three to hit with Dan.
And those are the ten competitors we had for the rest of the evening…on a night where the weather was absolutely amazing…it felt much more like early September rather than mid to late October! As such, some Singles One-Setters broke out among the Doubles One-Setters.
Let's get to the action!
The Park Ave. Courts Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Rich Liu over Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-3, 6-1, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division! Rich: 2 Aces on Vinnie in the 1st Set!
1st Set: Rich held serve (an un-returned serve for 30-Love, 30-15 where Vin blew a volley to set up Double Game Point which was where he was then victimized by a service-line Ace for the hold), Frank held (an un-returned serve and then a victorious volley by Vin soon led to Triple Game Point where Rich hit a nice passing shot winner to make it Double Game Point which was where Vin hit a vicious volley winner to secure his partner's hold), John held (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point as Rich hit a mishit volley winner along the way and then he secured his partner's hold with a Samara-like Windmill Overhead Smash winner), but Vin was the first to be broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Rich hit another mishit volley winner along the way and then it shifted again as Vin blew a volley along the way and then ended up getting broken) to fall to 1-3. Liu held again (started with a sideline Ace on Vin, then it was 15-All before back-to-back un-returned serves set up Double Game Point where a third consecutive un-returned serve locked down the hold) to increase his team's lead to 4-1, but Samara also held again and it was at Love as he started off with an un-returned serve, Rich blew an overhead and then there was another un-returned serve to secure the hold to pull to 2-4! Rizzo was broken (started off with a Double Fault and then it went point for point to Break Point as Rich hit a winning Overhead Smash, Frank hit a winning volley, Rich hit yet another winning Overhead Smash and Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash as well to set up that BP which was where Frank hit a passing shot return for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3, but De Benedetto was broken again (Frank blew an overhead to make it Love-15, it then went to Love-30 before shifting straight to Game Point as Frank hit a net-cord-aided winner along the way, but then John hit a drop shot winner for Deuce, it then went to Break Point and 2nd Deuce where Vin blew a volley to bring it back to Break Point where he was then broken) to fall again, this time to 3-5. And then Richie Rich had his third straight hold (John hit a winner for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then Vin blew an overhead and it was off and running to Double Game/Set Point where Frank blew a volley to allow the hold and drop the set) to end this set at 7:30 (we had begun this one on Court One at 7:01). Two minutes later, the next set would get underway.
2nd Set: Frank held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love where John hit a winner for 15-All, it then went straight to Double Game Point which was then cut down to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce where Vin hit a winning volley for Game Point where Frank made a great get that led to them winning the point to secure his own hold), Rich held (back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where another un-returned serve set up Game Point where Vin blew a volley to allow the hold) and then Vin was once again the first one to be broken (John made an amazing get only to have Frank waiting at the net to put away the easy volley winner for 15-Love and then it went point for point until 30-All as Rich hit a drop shot winner and later a passing shot winner along the way and then Rich hit another winner for the mini-shift to Break Point where Vin broke himself with a Double Fault) for 1-2. John held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a passing shot return winner from Frank for 15-All, but then it was off and running to Double Game Point as Frank blew a volley along the way and then he blew an overhead to enable the hold), Samara was broken (Vin blew an overhead for Love-30, an un-returned serve for 15-30 which was where John made an awesome get/winner combo to set up Double Break Point which was where Rich hit a net-cord-aided winner for the break), Liu held again and this time it was at Love as John started things off with a powerful passing shot winner, Vin blew a volley and then Rich hit a pair of passing shot winners to set up the hold and then to cause it to happen to take a quite commanding 5-1 lead. And then De Benedetto was broken once again (Frank hit his most venomous volley winner for 15-Love, but then Rich hit a net-cord-aided return winner for 15-All and then he also hit a passing shot winner on the way to Double Break/Match Point, it then went to Break/Match Point only to have Frank dump an unforced error into the net to end this one in unceremonious fashion) to take a tough and somewhat surprisingly lopsided loss! The match ended exactly at 7:54.
The Skinny: Afterward, both John and Frank felt that they were both a bit off their game…like always half a step behind and not quite getting a rhythm. This was evidenced by the fact that early on in the 1st Set, Samara had hit a shot where his own racquet swung back on the follow-thru to sting him right under his right kneecap. It was painful, but did not stop him from continuing to play on…nor was it an excuse for his poor performance. It had absolutely nothing to do it. Vin, too, felt he had an off-night as he was also not quite in sync (no Justin Timberlake here…maybe more like Chris Kirkpatrick…LOL!). The MVP of the match was Rich who was on the money much more often than not. In fact, it was the most consistent performance we have ever seen from him. He credited much of it to recently getting his racquet restrung and now having much more control over his shots. Very telling about how this match went was the fact that it was "A Tale of Two Servers" as Rich was never broken on serve while Vin was never able to hold serve.
