4/21/18:
"Marathon Saturday - 4 locations including 8 hour session at C.G.!":
With the weather improving from Friday to Saturday and the fact that some tournament matches still needed to be played (the lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal between "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and a handful of remaining GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament Round of 32 Matches), there ended up being three sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: the first took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix went up against Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb in their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).
The second was at Mountainside Park in Montclair and featured the aforementioned Daddio-Shiao match with each player reporting.
The third was an indoor session at the recently renovation Crestmont Country Club in West Orange as "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Riz" John Rizzo got together for a couple of One-Setters (with John reporting).
The fourth was a marathon session at The Cedar Grove Courts as that location's action got underway early around 2pm and it started off with another one of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Matches: "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi versus "The Running Man" Ryan Sherry (with Ryan reporting) and then there was plenty more action from this session as Rizzo arrived there around 3:30, so he had much to report, but then we also had scores submitted by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid (both reporting the same result).
Trying my best to keep everything in relative chronological order, we first go to Nutley.
We now take this report to Nutley.
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Jay Phoenix, 6-2, 6-2, to become both the New # 18 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 5 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! No Aces.
The Gist from Jeremy: Great match, good opponent!
Straight from Phoenix: We started that match around 11am. I played better than I usually play and I still lost. He has no business being in the Intermediate Division. He is the real deal. He has good swing technique, good footwork, he is fast, athletic, very consistent and has a sneaky left-handed serve. Most of my points came from the very few errors that he made. He admitted to me afterwards that he has played tennis all through high school and college. I wish him all the best.
Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for reporting the result in such a timely fashion. I also congratulate Jeremy on a very impressive victory. I also appreciate Jay's candor. What I told him in an earlier e-mail and then in my reply to his e-mailed result was that we had seen Jeremy play Doubles at The Wayne Bubble and it did not seem like his level was far above the other guys we paired him with that night. Of course, it is hard to truly assess a player's individual skill level in such an outing.
Furthermore, this tournament will likely result in a handful of guys making the permanent jump to the Advanced Division (i.e. cracking The Top 10) soon after said tourney ends. We really do not know the skill level of so many players coming into the league (and this season there are more than ever before) until after they start playing with us. Traditionally, the GTA Intermediate Invitational has served as a springboard for new players coming into the GTA as some end up going all the way into the Advanced Division while others simply get out of the Non-Competing Men's Division and soon settle in the Intermediate Division. Later in the summer, the Grove Cup Tournament then crowns the next Top Contender to whomever is the reigning GTA Champion at that time...and it is by that time in the season (the summer months) that we usually have a better handle on the skill level of just about all the guys in the league.
We now head west to Montclair for that lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal.
The Mountainside Park Courts Result:
GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal:
Paul Daddio over Tony Shiao, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Championship Tournament! No Aces.
The Dilly-O from Daddy O: It was a blustery but sunny and warm day at the courts. There were some very long points and games. Tony has a great forehand that he used effectively. It was a close match where I was able to scrape by via winning a few more of the long rallies.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: Paul was very consistent and quick. He was able to run down a lot of my would-be forehand winners. The long rallies took a toll on my stamina. I congratulate Paul on the win! And I wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in the tournament.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting...it is much appreciated. I also congratulate Paul on a very impressive victory. We now have both Semifinal Matches set as The Top 4 Seeds did, in fact, make it to the Semis. Daddio advances to face "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas while Pienciak will go up against "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.
We now dip south just a bit to West Orange for The Riz Report from Crestmont.
The Crestmont Country Club Results:
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-1! No Aces.
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-3! No Aces.
The Riz Report: Anish and I decided to meet up for an hour (we started at 12 noon) at The Crestmont Country Club Bubble where the courts have a "Har-Tru" surface. I have not been there before, so I wanted to see how it played. I was mostly not impressed with the place as it is very dusty inside and you breathe in the particles of the surface. Nobody swept our court prior to us playing on it, so it was already in poor condition. There is also ongoing construction which makes it very loud on one side.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting and also giving us the inside scoop on the situation at Crestmont. I guess now we know why they were giving out reasonable rates to entice new business. It does not sound like a place I would waste my time (and mileage from where I live) trying out knowing what I know now. But I do realize we have some of our players down that way, so maybe it will still be an option for some of them.
And now we head back north to Cedar Grove for many matches being reported by multiple sources! We will start with the Gadi-Sherry match, then go to the results reported by Rizzo (as he was one of the first to arrive after Abhi and Ryan) and then get the balance from the rest of the sources. I highly doubt the scores will be in chronological order as there is some overlap in the reporting and it was a very lengthy session.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Ryan Sherry over Abhilash Gadi, 6-0, 6-0, to become New # 20 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational! No Aces.
The Ryan Report: We started around 2pm. It was nice playing with you, Abhi!
Samara's Notes: Many of us know how solid a player Gadi is...so for Sherry to win in such dominant fashion...it just shows the tremendous amount of improvement he has undergone in just a year! And now he puts himself in that select group with Gottlieb and "NC-17" Nick Caputo as being a likely candidate to soon graduate from the ranks of the Intermediate Division altogether. Besides congratulating Ryan on his highly impressive victory, I also thank him for his very timely reporting.
