6/28 Results.

6/28/18:

"5 play at NTC, Scott-Jordan part of 14 at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: an early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo, but with "Hollywood" Frank Samara doing the reporting; and a concurrent one at the Cedar Grove Courts that lasted until late in the evening and featured a Challenge Match between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (with Scott reporting) plus plenty of other action reported by the following correspondents: "Dominant" Dawn Peterson, "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar.

Let's first go to the complete report from NTC and then the multi-layered recap from Cedar Grove!

The NTC Results:

Don Moya/Frank Hohorst over Frank Samara/Tom La, 6-4!  Don: 1 Ace on Tom!  While I did not write my usual notes during the changeovers (to save time), I did memorize the flow of the games and then I wrote them down immediately after we finished the One-Setter…and they went like this: Frank S. held serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Don held at Love, Tom held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and then the hold) and Frank H. held at Love as we were all on serve at 2-2.  Samara was the first to be broken and it was at Love for 2-3!  Moya held again despite starting off with a Double Fault, shifting to 30-15 only to hit two more Double Faults back-to-back to set up Break Point where he then hit an impressive corner Ace against Tom for Deuce and then came Game Point and the hold for 4-2!  La also held again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 and then a Double Fault set up Double Break Point, but then it shifted to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-4.  Hohorst also held again (15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All, but then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to increase his team's lead to 5-3.  Hollywood held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold), but then The Adonis held a third straight time (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game/Match Point and the hold) for the win!  We played on Court Three from 6:48 to 7:20 with Rizzo sitting on the sidelines watching.

The Skinny: It was a very close and hard-fought One-Setter where the only difference was that I was broken once while everyone else held serve every time.  It made me feel like the loss was my fault, but I played fairly well otherwise.  Next, Rizzo took my place as I then sat on the sidelines for this next one.

John Rizzo/Don Moya over Tom La/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  No Aces.  The basic breakdown: Don held, Frank was broken and John held for a fairly quick 3-0 lead!  Tom held serve to get his team on the scoreboard and then Moya was broken for the first time of the evening as he hit a Double Fault to set up Double Break Point and then he hit another Double Fault to break himself and have his team's lead cut to 3-2!  Hohorst held in a game that went to 5 Deuces to level the set at 3-3!  Rizzo held again despite a rare Double Fault, but La also held again despite starting off with back-to-back Double Faults before it went to 15-30 and yet another Double Fault to set up Double Break Point, then it went to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and then the hold to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  The Adonis rebounded with another hold (Double Game Point, a Double Fault to reduce the lead to Game Point, but then came the hold) while Hydro was broken as he started with a Double Fault on a path straight to Triple Break/Match Point, it then went to Double Break/Match Point and then Break/Match Point where the break came to end another hard-fought battle!  This one was also played on Court Three and it went from 7:22 to 8:02.

Frank Samara/Don Moya over Tom La/Frank Hohorst, 6-1!  No Aces.  Like the first one, all games and the points within them were written down once we were finished.  And they went like this: Don held (Triple Game Point and it should have been a certain Love hold only to have Frank blow an easy volley which he should have simply blocked or sliced short, but he instead went for the impressive play only to sail it long past the baseline to make it Double Game Point, then it was Game Point where a Double Fault made it Deuce and then it was all Game Points to the 4^th Deuce, one more Game Point and finally the hold), Tom held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), Frank S. held at Love, but Frank H. was the first one to be broken as a 30-Love lead went right to Break Point where a Double Fault served to break himself for 1-3!  Moya held again (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, but then Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold), La was broken (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Samara held again (Triple Game/Match Point, Double Game/Match Point, it finally ended on Game/Match Point) to get the win!  We played this one on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:27.

The Skinny: Samara returned to action feeling fresh and Moya was able to finish points with effective volleys at the net when his partner served and then he brought the fire in his own service games.  Don went 3-0 for the evening.  Afterward, Moya and Hohorst hit with each other for another fifteen minutes or so before it became so dark that it was time to go.

Speaking of "time to go," it is now time to go up to Cedar Grove for the rest of this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-3!  Scott: 1 Ace on Match Point (a cheap slice serve)!

The Skinny from Scott: The conditions were very warm and humid.  We both were feeling it by the time we played the One-Setter.  We were both were fatigued by that time.  It was a good workout for sure!

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his very timely and detailed reporting.  It is truly appreciated.  Let's go to the rest of the contributors now.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:       

Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson over Brenda Jordan/Diane Raum, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, as both teams entered the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 19 and # 20 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Diane Raum.

The Brief from Brenda: It was a good match.  The weather was extremely humid, causing us to take lots of water breaks.

Kris Srinivasan/Moka Pathan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Moka Pathan over Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton, 7-6 (7-3)!  Kris: 1 Ace on Laurie; and Moka: 1 Ace on Laurie!

The K has his say: Down 2-5, we rallied to tie it up 5-All and see it thru to the TB!

Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Kris Srinivasan/T.J. Shah, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/T.J. Shah over Tito Castolo/Sally Pillay, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

The K has his say: Solid One-Setter that was fun and intense throughout...and it lasted almost and hour...ending just in the nick of time before lights out!

Marijus Kuzavas chose to sit out and Dino Celis wound up working on his serves.  There was a full Singles Match between Scott Bergenfeld and Jordan Bachvaroff, a One-Setter between Senthil Kumar and Muhammad Haque, and a full Women's Doubles Match between the teams of Brenda Jordan/Diane Raum and Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson. 

