12/14/17:
"14 play at The Bubble!":
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis as there were no results reported from The Cedar Grove Courts. "Hollywood" Frank Samara acted as the host (in terms of collecting the scores) of the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo.
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo over Mike Sindler/Frank Hohorst, 8-6! No Aces. This was the first official action of the night as they got this one underway on Court Two at exactly 9:12. They decided to play out the games rather than go to the Tiebreak.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tom La/Nick Caputo over Chris Chiaro/Senthil Kumar, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 96 Rank in the Doubles Division! Nick: 2 Aces on Chris in the 1st Set! This one took place on Court One from 9:13 to right around 11pm.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Anish Mehta/Ryan Sherry over Frank Samara/Don Moya, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 140 and # 141 Ranked Teams respectively! Anish: 3 Aces (2 on Frank – 1 in each set and 1 on Don in the 2nd Set)!
1st Set: Don held at Love as he started off with an un-returned serve, Frank followed that with a winning Overhead Smash, then there were two more un-returned serves to close out the game, Anish was broken (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love, a corner Ace on Frank for 30-Love, a Double Fault to make it 30-15 and that sent the momentum all the way to Break Point where another Double Fault served to break himself) and Frank held serve (Don hit a winning volley and then he hit a winning Backhand Volley which was then followed by an un-returned serve to set up Triple Game Point, but then a furious return winner from Anish followed by another winner from Anish shifted the momentum all the way to Deuce…and from here I no longer remember who hit what winners as it was all Game Points up until 3rd Deuce and then all Break Points until 5th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) for 3-0! Ryan held (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love, then it was 15-All before an un-returned serve and a winning volley by Anish made it Double Game Point and then came the hold) and then Moya was broken (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, then Don hit an excellent passing shot winner for 15-All, it then went to 15-30, Double Break Point where back-to-back un-returned serves made it Deuce only to have Frank blow another volley to set up Break Point once again where a Double Fault caused the break) for 3-2. Mehta held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and an un-returned serve to secure the hold) and then Samara was broken (Ryan hit a ripping return winner for Love-30, an un-returned serve for 15-30 where Ryan then hit a net-cord-aided winner that bounced right over the waiting racquet of Don at the net to make it Double Break Point where Anish that hit a raging return winner for the break) to lose the lead for his team at 3-4! Sherry then held again (a truly un-returnable serve to once again start off his game followed then by blown volleys from both Don and Frank to set up Triple Game Point, it then went to Double Break Point where Don blew another volley to allow the hold) and then The Adonis was broken again (a truly un-returnable serve set up Triple Game Point, but then a Double Fault made it Double Game Point, then Game Point and another Double Fault to bring it to Deuce where an un-returned serve brought it back to Game Point, 2nd Deuce and another un-returned serve set up Game Point once again, but then it went to 3rd Deuce where Frank blew an overhead which set up Break/Match Point and then came the break) as Mehta/Sherry took six straight games for a great comeback to take the set which we started on Court Three at 9:25 and it ended at 9:55. We then all agreed to try to make it a full match and we went into the next set three minutes later.