We now go to the results from The Riz.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry over Nick Caputo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)! Per the TMT Rules, Rizzo/Sherry entered the Doubles Division as the New # 149 Ranked Team while Caputo/Srinivasan entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 42 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Riz Report: Nick and Doinks served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 3rd Set and then they had a 4-2 lead in the Tiebreak before Ryan and I made our comeback.
Samara's Notes: This sounds like a definite Nominee for Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. We now go back to John.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 94 Rank in the Doubles Division! No Aces.
John Rizzo/Nick Caputo over Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid, 7-5! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over John Rizzo/Nick Caputo, 6-4! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over Fadia Nicolas/Laurie Boughton, 6-1! No Aces.
Elias Eid/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! Fadia: 1 Ace on Kris.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in all those results. Doinks had a different score for that last one, so I will go with her recollection of it since she was in it. We will now go to Doinks for one more score and then Ryan and Mike/Syed in that order.
Doinks Srinivasan over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-3! No Aces.
The Details from Doinks: Rafaelo had been hitting with Fadia, but did not have a chance to get involved in any Doubles action. So I took her place to play a set of Singles with him which allowed Fadia to play some Mixed Doubles with Ryan and Adam (The Pienciak Brothers) and Natalia Sout.
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for that result and the additional details. We now go to Ryan.
Ryan Pienciak/Ryan Sherry over Muhammad Haque/Adam Pienciak, 6-0! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: We are happy to report that Ryan's brother Adam has moved back to New Jersey and will now be playing with us on a regular basis. We now go back to Ryan.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Muhammad Haque over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-4, 7-5! Per the TMT Rules, Pienciak/Haque entered the Doubles Division as the New # 150 Ranked Team while Pienciak/Sout entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 43 Ranked Team. No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Fadia Nicolas over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for sending all those results in a very timely fashion. And now we go to the dual reporting from Syed and Mike to close out this overall report.
Jorge Solano/Syed Rashid over Mike Sindler/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces.
The Sin Man says: There were many long rallies. And the wind was on Syed's side. :-)
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting. And I just want to close this report by saying how happy I am to see all this overall reporting take place. It is very early in the season and we are already reaching unprecedented levels of play from multiple locations. As long as we maintain this momentum, the 2018 Season will truly be the biggest and best season in the entire history of the league. Kudos to all who are involved and support the effort!
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"Marathon Saturday - 4 locations including 8 hour session at C.G.!":
With the weather improving from Friday to Saturday and the fact that some tournament matches still needed to be played (the lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal between "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and a handful of remaining GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament Round of 32 Matches), there ended up being three sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: the first took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix went up against Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb in their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).
The second was at Mountainside Park in Montclair and featured the aforementioned Daddio-Shiao match with each player reporting.
The third was an indoor session at the recently renovation Crestmont Country Club in West Orange as "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Riz" John Rizzo got together for a couple of One-Setters (with John reporting).
The fourth was a marathon session at The Cedar Grove Courts as that location's action got underway early around 2pm and it started off with another one of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Matches: "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi versus "The Running Man" Ryan Sherry (with Ryan reporting) and then there was plenty more action from this session as Rizzo arrived there around 3:30, so he had much to report, but then we also had scores submitted by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid (both reporting the same result).
Trying my best to keep everything in relative chronological order, we first go to Nutley.
We now take this report to Nutley.
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Jay Phoenix, 6-2, 6-2, to become both the New # 18 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 5 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! No Aces.
The Gist from Jeremy: Great match, good opponent!
Straight from Phoenix: We started that match around 11am. I played better than I usually play and I still lost. He has no business being in the Intermediate Division. He is the real deal. He has good swing technique, good footwork, he is fast, athletic, very consistent and has a sneaky left-handed serve. Most of my points came from the very few errors that he made. He admitted to me afterwards that he has played tennis all through high school and college. I wish him all the best.
Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for reporting the result in such a timely fashion. I also congratulate Jeremy on a very impressive victory. I also appreciate Jay's candor. What I told him in an earlier e-mail and then in my reply to his e-mailed result was that we had seen Jeremy play Doubles at The Wayne Bubble and it did not seem like his level was far above the other guys we paired him with that night. Of course, it is hard to truly assess a player's individual skill level in such an outing.
Furthermore, this tournament will likely result in a handful of guys making the permanent jump to the Advanced Division (i.e. cracking The Top 10) soon after said tourney ends. We really do not know the skill level of so many players coming into the league (and this season there are more than ever before) until after they start playing with us. Traditionally, the GTA Intermediate Invitational has served as a springboard for new players coming into the GTA as some end up going all the way into the Advanced Division while others simply get out of the Non-Competing Men's Division and soon settle in the Intermediate Division. Later in the summer, the Grove Cup Tournament then crowns the next Top Contender to whomever is the reigning GTA Champion at that time...and it is by that time in the season (the summer months) that we usually have a better handle on the skill level of just about all the guys in the league.
