4/12/18:
"Fernanda-Brenda at C.G., Fortunato-Rei in Wayne, 5 play at Pulaski, 6 play at C.G.!":
There were four sessions of GTA Thursday Tennis: the first was a morning session at The Cedar Grove Courts featuring a Challenge Match between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan (yes, Brenda told me she wanted to go back to "Bravo").
The second session was at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne and featured the first match to be played in the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. And it is a good thing it came first as it was one of the two "Play-In" matches in this 34-Man Event (with the winner advancing to the Round of 32). It was Matt "Good Fortune" Fortunato versus Thiyagesh "T-Pain" Rei.
The third session was at The Pulaski Park Courts in Bloomfield as both "The Riz" John Rizzo and "Hollywood" Frank Samara wanted to give the location a trial run as potential third locale for GTA Weeknight Tennis.
And then the fourth session was a return to The Cear Grove Courts for the usual evening session with Umang "Ash" Jain, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes all sending in their scores.
We will first go to Fernanda's report and then get the result that both Matt and Thiyagesh sent in of their match. Then, we will get the full recap of what took place at Pulaski. And then we will go back to Cedar Grove for the rest of the results from there.
The Cedar Grove Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Fernanda Toker over Brenda Jordan, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division! No Aces.
Toker's Take: Knowing I had to defend my rank this month, I sent a text message to Anna Mazur but she never answered. I assume she is away right now. Then I sent a text to Doinks Srinivasan, but she said she is not playing Singles right now as she is busy training for an upcoming marathon. Brenda was easy to schedule with and we started the match at 11am. She's fun to play with and she made some great shots. We enjoyed the beautiful weather.
The Consequences: Now that Fernanda has made her Monthly Rank Defense Requirement, she puts the pressure on reigning GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley to defend her Title by April 30th. Laura can give the title shot to any woman who is ranked in The Top 10 of the Women's Division.
Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for submitting this result in a very timely fashion.
We now go to the dual report from Matt and Thiyagesh.
The Nellis Drive Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Play-In Match:
Thiyagesh Rei over Matt Fortunato, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the Round of 32 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament while both players entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 38 and # 39 Ranked Players respectively! No Aces. The match was played from 5:30 to 7pm, approximately.
The Consequences: Rei now advances to the Round of 32 where he will face the Top Seed in the entire draw, "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega!
Samara's Notes: I thank both Matt and Thiyagesh for submitting this result in a very timely fashion.
And now for how the GTA Thursday Night Tennis session at the Pulaski Park Courts in Bloomfield unfolded.
As Samara cut through Nutley on his way from Passaic to Bloomfield, he ended up driving right in front of "King Crush" Chris Chiaro. As this was happening, Rizzo called Samara to say that he was already in the area of the Pulaski Park Courts, but somehow he drove past the parking lot. He was going to have to drive around the block until he could circle back and park in the lot.
Samara and Chiaro both walked toward the courts and entered that area at 7:25. Three of the four courts were taken with only Court One available. On Court Two and Court Three, it looked like it could be kids from the Bloomfield High School Tennis Team practicing.
On Court Four, there were two guys likely to be somewhere in their 30's having a fairly intense Singles Match with one another. Samara inaccurately predicted that they would be the first to leave given how sweaty one of the two guys was (his shirt was completely soaked!).
At 7:30, Rizzo finally found his way to the courts. Frank and John started hitting against Chris on Court One. And very soon after, Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas also made her way toward that court. After some four-way hitting, we decided the best balance would likely be Chris and Fadia versus Frank and John.
It should be noted that the kids left Court Two at 7:35 and then Court Three at 7:40. The first Doubles One-Setter we had on Court One started at that same time (7:40). And those two guys on Court Four did not leave until 8:30. Still, all told, we could have had use of three of the four courts by 7:40. As it turned out, all we would need is one.
The Pulaski Park Courts Results:
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Chris held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold) and John was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then a bounce to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and that was the rally of the match as Chris made several amazing gets to ultimately win the point and get the break) for 0-2. Fadia was broken (Triple Break Point reduced to Break Point, but then came the break) and Frank held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to tie it up at 2-2. But from there, Chiaro held again (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, then Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, another Game Point and finally the hold), Rizzo was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break), Nicolas held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Samara was broken (15-Love lead sunk right down to Double Break/Match Point, it was then Break/Match Point but then came the break) to take the loss! We played this one on Court One from 7:40 to 8:09.