It was good to see the tennis courts buzzing with GTA action.  Friday looks to be a busy session as well with a few matches already scheduled.  I plan to play around 6:30pm or so.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting the session (like the old days) and providing us with that report.  I also thank Dawn and Brenda for their contributions to this report as well. Let's go to that fully detailed score from Senthil.

Senthil Kumar over Muhammad Haque, 7-5!  Senthil: 1 Ace!

The Untangled Web by Senthil: I started off down 0-2, 1-2, 1-3 before tying it up 3-3, being down again 3-4, tying it again at 4-4, down once more at 4-5 before taking the last three games to win it!  We played from 8:35 to 9:15.

Samara's Notes: I thank Senthil for that comprehensive report.  It also shows the rapid improvement of Muhammad...and just how close the competition is getting in the GTA.  The other day, Wednesday, I forgot to report that Muhammad had played a Singles One-Setter against Melvin Hyman that went to 7-7 in games when they both decided to call it quits. 

Because it was incomplete, it will have to remain unofficial (still, I neglected to mention it...and that was unintentional).  Too bad they just did not go to the conventional Tiebreak at 6-6 as that would have made it official.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/27 Results.

6/27/18:

"Chiaro-Mole at C.G., Sout's WD from GAH8 and MXD2!":

There was just one official session of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: an early evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a GTA Championship Match as GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro put his Title on the line against "Del Brotro" Mike Mole (with both reporting).

Apparently, it was the only match to take place at that session as rain rolled in soon afterward.

Let's go to that lone official result now!

The Cedar Grove Result:

GTA Championship Match:

Chris Chiaro over Mike Mole, 6-0, 6-0, to complete his first successful GTA Championship defense of his third reign!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We played from 6pm to 7pm.  Chris was on today!

Chat from The Champ: We were able to play the match before the rain came.  Even though the score doesn't show it, it was a tough match and Mike played well.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.  I also congratulate Chris on a highly impressive victory as Mike has proven to be no pushover as of late.  Now, Chiaro will move on to finishing his in-progress Title defense against "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak at the end of next week.

Also, in the late afternoon hours of Wednesday, a situation developed behind the scenes where it was revealed that Natalia "Nitro" Sout ended up on an unexpected vacation trip (a birthday present for her) that she did not anticipate when she registered for both the GAH8 Women's Singles Tournament and the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament.

The soonest she would be able to compete in either of the tourneys would be July 8^th and that is just too long a wait for either event.  Plus, there is no guaranteed her would-be opponents would be readily available promptly upon her return.

As a result, she has been forced to withdraw from both tournaments.  This now allows "J-Wow" Janice Wang a bye into the Semifinals of the GAH8 where she now awaits the winner of the lone remaining GAH8 Quarterfinal – "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay versus "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.  The other Semi of the GAH8 is already established as it will be "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker versus "Automatic" Anna Mazur.

And in the MXD2, the team of "NC-17" Nick Caputo and Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas now advance to the Semifinals via bye where they now await the winner of the lone remaining MXD2 Quarterfinal – "Daddy O" Paul Daddio/"The Archetype" Arlene Hyde versus "Del Brotro" Mike Mole/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan.        

As always, such situations are unfortunate…but we need to have some semblance of deadlines or else these tournaments will drag on forever (not literally, but you get the idea).  I would prefer to see the matches get played rather than have withdrawal/bye situations, but sometimes the latter simply cannot be avoided.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/26 Results.

6/26/18:

"4 play at NTC, Liu-Praport part of 6 at PAC, 8 play at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: an early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (but with "NC-17" Nick Caputo reporting as well); an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full Challenge Match between "SWAT" Rich Liu and "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport (with Dan reporting); and a concurrent evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured three Singles One-Setters between "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole (with Mike reporting).  Other contributors to this report from that session are "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues.

Let's first go to the results from the two locations in Nutley and then the full recap from Cedar Grove!

The NTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Nick Caputo/Kyle Eng over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 15 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:                 

Nick Caputo/Kyle Eng over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 15 Rank in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Nick's Notes: Both matches were played on Court Four.

The Riz Report: Ryan slid for a ball (more like a baseball slide).  We learned that's not good to do as the line and nails cut and punctured his leg!  I think he's getting a tetanus shot today.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting.  That is not good news to hear about Ryan, but hopefully he will be fully healed very soon.  Yes, the tape for the lines on clay courts is held down by nails…not advisable to slide into the lines! 

And now we head just slightly east to The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Dan Praport over Rich Liu, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, to become the New # 21 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Praport Report: We met up at 8pm to play the match.  Rich was quite dominant in the 1^st Set, not making many unforced errors.  The 2^nd Set, Rich started off strong the first half and then I came up strong in the second half.  The 3^rd Set, Rich was pretty exhausted and I didn't make many errors at all.  We're hoping to play many more matches this season.

Around the same time we were playing our match, the following Doubles One-Setter took place.

Muhammad Haque/Fausto Murg over Dan Knitzer/Umang Jain, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his very timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.  I also congratulate him on a hard-fought victory, but also want to offer kudos to Rich for being so willing to defend his rank on such a frequent basis.  Not only will such activity be rewarded in the Monthly Rank Defense Reviews, but it will ultimately serve to improve his level of play as well. 

And now we head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Mike Mole over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-1!  No Aces.

Mike Mole over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-0!  No Aces.

Jordan Bachvaroff over Mike Mole, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We played from 7pm to 8:30.  They were all separate One-Setters.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his timely reporting and congratulate him on an impressive run of results versus Jordan.  I know we often bounce from One-Setter to One-Setter without the intention of ever making it be a full Challenge Match and that is absolutely fine.  But this is one of those cases where Jordan may have been better off counting the first two sets as the loss of a full match as he would then have had his monthly rank defense in the books.  Instead, I do believe he is still on the hook to do so as his match against "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld was one where Mr. Bachvaroff challenged upward and failed.

