3/25/18:
"11 compete (1 just hit) at Albion, 18 play (1 New) at Bubble!":
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the early morning one at The Albion Park Courts in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then the two back-to-back late afternoon/early evening Sunday sessions for the two Night Owl groups up at The Wayne Bubble - the first one hosted by "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and the second one hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo.
Let's first detail the comings and goings at Albion before getting the Bubble results from Kevin and John.
Samara rolled up to the courts five minutes later than he said he would at 10:35. "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque was already there waiting in his car. There was also an unknown gentleman waiting in his car. We both thought he may be looking for the GTA, though we did not recognize him. We did not approach him as he seemed to be on a call.
As the two started heading toward the courts, both "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto and Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda had also now pulled up to the curb. Soon enough, the four of them started hitting on the North Court with Vin and Muhammad on one side and Frank and Sachiko on the other.
Before they got all that far with their hitting session, "Sneaky" Suzanne Bujara was entering the other gate at the corner of the South Court at 10:45. Frank then let Suzanne take his place in the hitting session.
Within five minutes, "Big George" Jorge Solano had arrived at 10:50. Muhammad was willing to hit with him on Center Court while the other four would engage in some Mixed Doubles action on the North Court.
The good news weather-wise was that the winds were less frequent than they were the previous Sunday. Also, the starting temperature and the peak temperature were both slightly higher as well. But with very little sun in sight, it actually felt colder than a week ago (though some liked the lack of sun as it made it easier to see the ball).
At 11am, Natalia "Nitro" Sout made her way onto the courts and soon got involved in the hitting session on Center Court with Solano and Haque. At 11:20, "Stealth" Omar Santos arrived to join them and they soon got some official Doubles action going.
At 11:35, "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales arrived and he ended up being "the ninth wheel" for a while as he watched the action on the North Court from the bench on the sidelines. Luckily, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 11:45 and they soon were able to have a hitting session on the South Court (where the middle of the net is still far too low!).
The eleventh and last official competitor to arrive was "King Crush" Chris Chiaro at 12:10. At 2pm, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis made his way onto the courts at 2pm. It seemed it would just be a cameo appearance, but then he was out on the court hitting as Frank was leaving the courts around 2:10. It seems he never got involved in any official action, however, as only One-Setter was reported (by both Jose and Muhammad) after the departure of the defeated, dejected and depressed Samara (more on that later).
Let's get to the action!
The Albion Park Results:
Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Vinnie De Benedetto/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Suzanne was broken (Love-15, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Sachiko was broken (a Triple Game Point lead reduced to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Vin was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, then Break Point and the break), but Frank was the first to hold serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-1. Bujara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), but so was Tokuda (another Triple Game Point lead reduced to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank blew what should have been a certain Overhead Smash winner...noteworthy because it was the first of many on the day to bring it to Break Point rather than go up again for another Game Point, then came 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 4-2. De Benedetto was also broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) while Samara held again (Triple Game/Match Point, it ended on Double Game/Match Point) to get the win! We played this one on the North Court from 10:55 to 11:28.
The Skinny: Everyone had their moments in this one, but I will cop to playing pretty well in this initial One-Setter of the day. But just remember that blown Overhead attempt...because there was a whole lot more of that coming as the day progressed! For the record, I believe I made two successful Overhead Smashes earlier in this contest. Those would be my last!
Jorge Solano/Natalia Sout over Omar Santos/Muhammad Haque, 6-4! No Aces. This was contested on Center Court from 11:25 to 12:20...just five minutes shy of an hour! Afterward, Muhammad wanted to team with Natalia for the next One-Setter...but both Omar and Jorge were convinced that would not be an even match-up...so they went with Solano/Haque versus Santos/Sout instead. More on that one later in this report.
Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Vinnie De Benedetto/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Suzanne was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and then the break) and then Frank held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for a 2-0 lead. Vin then got his first hold of the day (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but so did Sachiko (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then the hold) for 3-1. Bujara was broken again (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and then the break) to fall to 1-4, but then Samara was broken for the first time (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point and then came the break) for 4-2. Then, De Benedetto was broken at Love to fall to 2-5, but Tokuda was also broken (Frank had his second badly blown overhead of the day to set up Love-30, it then shifted straight to Game/Match Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 5-3. Sneaky Suzanne (and that moniker is a term of admiration and respect for her rapidly improving abilities) had her first hold of the day (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 4-5 only to then have Hollywood rebound with a Love hold of his own to take this one on Triple Game/Match Point! This one also took place on the North Court and it lasted from 11:32 to 12:02.
