5/11/18:
"Gottlieb-Eng in Nutley, TDK hosts 5 in BP, Samara hosts 20 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: an early afternoon one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb and "Kerosene" Kyle Eng got together around 3pm for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match (with Kyle reporting). From there, there was an evening session at The Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield with "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer (aka TDK) acting as host. Not only did he collect and report the results...but it turns out he is quite the poet and we didn't even know it! You'll see what I mean later in this report.
And then there was a concurrent session at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (hey, that's me!) where we ended up having an impressive total of 20 competitors throughout the night. The weather was perfect as it hovered around 70 degrees and there was no wind at all. If there was a slight complaint, it was a bit on the humid side if you found yourself playing a lot...but I only got involved in a couple of One-Setters as I spent the majority of my time revisiting my role as one half of The Hecklers along with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli (who was twice neglected a mention by other would-be hosts this past week...Spin may just end up ripping off his gimp right leg and beating them with it for such oversights! LOL!). Anyway, it was good times once again...and those times carried on after the tennis had stopped.
We will first go to the result reported by Kyle from Nutley, then the colorful and poetic Brookdale recap from Dan which will then be followed by all the comings and goings (plus scores!) at Cedar Grove as told by yours truly.
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Kyle Eng, 7-5, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! No Aces.
The Kyle File: It was a good match.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kyle for his very timely reporting and congratulate Jeremy on a hard-fought victory! I also offer major kudos to Kyle for a spirited effort. Gottlieb now advances to the Semis where he will face Knitzer...who just happens to be up next in this report. So we turn it over to him now!
Twas a glorious night in the borderlands separating Bloomfield proper from its prodigal son, Montclair. The air was fresh, the spirits were high, and the tennis was...some might say splendid, others upended. Twas a May evening of the highest caliber, and watching the sunset were several neophytes and veterans alike.
On Court 1, Sam Wong, Muhammad Haque and Kyle Eng played Canadian Doubles.
The Brookdale Park Results:
Rich Liu over Dan Knitzer, 7-5! No Aces.
The TDK Replay: On Court 2, Rich Liu and The Dark Knight struggled to hold serve, producing 11 straight breaks! Up 6-5, Liu bucked the trend and finally held serve to clinch the set, 7-5!
Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque over Dan Knitzer/Sam Wong, 7-6 (8-6)! Sam: 1 Ace on Rich! Each team blew 3 Match Points along the way!
Samara's Notes: This sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. Now back to Dan we go!
Dan Knitzer/Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-4! Edgar: 1 Ace on Rich on the very first point of the match!
Edgar Valencia over Muhammad Haque, 6-1! No Aces.
The TDK Replay: Knitzer and Liu, both exhausted, watched Effortless Edgar and Muhammad battle like gladiators in the spring evening, as the air chilled and the overhead lights threatened to shorten the match. Fortunately for Muhammad, no second set was feasible as The Effortless One walloped him!
Samara's Notes: I must say that I am quite impressed with the writing talents of one Mr. Knitzer. I told Dan we may have to give him yet another moniker - "The Poet Laureate of the GTA!" When I mentioned this to him (in my initial reply, thanking him for hosting and reporting), his response was: "Thanks! Mission accomplished!"
And now we shift west from Brookdale Park to Cedar Grove.
When Samara rolled into the parking lot at 7pm (as promised), "Del Brotro" Mike Mole had just done the same. Mr. Mole wisely made a beeline for Court Four as it was the only available court at this time.
On Court One were two outsiders playing Singles. On Court Three, it was "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay doing the same with a non-GTA player. And out on Court Two, there was an already in-progress Doubles One-Setter featuring "The Riz" John Rizzo and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst on one side of the net facing the team of "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Ascendant" Arlene Hyde. John said he had planned on getting to Cedar Grove around 6:30, so we can safely assume that One-Setter started fairly soon after that.