Scott Bergenfeld/Robin Wilson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan over Scott Bergenfeld/Robin Wilson, 6-4!  No Aces.

Joe Rodrigues/Brenda Jordan over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 6-2!  No Aces.

The Buzz from Brenda: The courts were pretty empty except for two other players hitting.  Maybe people stayed away because of the Pickle Ball players, but they weren't there.  A few more people were showing up when I was leaving at eight, but there were two empty courts for the entire two hours I was there.

Joe Rodrigues/Tito Castolo over Jordan Bachvaroff/Mike Mole, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Brenda and Joe for their very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.  It is interesting to note what Brenda said about the Pickle Ball peeps not being there last night as it may mean they are done for the summer and not returning until the fall.  I do know a lot of us shy away from heading up to Cedar Grove on Tuesday nights for that very reason.  So it is definitely something to try to track as we move forward through the summer.   

 

Samara signing off!  Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/25 Results.

6/25/18:

"4 play at PAC, 14 play at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis: an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (with "SWAT" Rich Liu reporting); and a concurrent evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a MXD2 Round of Match between the teams of GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "Instant" Moka Pathan/"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan (with both Chris and Moka reporting).  Other contributors to this report from that session are "Dominant" Dawn Peterson and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.

Let's first go to the results from Nutley and then the full recap from Cedar Grove!

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Randy Doran/Rich Liu over Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Rich Report: We were tied 3-3 before we took the last three games in this set.

Randy Doran/Rich Liu over Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair, 6-3!  Keith: 1 Ace on Randy!

The Rich Report: They were up 2-1 in this second set before ravishing Randy and I got into our groove. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for his very timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.  And now we head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

MXD2 Quarterfinal Match:

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Moka Pathan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament!  Laura: 1 Ace on Doinks!

Moka's Brew: Chris and Laura played well together…they played strategic tennis.  Doinks played aggressive and played well.  I feel both teams played pretty well with some long, extended rallies but Chris and Laura just played better overall and better on the big points.  It was a fun match. 

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Moka Pathan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Moka's Brew: Doinks and I actually took a 3-2 lead and were a missed drop shot (by me) away from going up 4-2.  They took that game (shifting the momentum) and eventually the set.  This was another fun, competitive set.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Chris and Moka for their timely reporting of the above.  I also appreciate the additional commentary from Moka.  The results that follow are now a combination of more scores reported by Chris as well as others from Dawn (she got an informational assist from both "Kerosene" Kyle Eng and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon) and Spin.

Rob Gawley/Dawn Peterson over Justin Berardo/Kathy Sheldon, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Rob Gawley.

Kyle Eng/Dawn Peterson over Justin Berardo/Kathy Sheldon, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Details from Dawn: We were down Love-4 to then take six straight games for the win.

Ralph Bernard/Tito Castolo over Chris Chiaro/Rob Gawley, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Rob Gawley over Ralph Bernard/Tito Castolo, 7-5!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Martinelli/Tom La, 6-4!  Kyle: 1 Ace on Spin!

The Spin from Spin: Tom and I were up 3-1 when Doinks and Kyle staged their comeback.  We had a chance to knot the score at 5-5, but my lack of mobility was an issue.  Tom was hitting the ball smartly and Doinks and Kyle played well.

Kyle Eng/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Dan Martinelli/Tom La, 3-3 (Incomplete when the lights were about to go out about two minutes later at 10pm)!  Spin: 1 Ace on Doinks!

The Spin from Spin: Credit Kris Srinivasan with a drive-by cameo as he stopped by on his way home to check out the scene at Cedar Grove.  Also, thanks to Doinks, Kyle and Tom for playing with the "gimp", it was full of F&F (Fun and Frustration)!

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.       

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/24 Results

6/24/18:

"Chris-Adam TBC in BP, 53 play (13 New) at APC, M2 in BP!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: a late morning/early afternoon one at The Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield which was set to feature the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak (as reported by both) only to have to be put on hold when the 1st Set went near 90 minutes in the hot sun!  Chiaro had also already committed to attending the next session...a session of epic proportions!

It was the first time that players from the GTA ever went to Arlington Players Club (aka APC).  It was at the invitation of both Naomi Lebofsky and Karyn Rosenberg (both APC players and Board Members).  They got the idea from attending the Friday Night Bubble Parties organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo at The Wayne Bubble.  This time around, it was an outdoor outing at APC's seven red clay courts and it also featured a BBQ in the nearby lawn area.  The grounds are impressive as there is much lawn area and a Clubhouse so big that it features a rentable hall room that can hold just shy of 100 people!

Of course, an event such as this cannot be one where we publicize it to the entire league in the form of a group-wide e-mail (i.e. a blanket invitation).  It took careful planning and some list limiting because as John was inviting his usual invitees (those from his Night Owls groups at The Bubble and then those who were regular attendees of the Friday Night Bubble Parties), Naomi was doing the same with the APC members/players.  So it led to a list of close to 60 confirmed guests where the percentage was likely to be 75/25 in favor of the GTA players.  

While John and Naomi were the overall event hosts, "Hollywood" Frank Samara served as the host in the traditional sense of collecting all the scores along the way.  Being out of his element, however, he was very hands-off in terms of the setting of the matches.  He either let Rizzo take more control of that or he let the players there decide for themselves.  Furthermore, Frank only recorded results that involved GTA players (often they were mixed in with some APC players, of course).  If there was a court featuring action that was  exclusively made up of APC players, Samara let those results go (i.e. remain unofficial) as he had enough to keep up with on all the other courts.