The Skinny: Vin and Suzanne decided to switch up the sides of the court from which they served and it seemed to improve the service performance of both. I continued to play solidly in this one save that second blown overhead of the day, but the true story in this one was the clearly evident improving play of Bujara. De Benedetto said he was just sitting back and watching as his partner often took over the points with some increasingly aggressive shots and good get-making. It should also be said that Sachiko was solid throughout the two One-Setters. After this one though, she had enough for the day and headed home.
Some people often ask me why I don't report this (and some of the action to follow) as a full match. As far as I'm concerned, those type of things should be discussed and agreed upon at the session. When the first One-Setter had ended, I had suggested switching up the teams...but Vin wanted a shot at revenge...which creates a rematch situation, something that a lot of players refer to as "let's run it back!" In that scenario, you're not constructing it to be a full match unless it is explicitly stated.
At the same time, I have no problem with people requesting midway (i.e. after the initial One-Setter has been played) to extend what would have just been a One-Setter into a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match. Of course, this is something that should be agreed upon by all the parties involved. I also take no issue with that request being denied because perhaps someone was playing differently (i.e. a less competitive mentality or a more experimental mindset) in the One-Setter than they would have if they had known it would be a full match. This is just some food for thought...and to answer any similar questions ahead of time.
Jose Gonzales/Frank Samara over Nathan Fernandes/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. The dirty lowdown: Frank was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break), but from there it was Nate also getting broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break), Jose held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold), Suzanne was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), Samara held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold), Fernandes was broken again and this time at Love and then Gonzales held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:05 to 12:25. After this one was done, so was Suzanne.
Omar Santos/Natalia Sout over Jorge Solano/Muhammad Haque, 6-3! No Aces. This was conducted on Center Court from 12:23 to 1:03. After it finished, Jorge called it a day. This led to a three-way hitting session for a while until Omar decided to sit out and watch Muhammad and Natalia face off in a Singles One-Setter (aka Battle of The Sexes) which we will get to a bit later.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-3! No Aces. The breakdown: Nate was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), Chris was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then back-to-back Double Faults shifted the game to Break Point, then came Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and finally the break), but Jose was the first to hold and it was at Love for 2-1. Frank responded with a Love hold of his own, but then Ferrnandes held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point which was reduced to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and the hold) for 3-2. Chiaro was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4, but then Gonzales was finally broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) for 4-3. But then Hollywood was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) while Nate the Great held again (Triple Game/Match Point, Double Game/Match Point and the hold) for the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:28 to 12:52.
The Skinny: This was Chiaro's first time playing outdoors this season and it showed as the court surface at Albion is quite different from the courts at The Wayne Bubble even though they are all hard courts. Chris felt his timing was off...and I will once again cop to playing pretty solidly in this one. Chiaro also thought Fernandes looked quite good despite his tennis elbow injury, but Nate explained it as a pain that runs from his elbow through his forearm and into his hand and fingers. It does not hurt when he hits forehands, but it has been troubling him on serves and overheads. Overheads...ah, yes! I didn't blow any in this one...but give it time...its coming!
Jose (who was the most solid server all day, by the way) suggested switching up the teams (he wanted to team with Chiaro), but Chris wanted to "run it back." And so we did.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-4! Jose: 1 Ace on Frank on Match Point! The play-by-play: Chris was broken (15-Love then straight to Double Break Point and the break) while Jose had a Love hold for 2-0. Frank held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and then Nate was broken in an epic struggle (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce when it then became all Break Points thru to 5th Deuce and then one more Break Point and the break) for 2-2! Chiaro got his first hold of the day (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-2, but Gonzales held again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, but then a bounce to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3. Samara was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), but Fernandes was then broken again (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4! King Crush was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) while Hurricane Jose held yet again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game/Match Point, then Deuce, the 2nd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, the 3rd Game/Match Point and then a sideline Ace on Frank) to get the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:54 to 1:29.
The Skinny: Chiaro was not sure of the Ace call at the end, but Samara said he could not see a mark outside the line. And since he was unsure if it just clipped the outside of the line or just missed, he thought it should stand. Once again, it was a fine service effort by Gonzales. Chris was steadily improving his level of play while Frank's level was beginning to diminish (still no ugly overhead attempts in this one, however).
