10/27/17:
"9 play (1 new) at PAC, New Champs part of 14 at C.G.!":
There were two concurrent sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: the usual (and likely the last for the season) one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley and then the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts.
In Nutley, "Hollywood" Frank Samara acted as the host…but the session came together with the efforts of "Richie" Rich Liu, "The Riz" John Rizzo and "K-Bee" Kyle Eng. A slight upward tick in the temps (from the night before) did not result in a major bump in the turnout…but for a night in Nutley, it was somewhere in the average range in terms of the amount of competitors who played.
When Samara pulled into the lot at 7:35, only Court Four was still vacant. On Court One there was a couple that is often at the courts as the husband runs his wife through the paces of a practice session while their children watch from the bench outside the fence.
On Court Two, Rizzo was hitting with "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales. On Court Three, there was already a Doubles One-Setter underway as Liu was teaming with "Muha" Muhammad Haque to take on the formidable tandem of "G-Pop" Gyorgy Papp and "The Terminator" Tomas Molinar.
Walking out onto Court Four just as Frank was trying to find his place amongst the courts, was a lone guy who seemed like he may be looking for the group. He never said anything, however, and Rich did not recognize him. Soon, he started practicing his serve.
When Eng was the next to arrive at 7:45, he said that the lone wolf on Court Four was his buddy, "T-Jay" Teja Jayanthi. Teja is pronounced like the "déjà" in "déjà vu." Kyle said he told Teja about the league and was looking to team with him during this session.
Soon, the two of them teamed to take on Liu/Haque while Papp/Molinar had already moved on to now be facing Gonzales/Rizzo. And these were our nine competitors for the evening as the players would shift to different match-ups along the way. There were no cameo appearances.
After we break down the action from Nutley, we will then detail what took place up at Cedar Grove.
The Park Ave. Courts Results:
Gyorgy Papp/Tomas Molinar over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-0! No Aces. This one took place on Court Three. Rich estimated it started somewhere around 7:20. It ended exactly at 7:43. This was a bit of a mismatch as Muhammad is still looking to gain experience playing tennis while Gyorgy and Tomas are very experienced…quite likely to each have a 4.0 USTA Rating at the very least (perhaps higher).
Gyorgy Papp/Tomas Molinar over Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo, 6-4! No Aces. Once I heard it was at 3-3, that got my attention and I started taking basic notes of the progress of this One-Setter. G-Pop and The Terminator went up 5-3 and then The Riz was on serve. He was at Break/Match Point, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Jose scored with a big winner of an Overhead Smash to make it Game Point again and then came the hold for 4-5 (John said he was never broken in this One-Setter). Papp then held (Double Game/Match Point, it ended on Game/Match Point) to get the win precisely at 8:18 (this one got underway on Court Three at 7:45, but after the first game ended they shifted over to Court Four at 7:48 as the net is still far too low on Court Three…though it may have been a strategic mistake for Jose and John to make that move as the low net favored their style of play and they had won that initial game on John's serve…he had held his serve on all three service opportunities!).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Kyle Eng/Teja Jayanthi over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-1, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 105 and # 106 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Teja Jayanthi.
The Skinny: The 1st Set got underway on Court Two at 7:57. It ended at 8:20. Feeling like they had just been on the receiving end of a mismatch, Rich then went with Muhammad to Court One for a hitting session while Kyle and Teja did the same on Court Two. But after close to ten minutes of that, all four parties involved realized they wanted more Doubles action. So the 2nd Set started around 8:30 and ended on Court Two at 9:05. This set was much closer as Rich and Muhammad were actually up 5-4 before they got tight and let Kyle and Teja back into the match to take three straight games to close it out in impressive fashion. We already knew that Kyle is quite the player and now we see that Teja comes loaded with ammo as well.
Even though it was not planned to be that way, Rich said to record it as a full match as he felt that the opposition deserved as much. Plus, he was really proud of how his partner Muhammad picked up his game and tried so hard to play against much more experienced opposition.
Meanwhile, John had Frank take his place to take on the formidable foes, Papp/Molinar, with Jose as his partner.
Gyorgy Papp/Tomas Molinar over Jose Gonzales/Frank Samara, 6-2! Tomas: 1 Ace on Jose! Seeing the pace of their previous match-up, I didn't want to take the time on the changeovers to note the games…so I committed them to memory throughout the contest (not noting the winners, just the flow of the games). Here's the basic breakdown: Gyorgy held at Love, Frank was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, a small shift to Break Point and then the break) and Tomas held at Love after hitting a big Ace up the T against Jose when it was 30-Love to set up Triple Game Point ("Big T" would be another fitting nickname for Tomas) to take a 3-0 lead for his team! Jose held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but Papp held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) for 4-1. Samara held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, mini-shift to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4, but Molinar held again…though this time in a struggle (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, but then that was reduced to Deuce and then it went to Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and then finally the hold) to extend his team's lead to 5-2! Gonzales was then broken (Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point when Frank unceremoniously dumped his shot into the net) to take a loss tougher than the score indicates! We played this one on Court Four from 8:20 to 8:52.