The Skinny: Just five minutes after we started, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived. He was going thru his usual stretching routine on Court Two while watching the action. Afterward, Fadia said she was willing to sit out and actually go home at that point. Considering how far she traveled just to get to the session, Frank insisted she play at least one more (to make the trip worthwhile) while he sat out instead.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4! Ryan: 1 Ace on Fadia. The basic breakdown (as I was not noting every point in every game): Ryan and John were up 2-0 when it was now Ryan's turn to serve. He was at Break Point when he scored an Ace up the T against Fadia to bring it to Deuce. But from there it went back to Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard. The Pienciak/Rizzo tandem increased their lead to 3-1, but soon enough the set would be leveled at 3-3. Pienciak was on serve again in what would turn out to be yet another pivotal game as he got off to a Love-30 start and then at 15-30, he hit a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point and then the break came on Break Point as his team had now lost the lead at 3-4! And then came the most epic game of the match with Fadia on serve as she started off with a Double Fault and that was on the way to Triple Break Point only to then have her team rally to Deuce, then it was Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point, 6th Deuce, Break Point, 7th Deuce, Break Point yet again and finally the break to knot the score at 4-4! But from there, John was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and then Chris held on Game/Match Point to get the win! They played this on Court One from 8:15 to 8:57.
The Skinny: This was a very exciting One-Setter (the best of the night, actually) as Fadia did more than hold her own hanging with the guys. But the true highlight of her night was when Ryan offered, in earnest, to walk her to he car as the parking lot is quite far and much of the surroundings quite dark (save the nearby baseball field which is also lit). Fadia's reply was, "do you know where I come from? Beirut, Lebanon! I used to pack a hand grenade in my hand bag." And with that, she boldly walked off the courts and into the night alone.
For the record, I never saw an unsavory element anywhere in sight. Upon our arrival, there were high school aged kids playing basketball on the nearby courts. But those courts (unlike the tennis courts) are not lit, so those guys tend to leave once it gets dark. And while Passaic (where I live) is not quite the same as Beirut, Lebanon, I've walked thru several areas (sometimes after dark) that make the part of Bloomfield where Pulaski Park is located look like child's play. So that so-called aspect of the Pulaski Park location does not faze me one bit. I will give you my overall opinion of the location after detailing the next One-Setter which was the last of the evening.
Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4! Chris: 1 Ace on John! Here's how it went down: Chris held (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), John held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold), but Frank was the first to be broken in quite a struggle of a game (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, but then it went to Deuce and it was all Game Points all the way to 5th Deuce, then came the first Break Point followed by the break) for 1-2! Ryan held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold) for a 3-1 lead. Chiaro held again and it was at Love after getting what we could call a service-line Ace on John while up 15-Love, but it was really John taking a missed swing at the ball as he felt it did not bounce properly. Rizzo was then broken in another battle (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and finally the break) to level matters at 3-3! Samara was broken again (30-Love shifted to Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-4, but then Pienciak was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score once more at 4-4! King Crush held a third straight time (in this one) as it went from Love-30 to 30-All, then Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold to give his team a 5-4 lead (their first lead since being up 1-0). And then The Riz was broken again (30-Love shifted to Break/Match Point and the break) to get the "L" as everyone wanted to get the "L" out of there! This one started off on Court One at 9:02. It gets more interesting from there.
The Skinny: At 9:07, the lights went out over the half of the courts that includes Court One and Court Two. They remained on, however, over Court Three and Court Four. So we shifted over to Court Three and resumed action at 9:09. And then, at 9:29, the lights came back on over Court One and Court Two (though we decided to stay on Court Three...even though we had liked One better). Very strange! It should also be noted that Ryan told us right at the outset that he is dealing with some type of arm and/or shoulder injury/issue that is hurting him whenever he serves. So, in his second service game in the above One-Setter, he ended up lobbing his first serves in and that is why he was broken fairly easily. By the way, this one ended exactly at 9:48. We were thankful not to push it to 10pm just in case the lights in the baseball field also went out at that time...as then we'd be left in true total darkness!
Overall, most of the players felt like Pulaski was something of a disappointment. As for my opinion, I can't see myself wanting to host sessions there once or twice a week. It is a good fallback option for whenever the Cedar Grove Courts get too crowded with players (ours and/or others). It is also a good location for anyone nearby looking to schedule Tournament or Challenge Matches as I suspect there should always be at least one court available. It is centrally located for many of the players in the league, but there is something lacking. The far walk to and from the parking lot does not help matters. But even the overall environment is not all that inviting...though it is far from menacing. Oh well!
And now, as Cedar Grove ended up book-ending the day's Results, we go back there for the balance of the scores.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Umang Jain over Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces.
Annotations from Ash: I hit with Big George for about 30 to 40 minutes before we played the One-Setter. Then I hit for 30 minutes with Doinks and we ended up playing Doubles after that.
Samara's Notes: I thank Ash for that result. As Doinks had more specific details of their Doubles action, we turn this report over to her now (but for the first of these results, Nate had to confirm the final score).
Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-4)! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Umang Jain/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Mole/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for sending in the balance of the results (along with the assist from Nate).
