11/16/17:
"TMT Qtr part of 12 at C.G., 17 play at Bubble!":
There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis as first it was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts which was somewhat co-hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan along with "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay giving details from the Main Event match in which she was involved – the continuation of the Tinseltown Memorial Tournament Quarterfinal where she teamed with GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley to take on "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo and "The Icon" Nick Inciong. And then "Hollywood" Frank Samara hosted the session at The Wayne Bubble featuring the Night Owls Group organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo.
So we will first recap how the Cedar Grove session unfolded as reported by Gen (as she also relays info from Kris along the way) and then get the multi-layered recap from The Wayne Bubble. We now turn it over to Gen.
When I arrived at Cedar Grove by 7pm, Nathan Fernandes and Natalia Sout were already out on Court Four practicing volleys. Sally Pillay and Marijus Kuzavas pulled into the parking lot five minutes later.
Then, in a matter of minutes, we were joined by Jordan Bachvaroff, Nick Inciong and Levy Lorenzo. The weather drastically changed from earlier in the day. It was now windier and chilly. The courts were covered with leaves and a few scattered areas of puddles with leaves on top that prevented them from drying up in time.
Once Laura Gawley arrived, they had to decide whether to play out the continuation of their "Battle of the Sexes" style Tinseltown Memorial Tournament Quarterfinal Match. Then Kris Srinivasan arrived with both a squeegee and rake in tow. He was followed in by the last two players for the night, Doinks Srinivasan and Rob Gawley.
Special thanks to Kris and Marijus for making the courts clean and playable. Kris used the rake to clear the leaves while Marijus handled the squeegee to get rid of some of the puddles. They did an awesome job in clearing the courts (3 and 4) which made it possible for the match to be played out this evening. The wind also subsided for the rest of the session. The Main Event match was played on Court Four.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Jordan Bachvaroff/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-3! No Aces. We played on Court Three.
The following results were relayed to me by Kris.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3! No Aces. This was also played on Court Three.
The "Battle of Sexes" TMT Quarterfinal Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Nick Inciong/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to advance to the Semifinals of the Tinseltown Memorial Tournament! Nick: 1 Ace on Sally in the 3rd Set; and Sally: 1 Ace on Levy in the 3rd Set! This was played on Court Four.
Sally says: Since we started down 2-4 in the 2nd Set and also navigating the colder climate, we decided to play a full 3rd Set. The ball seemed much heavier due to the conditions. Needless to say Levy and Nick gave us a good challenge. Nick's serves were great and he was very solid playing from the baseline.
Samara's Notes: Congratulations to the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions as they are the first female team to take out the guys in this first-ever "Battle of The Sexes" style Doubles Tournament. I also want to say that I am impressed with all involved for opting to play a full 3rd Set rather than go the 10-Point Super Tiebreak route. I think that is the more suitable option (provided there is enough time to play it) in "To Be Continued" situations such as this. For the ladies, their next opponents in the Semis will be the team otherwise known as The Foundation – Samara (that would be me…heehee!) teaming with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.
The other still-pending (aka To Be Continued) TMT Quarterfinal features Gen and Doinks going up against Rizzo and "Richie Running Things" Rich Liu. They have already had a few reschedules, but they hope to get this one done soon.
We now go back to Gen for the rest of what took place at Cedar Grove.
Doinks, Jordan, Rob Gawley and I took Court One and ended up just hitting since the condition of the court was not safe to play any official sets. Eventually, once the TMT match concluded, Jordan and Rob were called over to Court Four. Another "Battle of the Sexes" style One-Setter got started. Doinks and I just stayed on Court One and practiced our volleys.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout leading Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan, 2-1 (Incomplete when it started to rain…about 10 minutes before the lights would have gone out at 10pm)! No Aces. This was played on Court Three.
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Rob Gawley, 3-2 (Incomplete when it started to rain)! No Aces. This was played on Court Four.
Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for stepping up as host and providing us with this report…and I also thank both Kris and Sally for their contributions as well.
We will now detail what took place up at The Wayne Bubble.
Samara arrived at 9:05. The situation for the Night Owls on Thursday nights is that two of the four courts are available at 9pm while the other two do not become available until 9:30. So the two courts at each end, Courts One and Four, were occupied by others.