Speaking of "soon," Samara soon joined Mole out on Court Four for a hitting session. It took a little while for Frank to shake off the rust after not having played any tennis for two weeks, but then the shots started coming back to him nicely. Just when he was getting into the flow of things, "Big George" Jorge Solano, "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and Natalia "Nitro" Sout all pulled into the lot around 7:15. So Samara stepped off like George Costanza to allow those three onto the court to hit with Mole.
From there, Tim "Tam" Nguyen and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 7:20 and 7:25 respectively. Just when it seemed we were heading into a logjam situation, the two guys over on Court One left that court to head over to the nearby basketball court to play. There was some initial uncertainty about our guys taking that court as the other two had left their bags behind. But you can't just hold a tennis court while opting to play basketball instead, so I told Nate and Tim to head over there...and they did. Later in the evening when those two guys came back for their bags, I don't know if they were miffed or not as I was too far away to hear what they may have been saying to our guys. It did seem as if words (perhaps not negative) were exchanged. All I know is I can't drop my bag and/or gear out onto a tennis court to hold it and then go food shopping and expect to have that court when I return. It makes no difference that they played basketball. You either continue to play tennis or you relent the court to others.
Just when it seemed the foursome on Court Four were about to head into a One-Setter, Kazlauskas opted to join Nguyen and Fernandes on Court One instead. So now Samara's services were once again needed as he would team with Solano against Mole and Sout.
At 7:50, both Doinks and Kris Srinivasan made their way across the street to survey the scene. Their timing was impeccable as Alpay and his buddy were just leaving Court Three at the time. Couple that with the fact that Mr. Martinelli was now also pulling into the lot...well, it was a good time for the GTA to finally have all four courts at Cedar Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Srinivasan were kind enough to hit with Mr. Sy Attica (my nickname for Spin...actually, the sciatica is no longer the issue...it is the resultant muscular atrophy in his right quad that has made that leg...The Doc would say "peg"...quite weak...much like the Ukraine! LOL!) over on Court Three (I believe this was Martinelli's second...perhaps third...time hitting this week).
"The Icon" Nick Inciong arrived at 8pm and he was joined five minutes later by "Stealth" Omar Santos. They were able to join Syed out on Court Two who had become a solo act for a lone service session as others felt the need to take a breather and benched themselves.
In the ten minute time period of 8:10 to 8:20, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak all arrived. The final arrival of the evening would be "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar at 8:30. But the 20th and final competitor of the session ended up being none other than Mr. Martinelli himself as he was eager to avoid a pending Inactivity Elimination (still, a month or so away...but better safe than sorry).
It was not a historic or truly significant session by any means, but it was a fun one...and here now is how the action itself unfolded.
The Cedar Grove Results:
John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst over Syed Rashid/Arlene Hyde, 6-1! No Aces. This likely started soon after 6:30 on Court Two and it ended exactly at 7:07. From there, they switched up the teams and played this next one.
John Rizzo/Syed Rashid over Frank Hohorst/Arlene Hyde, 7-5! No Aces. This one took place on Court Two from 7:10 to 7:45. Afterward, John and Frank needed a break and took a seat on the bench alongside Court Four...which almost always seems to be the favorite hangout spot for spectators at Cedar Grove.
Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Mike held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) and then Jorge was broken in an epic struggle (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point, but then that was reduced to Deuce, then came Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point again and finally the break) to go down 0-2! Natalia was also broken (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point where she hit a Double Fault to break herself) and then Frank held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to level things at 2-2. Mole was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) to lose the lead for his team, but then Solano was broken again (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point and then came the break) to even it up again, this time at 3-3. Sout held this time around (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) while Samara was broken on this go-round (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Del Brotro then rebounded with a hold of his own (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point and then the hold for the win) to seal the deal! We played this one on Court Four from 7:27 to 8:16.
Mike Kazlauskas/Tim Nguyen over Nathan Fernandes/Arlene Hyde, 6-4! Mike: 2 Aces on Arlene! Court One hosted this one from 7:47 to 8:25.