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"Fernanda-Brenda at C.G., Fortunato-Rei in Wayne, 5 play at Pulaski, 6 play at C.G.!":
There were four sessions of GTA Thursday Tennis: the first was a morning session at The Cedar Grove Courts featuring a Challenge Match between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan (yes, Brenda told me she wanted to go back to "Bravo").
The second session was at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne and featured the first match to be played in the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament. And it is a good thing it came first as it was one of the two "Play-In" matches in this 34-Man Event (with the winner advancing to the Round of 32). It was Matt "Good Fortune" Fortunato versus Thiyagesh "T-Pain" Rei.
The third session was at The Pulaski Park Courts in Bloomfield as both "The Riz" John Rizzo and "Hollywood" Frank Samara wanted to give the location a trial run as potential third locale for GTA Weeknight Tennis.
And then the fourth session was a return to The Cear Grove Courts for the usual evening session with Umang "Ash" Jain, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes all sending in their scores.
We will first go to Fernanda's report and then get the result that both Matt and Thiyagesh sent in of their match. Then, we will get the full recap of what took place at Pulaski. And then we will go back to Cedar Grove for the rest of the results from there.
The Cedar Grove Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Fernanda Toker over Brenda Jordan, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division! No Aces.
Toker's Take: Knowing I had to defend my rank this month, I sent a text message to Anna Mazur but she never answered. I assume she is away right now. Then I sent a text to Doinks Srinivasan, but she said she is not playing Singles right now as she is busy training for an upcoming marathon. Brenda was easy to schedule with and we started the match at 11am. She's fun to play with and she made some great shots. We enjoyed the beautiful weather.
The Consequences: Now that Fernanda has made her Monthly Rank Defense Requirement, she puts the pressure on reigning GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley to defend her Title by April 30th. Laura can give the title shot to any woman who is ranked in The Top 10 of the Women's Division.
Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for submitting this result in a very timely fashion.
We now go to the dual report from Matt and Thiyagesh.
The Nellis Drive Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Play-In Match:
Thiyagesh Rei over Matt Fortunato, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the Round of 32 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament while both players entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 38 and # 39 Ranked Players respectively! No Aces. The match was played from 5:30 to 7pm, approximately.
The Consequences: Rei now advances to the Round of 32 where he will face the Top Seed in the entire draw, "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega!
Samara's Notes: I thank both Matt and Thiyagesh for submitting this result in a very timely fashion.
And now for how the GTA Thursday Night Tennis session at the Pulaski Park Courts in Bloomfield unfolded.
As Samara cut through Nutley on his way from Passaic to Bloomfield, he ended up driving right in front of "King Crush" Chris Chiaro. As this was happening, Rizzo called Samara to say that he was already in the area of the Pulaski Park Courts, but somehow he drove past the parking lot. He was going to have to drive around the block until he could circle back and park in the lot.
Samara and Chiaro both walked toward the courts and entered that area at 7:25. Three of the four courts were taken with only Court One available. On Court Two and Court Three, it looked like it could be kids from the Bloomfield High School Tennis Team practicing.
On Court Four, there were two guys likely to be somewhere in their 30's having a fairly intense Singles Match with one another. Samara inaccurately predicted that they would be the first to leave given how sweaty one of the two guys was (his shirt was completely soaked!).
At 7:30, Rizzo finally found his way to the courts. Frank and John started hitting against Chris on Court One. And very soon after, Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas also made her way toward that court. After some four-way hitting, we decided the best balance would likely be Chris and Fadia versus Frank and John.
It should be noted that the kids left Court Two at 7:35 and then Court Three at 7:40. The first Doubles One-Setter we had on Court One started at that same time (7:40). And those two guys on Court Four did not leave until 8:30. Still, all told, we could have had use of three of the four courts by 7:40. As it turned out, all we would need is one.
The Pulaski Park Courts Results:
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Chris held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold) and John was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then a bounce to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and that was the rally of the match as Chris made several amazing gets to ultimately win the point and get the break) for 0-2. Fadia was broken (Triple Break Point reduced to Break Point, but then came the break) and Frank held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to tie it up at 2-2. But from there, Chiaro held again (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, then Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, another Game Point and finally the hold), Rizzo was broken again (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break), Nicolas held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Samara was broken (15-Love lead sunk right down to Double Break/Match Point, it was then Break/Match Point but then came the break) to take the loss! We played this one on Court One from 7:40 to 8:09.
The Skinny: Just five minutes after we started, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived. He was going thru his usual stretching routine on Court Two while watching the action. Afterward, Fadia said she was willing to sit out and actually go home at that point. Considering how far she traveled just to get to the session, Frank insisted she play at least one more (to make the trip worthwhile) while he sat out instead.
