11/29/17:
"Samara hosts 8 at C.G., then 10 (14?) at Bubble!":
There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host and featuring a full Mixed Doubles Challenge Match between the teams of "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan/"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski/"The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and then the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo.
While there were actually 14 competitors at The Bubble session, I only collected the scores that featured ten of the players as I really have no relationship with any of the guys that were on Court One (it was Ted Cedroski/Sam Senowitz versus Vlad Smolyanskiy/Henry Mendoza). So whatever they did will have to remain unofficial.
We will now detail how the Cedar Grove session unfolded and then report the results. After that, we head up to The Bubble to list those scores as well.
Samara was the first to arrive at 6:45 as the educational event he had attended at the elementary school of his children had ended earlier than expected. Upon returning to his residence, he noticed the presence of a pestilent and petulant nuisance and felt it best to remove himself from the premises. Much like the Jetsons, he jettisoned in jet-like fashion as fast as possible having foregone the chance to change into apparel more appropriate for playing tennis.
All four courts and the parking lot were all entirely vacant except for his presence, so Frank found himself alone and he decided to remain in his car until any additional arrivals occurred.
At 6:55, he just happened to look to his left and saw that "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales had already pulled into the parking lot. Then, upon getting out of his car, Samara saw a big pick-up truck (which both he and Jose initially thought was a tow truck given the fact that a Cedar Grove Police SUV was also already in the lot) pull in and it was headed right his way!
It turned out to be the arrival of Tommy and Fernanda. Toker told Frank that they had already scheduled a full Challenge Match with Kris and Doinks.
So Jose had the chance to hit alongside Fernanda against Tommy out on Court Three to warm them up for the upcoming match. Court Four continues to have the problem where one half of one of the light posts has a bulb that fails to get lit!
At 7:15, both Doinks and Kris made their way across the street. Soon, they were hitting against Reszkowski and Toker while Gonzales took a spot alongside Samara in between the net posts of Courts Three and Four.
At 7:25, the match officially got underway. Jose stayed on to watch the entire 1st Set, but was frustrated that nobody else had shown up in that time as the conditions were quite favorable for tennis…though it was a bit chillier than expected. And around 7:45, the winds started to whip up just a bit.
At 8:05, Natalia "Nitro" Sout and GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes both arrived at the same time. Figuring they would only want to have a hitting practice, Gonzales decided to leave at this time.
Five minutes later, Muhammad "Muha" Haque made his first-ever appearance at Cedar Grove and he was welcomed into the Nate and Nat practice session on Court Four.
The good news was that at 8:15, "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo arrived to make it a second foursome over on Court Four. While Levy was eager to get some official action going, Fernandes and Sout were content to keep it as just a hitting session. That would lead to some switch-ups of opposition later in the evening.
Anyway, we ended up with a total of just eight official competitors. Nonetheless, it was both a fun and productive session.
Let's get to the scores!
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 8 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division! No Aces.
1st Set: Kris was broken (15-Love, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, then Double Break Point where Kris blew a volley to break himself), Fernanda was broken (Kris hit a winning volley for Love-15 and then Doinks hit a winning volley for Love-30 which was where Kris hit an even more venomous volley winner to set up Triple Break Point, but then he blew a volley to bring it down to Double Break Point, then came Break Point where an un-returned serve led to Deuce which was where Kris hit a wicked winner to bring it back to Break Point where he then scored with a whipping Backhand Volley winner for the break), Doinks was broken (Tommy blew a volley for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where the best rally of the match up until that point ended with a blown volley by Kris for 15-30, then came Double Break Point and the break) and then Tommy was also broken (Tommy blew a volley for Love-15 and then hit a Double Fault for Love-30 where an un-returned serve then made it 15-30, but then Kris hit a winning volley to set up Double Break Point, then came Break Point, Deuce, another Double Fault to bring it back to Break Point, then 2nd Deuce where another excellent rally occurred but this time ended with a successful volley winner by Kris to again make it Break Point only to have Tommy respond with a big-time Overhead Smash winner to bounce back to 3rd Deuce only to have another Break Point rear its ugly head and that was when Kris finally finished off the game with another snapping Backhand Volley winner) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2! Mr. Srinivasan was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then a roller over the net return winner from Tommy for 15-All and then Kris blew a volley to make it 15-30 where Tommy scored with a winning volley to set up Double Break Point, it then was Break Point where Doinks hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Deuce, but then it went back to Break Point and Kris blew what should have been a surefire volley winner to again break himself), but Toker was the first to hold serve (Tommy blew what should have been a sure overhead for a Love-15 start and then Kris hit a vicious volley winner for Love-30, but then an un-returned serve made it 15-30 and it then went to 30-All, Game Point where Doinks blew a volley to allow the hold) to go up 4-2. Mrs. Srinivasan was also broken again (started with a Double Fault, then Love-30 where Tommy hit a volley winner to set up Triple Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point and then Tommy blew a volley to bring it down to Break Point only to have Tommy redeem himself with a crushing Overhead Smash winner for the break) and then Reszkowski held (started with a Double Fault where Doinks got to a drop shot with plenty of time only to shockingly shank it way wide off the court to make it 15-All and then Kris blew a volley to bring it to 30-15 which was where Tommy hit a winning volley to set Double Game/Set Point which was where Doinks scored with an excellent passing shot winner to then make it Game/Set Point only to have the game end with the first truly un-returnable serve of the entire set) to put the initial set into the pockets of his team! This set began on Court Three at 7:25 and ended at 7:58. The next set would get underway four minutes later.