The Skinny: The very best teams in the GTA would be hard-pressed to defeat Papp/Molinar in a full match. I came into this One-Setter completely cold without any warm-up and actually played surprisingly well except for three of four shank shots off the frame of my racquet as their pace coupled with dramatic topspin is a lot to get used to and throws off one's timing. Jose was particularly impressed with my level of play as he felt he was not on his game and that perhaps that became contagious for me as the One-Setter progressed as my level did eventually drop somewhat. I think my unusual style caught them off-guard initially and then they adjusted. It is fun to play against Gyorgy and Tomas (both Jose and John agree) as their level of play immediately forces you to raise your level up just to counter them…or else quickly face the consequences!
Kyle Eng/Teja Jayanthi over Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo, 6-1! No Aces. This took place on Court Two and only lasted from 9:07 to 9:24…just 17 minutes!
The Skinny: Jose and John did not expect this type of onslaught from the opposition. Rizzo had grown cold having sat out a set and could not regain the momentum he had in his impressive outing earlier against Papp/Molinar. Kyle and Teja quickly and stunningly jumped out to a 4-0 lead. John was on serve and at 30-All when he hit a rare and unfortunate Double Fault to set up Break Point and then came the break to put his team down 0-5! Teja was then broken on Double Break Point when he also hit a Double Fault that served to break himself and that allowed the opposition onto the scoreboard. Not to be outdone, Jose was on serve and at Double Break/Match Point when he, too, hit a Double Fault to break himself and end the match!
Rich Liu over Muhammad Haque, 6-0! Rich: 2 Aces! Court One hosted this one from 9:09 to 9:22…just 13 minutes long! Rich said that despite the lopsided score and short duration, Muhammad made several great gets to extend the rallies and he continues to show much improvement week after week.
Jose Gonzales/Frank Samara over John Rizzo/Rich Liu, 6-2! Jose: 1 Ace on John! As we got this one underway on Court Two at 9:25, I again decided to not note the games during the changeovers (just committing them to memory instead). Also of note, Jose and I switched our return of service sides as I took the Deuce court rather than the Ad court (a rare occurrence…though I do defer to partners with this preference from time to time). The quick lowdown: Jose held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), Rich was broken (started off with a Double Fault and then it went point for point to 30-All when another Double Fault set up Break Point and then came the break) and Frank held at Love for a fairly quick 3-0 lead! John held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, a slight shift to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to get his team on the board, but Gonzales then held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and then a big Ace up the T against John for the hold) to extend his team's lead to 4-1! Liu held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, 15-30 then a shift to Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4, but then Samara held again (15-Love then a shift to 15-30 and then another shift to Game Point and the hold) for 5-2. Rizzo was then broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break/Match Point and then the break) to end the match which finished at 9:52.
The Skinny: This was another battle that felt closer than the score indicates. Rizzo still never regained his rhythm and was also dealing with a bit of heel pain. Meanwhile, Gonzales finally found his game in this one while Samara also stayed strong. Liu had his hot and cold moments, but he is another competitor who continues to make great strides in his game on a consistent basis nowadays.
It ended a fun session and then three of us (Samara, Rizzo and Liu) went to Franklin Steakhouse which has become out new Friday night tradition after these sessions…though we may have to pick a new location depending upon where we play next Friday night.
And now we head up to Cedar Grove to check out their Friday night scene where "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan acted as the main host and provides the majority of the following report, but we also had results directly submitted by "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.
Kris and Marijus were on opposite sides of the GTA Doubles Championship Match (the Main Event of the evening) as Srinivasan's partner was Frank "Hydro" Hohorst (together they are the 2017 Monk Memorial Champs) and the partner for Marijus was "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas (as a tandem they are the 2017 M2 Champs).
And Doinks ended up getting involved in an impromptu full Women's Doubles Match as she teamed with Natalia "Nitro" Sout to take on the 2017 W2 Finalists: "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson. We also got a couple of additional scores from "The Icon" Nick Inciong.
So we will now turn this report over to Kris and get the feedback from the others along the way.
We had a decent amount of activity on Friday…a chilly evening, but still good for GTA Tennis. Apart from the GTA Doubles Championship Match that had been planned for the evening, we also had an impromptu full Women's Doubles Match as well. The other players who came subsequently got to play right through the night.
I do not have some results, most notably involving Syed Rashid, Mike Sindler, Jordan Bachvaroff and Fadia Nicolas.