Natalia Sout over Muhammad Haque, 6-3! No Aces. This "Battle of the Sexes" One-Setter was played on Center Court from 1:15 to 1:55 as "the fairer sex" took it in impressive fashion.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-4! No Aces. The straight shoot: Frank held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Nate held (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), Chris held as a Love-15 start shifted to 30-15, then came 30-All, Game Point and the hold, but Jose also held (Frank blew an overhead worse than he ever did before...more on this one in "The Skinny"...to make it 30-Love, then came 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2. Samara was the first to be broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), but then so was Fernandes as he went from Love-15 to 30-15 to Break Point and the break for 3-3. Chiaro was also broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point as Frank once again blew an easy overhead put-away opportunity and then came the break), but then so was Gonzales (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) to send these four to a 4-4 score! But then The Wood was broken once more (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) while Nate the Great managed a Love hold right after Frank had another horrible overhead attempt to set up Triple Game/Match Point! This one got underway on the North Court at exactly 1:33. It then appropriately ended at 2:07 as Samara was about to have another "2:07" meltdown as he disgustedly dropped his racquet to the surface of the court and looked like he was about to go into "Hulk Mode" before he cooled himself down a bit.
The Skinny: OK, first we tackle the most badly blown overhead ever! And this is not just Samara's worst overhead moment...you would be hard-pressed to find a worse effort from anyone else in this regard. In all fairness, it was not the effort that was failing...just the execution. Frank went up for a short-angled shot from Jose that sent Samara sent into the Doubles Alley, but it was not a tough get as the ball bounced high into the air setting up what would have been the "patented" Windmill Overhead Smash from The Wood. The only problem is that while whipping up a wind-up for a planned short-angle cross-court smash, Frank actually let the ball descend too much and then somehow whiffed the shot either under it or around it, thus missing it completely! Samara said Herve Villechaize (see "Tattoo" of "Fantasy Island," an 80's sitcom) could have hit that overhead! His supportive partner, Chiaro, countered with: "Stevie Wonder could have made that overhead!" Yeah, it was that bad.
As for the significance of 2:07 (I realize we have many people on the mailing list who were not in the league back in 2010), the short story is that Samara arrived for a GTA Double Championship Match (where he was one half of the reigning GTA Doubles Champions along with "The Marathon Man" Ron Ruiz to defend their Titles against the Former Champs: "Ash The Bash" Mike Ashley and Brian "The Truth" Tangora) that was scheduled to start at 2pm. Frank arrived seven minutes late (hence 2:07) to be greeted with catcalls of "You're late" and "We should take the match via forfeit." It should be noted that The Riz was also a heckler from the sideline.
Samara immediately launched into a profanity-laced tirade that suddenly silenced all those in attendance. To say that the match was played under tense and chilled (not temperature-wise) conditions would be a grave understatement.
And now for that last result that was sent by both Jose and Muhammad (I thank them both for their very timely reporting).
Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-5)! Jose: 1 Ace on Nate!
We now turn this report over to Kevlar Kevin and The Riz for the results from The Bubble!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
The 3 to 5pm session (scores submitted by Kevin):
Vlad Smolyanskiy over Sam Senowitz, 8-6! No Aces (apparently). They played out the games (i.e. no Tiebreak). Kevin said they spent most of the time just hitting, but they did end up playing this lone One-Setter.
Kevin Doyle/Jeanette Pegg over Kathy Sheldon/Robin Wilson, 6-4! No Aces. This was a long one, just five minutes shy of an hour (3:15 to 4:10). Due to the lengthy duration, the following happened...
Kevin Doyle/Jeanette Pegg tied with Kathy Sheldon/Robin Wilson, 5-5 (Incomplete when the session ran out of time)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kevin for his very timely reporting of these results. We now go to The Riz for the scores from the 6 to 8pm session.
3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Frank Hohorst over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend the # 71 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Pienciak/Rizzo entered the division as the New # 156 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Riz Report: Ryan and I had a 5-1 lead in the 1st Set and a 3-1 lead in the 2nd Set, but could not close either one of them out.
Mike Sindler/Bill Bess over Syed Rashid/Arthur Fontanilla, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Elias Eid/John Crespo over Rich Liu/Ray Spadaro, 6-2, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 157 and # 158 Ranked Teams respectively! It was the official GTA Debut of John Crespo. No Aces (apparently).
Ray Spadaro/John Crespo leading Rich Liu/Elias Eid, 5-4 (Incomplete when the session ran out of time)! No Aces (apparently).