2nd Set: Kris finally held serve (Love-15 where Doinks hit a whipping winner for 15-All, then it was 30-15 where he scored with a truly un-returnable serve of his own to set up Double Game Point, it was then Game Point where Tommy hit a victorious volley winner to make it Deuce only to then blow a volley to set up another Game Point and then Tommy blew yet another volley to allow the hold) and Fernanda was broken (Tommy blew another volley for Love-15, but then Kris blew a volley for 15-All only to have Tommy again blow a volley for 15-30 which was where Kris scored with a scathing volley winner to set up Double Break Point where an un-returned serve brought it down to Break Point only to have Kris whip out another winsome volley winner for the break) to start off down 0-2. But Doinks was broken yet again (Love-30 where Kris cranked another volley winner that was also aided by the net-cord along the way and that made it 15-30 where an un-returned serve then brought it to 30-All and that was where Doinks made a great get/winner combo to set up Game Point only to then go to Deuce where Fernanda scored with a smart drop shot winner to set up Break Point and then came the break) and then Tommy had a Love hold as he started off with a walloping winner which was followed by an un-returned serve and then Fernanda had a winner of her own to set up Triple Game Point which ended with another un-returned serve to level the set at 2-2! Mr. Srinivasan held again (30-Love where Tommy had a volley winner for 30-15 and then Kris blew a volley to make it 30-All only to then score with a nice drop shot winner to set up Game Point where Kris blew another certain volley winner to make it Deuce where Tommy had an excellent volley winner to make it Break Point only to then blow a volley to bounce it back to 2nd Deuce and then Kris hit a winner to set up Game Point where he ended matters with an un-returned serve), but Toker held again as well and it was at Love as Kris first blew a volley, then came an un-returned serve followed by a vengeful volley winner by Tommy to set up Triple Game Point where Doinks blew a volley to allow the hold to tie things up again, this time at 3-3! And from there, Mrs. Srinivasan was broken one last time (started with a Double Fault, an un-returned serve then made it 15-All where Kris blew a volley for 15-30 and then another un-returned serve brought it to 30-All where Kris scored with an awesome Overhead Smash winner to set up Game Point, but then came Deuce where Kris hit a sizzling volley winner to set up another Game Point only to have Tommy made a nice get/winner combo to bounce it back to 2nd Deuce where Kris blew a volley to bring it down to Break Point and then it was 3rd Deuce where Tommy hit a brilliant volley winner to set up Break Point and then he equaled the task with another one for the break), Reszkowski held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then off and running to Triple Game Point, a Double Fault for Double Game Point, but then came the hold) and The K Man was then broken at Love as things started off with a blown volley by Doinks and ended with the most victorious volley winner of them all from Tommy on Triple Break/Match Point as this battle ended exactly at 8:37!