Much thanks to Naomi and Karyn for giving us the names of their players along the way.  The session ran from 3pm to almost total darkness (like Nutley Tennis Club, there are no lights there).  In fact, Samara (with his kids, Angie and Dante) left before the last One-Setter of the evening concluded (score later supplied by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan).

It ended up becoming a record-breaking session in terms of the amount of official competitors as the previous record was 47 players in one session (at one of the previous Bubblepalooza events at The Wayne Bubble).  Well, this session ended up having a total of 53 official competitors, 13 of which were new and making their official GTA Debut.  I know the first part is definitely a new record and I suspect the second part is as well without looking back in the record books. 

And as that epic session was wrapping up, there was still another session underway back at The Brookdale Park Courts as Adam returned to team with "Teej" T.J. Shah to take on "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport and "The Lion Tamer" Andrew Ramer in their M2 Round of 12 Match.  That session got underway a little before 8pm and got cut short around 9pm due to a rain front that rolled thru the area (it hit the Samaras hard just before they could walk into their apartment in Passaic at 9pm). 

The issue from there is that the Praport/Ramer team would not be available to resume the match until July 5th.  That is far too late as two of the four matches in this round have already been concluded.  So it ended up being a forfeiture situation...which we will get to at the end of this report.

So the events from Brookdale Park will bookend this report as we now start there and will ultimately finish there.  In between this sandwich of Brookdale bread will be a whole lot of BBQ meat from APC!

The Brookdale Park Result:

GTA Championship Match:
Adam Pienciak leading Chris Chiaro, 7-6 (7-5), to be continued!

Samara's Notes: Chris and Adam mutually decided to continue this marathon at another time.  That other time, however, will not be coming until after June 30th as Pienciak was only going to be available this Tuesday (when Chiaro was not available) and then away until just after the 30th.  Since The Champ still needs to get in his June defense of the Title, he will put it on the line against another contender within the month of June and then continue this match in the very first few days of July prior to the start of the Grove Cup Tournament.  And this new scenario opens up many possibilities depending upon who defeats whom along the way…and we will cross those bridges if and when we come to them.   

We now go to a lengthy list of results from the Arlington Players Club!

The APC Results:

Chris Chiaro/Ryan Pienciak over Kyle Spencer/Alex Tager, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Kyle Spencer and Alex Tager.  This one was played on Court One from 3:10 to 3:35.

Senthil Kumar/Tony Tokuda over Frank Hohorst/Howie Berlinger, 6-2!  Senthil: 1 Ace on Howie; and Tony: 1 Ace on Howie!  It was the official GTA Debut of Howie Berlinger.  Court Two hosted this one from 3:15 to 3:50.

Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson over Laurie Boughton/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-2!  No Aces.  These four faced off on Court Five (on the far end from the Clubhouse) from 3:15 to 3:45.

Elias Eid/Evelyn Alfaro over John Crespo/Laura Giordano, 6-1 (Laura had to retire at 4-1 due to a fall and injury)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Evelyn Alfaro and Laura Giordano.  This one got underway on Court Three at 3:20 and was abruptly cut short at 3:45.

Samara's Notes: Per GTA Rules, upon a retirement situation in a set...the rest of the games are forfeited.  I did not see Laura's fall.  While it was enough to keep her off the courts for the rest of the day, she did stick around for the BBQ and seemed to be walking decently...so hopefully it ends up being a minor and short-lived injury issue.

Alfred Chen/Nick Inciong over Sam Wong/Carlos Arenas, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Carlos Arenas.  They were way out on Court Seven (one of two courts...the other being Court Six...that are not in the continuous stretch of courts that are Courts One through Five as Six and Seven border Four and Five from the outside and also end the long stretch of lawn area on the grounds) from 3:20 to 3:50.

Kevin Proctor/Arlene Hyde over Rich Seltzer/Ray Strecker, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Rich Seltzer and Ray Strecker.  Far out Court Six (the furthest away, actually, as the numbering from Court One wraps back around to Court Seven) hosted this one from 3:25 to 4:10.

Samara's Notes: The RS Express (Rich and Ray) could not overcome Mr. 4.5 (Kevin), but it seems they had a lot of fun nonetheless.  They were entertaining guys to have around the Clubhouse area.  It must be hard for Rich to go to a Latin restaurant and not be called, "Mr. Salsa!" (an inside joke for the "Seinfeld" heads).

Dan Hwang/Deepika Bagchee over Rich Liu/Montoya Love, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Deepika Bagchee and Montoya Love.  Court One was the scene of this Mixed Doubles action from 3:45 to 4:25.

Chris Chiaro/Ryan Pienciak over Carlos Arenas/Steve Sokolowski, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Steve Sokolowski.  They played this one on Court Five from 3:55 to 4:25.

Tim Nguyen/Sukumar Mitra over Matt Fortunato/Ruth Marcus, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Ruth Marcus.  Court Three hosted this one from 3:55 to 4:25.

Elias Eid/Karyn Rosenberg over Sam Wong/Laurie Boughton, 6-0!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Four as it got underway at 4:05 and ended at 4:25.

Joe Rodrigues/Howie Berlinger over Mike Mole/Jay Phoenix, 6-4!  Mike: 2 Aces (one on each)!  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 4:05 to 4:45.

Dino Celis/Kyle Eng over Senthil Kumar/Mike Sindler, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one was played on Court Seven from 4:25 to 5:15.

Nick Inciong/Doinks Srinivasan over Alfred Chen/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.  This foursome found some Mixed Doubles action on Court Four and it lasted from 4:30 to 5:10.