Samara's Notes: I also thank John for sending in those results in a very timely fashion.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"11 compete (1 just hit) at Albion, 18 play (1 New) at Bubble!":
There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the early morning one at The Albion Park Courts in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then the two back-to-back late afternoon/early evening Sunday sessions for the two Night Owl groups up at The Wayne Bubble - the first one hosted by "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and the second one hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo.
Let's first detail the comings and goings at Albion before getting the Bubble results from Kevin and John.
Samara rolled up to the courts five minutes later than he said he would at 10:35. "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque was already there waiting in his car. There was also an unknown gentleman waiting in his car. We both thought he may be looking for the GTA, though we did not recognize him. We did not approach him as he seemed to be on a call.
As the two started heading toward the courts, both "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto and Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda had also now pulled up to the curb. Soon enough, the four of them started hitting on the North Court with Vin and Muhammad on one side and Frank and Sachiko on the other.
Before they got all that far with their hitting session, "Sneaky" Suzanne Bujara was entering the other gate at the corner of the South Court at 10:45. Frank then let Suzanne take his place in the hitting session.
Within five minutes, "Big George" Jorge Solano had arrived at 10:50. Muhammad was willing to hit with him on Center Court while the other four would engage in some Mixed Doubles action on the North Court.
The good news weather-wise was that the winds were less frequent than they were the previous Sunday. Also, the starting temperature and the peak temperature were both slightly higher as well. But with very little sun in sight, it actually felt colder than a week ago (though some liked the lack of sun as it made it easier to see the ball).
At 11am, Natalia "Nitro" Sout made her way onto the courts and soon got involved in the hitting session on Center Court with Solano and Haque. At 11:20, "Stealth" Omar Santos arrived to join them and they soon got some official Doubles action going.
At 11:35, "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales arrived and he ended up being "the ninth wheel" for a while as he watched the action on the North Court from the bench on the sidelines. Luckily, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 11:45 and they soon were able to have a hitting session on the South Court (where the middle of the net is still far too low!).
The eleventh and last official competitor to arrive was "King Crush" Chris Chiaro at 12:10. At 2pm, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis made his way onto the courts at 2pm. It seemed it would just be a cameo appearance, but then he was out on the court hitting as Frank was leaving the courts around 2:10. It seems he never got involved in any official action, however, as only One-Setter was reported (by both Jose and Muhammad) after the departure of the defeated, dejected and depressed Samara (more on that later).
Let's get to the action!
The Albion Park Results:
Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Vinnie De Benedetto/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Suzanne was broken (Love-15, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Sachiko was broken (a Triple Game Point lead reduced to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Vin was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, then Break Point and the break), but Frank was the first to hold serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-1. Bujara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), but so was Tokuda (another Triple Game Point lead reduced to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Frank blew what should have been a certain Overhead Smash winner...noteworthy because it was the first of many on the day to bring it to Break Point rather than go up again for another Game Point, then came 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 4-2. De Benedetto was also broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then the break) while Samara held again (Triple Game/Match Point, it ended on Double Game/Match Point) to get the win! We played this one on the North Court from 10:55 to 11:28.
The Skinny: Everyone had their moments in this one, but I will cop to playing pretty well in this initial One-Setter of the day. But just remember that blown Overhead attempt...because there was a whole lot more of that coming as the day progressed! For the record, I believe I made two successful Overhead Smashes earlier in this contest. Those would be my last!
Jorge Solano/Natalia Sout over Omar Santos/Muhammad Haque, 6-4! No Aces. This was contested on Center Court from 11:25 to 12:20...just five minutes shy of an hour! Afterward, Muhammad wanted to team with Natalia for the next One-Setter...but both Omar and Jorge were convinced that would not be an even match-up...so they went with Solano/Haque versus Santos/Sout instead. More on that one later in this report.
Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Vinnie De Benedetto/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Suzanne was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and then the break) and then Frank held serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for a 2-0 lead. Vin then got his first hold of the day (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but so did Sachiko (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then the hold) for 3-1. Bujara was broken again (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and then the break) to fall to 1-4, but then Samara was broken for the first time (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point and then came the break) for 4-2. Then, De Benedetto was broken at Love to fall to 2-5, but Tokuda was also broken (Frank had his second badly blown overhead of the day to set up Love-30, it then shifted straight to Game/Match Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 5-3. Sneaky Suzanne (and that moniker is a term of admiration and respect for her rapidly improving abilities) had her first hold of the day (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 4-5 only to then have Hollywood rebound with a Love hold of his own to take this one on Triple Game/Match Point! This one also took place on the North Court and it lasted from 11:32 to 12:02.