Samara's Notes: I reached out to both Syed and Fadia (figuring that Jordan and Mike do not check their e-mails all that often) and Fadia got back to me just before releasing this report to confirm that it was the four of them…but they were only involved in a lengthy hitting session together. It is a shame that they did not play at least one set as it would take the official turnout from 14 players to 18 competitors overall. And we now bounce this back to Kris.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Doubles Championship Match:
Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas over Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New GTA Doubles Champions! Marijus: 4 Aces (two on each and two in each set); and Mike: 1 Ace on Kris in the 1st Set!
The K has his say: Well, the scores adequately reflect the beating we got and it was a resounding one. With both the big guys serving well and covering the net with their wide wingspan, we got caned and thumped out quickly!
The Scoop from Super Mario: The 1st Set went 4-0, 4-1 then onto 6-1. The 2nd Set went 2-0, 2-1 then onto 6-1. It was a good and fun match despite the score. They had some Game Points in several games which would have change the score somewhat. Mike and I both served very well and that made it difficult for them to get into those games. Their service games were much more competitive, but we were able to play the crucial points better.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting. I also must congratulate Marijus and Mike on such an impressive victory…true dominance! It is an authoritative way to begin their first reign as the GTA Doubles Champions. We now go back to Kris for more results.
Nathan Fernandes/Frank Hohorst over Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3! Marijus: 1 Ace on Frank!
The K has his say: It was a combination of Frank upping his game and Marijus dropping his, combined with an error-free game by Nate and that sealed the deal for the team in control.
2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Doinks Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New # 7 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division! No Aces.
The K has his say: They played these two sets for an eternity and, from the seriousness of it, it looked like it had become a full match.
Samara's Notes: At the time of the match that evening, Kathy was unsure if it should be reported as a full match given the fact that their team (Sheldon/Peterson) are still in the yet-to-be-played Finals of the ongoing W2 Women's Doubles Tournament. But since making it a full match would have no impact on the tourney as the winning team (the 2017 W2 Champs) will get elevated to being the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division and next Top Contenders, this rank change is somewhat irrelevant. Once informed, Kathy was fine with it and Doinks was quite thankful as the match took nearly two hours to complete! Once again, we go back to Kris.
Ryan Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan over Mike Mole/Frank Hohorst, 6-0! No Aces.
The K has his say: This One-Setter went by so fast that there was chance to catch up for Mike and Frank.
Mike Mole/Frank Hohorst leading Ryan Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! No Aces.
The K has his say: It was a superb One-Setter that saw an incredible tussle between the two teams. It was a different Mike/Frank combo in this set as they started off beautifully winning the first game. So it was up until it was 3-All before Mike and Frank got to play aggressive and steady enough to put themselves up 5-3! A comfortable hold by us would make it 5-4 in favor of Mike and Frank. It was at this time that we had the drama of the night. Mike was serving and doing so superbly. He was comfortably placed at 40-15 (Double Game/Match Point) with Frank performing greatly at the net. They should have wrapped up the set on that next point as my return of serve (to Mike's serve) hit the net-cord, but not only did Frank retrieve the ball…but he then had a sweet drop shot close to the post on the Deuce side. Ryan, who was by the net on the Ad court side, ran so fast horizontally to not only get the ball that was dying…but to then also put it over to the other side! "Incredible" is inadequate to describe what happened, but it was amazing! We won that point and the "high" from the previous shot evidently kept Ryan going in the next point as he was all over the court to seize that point as well after a back and forth rally for 4 to 5 shots! We got the next point and as Mike was about to hit his second serve, the lights went out! We were also deprived off tying up the set at 5-All, but full credit goes to Mike and Frank for giving a good game, and "The Superman Show" by Ryan who was probably influenced having just come from his daughter's Halloween party…:-)
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Levy Lorenzo/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-0! No Aces.
Levy Lorenzo/Dennis Cabanatan over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-1! No Aces.
The K has his say: Those above two One-Setters could probably use some verification. Dennis mentioned the scores and that he was not on his game in that first one. I have also completely missed out two sets that involved Nick Inciong.
Samara's Notes: I reached out to Nick and he reported the following two results (though he was not entirely sure of the score of the second one). I then reached out to Levy for verification, but never heard back from him.
Nathan Fernandes/Dennis Cabanatan over Levy Lorenzo/Nick Inciong, 6-0! No Aces.
Levy Lorenzo/Nick Inciong over Nathan Fernandes/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Nick for his prompt response. We now go back to Kris for the last word.
The final say from The K: Despite the cold and chilly evening, it was a relaxed weekend feeling as close to ten of us ended up hanging out for another hour of crazy and fun talk! Cheers!
Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for being "the host with the most" up at Cedar Grove. And I again thank everyone else for their timely contributions to this report.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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