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces. This took place on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:45.
Syed Rashid/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces. These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:23 to 8:59. Afterward, they switched up the teams and played another one...which we will get to later in this report.
Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Mike Mole/Dino Celis, 6-2! These four faced off on Court Four from 8:25 to 8:49.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Kazlauskas/Senthil Kumar, 6-2, 6-4! Per the TMT Rules, Kazluaskas/Kumar entered the Doubles Division as the New # 160 Ranked Team. Mike: 2 Aces in the 2nd Set (one on each)! This match was played on Court One. The 1st Set lasted from 8:34 to 8:59. At that time, they decided to make it a full match. I'm not sure when it finished as I was busy in a One-Setter over on Court Three at the time...and then these four entered into a hitting session for the rest of the night.
Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Tim Nguyen, 6-3! Kris: 1 Ace on Frank! This took place on Court Three from 8:47 to 9:24.
Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-3! Adam: 2 Aces on John (back-to-back!); and John: 1 Ace on Mike! Court Four (pretty much "The Show Court" of the Cedar Grove scene) hosted this one from 8:53 to 9:18. The Hecklers (from the nearby bench) were in full effect, much to Rizzo's dismay. Nonetheless, this was quite the solid One-Setter and it entertained all those who had the chance to watch it.
Jorge Solano/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Syed Rashid, 6-2! Nick: 1 Ace on Omar! They got this one underway on Court Two at 9pm, but I'm not sure when it ended as I was in action on Court Three at that time. After the action had finished, all four of them had a pow-wow near the net until the lights went out at 10pm.
Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/Dino Celis, 6-4! No Aces. They got this one underway on Court Four at 9:21 and finished it just in time at 9:58!
Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Doinks held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold), but Spin was the first to be broken and it was at Love after he had hit a Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point. Kris then held at Love to go up 3-1, but Samara held again as it went 15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and finally the hold to pull to 2-3. The Marathon Woman was broken as she rebounded all the way from Triple Break Point to Deuce only to go back to Break Point and then the break to level the set at 3-3! Martinelli was once again broken at Love while The K Man held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) for a 5-3 lead. Hollywood had his third straight hold (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then came the hold) to pull to 4-5, but then Doinks managed to hold (it was Triple Game/Match Point, the hold came on Double Game/Match Point) to close this one out just in time at 9:56 (we had begun this one on Court Three at exactly 9:27)!
The Skinny: It was a valiant effort on Spin's part as his main goal was to just play a full set to remain active in the ranks. He fought hard to make a few gets (some of which were successful), but it was like watching a wounded animal trying to fight off would-be predators approaching his feast (or family, for that matter). The reason for his two Love breaks on service is that the motion requires him to push off of his right leg (even though a right-handed player will ultimately plant their weight on the left leg at the moment of impact) and he generates virtually no strength whatsoever from that side! Forget two-wheel drive, The Doc is now driving with one-wheel drive!
Afterward, the usual impromptu post-session "roundtable" discussion took place. Some had already left by that time, but there were still plenty of players hanging around. If memory serves, it was (besides me) Spin, Rizzo, Dino, Nate, Mole, Ryan, Kris and Doinks. I feel like I am forgetting someone (as I did not write this down at the time) because I seem to recall one more car pulling out of the lot afterwards. My apologies, but lately I am suffering from "allergy brain!"
The topics bounced back and forth from personally revealing (and I won't go any further on that one out of respect to the inherent privacy that should be afforded that type of subject) to somewhat disturbing (remember how I mentioned "wounded animal" just a short while ago, well this one concerns what certain lions do to one another out in the wild), but it was always entertaining and quite often hilarious! I actually forget what suddenly brought it to an end promptly at 10:25 (it actually felt later at the time)...all I know was that, in the words of Shaggy: "It wasn't me!"
All in all, it was good times and it brought back memories of Cedar Grove sessions past...and hopefully of more yet to come!