The Skinny: Vin and Suzanne decided to switch up the sides of the court from which they served and it seemed to improve the service performance of both. I continued to play solidly in this one save that second blown overhead of the day, but the true story in this one was the clearly evident improving play of Bujara. De Benedetto said he was just sitting back and watching as his partner often took over the points with some increasingly aggressive shots and good get-making. It should also be said that Sachiko was solid throughout the two One-Setters. After this one though, she had enough for the day and headed home.
Some people often ask me why I don't report this (and some of the action to follow) as a full match. As far as I'm concerned, those type of things should be discussed and agreed upon at the session. When the first One-Setter had ended, I had suggested switching up the teams...but Vin wanted a shot at revenge...which creates a rematch situation, something that a lot of players refer to as "let's run it back!" In that scenario, you're not constructing it to be a full match unless it is explicitly stated.
At the same time, I have no problem with people requesting midway (i.e. after the initial One-Setter has been played) to extend what would have just been a One-Setter into a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match. Of course, this is something that should be agreed upon by all the parties involved. I also take no issue with that request being denied because perhaps someone was playing differently (i.e. a less competitive mentality or a more experimental mindset) in the One-Setter than they would have if they had known it would be a full match. This is just some food for thought...and to answer any similar questions ahead of time.
Jose Gonzales/Frank Samara over Nathan Fernandes/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1! No Aces. The dirty lowdown: Frank was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point and the break), but from there it was Nate also getting broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break), Jose held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold), Suzanne was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), Samara held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold), Fernandes was broken again and this time at Love and then Gonzales held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:05 to 12:25. After this one was done, so was Suzanne.
Omar Santos/Natalia Sout over Jorge Solano/Muhammad Haque, 6-3! No Aces. This was conducted on Center Court from 12:23 to 1:03. After it finished, Jorge called it a day. This led to a three-way hitting session for a while until Omar decided to sit out and watch Muhammad and Natalia face off in a Singles One-Setter (aka Battle of The Sexes) which we will get to a bit later.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-3! No Aces. The breakdown: Nate was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), Chris was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 and then back-to-back Double Faults shifted the game to Break Point, then came Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and finally the break), but Jose was the first to hold and it was at Love for 2-1. Frank responded with a Love hold of his own, but then Ferrnandes held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point which was reduced to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and the hold) for 3-2. Chiaro was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4, but then Gonzales was finally broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) for 4-3. But then Hollywood was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) while Nate the Great held again (Triple Game/Match Point, Double Game/Match Point and the hold) for the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:28 to 12:52.
The Skinny: This was Chiaro's first time playing outdoors this season and it showed as the court surface at Albion is quite different from the courts at The Wayne Bubble even though they are all hard courts. Chris felt his timing was off...and I will once again cop to playing pretty solidly in this one. Chiaro also thought Fernandes looked quite good despite his tennis elbow injury, but Nate explained it as a pain that runs from his elbow through his forearm and into his hand and fingers. It does not hurt when he hits forehands, but it has been troubling him on serves and overheads. Overheads...ah, yes! I didn't blow any in this one...but give it time...its coming!
Jose (who was the most solid server all day, by the way) suggested switching up the teams (he wanted to team with Chiaro), but Chris wanted to "run it back." And so we did.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-4! Jose: 1 Ace on Frank on Match Point! The play-by-play: Chris was broken (15-Love then straight to Double Break Point and the break) while Jose had a Love hold for 2-0. Frank held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and then Nate was broken in an epic struggle (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point, Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 3rd Deuce when it then became all Break Points thru to 5th Deuce and then one more Break Point and the break) for 2-2! Chiaro got his first hold of the day (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-2, but Gonzales held again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, but then a bounce to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3. Samara was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), but Fernandes was then broken again (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4! King Crush was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) while Hurricane Jose held yet again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game/Match Point, then Deuce, the 2nd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, the 3rd Game/Match Point and then a sideline Ace on Frank) to get the win! We played this on the North Court from 12:54 to 1:29.
The Skinny: Chiaro was not sure of the Ace call at the end, but Samara said he could not see a mark outside the line. And since he was unsure if it just clipped the outside of the line or just missed, he thought it should stand. Once again, it was a fine service effort by Gonzales. Chris was steadily improving his level of play while Frank's level was beginning to diminish (still no ugly overhead attempts in this one, however).
Natalia Sout over Muhammad Haque, 6-3! No Aces. This "Battle of the Sexes" One-Setter was played on Center Court from 1:15 to 1:55 as "the fairer sex" took it in impressive fashion.