It has been quite the week for Mr. Liu as first he ended up becoming one half of the # 2 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division and now he is one half of the # 4 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division…not too shabby!
The Consequences: Just with this one loss, the Samara/De Benedetto tandem likely took themselves out of contention for an official Nomination for Doubles Team of The Year at season's end. As they say: "No good deed goes unpunished!" But I've always preferred to be of the ilk to accept a challenge (or even offer up one) at a moment's notice rather than to run and hide and make excuses as to why such a match is not convenient at that time. Congratulations to both John and Rich on a very impressive victory!
Dan Praport over David Caicedo, 7-5! Dan: 1 Ace. Dan jumped out to a 4-1 lead before it was leveled at 4-4! Praport went up 5-4 only to have Caicedo tie it again at 5-5. The Speed Demon fought hard to take the next two games to close out his surprisingly tough opponent. These two battled it out on Court Three for 55 minutes (7:45 to 8:40)!
Fausto Murg/Kyle Eng over Edgar Valencia/Muhammad Haque, 6-0! Edgar: 2 Aces on Kyle! These two teams faced off on Court Two from 7:50 to 8:20. Kyle had to leave the session soon after it ended.
Rich Liu/Vinnie De Benedetto over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-3! John: 1 Ace on Vin; and Rich: 1 Ace on Frank! It went like this: John held in a struggle where I failed to remember who hit what winners once it went beyond Deuce (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which was where Frank blew a volley for 15-All and then it went straight to Double Break Point as Rich hit a rapid return winner along the way, but then Frank hit an Overhead Smash winner to cut it to Break Point, then Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) , Rich held (Frank made a great get/winner combo for Love-15 and that got the ball rolling to Triple Break Point where Rich made a sick get/passing shot winner combo to reduce it to Double Break Point and then he hit back-to-back un-returned serves to bring it to Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold), but Frank was the first to be broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point where Rich hit a walloping and winning Overhead Smash for the break) for 1-2. Vin was also broken (John hit a scorcher of a passing shot return winner for Love-15, then at Love-30 it was Frank blowing what should have been a sure overhead for 15-30 and then it went to Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and then Rizzo held again (15-Love, 15-All and then on the way to Double Game Point as John hit a precise passing shot winner along the way, then came Game Point, a Double Fault for Deuce and then a soft and short Ace against Vin for Game Point and then came the hold) to reclaim the lead for his team at 3-2. Liu held again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point where he scored with a sideline Ace against Frank for the hold...no winners in this one) and Samara was broken again (John hit a wicked winner for 30-Love, but then the trend reversed as Rich hit an equally impressive winner followed by a winning drop shot volley by Vin that was pure precision and that made it Break Point where John blew a volley to allow the break) to once again lose the lead for his team at 3-4! De Benedetto had his first hold of the night (an un-returned serve for 30-Love where Frank hit a winning volley for 30-15 and then another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point, it was then Game Point where Rich hit a venomous volley winner to secure his partner's hold) and then Rizzo was finally broken (Rich hit a winning drop shot return for Love-30 where John hit a winning lob for 15-30 and then came 30-All followed by Break/Match Point where Vin shut it down with a victorious volley winner) to end it! We also played this one on Court One and it lasted from 8pm to 8:38.
The Skinny: Once again, Rich was on fire and his streak of not being broken on service continued thru this one. Vin, seemingly inspired by a younger and more athletic partner, picked up his pace as well. Rich called Vinnie's vintage drop shot volley winner the "shot of the night!" Meanwhile, Frank and John remained out of rhythm as putting the two of them together only amplified their problems...not solve them.
Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu, 7-6 (7-3)! Edgar: 1 Ace. Again, Court One was the setting as this one almost lasted one hour (8:40 to 9:36)! Rich's winning streak came to an end and he was so stunned by the result, that he was walking off the court without shaking Edgar's hand! Mr. Valencia had a big grin on his face as he waited at the net with a waving hand still waiting for the handshake as Mr. Samara directed Mr. Liu to return to the net. Edgar not only has the edge in Doubles...he is quite the Singles player as well. In fact, I think that should be Valencia's new moniker: "The Edge!" And this one may have a shot at being a Nominee for One-Set Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season's end.
David Caicedo over Fausto Murg, 6-2! Fausto: 1 Ace. These two faced off on Court Two from 8:42 to 9:25.