Tim Nguyen/Elias Eid over Rich Liu/Sam Wong, 6-4!  No Aces.  Court Five hosted this one from 4:30 to 5:10.

John Crespo/Karyn Rosenberg over Rich Seltzer/Ray Strecker, 6-4!  No Aces.  They played this one on Court Three from 4:30 to 5:20.

Chris Chiaro/Ryan Pienciak over Frank Hohorst/Tony Tokuda, 6-1!  No Aces.  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 4:50 to 5:20.

Kevin Proctor/Arlene Hyde over Steve Sokolowski/Evelyn Alfaro, 6-3!  Steve: 1 Ace on Kevin!  Court Four was the scene of this Mixed Doubles action from 5:15 to 6:05.

Samara's Notes: Kevin and Arlene were looking for the best Mixed Doubles Team that the APC could muster at that time.  Mr. 4.5 must have frustrated Double S quite a bit as Steve smashed two racquets onto the court over the course of this action!

Dennis Cabanatan/Don Moya over Dan Hwang/John Rizzo, 6-2!  Dan: 1 Ace on Don!  Court One (aka The Show Court...similar to Court One at NTC as it is right in front of the Clubhouse deck with everyone watching) hosted this one from 5:25 to 5:50.

Samara's Notes: It should be noted that this was Rizzo's first on-court action of the day as he had spent much of his earlier time manning the grill (along with "The Chef" Sukumar Mitra and "Flyin" Brian Barbera) and he was consuming much alcohol along the way.  He said he was ready to play some "buzzed tennis," but it sometimes seemed more like "drunken tennis!"  Please remember, John, that "buzzed tennis" is "drunken tennis"...the penalty is the same either way!  LOL!

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Kyle Eng/Adam Vanevenhoven over Elias Eid/Carlos Arenas, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 85 and # 86 Ranked Teams respectively!  Carlos: 1 Ace on Adam in the 1st Set!  It was the official GTA Debut of Adam Vanevenhoven.  Court Seven hosted this one from 5:20 to 6:30.

Samara's Notes: Adam is not an APC player, he is friends with Kyle and is his recruit.  The Aviator (I give him that moniker as a play off of his initials and the fact that he is tall with a wide wingspan) brings a big game to the league and Mr. Eng has warned us to watch out for his big serves!

Brian Barbera/Fadia Nicolas over Matt Fortunato/Deepika Bagchee, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Brian Barbera.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Five from 5:25 to 6pm.

Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over Alfred Chen/Elizabeth Cho, 6-4!  No Aces.  This was played on Court Two from 5:30 to 6:05.

Chris Chiaro/Ryan Pienciak over Mike Mole/Rich Liu, 6-0!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Rich!  Court Three hosted this one from 5:40 to 5:55 (just 15 minutes!).

Samara's Notes: After this one, both Chris and Ryan wanted it to be known that prior to all of their Doubles One-Setters for the day...they had offered to split up, but were turned down every time.  Instead, they got to go on a 4-0 run...quite impressive!

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Sam Wong/Mike Sindler, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  This one lasted almost an hour way out on Court Six as it started at 5:45 and finished at 6:40.

Samara's Notes: Doinks explained the reason for such a lengthy contest as she and Frank had a 5-3 lead with Match Point only to be unable to close the door which allowed Sam and Mike back in to take it all the way to the Tiebreak!

Mike Mole/Tim Nguyen over Rich Liu/Laurie Boughton, 7-5!  No Aces.  Another lengthy contest nearly an hour long (5:55 to 6:50), except this time around it took place on Court Three.

Samara's Notes: Rich said he and Laurie were up 5-2 and had eight Match Points in their favor when Mike's pride kicked in as he took his game up a notch as his team then mounted an incredible comeback by not only saving all those MP's, but then also taking five straight games for the win!

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Dino Celis/Don Moya, 6-3!  Sally: 1 Ace on Dino; and Don: 1 Ace on Sally!  Court One hosted this one from 5:55 to 6:30.

Samara's Notes: This action was quite worthy of "the show court" as the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions were tested quite thoroughly by Dino and Don.  It was just that the guys made a few too many unforced errors while The Champs kept it just a bit cleaner.

Chris Chiaro/Dennis Cabanatan over Dan Hwang/John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.  This was played on Court Five from 6:05 to 6:25. 

Samara's Notes: A change of court failed to sober up The Riz!

Nick Inciong/Elizabeth Cho over Joe Rodrigues/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Two from 6:10 to 6:50.

Jay Phoenix/Kevin Proctor over Senthil Kumar/Tony Tokuda, 6-3!  No Aces.  These four faced off on Court Four from 6:25 to 7:05.

Samara's Notes: Senthil said that he and Tony had a 3-1 lead before dropping five straight games for the loss.  Kevin must have remembered who he was to turn things around at that point.

Sally Pillay/Janice Wang over Dennis Cabanatan/Deepika Bagchee, 6-1!  No Aces.  Court One hosted this one from 6:45 to 7:15.

Frank Hohorst/Don Moya over Kyle Eng/Adam Vanevenhoven, 6-1!  No Aces.  This one took place on Court Seven from 6:45 to 7:15.

Marijus Kuzavas/Alfred Chen over Sam Wong/Tim Nguyen, 6-1!  No Aces.  This took place all the way out on Court Six as it lasted from 6:50 to 7:25.

Nick Inciong/Doinks Srinivasan over Mike Sindler/Arlene Hyde, 6-2!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action got underway on Court Two at 7:05.  Not sure when it ended as I would soon be in action on Court Five at that time.

