6/8/18:
"Tony-Anish 1-Setters in E.F., Doinks-Suzanne, Dbls Titles part of 25 at C.G.!":
There were two official sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: an afternoon one at the Grover Cleveland Park in Essex Fells that featured two Singles One-Setters between Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta (with both reporting); and then it was the usual evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a GAH8 Round of 12 Match between "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara (with Suzanne reporting) and the GTA Doubles Championship Match as the GTA Doubles Champions: "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "NC-17" Nick Caputo put their Titles on the line against the newly formed team of GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes (with Ryan reporting). Other contributors to this report from that session were Doinks, "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon and "The Riz" John Rizzo.
Let's go to the One-Setters from Essex Fells first and then try to get a handle on all that happened up at Cedar Grove! By the way, I know I had originally promised to host that Cedar Grove session. Last minute I found out that the mother of my children would not be around to watch them as she suddenly had to work late. It came to my attention too late to find a sitter or make other plans. My apologies for not being there to host/organize the session…plus, I would have loved to have been there for the GTA Doubles Championship Match.
The Grover Cleveland Park Results:
Anish Mehta over Tony Shiao, 6-3! Anish: 1 Ace on the very first point of the match!
Anish Mehta over Tony Shiao, 6-4! No Aces.
The AM News: There were a lot of good rallies, but I played a little cleaner to take both sets. This was never meant to be an official match since we wouldn't have had time for a proper 3rd Set. I think Tony's children were stranded in Cedar Grove for 20 minutes as it was.
The Sure Shot from Shiao: Anish and I decided to meet up for some exercise at 1:30 in the afternoon at Verona Park only to be turned away by some children's event at the courts and we decided to head to Caldwell instead. We didn't plan to play a full match due to the time constraints as I had to take kids to Tae Kwon Do at 3:30 (plus the heat). After about 5 minutes of warming up, I offered Anish to serve it up, first ball in. Both sets were very close, but I didn't win the critical points to win enough games. In a few games, I was up 40-15 only to lose the game with unforced errors and I was not able to effectively return Anish's slicing drop shots. We both went all out and I went for broke with my topspin forehands. The heat was taxing on our endurance, but the mission to get some exercise was accomplished.
I'm okay with reporting this as a match since we somewhat did complete two sets. If not, I will formally challenge Anish for a rank defense before the month's end and properly start the match with a rally or coin toss without any time constraints.
Samara's Notes: While I appreciate Tony's willingness to make it a full match, I think it is always best to abide by the original intentions. If it was never discussed or decided upon to make it an actual Challenge Match, then it should remain as two separate One-Setters as the mentality going into a full match is often very different than it would be in individual One-Setters. Only if both competitors agree afterward to shift the result toward being a full match as it may benefit one or both of them would I then accept the score to be reported as such.
And I thank both of them for their very prompt reporting. We now take it to Cedar Grove where we will start with the GAH8 Round of 12 Match (which I believe kicked off the festivities there) and then list the rest of the results.
The Cedar Grove Results:
GAH8 Round of 12 Match:
Doinks Srinivasan over Suzanne Bujara, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 8th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Women's Singles Tournament! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Janice Wang/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3! No Aces. We played this from 6:15 to 7:20 or so.
Fadia Nicolas/Suzanne Bujara over Elizabeth Cho/Sachiko Tokuda, 7-5! No Aces. We played this from 8:40 to 9:20.
Samara's Notes: I congratulate Doinks on the dominant victory, but I also thank Suzanne for reporting all the above. The Shade Shark (a nickname she has given herself…I'm not 100% sure if I know what it is all about, but I do like it) reported another incomplete One-Setter. We will save that one for the end of this report the way we usually handle unfinished sets.
Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta over Laurie Boughton/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4! No Aces.
The Killer Commentary: It was a tough, long set with many Deuce games. Then Fadia stepped in for the next one and was Laurie's partner.
Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta over Laurie Boughton/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3! No Aces.
The Killer Commentary: It was another long set, but thankfully Michele and I won. It was a hot and buggy night!
Samara's Notes: I thank both Kat and Doinks for submitting that first score and then solely Kat for the second. Maybe it was a good thing I missed this session (given the muggy and buggy conditions) after all…LOL! Doinks also gave us this next one (as did John).
Jose Gonzales/Janice Wang over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2! No Aces.
GTA Doubles Championship Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, to complete their third successful GTA Doubles Championship defense of their third reign! In the process, Chiaro/Fernandes entered the Doubles Division as the New # 60 Ranked Team. No Aces.
The Ryan Report: VERY tough match! There were tons of long points and we were all pretty exhausted by the end. None of us played our best, but everyone played well. We started at 7pm and finished at 9:25. There were no aces the whole match!
Here is a breakdown....
1st Set: We broke them in the first game. Then we traded games until we were up 5-4. I was broken and then we broke Chris for 6-5. Nick held for 7-5.
2nd Set: Nate and Chris switched sides and it took us a bit to adjust. We were down 0-3. Nick held for 1-3 and then it was 1-4. I held for 2-4 then we broke them and Nick held to make it 4-4. Then we were down 4-5 and I was broken to level the match.
3rd Set: Everyone was broken once for 2-2. Then Nate held. Then Nick held for 3-3. Chris was broken to put us up 4-3. I was broken for 4-4. Nate held for 4-5. The next game it went to Deuce with Nick serving. He held for 5-5. We then broke Chris and I held for 7-5.
Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely and comprehensive reporting. While he said they did not play their best, I know the quality that must have existed in this match. And for it to be so close right until the end, I would think it will ultimately be at least a Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
We now go to John for the balance of the results and then back to Suzanne for that last incomplete one.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Adam Pienciak/T.J. Shah over Mike Mole/John Rizzo, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 11-9 (STB), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 61 and # 62 Ranked Teams respectively! John: 2 Aces on Adam!
The Riz Report: Adam and T.J. led 6-4 (the 1st Set) and then were up 3-0 in the 2nd Set before Mike and I came back and later saved 2 Match Points in the 2nd Set and then we led 9-6 in the STB before losing the last 5 points!
Samara's Notes: I thank John for the details. This sounds like yet another possible Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. It also got the A. Pienciak/T.J. Shah team qualified for entry in the upcoming M2 Tournament.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Nick Inciong/Tony Tokuda over Tim Nguyen/Don Moya, 6-4, 6-0, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 63 and # 64 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
Chris Chiaro/John Rizzo over Mike Mole/Moka Pathan, 6-1! No Aces.
Fadia Nicolas/Suzanne Bujara leading Elizabeth Cho/Sachiko Tokuda, 2-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…we started this one at 9:20)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting. It is truly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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