Dan Praport/John Rizzo over Frank Samara/Muhammad Haque, 6-3! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Dan held serve (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold as Dan blew a volley along the way, but also had an un-returned serve), Frank held (Muhammad hit a whipping winner for 15-Love and then Dan hit a drop shot that drew the error from Frank for 15-All, but then back-to-back un-returned serves set up Double Game Point and then came the hold), John held (Frank hit a passing shot winner for Love-15, then it went to 15-All before heading to Double Break Point as Dan blew an overhead along the way, it then shifted to Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot that was not a winner but (like Dan's) effectively ended the point to make it Break Point where Dan hit a winner for 2nd Deuce, then came Game Point and the hold), but Muhammad was the first to be broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a shift to 15-30 where a Double Fault set up Double Break Point and then came the break) for 1-3. Praport was broken (Muhammad hit a winning lob for Love-15, then came Love-30 and 15-30 where the rally of the match ended with Muhammad hitting a short-angle drop shot winner to set up Double Break Point where Muhammad then blew a sure overhead for Break Point, but then he redeemed himself with another drop shot winner for the break) and then Samara held again (an un-returned serve set off the 15-Love then point for point to Game Point order of things as John hit a winning drop shot return along the way followed by a drop shot winner from Frank and then another drop shot winner by Dan and then Frank hit a winning volley to secure his own hold) to level things at 3-3! Rizzo also held again (Muhammad hit an emphatic return winner for Love-15, but then came the shift to Double Game Point as Dan once again hit a drop shot winner and another drop shot that sufficiently finished the rally and then Muhammad hit a similarly impressive return winner to cut the lead to Game point where he then blew an overhead to allow the hold) and then Haque was broken again (Frank hit a winning volley for 15-Love which is where John hit a winning drop shot return for 15-All and then came a Double Fault for 15-30, but then there was a shift to Game Point as Muhammad hit a winning lob along the way and then hit another winning drop shot return to make it Deuce and then came Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. The Speed Demon then held (Muhammad hit yet another winning return for Love-15, but then things went right to Double Game/Match Point as John first hit a drop shot winner followed by two consecutive un-returned serves, the lead was then cut to Game/Match Point where Muhammad blew another overhead to allow the hold and the win) to earn a somewhat hard-fought victory in what could only be described as "The Battle of the Drop Shots!" This was contested on Court Three from 8:50 to 9:28.
The Skinny: For all the drop shots that are noted above as either winners or rally-killers, there were also many more where the necessary gets were made to keep the point in play. John later paid the price for his participation in this one as it made his foot ailment issues once again rear their ugly head.
After the official action ended early, Edgar showed off his surprising quarterback skills as he tossed the pigskin first to Dan (in the role of the speedy wide receiver) and then Rich came out to reprise the role of Defensive Cornerback that he once had back when he played high school football. Valencia has quite the arm on him and it will be interesting to get him out on the football field as the opposing QB to "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli in one of Spin's Sunday football games...hopefully, sometime soon.
It was yet another fun and competitive session in Nutley which was followed by four of us (Samara, Rizzo, Liu and Caicedo) once again going to Franklin Steakhouse as the New York Yankees lost for the third Friday night in a row!
We now head up to Cedar Grove where we will do our best to keep things in chronological order (at least somewhat) by starting things off with the scores from Chazz as his results seemed to have occurred the earliest there.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Chazz Weldon over Edwin Ortega, 6-0! No Aces.
Edwin Ortega over Chazz Weldon, 6-0! No Aces.
All That Chazz: We played from 4pm to 4:51.
Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for submitting those scores in a very timely (and specific) manner. Next we go to both Ryan and Doinks who each submitted a few results (one of which was shared). To try to stay somewhat chronological, we will bounce back and forth between them.
Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler over Syed Rashid/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Jose Gonzales over Jordan Bachvaroff/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-0! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of Rafaelo Kazakov. It is nice to see that The Bulgarians finally had the chance to team together.
Ryan Pienciak/Jose Gonzales over Jordan Bachvaroff/Mike Mole, 6-3! No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-4! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Christine Toth over Mike Mole/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank both Ryan and Doinks for their very timely reporting. There is still one more result involving both of them, but since it is an incomplete one that was cut short by the lights going out at 10pm…I'm saving it for the end of this report.
We now turn this report over to Kris.
Dave Zhu/Dennis Cabanatan over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I do believe this to be the One-Setter where Natalia said she took a tumble to the surface of the court and injured her right thumb in the process as she quite likely never let go of the racquet before making contact with the ground.
Kris Srinivasan over Mostafa Hussaini, 6-1! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: Mo identified himself as "Vampino" to Kris. Perhaps he has chosen his own preferred moniker.
Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid over Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler, 6-0! Kris: 1 Ace on Levy.
Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid tied with Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler, 5-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
The K has his say: Crazy swinging by Syed was well-handled by Mike to a great extent, but Syed was like a madman out to butcher his opponents!
Samara's Notes: So maybe we should not retire the "Sadistic Syed" moniker just yet...LOL! And now we get one more incomplete result…this one submitted by Ryan.
Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivasan leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Rafaelo Kazakov, 3-0 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris and Doinks for all they do for the GTA up at Cedar Grove. And I once again applaud the reporting efforts of Chazz and Ryan as well.
All the best,
Frank Samara
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