3/1/18:
"10 play at The Bubble!":
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis as rain did not allow the typical weeknight session at The Cedar Grove Courts. So it was just the usual Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble run by "The Riz" John Rizzo along with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host to collect scores along the way.
As the usual Night Owls players made their arrivals around 9pm, Rizzo (as always) tried to figure out what the best match-ups would be. He had told Samara he was willing to play or sit out depending upon the turnout as he is still dealing with the pain in his heel and possible bone spurs.
We had two of the four courts open for us by 9pm with the other two on each end (Court One and Court Four) occupied by non-GTA groups until 9:30.
Rizzo sent "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia, Frank "Hydro" Hohorst and "NC-17" Nick Caputo out onto Court Three. Meanwhile, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar remained in the lounge area with Rizzo and Samara.
Senthil soon wanted to hit, however, so he asked Frank to come join him on Court Two. Shortly after, John recruited "The Adonis" Don Moya to come make it a foursome. That was the first action to actually get underway right around 9:15 as the four guys started their match on Court Three around 9:20.
Right around that same time, both "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and "The Hit Man" Tom La arrived and waited in the lounge area for either of Courts One or Four to become available. At 9:30, they took over Court Four and had a lengthy hitting session with one another.
Late in what would have been the 1st Set of a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match, it became painfully obvious that Rizzo was still dealing with much pain in his feet. Samara/Kumar had a healthy lead, but did not want to make it a full match and then win it with one of their two opponents injured.
So it was decided it would just be a One-Setter and then Paul and Tom would be invited over to Court Two for some Doubles with Senthil and Don as Frank was also willing to sit out for the rest of the night.
Meanwhile, the foursome on Court Three were able to play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match (which ended in straight sets) followed by an additional One-Setter.
The good news of the night was that all action was able to be played to full fruition (i.e. no incomplete sets)!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Senthil Kumar/Frank Samara over John Rizzo/Don Moya, 6-2! Don: 1 Ace on Senthil; and Senthil: 1 Ace on John! It went like this: Frank held at Love and Don was broken (started with a corner Ace against Senthil, but then it shifted to 15-30 and then it shifted again to Game Point, then it went to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) for 0-2. Senthil was also broken as a 30-Love lead then went straight to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break, but then John was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) and Samara had another Love hold to put his team up 4-1! Moya held (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4, but from there it was Kumar also holding (started with a Double Fault, then it was at 15-All where he took advantage of a fairly prone John by shooting an Ace up the T for 30-15, it then went to Double Game Point and the hold) while Rizzo was broken again...this time in a struggle as he soon was down Triple Break/Match Point and on the verge of a Love break when that was saved to make it Double Break/Match Point only to have that one also be saved for Break/Match Point which would be saved as well as it then went to Deuce and it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, the 4th Break/Match Point, 4th Deuce, the break finally came on the 5th Break/Match Point! We played this on Court Two from 9:15 to 9:53.
The Skinny: Rizzo's limited movement issues were too much for him to overcome despite hitting some really nice shots (a couple of them were once again left-handed) along the way. Moya was hot and cold. Kumar was a fairly steady presence at the net. Samara came on strong early on, but had a couple of shanks later in the set. Running on fumes (mentally more than physically) after just three hours sleep the night before, Frank thought it best to call it a night after this one (much like John who has also been lacking sleep lately...and Don also said he has been dealing with the same issue).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Lou La Forgia over Frank Hohorst/Nick Caputo, 7-5, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 105 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Hohorst/Caputo entered the division as the New # 147 Ranked Team. Lou: 1 Ace on Nick in the 1st Set; and Nick: 1 Ace on Ryan in the 1st Set! They got the match started on Court Three at 9:20. The 1st Set ended at 10pm and the entire match was finished at 10:36. After this, they still had time for a One-Setter which we will get to later in this report.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/Tom La over Senthil Kumar/Don Moya, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 148 and # 149 Ranked Teams respectively! Paul: 2 Aces (one on each) in the 2nd Set...and the on-court observers (Rizzo and Samara) thought that Tom had an Ace on Don to close out the 1st Set, but Moya said he just nicked it and Senthil said he heard it. John's retort was: "Yeah, Don hit the fuzz of the ball!" This one got underway on Court Two at 10pm.
When the 1st Set finished at 10:25, Paul expressed a desire to make it a full match so that he could get ranked with Tom as a team. Senthil and Don gave the OK. Frank said from the sidelines that if the sets were split, they could always play a 10-Point Super Tiebreak to still qualify for entry into the Doubles Division. The way it played out...it seemed as if even that scenario may not be possible (in terms of time left in the session).
The 2nd Set went to a Tiebreak and Daddio/La jumped out to a 6-0 lead to set up Match Point with Tom now on his second serve (we should also note that they were doing the changeovers throughout the match, but skipped them in the Tiebreak to save time). La hit a Double Fault! Service was now going to Don and he held both of his serves to save two more Match Points (for a total of three thus far) as service now went to Paul. He was broken on his first serve which was now the 4th M.P. saved. Finally, on the 5th Match Point overall, Daddio held his second serve with a well-timed Ace against Senthil for the win...which came at 11:04!
Ryan Pienciak/Lou La Forgia over Frank Hohorst/Nick Caputo, 6-2! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one (just like their prior match) as it got underway at 10:38 and, like the match above, it ended at 11:04.