Already out on Court Two and still just hitting were "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst going up against "The Artful Dodger" Arthur Fontanilla and "The Running Man" Ryan Sherry. It would become an official One-Setter once it started at 9:14.
On Court Three, it was "King Crush" Chris Chiaro teaming with "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia as they were hitting against "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and "NC-17" Nick Caputo. At 9:16, they officially got play underway as this would end up becoming an impromptu full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match with an additional One-Setter afterwards.
In the lounge area, Rizzo was already there along with "The Hit Man" Tom La, "Swinging" Syed Rashid and "The Adonis" Don Moya.
Next into the lounge area was "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues at 9:10. At 9:30, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar arrived. And five minutes later, it was the last two arrivals of the evening – Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao. We had a total of 17 official competitors.
And here is how the action went down!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst over Arthur Fontanilla/Ryan Sherry, 6-1! No Aces. This one got going on Court Two at 9:14. Not sure when it ended as it led to a Rematch One-Setter which we will get to a bit later in this report.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Paul Daddio/Nick Caputo, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 6 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Daddio/Caputo entered the division as the New # 105 Ranked Team. No Aces. This match was played on Court Three.
The 1st Set ran from 9:16 to 9:42. Initially, they were planning to then just enter into a Rematch One-Setter as that got underway at 9:45. When the sets were split and with no demand from anyone else to switch things up between the courts, they were then able to make it a full match. While the score is not impressive, the rallies certainly were as they were both hard-hitting and dramatic. This court featured the highest quality tennis of the entire session. They would then play an additional One-Setter afterwards which we will get to a little later in this report.
Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over Tom La/Syed Rashid, 6-2! No Aces. Court Four hosted this foursome as this first one got underway around 9:40. Not sure when it ended as they then switched up the teams and played another One-Setter which we will report in a short while.
John Rizzo/Dennis Cabanatan over Tony Shiao/Frank Samara, 7-5! Tony: 2 Aces on John! It went like this: Tony held serve (Frank hit a winning volley for 15-Love and then John hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-All, a sideline Ace on John for 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point and the hold), John held at Love as he started things off with an un-returned serve and Dennis ended matters with a winning Backhand Volley, but Frank was the first to be broken (Tony hit an awesome Backhand Volley winner which was followed by an un-returned serve for 30-Love, it shifted to 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again where Dennis scored with a precise drop shot winner to make it 2nd Deuce and then came Break Point where Dennis struck again – this time with a winning return for the break) for 1-2. Dennis was also broken (two un-returned serves made it 30-Love, but then Frank hit a winning volley in the next point which shifted the momentum as it then went straight thru Break Point to the break), but then Shiao was also broken (started with another sideline Ace on John, it then went to 30-Love before shifting to 30-All as Dennis hit a dramatic winner along the way and then an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-3. Rizzo was also broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then Tony hit a whopper of an Overhead Smash winner for 15-All and then John blew a drop shot attempt to make it 15-30 which was where he then hit a rare Double Fault to set up Double Break Point and then came the break), but then Samara held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point where Frank made a great get/winner combo to secure his own hold) to take the first lead for his team since they were up after the first game…but now it was 4-3. Cabanatan held (Frank blew a volley and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love which was where Tony hit a well-executed drop shot return winner and the momentum soon shifted to 30-All, but then came Game Point and another un-returned serve to secure the hold) and then Sure Shot was broken again (Dennis hit a really nice Backhand Volley/drop shot winner combo for Love-15 and then it was off and running to Triple Break Point where Tony hit a net-cord-aided drop shot winner to make it Double Break Point which was where John hit a winning Overhead Smash to get the break) for 4-5. The Riz was then broken again (Dennis first hit a powerful Overhead Smash winner and then followed that with another precision drop shot winner to make it 30-Love, but then that was where Frank hit a highly impressive winner of his own and the momentum soon shifted to 30-All, it was then Game/Match Point, Deuce and then the 2nd Game/Match Point where Dennis blew an overhead to make it 2nd Deuce and then he also blew a volley to set up Break Point and then came the break) for 5-5! Hollywood was also broken (Tony hit a booming Overhead Smash winner for 30-Love only to then have the momentum shift straight to Break Point where Dennis hit a winner for the break) and then The Menace held again (an un-returned serve to go up 30-Love, then it was 30-15 was where John hit an excellent drop shot winner to then set up Double Game/Match Point, it went to Game/Match Point where Dennis hit a whipping winner to finally end this one on the 4th M.P. overall) for the hard-fought victory! We played this one on Court One from 9:45 to 10:24.