The Skinny: Though Kris and Doinks were both quite down on themselves after the match, it was actually a hard-fought match that felt closer (at least to this observer from the sidelines) than the final score indicates. Nobody was holding serve in the 1st Set until Fernanda was the first to do so and that put her team up 4-2. That was like going up a break and then when Tommy also held, it quickly closed out the set that had otherwise been fairly even. The 2nd Set was actually closer as Kris also got into the act of holding serve. The problem was that Doinks never held serve the entire match and The Srinivasans committed more unforced errors as the match grew older while Reszkowski and Toker were guilty of less the longer this contest progressed. In the end, it was an impressive victory for Tireless Tommy and The Argentine Machine!
Kris Srinivasan/Tommy Reszkowski over Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces. This was also played on Court Three as Fernanda had to take care of business and reply to some text messages while Levy was eager for some official action. It got underway at 8:42 and ended at 9:07. Even though there was still plenty of time until lights out, they decided to forego the changeovers. Kris and Tommy jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then cut to 3-1, increased to 5-1 and then they had a Match Point which was saved by Levy and Doinks as they extended the set to 5-2 where Kris was now on service and he took the lead to another Match Point where it went to Deuce, then Break Point, then 2nd Deuce and then this battle finally finished on the 3rd M.P. overall!
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Muhammad Haque/Fernanda Toker, 6-0! No Aces. These four faced off on Court Four from 8:44 to 9pm. They also decided to forego the changeovers. Afterward, Fernanda was eager to team with Tommy once again…so while she waited for the action to finish on Court Three, Muhammad found himself hitting against both Nate and Natalia as he did earlier in the evening.
Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Muhammad Haque, 6-2! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one from 9:08 to 9:34. Levy and Doinks jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then cut to 3-1 and soon increased to 5-1 where Levy was broken after having been up Match Point, then Deuce and Break Point leading to the break to bring it down to 5-2. But then they broke the opposition in the next game for the win. This was another one with no changeovers.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 6-2! No Aces. This foursome fought on Court Four from 9:08 to 9:36. Nate and Nat quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead and looked like they were about to serve up a late night bagel only to have Natalia be broken to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard and then Tommy had a Love hold to pull to 2-5. But then Nate held serve in a bit of a struggle as he started off down Love-30, shifted to 30-All, then it was Break Point, Deuce, Match Point, 2nd Deuce and then they finally finished their foes off on the 2nd Match Point! For the record, they did abide by the standard changeovers in this one as Reszkowski found the lack of light from the one post someone frustrating.
The Skinny: Fernanda called Nate "the Octopus" as he seemingly gets to (and gets back) every shot that is sent his way. Despite the loss, Tommy said he looks forward to the opportunity to face the Nate/Nat combo in a full Challenge Match in the near future.
At this time, Tommy and Fernanda had to leave. That left Nate and Natalia alone to have another hitting session. Meanwhile on Court Three, the same four competitors tried to squeeze in another one before lights out at 10pm. Again, they decided to forego the changeovers.
Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan leading Kris Srinivasan/Muhammad Haque, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm with Levy on serve and at 15-All)! No Aces. They got this one going at 9:35. Levy and Doinks went from being up 2-1 to 4-1, then that lead was cut to 4-3 before going up 5-3. Kris was just happy not to take another full loss.
We now head up to The Wayne Bubble for those scores.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Don Moya over John Rizzo, 6-4! Don: 1 Ace. This was played on Court Four. John and Don stopped hitting shortly after Samara arrived there at 10:15.
Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson over Fadia Nicolas/Jeanette Pegg, 6-3! No Aces. This was played on Court Three prior to Frank's arrival and then they split up the sides and went into this next one.
Kathy Sheldon/Jeanette Pegg over Fadia Nicolas/Dawn Peterson, 6-4! No Aces. This one finished at 10:30.
Rafaelo Kazakov/Sean McHugh over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 6-2! No Aces. This was the first of three match-ups to be played on Court Two. They switched sides for the next one.
Kevin Doyle/Rafaelo Kazakov over Sean McHugh/Robin Wilson, 6-3! Robin: 1 Ace on Rafaelo! This one finished a little after 10:30. They switched back to the original match-up for the next one.
Rafaelo Kazakov/Sean McHugh tied with Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 3-3 (Incomplete when they stopped it at 11:04)! No Aces.
Don Moya leading Fadia Nicolas, 5-1 (Incomplete when they stopped playing at 11pm…they had begun this one on Court Three at 10:40). No Aces.
I believe all the above One-Setters were played without changeovers.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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