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Kyle Eng/Frank Hohorst, 6-2!  Don: 1 Ace on Frank on Match Point!  It got started on Court Seven at 7:20.  Again, don't know when it finished as I would be occupied (preoccupied?) on another court at that time.

Samara's Notes: Kyle said it was ugly and he wanted to erase it from his memory as Don went on a killing spree with his serve.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Elias Eid/John Crespo over Carlos Arenas/Naomi Lebofsky, 6-3, 6-1!  Per the TMT Rules, Arenas/Lebofsky entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 51 Ranked Team (Eid/Crespo are already a ranked team in the Doubles Division)!  John: 2 Aces on Naomi (one in each set)!  The full match got underway on Court One at 7:20.  I was actually there for the conclusion of it, but forgot to note the time.  My best guess would be somewhere around 8:15/8:20.

Senthil Kumar/Frank Samara over Dennis Cabanatan/Tim Nguyen, 6-2!  No Aces.  This one took place on Court Five and lasted from 7:40 to exactly 8:08.

Samara's Notes: I did not do my usual point-by-point notes for this one in order to save time and make sure we got it done before sundown.  We did do the changeovers, however (I do believe almost all of the day's action engaged in the changeovers).  At the outset, they said I should decide the teams.  I said, "I guess we should split up Senthil and me."  All that Dennis and Tim heard was "Senthil and me," so they took one side of the court together.  I asked if they were OK with the teams and they said they were.  Senthil and I jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  Dennis and Tim got on the board by breaking Senthil's serve.  Senthil said at the outset that he was fairly tired from all of the day's play, but he remained a veritable volley machine at the net.  We then went up 5-1 and now Dennis was on serve.  It went to Break/Match Point, Deuce, the 2nd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold to pull to 2-5.  Senthil got revenge for the earlier break by holding serve on Double Game/Match Point for the victory.  We had a lot of fun.  When Dennis lines up that lefty forehand of his, it is deadly.  And Tim is a get-making machine.  He was largely responsible for extending many of the rallies.  Except for a handful of silly errors, I actually played pretty well considering I had sat all day and went into this one without any warm-up.

Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Sally Pillay/Arlene Hyde, 6-4!  No Aces.  Court Two hosted this hotly contested Women's Doubles action.  I do not know the start or stop times.  All I know is that it was the last official action of the night to get underway and it closed out the session a little before dark.  I thank Doinks for sending me the score.

I also thank all those who stuck around late to help with the clean-up after the BBQ.  And I once again thank Naomi, Karyn and all of the APC players who welcomed us into their home to play with them.  We may very well do it again.

And now we go back to Brookdale Park for one last result. 

The Brookdale Park Result:

M2 Round of 12 Match:
Adam Pienciak/T.J. Shah over Dan Praport/Andrew Ramer, 6-4, 6-1 (Pienciak/Shah were leading 2-1 with Adam about to serve as his team was up a break in the 2nd Set when the rain came to cause a halt to this match...as Praport/Ramer are unable to finish it in a timely fashion, they must forfeit the remaining games and match), to successfully defend their # 64 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.  They started it a little before 8pm and the rain cut it short right around 9pm.  It is an unfortunate ending, but July 5th is too long to wait for the proper conclusion of this match to take place. 

Samara's Notes: Please trust me when I say that I hate to see matches end in this fashion.  But it is unfair to all the other teams involved in the M2 Tournament to have to wait that long for a proper conclusion.  And now that three of the four Round of 12 Matches have been completed, there will be increased pressure on that lone remaining match to be played as soon as possible…or else we may encounter a forced forfeit and/or withdrawal scenario without the match ever having been started at all.  Hopefully, that will not have to be the case.

All in all, it was a truly epic Sunday in GTA history…one that may have long-term ramifications upon the future of the league.

Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

6/23 Results.

6/23/18:

"Just 4 play at C.G.!":

There was just one official session of GTA Saturday Tennis at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a Mixed Gender Doubles One-Setter with both "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Icon" Nick Inciong reporting.

I know there were a few more of our players there, but they got involved with a certain someone…so we will not even bother reporting whatever happened with that.

Let's go to that lone official result now!

The Cedar Grove Result:

Nick Inciong/Rose Inciong over Doinks Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 7-5!  No Aces.

Nick's Notes: It ended about 6:45pm then we left. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for their reporting.  It is truly appreciated.       

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/22 Results.

6/22/18:

"Just 2 in Nutley, only 8 play at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque reporting and a concurrent evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts with "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "The Riz" John Rizzo both reporting.

Let's go to that lone report from Nutley first and then the dual recap from Cedar Grove second and last!

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Muhammad Haque over Sam Wong, 6-4!  No Aces.

Sam Wong leading Muhammad Haque, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Muhammad's Memo: Amazingly, no one was there except one guy (Muhammad mentioned a name that I do not recognize) practicing serve, but soon he left.  So I was alone.  Then I saw Sam Wong was coming.  He came and we started rallying and then we played the official tennis.

I was up 5-1 at one time, but he came back before I closed it out at 6-4.  Then we started what would have been the second set.  He was leading 5-4 and as soon as I started serving, the lights went off for the night.

Samara's Notes: I thank Muhammad for his timely and detailed reporting.  We now head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:                                 

Syed Rashid/Janice Wang over Jordan Bachvaroff/Brenda Jordan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Don Moya/Janice Wang over John Rizzo/Brenda Jordan, 6-2!  No Aces.

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Kris Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Don Moya/Janice Wang over John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst, 6-2!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/John Rizzo over Don Moya/Janice Wang, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Brenda and John for their very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.       

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/21 Results.