The Skinny: This was a topsy-turvy contest with quite a few lead changes and all four players having at least once blown a 30-Love lead on their service. Dennis was quite likely to be the most impressive "winner-hitter" while his partner John was perhaps the most surprising get-maker of the bunch.
Arthur Fontanilla/Ryan Sherry over Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces. This Rematch One-Setter ended around 10:20. Art then left the session which cleared a path for Don to get involved in the official action. But first…
Joe Rodrigues/Tom La over Senthil Kumar/Syed Rashid, 6-4! No Aces. Not sure when this one was finished on Court Four (as I was still all the way over on Court One). I think Joe may have left after this one as I seem to recall seeing Senthil and Tom having a hitting session with one another while Syed sat and watched. This One-Setter was the last official action of the night on that court.
Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst over Tony Shiao/Ryan Sherry, 6-3! Ryan S.: 1 Ace on Ryan P.! This was played on Court Two from 10:26 to 10:56.
John Rizzo/Don Moya over Frank Samara/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (John hit a winner for Love-15, an un-returned serve made it 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Break Point as John hit a well-executed passing shot winner along the way, another un-returned serve made it Break Point, then came Deuce, Game Point and another un-returned serve to secure the hold), John held (John made an amazing get that led to him hitting an awesome winner just another shot later for 15-Love and then it went point for point until 30-All as Frank hit a mishit Overhead Smash winner, there was an un-returned serve and another dramatic drop shot winner from Dennis along the way and then it went to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold…and I likely forgot who hit what winners after it went to Deuce), Dennis held at Love as Frank got it started with a winning volley and then three un-returned serves secured the hold, but Don was the first to be broken (15-Love shifted straight to Double Break Point as Don blew a volley along the way, but then an un-returned serve made it Break Point where Dennis scored with a scathing return winner for the break) for 1-3. Samara was then broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point as there was an un-returned serve and a mishit volley winner from Don along the way) and then Rizzo held again (Don blew a volley for Love-15, but then three consecutive un-returned serves paved the path to Double Game Point, but then that was reduced to Deuce where Frank hit a drop shot winner to set up Break Point, then came 2nd Deuce where Frank blew a volley to make it Game Point, it then went to 3rd Deuce where John made a truly great get/winner combo to bring it back to Game Point and then the hold finally came) for 3-3. Cabanatan also held again (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point as Dennis executed yet another excellent drop shot winner and Frank hit a winning volley along the way and then Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to secure his partner's hold), but then Moya also held (it was Love-15 where Frank badly blew a volley to make it 15-All and it was off and running to Double Game Point as Don made two awesome get/winner combos along the way along with an un-returned serve and then the hold came right after that) to knot the score once more at 4-4! The Wood was broken again (started off with a rare Double Fault, it went to Love-30 where Don blew a volley to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), but The Riz held a third straight time (Dennis scored with both a wicked return winner and a walloping volley winner on the way to Triple Break Point, but then John fought back to Deuce with an un-returned serve along the way only to have it go back to another Break Point, then 2nd Deuce, Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce and then the 2nd Game/Match Point where Don scored with an emphatic volley winner to secure his partner's hold…and this is another game where I forgot some winners after it went to Deuce) to seal the deal on this one! We played this one on Court One from 10:30 to 11:08.
The Skinny: John was the most worthy MVP in this one as he was never broken and really put forth an impressive effort throughout the contest. His partner Don got stronger as the battle wore on…as he usually does. Both Frank and Dennis lost a little of the focus each had in the previous One-Setter (where they were against one another) despite still having some quite nice moments as well. It was another fun one as we ran into "overtime." But there was still one more One-Setter lingering even longer.
Chris Chiaro/Lou La Forgia over Paul Daddio/Nick Caputo, 6-3! Paul: 1 Ace on Lou. This wrapped up the entire session as this one ended on Court Three at 11:11. The high-intensity action never wavered as I was able to witness a few of the final rallies. Nick really enjoyed the workout and the chance to slug it out with some other heavy hitters…and, of course, it was also a reunion with his fellow Secaucus High School alum, Lou.
Overall, it was a very solid session that went rather smoothly.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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