We now head west to Montclair for that lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal.
The Mountainside Park Courts Result:
GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal:
Paul Daddio over Tony Shiao, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Championship Tournament! No Aces.
The Dilly-O from Daddy O: It was a blustery but sunny and warm day at the courts. There were some very long points and games. Tony has a great forehand that he used effectively. It was a close match where I was able to scrape by via winning a few more of the long rallies.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: Paul was very consistent and quick. He was able to run down a lot of my would-be forehand winners. The long rallies took a toll on my stamina. I congratulate Paul on the win! And I wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in the tournament.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting...it is much appreciated. I also congratulate Paul on a very impressive victory. We now have both Semifinal Matches set as The Top 4 Seeds did, in fact, make it to the Semis. Daddio advances to face "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas while Pienciak will go up against "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.
We now dip south just a bit to West Orange for The Riz Report from Crestmont.
The Crestmont Country Club Results:
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-1! No Aces.
Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-3! No Aces.
The Riz Report: Anish and I decided to meet up for an hour (we started at 12 noon) at The Crestmont Country Club Bubble where the courts have a "Har-Tru" surface. I have not been there before, so I wanted to see how it played. I was mostly not impressed with the place as it is very dusty inside and you breathe in the particles of the surface. Nobody swept our court prior to us playing on it, so it was already in poor condition. There is also ongoing construction which makes it very loud on one side.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting and also giving us the inside scoop on the situation at Crestmont. I guess now we know why they were giving out reasonable rates to entice new business. It does not sound like a place I would waste my time (and mileage from where I live) trying out knowing what I know now. But I do realize we have some of our players down that way, so maybe it will still be an option for some of them.
And now we head back north to Cedar Grove for many matches being reported by multiple sources! We will start with the Gadi-Sherry match, then go to the results reported by Rizzo (as he was one of the first to arrive after Abhi and Ryan) and then get the balance from the rest of the sources. I highly doubt the scores will be in chronological order as there is some overlap in the reporting and it was a very lengthy session.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Ryan Sherry over Abhilash Gadi, 6-0, 6-0, to become New # 20 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational! No Aces.
The Ryan Report: We started around 2pm. It was nice playing with you, Abhi!
Samara's Notes: Many of us know how solid a player Gadi is...so for Sherry to win in such dominant fashion...it just shows the tremendous amount of improvement he has undergone in just a year! And now he puts himself in that select group with Gottlieb and "NC-17" Nick Caputo as being a likely candidate to soon graduate from the ranks of the Intermediate Division altogether. Besides congratulating Ryan on his highly impressive victory, I also thank him for his very timely reporting.
We now go to the results from The Riz.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry over Nick Caputo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)! Per the TMT Rules, Rizzo/Sherry entered the Doubles Division as the New # 149 Ranked Team while Caputo/Srinivasan entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 42 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Riz Report: Nick and Doinks served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 3rd Set and then they had a 4-2 lead in the Tiebreak before Ryan and I made our comeback.
Samara's Notes: This sounds like a definite Nominee for Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. We now go back to John.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 94 Rank in the Doubles Division! No Aces.
John Rizzo/Nick Caputo over Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid, 7-5! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over John Rizzo/Nick Caputo, 6-4! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over Fadia Nicolas/Laurie Boughton, 6-1! No Aces.
Elias Eid/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! Fadia: 1 Ace on Kris.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in all those results. Doinks had a different score for that last one, so I will go with her recollection of it since she was in it. We will now go to Doinks for one more score and then Ryan and Mike/Syed in that order.
Doinks Srinivasan over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-3! No Aces.
The Details from Doinks: Rafaelo had been hitting with Fadia, but did not have a chance to get involved in any Doubles action. So I took her place to play a set of Singles with him which allowed Fadia to play some Mixed Doubles with Ryan and Adam (The Pienciak Brothers) and Natalia Sout.
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for that result and the additional details. We now go to Ryan.
Ryan Pienciak/Ryan Sherry over Muhammad Haque/Adam Pienciak, 6-0! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: We are happy to report that Ryan's brother Adam has moved back to New Jersey and will now be playing with us on a regular basis. We now go back to Ryan.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Muhammad Haque over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-4, 7-5! Per the TMT Rules, Pienciak/Haque entered the Doubles Division as the New # 150 Ranked Team while Pienciak/Sout entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 43 Ranked Team. No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Fadia Nicolas over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for sending all those results in a very timely fashion. And now we go to the dual reporting from Syed and Mike to close out this overall report.
Jorge Solano/Syed Rashid over Mike Sindler/Natalia Sout, 6-3! No Aces.
The Sin Man says: There were many long rallies. And the wind was on Syed's side. :-)
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting. And I just want to close this report by saying how happy I am to see all this overall reporting take place. It is very early in the season and we are already reaching unprecedented levels of play from multiple locations. As long as we maintain this momentum, the 2018 Season will truly be the biggest and best season in the entire history of the league. Kudos to all who are involved and support the effort!
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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