6/21/18:

"2 TBC's end at PAC, Bergenfeld-Mole part of 15 at C.G.!":

The first official day of summer brought about the conclusion of two "To Be Continued" matches at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley: "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer versus Carl "Buster" Brownson (as reported by both), and "SWAT" Rich Liu versus "The Bachelorette's Prize" Scott Manrose (as reported by Rich).

There was also the usual session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a Challenge Match between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole (with both reporting).  The session also featured an M2 Round of 12 Match as "The Running Man" Ryan Sherry teamed with "The Riz" John Rizzo to take on William "Bombs Away" Bobila and Elmer "The Glue" Agapito (as reported by John).  There was an MXD2 Quarterfinal Match featuring "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker facing "The Adonis" Don Moya and "J-Wow" Janice Wang (also reported by John).  And "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega reported an epic One-Setter he had against Jay "The Rising" Phoenix that served to kick off the session.  And John reported an additional Doubles One-Setter.    

Let's go to those concluded Nutley results first and then the full recap from Cedar Grove!

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Dan Knitzer over Carl Brownson, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), to successfully defend his # 8 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Carl: 4 Aces; and Dan: 2 Aces!

The TDK Replay: Buster raced to a 4-2 lead behind a textbook serve-and-volley game plan, forcing TDK to live and die by the lob (neither of us hit did a great job smashing lobs, but I was worse). The Dark Knight saved 4 Match Points on his serve while down 4-5 with well-timed deep serves and then went on to win the set in a Tiebreak.  Both halves of this match were played in the middle of the day.

Carl gave me a little bit of my own medicine with some drop shots, and completely took away my legs.  I attempted to play another opponent shortly after, but had nothing in the gas tank, thanks to Carl!

Carl's Commentary: Heartbreaker!  Not the first time I've lost Match Points and it won't be the last.  Great match, Dan!

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting.  I congratulate Dan on a hard-fought and impressive victory, but also offer major kudos to Carl for such a fine effort.  This one has a great chance at being a Nominee for Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season's end. 

And I am also happy to see the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley becoming the scene for so many Singles Challenge Matches. 

Speaking of which…

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Rich Liu over Scott Manrose, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the  Intermediate Division!  No Aces.

The Rich Report: Scott and I finished our match.  We only had the 3rd Set left to play and I lucked out with a win, 6-1.  It was a fun match overall where 3 sets lasted over like a month or so, haha!  I congratulate Scott for continuing to play Challenge Matches.  He gave me a run for my money.  Afterwards, we played with Tim Nguyen for a while as well as Tim also showed up at PAC.  Overall, I had fun and I'm happy to make new friends.  Frank, thanks again for all you do!

Manrose Presents: I enjoyed it.  Thank you both!

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich and Scott for their kind words and also for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  "To Be Continued" matches are tough for both competitors…especially when there is just one set left to play.  I congratulate Rich on the victory, but also empathize with Scott in the loss.

We now take this report west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Edwin Ortega over Jay Phoenix, 7-6 (8-6)!  Edwin: 2 Aces!

A Taste of Salsa: We had an impromptu One-Setter which started a little after 5pm (we hit around for a bit first).  It was our first on-court meeting in a long while and the first this season.  It was a good start for me, but then I slacked a little while up 5-3.  Jay took the next three games and I had to play a bit harder to force the Tiebreak.  The Tiebreak was almost similar as I was up 6-2 and then Jay played better to force a 6-6 situation.  Fortunately, I won the next two points to take the set.  It was hot, but fun and competitive...especially with Jay's screams of intensity and frustration.  :-)  We ended around 6pm as we both had somewhere to be by 6:30.

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  This one sounds like it could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.  

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Scott Bergenfeld over Mike Mole, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We played from 6pm to 7:30.  Scott's forehands were on today!  Fun match!

The Skinny from Scott: My forehand was on.  Mike was chasing down a lot of balls and he played really well.  We then played a One-Setter.

Scott Bergenfeld over Mike Mole, 6-2!  No Aces.

The Skinny from Scott: He was winning 2-0 and I came back to win the next six games!

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting.

M2 Round of 12 Match:

William Bobila/Elmer Agapito over Ryan Sherry/John Rizzo, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New # 49 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

The Riz Report: This was a fun match.  Both William and Elmer are very consistent and great players.  Ryan and I did not play our best, we were down 5-2 in the 2nd Set before trying to make a comeback but just fell short!  We gave Elmer the moniker, "The Glue!"

Tom La/Arlene Hyde over John Rizzo/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-3!  No Aces.

MXD2 Quarterfinal Match:

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 7-5, 7-5, to become the New # 5 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for seemingly taking over hosting duties as nobody involved in the MXD2 Match took it upon themselves to send me the result.  If not for The Riz, I would have been left in the dark!         

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/20 Results.

6/20/18:

"Liu-Nguyen in Nutley, 18 play at C.G.!":

The last official day of spring was sprung from any late rain that had originally been in the forecast as, thankfully, the precipitation waited for the overnight hours.

There were two official sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full Challenge Match between "SWAT" Rich Liu and "TNT" Tim Nguyen (with both reporting…and Tim requested we go back to the original moniker that I had given him); and a concurrent evening session at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured the first of the M2 Round of 12 Matches as "Daddy O" Paul Daddio teamed with "The Adonis" Don Moya to take on "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi (with Paul reporting).  Other contributors to this report from that session are: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar, "The Riz" John Rizzo and Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton.

Let's go to that lone official result from Nutley first and then the full recap from Cedar Grove!

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Rich Liu over Tim Nguyen, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.

