5/28/18:
"Laurie-Nina at NTC, Janice-Liz at MP, Tim-Scott in R.P., 4 at NTC, 2 Matches + 10 at C.G.!":
There were five sessions of GTA Memorial Day Monday Tennis: an early morning one at Nutley Tennis Club that featured the conclusion of the Challenge Match that had begun last week between Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton and "Energetic" Nina Kallay (with Laurie reporting); then another morning session at Memorial Park in Rutherford featuring a Challenge Match between friends, "J-Wow" Janice Wang and Elizabeth "Liz" Cho (with Elizabeth reporting); then an early afternoon session at Fellowship Park in Ridgefield Park featuring an impromptu Challenge Match between "The Professor" Tim Nguyen and "The Bachelorette's Prize" Scott Manrose (as Scott answered Tim's Open Challenge…with both reporting); then a late afternoon/early evening second session at NTC hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo; and finally a marathon session at the Cedar Grove Courts that started in the early afternoon with a Challenge Match between "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis (as Dino answered Joe's Open Challenge, with Dino reporting) and then lasted into the night where another Challenge Match between "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan (with both reporting). There are also contributions to this report made by "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar and "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas.
Let's first go to NTC, then to Rutherford, then back to NTC before we head up to Cedar Grove.
The NTC Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Laurie Boughton over Nina Kallay, 6-0, 5-7, 6-3, to successfully defend her # 12 Rank in the Women's Division! In the process, Kallay made her official GTA Debut as the New # 16 Ranked Player in the Women's Division. Laurie: 2 Aces!
The Lowdown from Laurie: Nobody is more surprised than me…tee-hee! We resumed this match at 3-3 in the 2nd Set with me serving first. And more important than winning, I made a GREAT friend in Nina. She is a wonderful person as well as great player. :-)
I have overcome my nerves, or learned how to just take one point at a time (and you do know me, even when often down Love-40, I do fight back).
Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for her timely and entertaining reporting while also congratulating her on a hard-fought victory. I also welcome Nina to the league as well.
We now shift northeast a bit to go to Rutherford.
The Memorial Park Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Janice Wang over Elizabeth Cho, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend her # 4 Rank in the Women's Division! In the process, Cho entered the division as the New # 17 Ranked Player. No Aces.
Samara's Notes: They started the match at 9:30am. Elizabeth then registered for the tournament (as Janice later did as well). We are happy to have both of them in the GAH8 Tournament.
We now head further north to Fellowship Park in Ridgefield Park.
The Fellowship Park Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Tim Nguyen over Scott Manrose, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 47 Rank in the Intermediate Division! No Aces.
Tim's Take: We started the match around 1:10. Scott managed to put in a good match with many spin shots which led to Deuce games.
The Manrose Presentation: I accepted Tim's challenge to play. Not much to say about this one as he is much better than me in every facet of the game.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting. I also congratulate Tim on a highly impressive victory. And Scott should not get too down on himself as he is still in the midst of a match with "SWAT" Rich Liu where the sets were split. Sometimes (most of the time, actually), tennis is all about the style match-ups. And this seems to be one of those occasions where the match-up was really favorable for one (Tim) and not so much for the other (Scott).
We now go back to Nutley for the second session of the day at NTC.
The NTC Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole, 6-3, 6-4, to successfully defend their #152 Rank in the Doubles Division! In the process, A. Pienciak/Mole entered the division as the New # 173 Ranked Team. No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Mike Mole over Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New #174 and #175 Ranked Teams respectively. No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting.
Finally, let's get to the action at Cedar Grove…which will quite likely not be written in the order in which it was played. We will start with the full Challenge Match.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Dino Celis over Joe Rodrigues, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to become the New # 30 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division! Joe: 5 Aces; and Dino: 1 Ace!
The Details from Dino: Great match! Joe was serving well and hitting some nice deep ground strokes. He's definitely improved his game. We played from 2:40 to 4:20.
Samara's Notes: I thank Dino for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a hard-fought victory. Also, kudos to Joe for a fine effort! We now turn this report over to Senthil, Doinks, Sally and Marijus (some of their reports overlapped one another).
Senthil Kumar/Fadia Nicolas over Edwin Ortega/Jose Gonzales, 6-2! No Aces.
Edwin Ortega/Jose Gonzales over Senthil Kumar/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1! No Aces.
Nick Inciong/Doinks Srinivasan over Senthil Kumar/Edwin Ortega, 6-3! No Aces. Nick and Doinks had been down 0-3 before taking six straight games to make the comeback.
Senthil Kumar/Edwin Ortega over Nick Inciong/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces.
Edwin Ortega/Kris Srinivasan over Senthil Kumar/Tim Nguyen, 7-5! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Marijus Kuzavas/Laura Gawley over Sheel Dhande/Sally Pillay, 7-5, 6-2, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 59 and # 60 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Sheel Dhande.
The Scoop from Super Mario: Sheel Dhande is Sally's partner in our 7.0 Mixed Doubles League in the USTA and they are going to Sectionals next weekend, thus they needed some practice playing together outside. Also, Sheel lives in Montclair, so he may do more with the GTA going forward.
Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for the additional info and also welcome Sheel to the GTA! As I look at his e-mail address, a moniker immediately comes to mind: "The Shield!"
Sheel Dhande/Sally Pillay over Marijus Kuzavas/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend her # 5 Rank in the Women's Division! No Aces.
The Details from Doinks: I played this full match after the three Doubles One-Setters.
Sally says: We played after already being exhausted. She played well.
Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting. It is truly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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