2nd Set: Anish was broken (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point with two un-returned serves along the way, but then it was reduced to Deuce and then Break Point where Anish hit a shot that had a lot of slice on it and it then landed on the top of the net where it seemed like it was going to spin and roll its way over only to continue its little dance along the top of the tape where it then dropped back down on his side of the court for the break) and Don held serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point and another Double Fault to make it 2nd Deuce, then Game Point where Don hit a blistering passing shot winner for the hold) to go up 2-0. Ryan held (Don hit yet another amazing passing shot winner for Love-15, but then it went right to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve along the way, it was then cut to Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold) and then Frank was broken (Anish hit a rocking return winner for Love-15, it was then 15-All before heading right to Double Break Point where back-to-back blown volleys by Ryan made it Deuce, another Break Point, 2nd Deuce where Ryan hit a big-time Overhead Smash winner to set up another Break Point and then came the break) to level things at 2-2. Mehta held (Ryan hit another crushing Overhead Smash winner to make it 30-Love, it shifted to 30-All where an un-returned serve set up Game Point, a Double Fault for Deuce, a big sideline Ace against Don to set up Game Point…and I could no longer remember who hit what winners here as it went to 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and a big corner Ace on Frank for 5th Deuce, Game Point, 6th Deuce, Game Point and a mishit volley by Ryan to secure his partner's hold) and Moya was broken (Love-15 soon shifted to 30-15 with an un-returned serve along the way, but then it shifted again to Break Point right after Ryan hit another one of his sharp-angled Backhand Volley winners and then came the break) for 2-4. Sherry was also broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, then 30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point then cut down to Deuce and then Break Point where Don hit a victorious volley for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3, but then Samara was broken again (30-Love shifted to 30-All, then an un-returned serve set up Game Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. The AM Rush then held again (an un-returned serve followed by yet another Backhand Volley winner by Ryan made it 30-Love, it shifted to 30-All where Frank blew a volley to set up Game/Match Point and then came the hold) to get the win! The match ended at 10:45.
The Skinny: Moya took a step back from his performance level the previous night at The Bubble (the Wednesday night session) while his partner Samara took at least two steps backward! It was really an off night for Frank as he seemingly never found the timing on what should have been put-away shots (volleys and overheads). Mehta got off to a slightly slow start, but once he got rolling he was firing on all cylinders…and his artillery is fierce! But the biggest story of the match was the noticeable improvement from Sherry. He is much more consistent than he was in the past. He not only plays solid defense, but also likes to use his height and range up at the net to finish off points in an offensive manner. Ryan, ably supported by the firepower of Anish, put on quite an impressive display.
2 out of 3 Sets:
Tony Shiao over Dennis Cabanatan, 6-3, 6-4! No Aces. This does not count as a rank defense for Shiao as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Cabanatan is solely in the Intermediate Division. This took place on Court Four from 9:50 to 11:03.
Mike Sindler/Frank Hohorst over Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo, 6-3! No Aces. Not sure when this one began or ended on Court Two as it came hot on the heels of their previous One-Setter and then went right into another one as I believe they intended this to be a full match…but, alas, it was not to be (see what follows).
Mike Sindler/Frank Hohorst leading Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo, 4-3 (Incomplete when Rizzo had to take a call around 10:50)! No Aces.
Don Moya/Ryan Sherry leading Anish Mehta/Frank Samara, 3-2 (Incomplete when they had to stop at 11:02 as it was time to end the session)! Don: 1 Ace on Frank. Here's how it was going: Anish held serve (back-to-back winners by Anish made it 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All right after Don hit a blast of a Backhand Volley winner, but then Ryan blew a volley to set up Game Point and then came the hold), Ryan held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, it was then 15-All where an un-returned serve followed by a vicious volley winner by Don made it Double Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), but Frank was the first to be broken and it was at Love as Frank blew a volley while Don hit a successful volley winner along the way and then Don earned the break with a burning winner to make it 1-2! Don held (Ryan hit a whopper of an Overhead Smash winner to make it 30-Love, then there was a Double Fault for 30-15 where a big Ace up the T against Frank set up Double Game Point, it was then on Game Point where Ryan hit his most impressive Backhand Volley winner of the night) for a 3-1 lead, but then Mehta held again (got off to a Love-30 start, but then Don blew a volley and the momentum soon shifted all the way to Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold) to pull to 2-3, but then we all knew we were out of time! This one had gotten underway on Court Three at 10:48 and we knew from the outset that it was highly unlikely we would finish it by 11pm (or soon after).
The Skinny: While this was technically not a loss, it only served to make Samara feel like an even bigger loser than he had felt earlier as he was the only one not to hold serve in this makeshift half-set. To add insult to injury, he was broken at Love! Yep, it was a rough night for old Hollywood!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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