Jose Gonzales/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara, 6-4! No Aces. The straight shoot: Frank held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Nate held (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), Chris held as a Love-15 start shifted to 30-15, then came 30-All, Game Point and the hold, but Jose also held (Frank blew an overhead worse than he ever did before...more on this one in "The Skinny"...to make it 30-Love, then came 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2. Samara was the first to be broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), but then so was Fernandes as he went from Love-15 to 30-15 to Break Point and the break for 3-3. Chiaro was also broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point as Frank once again blew an easy overhead put-away opportunity and then came the break), but then so was Gonzales (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) to send these four to a 4-4 score! But then The Wood was broken once more (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) while Nate the Great managed a Love hold right after Frank had another horrible overhead attempt to set up Triple Game/Match Point! This one got underway on the North Court at exactly 1:33. It then appropriately ended at 2:07 as Samara was about to have another "2:07" meltdown as he disgustedly dropped his racquet to the surface of the court and looked like he was about to go into "Hulk Mode" before he cooled himself down a bit.
The Skinny: OK, first we tackle the most badly blown overhead ever! And this is not just Samara's worst overhead moment...you would be hard-pressed to find a worse effort from anyone else in this regard. In all fairness, it was not the effort that was failing...just the execution. Frank went up for a short-angled shot from Jose that sent Samara sent into the Doubles Alley, but it was not a tough get as the ball bounced high into the air setting up what would have been the "patented" Windmill Overhead Smash from The Wood. The only problem is that while whipping up a wind-up for a planned short-angle cross-court smash, Frank actually let the ball descend too much and then somehow whiffed the shot either under it or around it, thus missing it completely! Samara said Herve Villechaize (see "Tattoo" of "Fantasy Island," an 80's sitcom) could have hit that overhead! His supportive partner, Chiaro, countered with: "Stevie Wonder could have made that overhead!" Yeah, it was that bad.
As for the significance of 2:07 (I realize we have many people on the mailing list who were not in the league back in 2010), the short story is that Samara arrived for a GTA Double Championship Match (where he was one half of the reigning GTA Doubles Champions along with "The Marathon Man" Ron Ruiz to defend their Titles against the Former Champs: "Ash The Bash" Mike Ashley and Brian "The Truth" Tangora) that was scheduled to start at 2pm. Frank arrived seven minutes late (hence 2:07) to be greeted with catcalls of "You're late" and "We should take the match via forfeit." It should be noted that The Riz was also a heckler from the sideline.
Samara immediately launched into a profanity-laced tirade that suddenly silenced all those in attendance. To say that the match was played under tense and chilled (not temperature-wise) conditions would be a grave understatement.
And now for that last result that was sent by both Jose and Muhammad (I thank them both for their very timely reporting).
Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-5)! Jose: 1 Ace on Nate!
We now turn this report over to Kevlar Kevin and The Riz for the results from The Bubble!
The Wayne Bubble Results:
The 3 to 5pm session (scores submitted by Kevin):
Vlad Smolyanskiy over Sam Senowitz, 8-6! No Aces (apparently). They played out the games (i.e. no Tiebreak). Kevin said they spent most of the time just hitting, but they did end up playing this lone One-Setter.
Kevin Doyle/Jeanette Pegg over Kathy Sheldon/Robin Wilson, 6-4! No Aces. This was a long one, just five minutes shy of an hour (3:15 to 4:10). Due to the lengthy duration, the following happened...
Kevin Doyle/Jeanette Pegg tied with Kathy Sheldon/Robin Wilson, 5-5 (Incomplete when the session ran out of time)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kevin for his very timely reporting of these results. We now go to The Riz for the scores from the 6 to 8pm session.
3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Frank Hohorst over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend the # 71 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, Pienciak/Rizzo entered the division as the New # 156 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Riz Report: Ryan and I had a 5-1 lead in the 1st Set and a 3-1 lead in the 2nd Set, but could not close either one of them out.
Mike Sindler/Bill Bess over Syed Rashid/Arthur Fontanilla, 7-5! No Aces (apparently).
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Elias Eid/John Crespo over Rich Liu/Ray Spadaro, 6-2, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 157 and # 158 Ranked Teams respectively! It was the official GTA Debut of John Crespo. No Aces (apparently).
Ray Spadaro/John Crespo leading Rich Liu/Elias Eid, 5-4 (Incomplete when the session ran out of time)! No Aces (apparently).
Samara's Notes: I also thank John for sending in those results in a very timely fashion.
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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