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
"Gottlieb-Eng in Nutley, TDK hosts 5 in BP, Samara hosts 20 at C.G.!":
There were three sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: an early afternoon one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb and "Kerosene" Kyle Eng got together around 3pm for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match (with Kyle reporting). From there, there was an evening session at The Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield with "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer (aka TDK) acting as host. Not only did he collect and report the results...but it turns out he is quite the poet and we didn't even know it! You'll see what I mean later in this report.
And then there was a concurrent session at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (hey, that's me!) where we ended up having an impressive total of 20 competitors throughout the night. The weather was perfect as it hovered around 70 degrees and there was no wind at all. If there was a slight complaint, it was a bit on the humid side if you found yourself playing a lot...but I only got involved in a couple of One-Setters as I spent the majority of my time revisiting my role as one half of The Hecklers along with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli (who was twice neglected a mention by other would-be hosts this past week...Spin may just end up ripping off his gimp right leg and beating them with it for such oversights! LOL!). Anyway, it was good times once again...and those times carried on after the tennis had stopped.
We will first go to the result reported by Kyle from Nutley, then the colorful and poetic Brookdale recap from Dan which will then be followed by all the comings and goings (plus scores!) at Cedar Grove as told by yours truly.
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Kyle Eng, 7-5, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! No Aces.
The Kyle File: It was a good match.
Samara's Notes: I thank Kyle for his very timely reporting and congratulate Jeremy on a hard-fought victory! I also offer major kudos to Kyle for a spirited effort. Gottlieb now advances to the Semis where he will face Knitzer...who just happens to be up next in this report. So we turn it over to him now!
Twas a glorious night in the borderlands separating Bloomfield proper from its prodigal son, Montclair. The air was fresh, the spirits were high, and the tennis was...some might say splendid, others upended. Twas a May evening of the highest caliber, and watching the sunset were several neophytes and veterans alike.
On Court 1, Sam Wong, Muhammad Haque and Kyle Eng played Canadian Doubles.
The Brookdale Park Results:
Rich Liu over Dan Knitzer, 7-5! No Aces.
The TDK Replay: On Court 2, Rich Liu and The Dark Knight struggled to hold serve, producing 11 straight breaks! Up 6-5, Liu bucked the trend and finally held serve to clinch the set, 7-5!
Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque over Dan Knitzer/Sam Wong, 7-6 (8-6)! Sam: 1 Ace on Rich! Each team blew 3 Match Points along the way!
Samara's Notes: This sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. Now back to Dan we go!
Dan Knitzer/Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-4! Edgar: 1 Ace on Rich on the very first point of the match!
Edgar Valencia over Muhammad Haque, 6-1! No Aces.
The TDK Replay: Knitzer and Liu, both exhausted, watched Effortless Edgar and Muhammad battle like gladiators in the spring evening, as the air chilled and the overhead lights threatened to shorten the match. Fortunately for Muhammad, no second set was feasible as The Effortless One walloped him!
Samara's Notes: I must say that I am quite impressed with the writing talents of one Mr. Knitzer. I told Dan we may have to give him yet another moniker - "The Poet Laureate of the GTA!" When I mentioned this to him (in my initial reply, thanking him for hosting and reporting), his response was: "Thanks! Mission accomplished!"
And now we shift west from Brookdale Park to Cedar Grove.
When Samara rolled into the parking lot at 7pm (as promised), "Del Brotro" Mike Mole had just done the same. Mr. Mole wisely made a beeline for Court Four as it was the only available court at this time.
On Court One were two outsiders playing Singles. On Court Three, it was "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay doing the same with a non-GTA player. And out on Court Two, there was an already in-progress Doubles One-Setter featuring "The Riz" John Rizzo and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst on one side of the net facing the team of "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Ascendant" Arlene Hyde. John said he had planned on getting to Cedar Grove around 6:30, so we can safely assume that One-Setter started fairly soon after that.