Overall, it ended up being a well-balanced session that featured some solid Doubles action.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"10 play at The Bubble!":
There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis as rain did not allow the typical weeknight session at The Cedar Grove Courts. So it was just the usual Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble run by "The Riz" John Rizzo along with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host to collect scores along the way.
As the usual Night Owls players made their arrivals around 9pm, Rizzo (as always) tried to figure out what the best match-ups would be. He had told Samara he was willing to play or sit out depending upon the turnout as he is still dealing with the pain in his heel and possible bone spurs.
We had two of the four courts open for us by 9pm with the other two on each end (Court One and Court Four) occupied by non-GTA groups until 9:30.
Rizzo sent "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia, Frank "Hydro" Hohorst and "NC-17" Nick Caputo out onto Court Three. Meanwhile, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar remained in the lounge area with Rizzo and Samara.
Senthil soon wanted to hit, however, so he asked Frank to come join him on Court Two. Shortly after, John recruited "The Adonis" Don Moya to come make it a foursome. That was the first action to actually get underway right around 9:15 as the four guys started their match on Court Three around 9:20.
Right around that same time, both "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and "The Hit Man" Tom La arrived and waited in the lounge area for either of Courts One or Four to become available. At 9:30, they took over Court Four and had a lengthy hitting session with one another.
Late in what would have been the 1st Set of a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match, it became painfully obvious that Rizzo was still dealing with much pain in his feet. Samara/Kumar had a healthy lead, but did not want to make it a full match and then win it with one of their two opponents injured.
So it was decided it would just be a One-Setter and then Paul and Tom would be invited over to Court Two for some Doubles with Senthil and Don as Frank was also willing to sit out for the rest of the night.
Meanwhile, the foursome on Court Three were able to play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match (which ended in straight sets) followed by an additional One-Setter.
The good news of the night was that all action was able to be played to full fruition (i.e. no incomplete sets)!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
Senthil Kumar/Frank Samara over John Rizzo/Don Moya, 6-2! Don: 1 Ace on Senthil; and Senthil: 1 Ace on John! It went like this: Frank held at Love and Don was broken (started with a corner Ace against Senthil, but then it shifted to 15-30 and then it shifted again to Game Point, then it went to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point and then the break) for 0-2. Senthil was also broken as a 30-Love lead then went straight to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break, but then John was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) and Samara had another Love hold to put his team up 4-1! Moya held (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4, but from there it was Kumar also holding (started with a Double Fault, then it was at 15-All where he took advantage of a fairly prone John by shooting an Ace up the T for 30-15, it then went to Double Game Point and the hold) while Rizzo was broken again...this time in a struggle as he soon was down Triple Break/Match Point and on the verge of a Love break when that was saved to make it Double Break/Match Point only to have that one also be saved for Break/Match Point which would be saved as well as it then went to Deuce and it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, the 4th Break/Match Point, 4th Deuce, the break finally came on the 5th Break/Match Point! We played this on Court Two from 9:15 to 9:53.
The Skinny: Rizzo's limited movement issues were too much for him to overcome despite hitting some really nice shots (a couple of them were once again left-handed) along the way. Moya was hot and cold. Kumar was a fairly steady presence at the net. Samara came on strong early on, but had a couple of shanks later in the set. Running on fumes (mentally more than physically) after just three hours sleep the night before, Frank thought it best to call it a night after this one (much like John who has also been lacking sleep lately...and Don also said he has been dealing with the same issue).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Lou La Forgia over Frank Hohorst/Nick Caputo, 7-5, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 105 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Hohorst/Caputo entered the division as the New # 147 Ranked Team. Lou: 1 Ace on Nick in the 1st Set; and Nick: 1 Ace on Ryan in the 1st Set! They got the match started on Court Three at 9:20. The 1st Set ended at 10pm and the entire match was finished at 10:36. After this, they still had time for a One-Setter which we will get to later in this report.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/Tom La over Senthil Kumar/Don Moya, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 148 and # 149 Ranked Teams respectively! Paul: 2 Aces (one on each) in the 2nd Set...and the on-court observers (Rizzo and Samara) thought that Tom had an Ace on Don to close out the 1st Set, but Moya said he just nicked it and Senthil said he heard it. John's retort was: "Yeah, Don hit the fuzz of the ball!" This one got underway on Court Two at 10pm.
When the 1st Set finished at 10:25, Paul expressed a desire to make it a full match so that he could get ranked with Tom as a team. Senthil and Don gave the OK. Frank said from the sidelines that if the sets were split, they could always play a 10-Point Super Tiebreak to still qualify for entry into the Doubles Division. The way it played out...it seemed as if even that scenario may not be possible (in terms of time left in the session).
The 2nd Set went to a Tiebreak and Daddio/La jumped out to a 6-0 lead to set up Match Point with Tom now on his second serve (we should also note that they were doing the changeovers throughout the match, but skipped them in the Tiebreak to save time). La hit a Double Fault! Service was now going to Don and he held both of his serves to save two more Match Points (for a total of three thus far) as service now went to Paul. He was broken on his first serve which was now the 4th M.P. saved. Finally, on the 5th Match Point overall, Daddio held his second serve with a well-timed Ace against Senthil for the win...which came at 11:04!
Ryan Pienciak/Lou La Forgia over Frank Hohorst/Nick Caputo, 6-2! No Aces. Court Three hosted this one (just like their prior match) as it got underway at 10:38 and, like the match above, it ended at 11:04.
Overall, it ended up being a well-balanced session that featured some solid Doubles action.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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