Chris Chiaro/Fadia Nicolas over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4! Ryan: 1 Ace on Fadia. The basic breakdown (as I was not noting every point in every game): Ryan and John were up 2-0 when it was now Ryan's turn to serve. He was at Break Point when he scored an Ace up the T against Fadia to bring it to Deuce. But from there it went back to Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard. The Pienciak/Rizzo tandem increased their lead to 3-1, but soon enough the set would be leveled at 3-3. Pienciak was on serve again in what would turn out to be yet another pivotal game as he got off to a Love-30 start and then at 15-30, he hit a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point and then the break came on Break Point as his team had now lost the lead at 3-4! And then came the most epic game of the match with Fadia on serve as she started off with a Double Fault and that was on the way to Triple Break Point only to then have her team rally to Deuce, then it was Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point, 6th Deuce, Break Point, 7th Deuce, Break Point yet again and finally the break to knot the score at 4-4! But from there, John was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and then Chris held on Game/Match Point to get the win! They played this on Court One from 8:15 to 8:57.
The Skinny: This was a very exciting One-Setter (the best of the night, actually) as Fadia did more than hold her own hanging with the guys. But the true highlight of her night was when Ryan offered, in earnest, to walk her to he car as the parking lot is quite far and much of the surroundings quite dark (save the nearby baseball field which is also lit). Fadia's reply was, "do you know where I come from? Beirut, Lebanon! I used to pack a hand grenade in my hand bag." And with that, she boldly walked off the courts and into the night alone.
For the record, I never saw an unsavory element anywhere in sight. Upon our arrival, there were high school aged kids playing basketball on the nearby courts. But those courts (unlike the tennis courts) are not lit, so those guys tend to leave once it gets dark. And while Passaic (where I live) is not quite the same as Beirut, Lebanon, I've walked thru several areas (sometimes after dark) that make the part of Bloomfield where Pulaski Park is located look like child's play. So that so-called aspect of the Pulaski Park location does not faze me one bit. I will give you my overall opinion of the location after detailing the next One-Setter which was the last of the evening.
Chris Chiaro/Frank Samara over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4! Chris: 1 Ace on John! Here's how it went down: Chris held (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), John held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold), but Frank was the first to be broken in quite a struggle of a game (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, but then it went to Deuce and it was all Game Points all the way to 5th Deuce, then came the first Break Point followed by the break) for 1-2! Ryan held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold) for a 3-1 lead. Chiaro held again and it was at Love after getting what we could call a service-line Ace on John while up 15-Love, but it was really John taking a missed swing at the ball as he felt it did not bounce properly. Rizzo was then broken in another battle (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and finally the break) to level matters at 3-3! Samara was broken again (30-Love shifted to Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-4, but then Pienciak was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) to knot the score once more at 4-4! King Crush held a third straight time (in this one) as it went from Love-30 to 30-All, then Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold to give his team a 5-4 lead (their first lead since being up 1-0). And then The Riz was broken again (30-Love shifted to Break/Match Point and the break) to get the "L" as everyone wanted to get the "L" out of there! This one started off on Court One at 9:02. It gets more interesting from there.
The Skinny: At 9:07, the lights went out over the half of the courts that includes Court One and Court Two. They remained on, however, over Court Three and Court Four. So we shifted over to Court Three and resumed action at 9:09. And then, at 9:29, the lights came back on over Court One and Court Two (though we decided to stay on Court Three...even though we had liked One better). Very strange! It should also be noted that Ryan told us right at the outset that he is dealing with some type of arm and/or shoulder injury/issue that is hurting him whenever he serves. So, in his second service game in the above One-Setter, he ended up lobbing his first serves in and that is why he was broken fairly easily. By the way, this one ended exactly at 9:48. We were thankful not to push it to 10pm just in case the lights in the baseball field also went out at that time...as then we'd be left in true total darkness!
Overall, most of the players felt like Pulaski was something of a disappointment. As for my opinion, I can't see myself wanting to host sessions there once or twice a week. It is a good fallback option for whenever the Cedar Grove Courts get too crowded with players (ours and/or others). It is also a good location for anyone nearby looking to schedule Tournament or Challenge Matches as I suspect there should always be at least one court available. It is centrally located for many of the players in the league, but there is something lacking. The far walk to and from the parking lot does not help matters. But even the overall environment is not all that inviting...though it is far from menacing. Oh well!
And now, as Cedar Grove ended up book-ending the day's Results, we go back there for the balance of the scores.
The Cedar Grove Results:
Umang Jain over Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces.
Annotations from Ash: I hit with Big George for about 30 to 40 minutes before we played the One-Setter. Then I hit for 30 minutes with Doinks and we ended up playing Doubles after that.
Samara's Notes: I thank Ash for that result. As Doinks had more specific details of their Doubles action, we turn this report over to her now (but for the first of these results, Nate had to confirm the final score).
Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-4)! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Umang Jain/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Mole/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for sending in the balance of the results (along with the assist from Nate).
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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