Speaking of "soon," Samara soon joined Mole out on Court Four for a hitting session. It took a little while for Frank to shake off the rust after not having played any tennis for two weeks, but then the shots started coming back to him nicely. Just when he was getting into the flow of things, "Big George" Jorge Solano, "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and Natalia "Nitro" Sout all pulled into the lot around 7:15. So Samara stepped off like George Costanza to allow those three onto the court to hit with Mole.
From there, Tim "Tam" Nguyen and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 7:20 and 7:25 respectively. Just when it seemed we were heading into a logjam situation, the two guys over on Court One left that court to head over to the nearby basketball court to play. There was some initial uncertainty about our guys taking that court as the other two had left their bags behind. But you can't just hold a tennis court while opting to play basketball instead, so I told Nate and Tim to head over there...and they did. Later in the evening when those two guys came back for their bags, I don't know if they were miffed or not as I was too far away to hear what they may have been saying to our guys. It did seem as if words (perhaps not negative) were exchanged. All I know is I can't drop my bag and/or gear out onto a tennis court to hold it and then go food shopping and expect to have that court when I return. It makes no difference that they played basketball. You either continue to play tennis or you relent the court to others.
Just when it seemed the foursome on Court Four were about to head into a One-Setter, Kazlauskas opted to join Nguyen and Fernandes on Court One instead. So now Samara's services were once again needed as he would team with Solano against Mole and Sout.
At 7:50, both Doinks and Kris Srinivasan made their way across the street to survey the scene. Their timing was impeccable as Alpay and his buddy were just leaving Court Three at the time. Couple that with the fact that Mr. Martinelli was now also pulling into the lot...well, it was a good time for the GTA to finally have all four courts at Cedar Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Srinivasan were kind enough to hit with Mr. Sy Attica (my nickname for Spin...actually, the sciatica is no longer the issue...it is the resultant muscular atrophy in his right quad that has made that leg...The Doc would say "peg"...quite weak...much like the Ukraine! LOL!) over on Court Three (I believe this was Martinelli's second...perhaps third...time hitting this week).
"The Icon" Nick Inciong arrived at 8pm and he was joined five minutes later by "Stealth" Omar Santos. They were able to join Syed out on Court Two who had become a solo act for a lone service session as others felt the need to take a breather and benched themselves.
In the ten minute time period of 8:10 to 8:20, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak all arrived. The final arrival of the evening would be "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar at 8:30. But the 20th and final competitor of the session ended up being none other than Mr. Martinelli himself as he was eager to avoid a pending Inactivity Elimination (still, a month or so away...but better safe than sorry).
It was not a historic or truly significant session by any means, but it was a fun one...and here now is how the action itself unfolded.
The Cedar Grove Results:
John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst over Syed Rashid/Arlene Hyde, 6-1! No Aces. This likely started soon after 6:30 on Court Two and it ended exactly at 7:07. From there, they switched up the teams and played this next one.
John Rizzo/Syed Rashid over Frank Hohorst/Arlene Hyde, 7-5! No Aces. This one took place on Court Two from 7:10 to 7:45. Afterward, John and Frank needed a break and took a seat on the bench alongside Court Four...which almost always seems to be the favorite hangout spot for spectators at Cedar Grove.
Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 6-3! No Aces. It went like this: Mike held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) and then Jorge was broken in an epic struggle (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point, but then that was reduced to Deuce, then came Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point again and finally the break) to go down 0-2! Natalia was also broken (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point where she hit a Double Fault to break herself) and then Frank held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to level things at 2-2. Mole was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) to lose the lead for his team, but then Solano was broken again (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point and then came the break) to even it up again, this time at 3-3. Sout held this time around (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) while Samara was broken on this go-round (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5. Del Brotro then rebounded with a hold of his own (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point and then the hold for the win) to seal the deal! We played this one on Court Four from 7:27 to 8:16.
Mike Kazlauskas/Tim Nguyen over Nathan Fernandes/Arlene Hyde, 6-4! Mike: 2 Aces on Arlene! Court One hosted this one from 7:47 to 8:25.
Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5! No Aces. This took place on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:45.
Syed Rashid/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces. These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:23 to 8:59. Afterward, they switched up the teams and played another one...which we will get to later in this report.
Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Mike Mole/Dino Celis, 6-2! These four faced off on Court Four from 8:25 to 8:49.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Kazlauskas/Senthil Kumar, 6-2, 6-4! Per the TMT Rules, Kazluaskas/Kumar entered the Doubles Division as the New # 160 Ranked Team. Mike: 2 Aces in the 2nd Set (one on each)! This match was played on Court One. The 1st Set lasted from 8:34 to 8:59. At that time, they decided to make it a full match. I'm not sure when it finished as I was busy in a One-Setter over on Court Three at the time...and then these four entered into a hitting session for the rest of the night.
Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Tim Nguyen, 6-3! Kris: 1 Ace on Frank! This took place on Court Three from 8:47 to 9:24.
Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-3! Adam: 2 Aces on John (back-to-back!); and John: 1 Ace on Mike! Court Four (pretty much "The Show Court" of the Cedar Grove scene) hosted this one from 8:53 to 9:18. The Hecklers (from the nearby bench) were in full effect, much to Rizzo's dismay. Nonetheless, this was quite the solid One-Setter and it entertained all those who had the chance to watch it.
Jorge Solano/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Syed Rashid, 6-2! Nick: 1 Ace on Omar! They got this one underway on Court Two at 9pm, but I'm not sure when it ended as I was in action on Court Three at that time. After the action had finished, all four of them had a pow-wow near the net until the lights went out at 10pm.
Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/Dino Celis, 6-4! No Aces. They got this one underway on Court Four at 9:21 and finished it just in time at 9:58!
Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! No Aces. Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Doinks held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold), but Spin was the first to be broken and it was at Love after he had hit a Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point. Kris then held at Love to go up 3-1, but Samara held again as it went 15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and finally the hold to pull to 2-3. The Marathon Woman was broken as she rebounded all the way from Triple Break Point to Deuce only to go back to Break Point and then the break to level the set at 3-3! Martinelli was once again broken at Love while The K Man held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) for a 5-3 lead. Hollywood had his third straight hold (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then came the hold) to pull to 4-5, but then Doinks managed to hold (it was Triple Game/Match Point, the hold came on Double Game/Match Point) to close this one out just in time at 9:56 (we had begun this one on Court Three at exactly 9:27)!
The Skinny: It was a valiant effort on Spin's part as his main goal was to just play a full set to remain active in the ranks. He fought hard to make a few gets (some of which were successful), but it was like watching a wounded animal trying to fight off would-be predators approaching his feast (or family, for that matter). The reason for his two Love breaks on service is that the motion requires him to push off of his right leg (even though a right-handed player will ultimately plant their weight on the left leg at the moment of impact) and he generates virtually no strength whatsoever from that side! Forget two-wheel drive, The Doc is now driving with one-wheel drive!
Afterward, the usual impromptu post-session "roundtable" discussion took place. Some had already left by that time, but there were still plenty of players hanging around. If memory serves, it was (besides me) Spin, Rizzo, Dino, Nate, Mole, Ryan, Kris and Doinks. I feel like I am forgetting someone (as I did not write this down at the time) because I seem to recall one more car pulling out of the lot afterwards. My apologies, but lately I am suffering from "allergy brain!"
The topics bounced back and forth from personally revealing (and I won't go any further on that one out of respect to the inherent privacy that should be afforded that type of subject) to somewhat disturbing (remember how I mentioned "wounded animal" just a short while ago, well this one concerns what certain lions do to one another out in the wild), but it was always entertaining and quite often hilarious! I actually forget what suddenly brought it to an end promptly at 10:25 (it actually felt later at the time)...all I know was that, in the words of Shaggy: "It wasn't me!"
All in all, it was good times and it brought back memories of Cedar Grove sessions past...and hopefully of more yet to come!
Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
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