The Rich Report: There was some GTA action at Park Ave.  On a warm and muggy night, I arrived at the nearby PAC around 8:15pm or so.  Tim Ngyuen was already there with Rachid Baalla and Arthur Fontanilla.  I was happy to see Tim there as we had discussed playing a full Singles Match.  I saw him play Dan Knitzer the other night and saw how consistent Tim was, so I thought it would be fun to play Singles together.  We had agreed to play soon as we had never played together before. 

After some hitting and serving practice, Tim and I played a full Challenge Match.  It was a lot of fun.  Despite the score, Tim hit so many nice balls back to me, to either kill or miss, it was fantastic!  I can't wait to play him again as it was a fun match for me!  He sustained excellent rallies with me.  I think we played for some 40 minutes or so.  I told him afterwards I had signed up for the Grove Cup and this was good practice for it.  He expressed his interest as well for being in the tournament. 

Tim's Take: Remember back in the day when you gave me the moniker of "TNT." I miss that.  Please use it again!

I was at Nutley and I had a great rally session with Rachid for about a good hour or so and then he left.  I then met up with Rich Liu for our Singles Match.  Rich played really well tonight.  He had several good slams that I could not defend.  Great going, Rich!  It was great playing with him.  He is a very good player!  We hope to match up again sometime soon.  

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely, comprehensive and enthusiastic reporting.  It is truly appreciated.  Time to head west to Cedar Grove!

The Cedar Grove Results:

M2 Round of 12 Match:

Paul Daddio/Don Moya over Chazz Weldon/Abhilash Gadi, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 70 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  Abhi: 1 Ace on Don!

The Dilly-O from Daddio: We played from 7:50 to 9:05.  Weldon/Gadi really improved their level of play in the 2nd Set as they pushed us into some long games.  Fun match!      

Samara's Notes: I thank Paul for his timely report and congratulate him along with Don on a very impressive victory over a tough team.  We now go to the rest of the gang up at Cedar Grove for their results.  I'll do my best to keep some semblance of order…and leave all the incomplete sets for the end.

Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo over Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues, 7-5!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo over Ryan Pienciak/Mike Kazlauskas, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 28 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, R. Pienciak/Kazlauskas entered the division as the New # 84 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Mike Kazlauskas over Senthil Kumar/Kyle Eng, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Janice Wang over Senthil Kumar/Elizabeth Cho, 6-3!  No Aces.

Mike Sindler/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  Kris: 1 Ace on Fadia!

Mike Sindler/Fadia Nicolas tied with Kris Srinivasan/Laurie Boughton, 3-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laurie: It was super fun tennis! :-)

Senthil Kumar/Elizabeth Cho leading Kyle Eng/Janice Wang, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

The Untangled Web by Senthil: It was a good turnout and one court was taken for Singles by a Cedar Grove resident while another court was occupied by a GTA M2 Men's Doubles Tournament Match.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/19 Results.

6/19/18:

"Cho-Mazur in MP, Paul-Adam + 1 in BP, Mole-Celis part of 17 at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Tuesday Tennis: an early morning one at the Memorial Park Courts in Rutherford featuring a GAH8 Quarterfinal Match between "Echo" Elizabeth Cho and "Automatic" Anna Mazur (as reported by Anna); an evening one at the Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield featuring a full Challenge Match between "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak (as reported by Adam) followed by some One-Setters between Adam and his brother, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak (again, reported by Adam); and then the usual evening session at the Cedar Grove Courts that featured a Challenge Match between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis (as reported by Mike) plus other action, the results of which were reported by "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro, "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Riz" John Rizzo.

Let's go to that lone result from Rutherford first, then to the scores from Brookdale Park in Bloomfield and, finally, the full recap from Cedar Grove!

The Memorial Park Result:

GAH8 Quarterfinal Match:

Anna Mazur over Elizabeth Cho, 6-0, 6-3, to become the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the 8th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Tournament!  No Aces.

Anna's Annotations: We started a little after 9am and finished by 10:20.  Elizabeth is a wonderful girl and a great tennis player.  We had a lot of fun and great points.  We will play again.  :-)

Samara's Notes: First, I thank Anna for her very timely reporting.  I also congratulate her on an impressive victory as Elizabeth is definitely a very worthy competitor.  Next up for Mazur in the Semis is "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.  That should be quite a match!

We now head west to Bloomfield for the results from Brookdale Park.

The Brookdale Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Adam Pienciak over Paul Daddio, 6-1, 6-3, to become the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  Adam: 1 Ace!

The Apex Text: It was a lovely evening at Brookdale Park, though the humidity was still bothersome during certain moments (well, for me at least, ha!).  This was the first meeting between the two of us and we will likely schedule a rematch soon.

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Adam on a very impressive victory.  But The Apex Predator was not done as he soon found new prey upon which to pounce!

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 6-2!  No Aces.

Adam Pienciak leading Ryan Pienciak, 4-3 (Incomplete with Ryan serving at 3-4 and we were on serve when the lights went out at 10pm)!

The Apex Text: These were just One-Setters.  But I will soon be challenging brother Ryan to a full Singles Challenge Match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Adam for his very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.  Things are starting to get very interesting in The Top 5 of the Advanced Division!

Speaking of "interesting," let's hear about all the interesting things that took place up at Cedar Grove…beginning with the full Challenge Match between Mole and Celis.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Mike Mole over Dino Celis, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, to successfully defend his # 10 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Dino: 1 Ace!

The Mole Memo: We played from 6:50 to 8:40.  It was a fun match with lots of breaks of serve.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his timely reporting and congratulate him on a hard-fought victory!  Even though it was a straight-setter, the match stands an outside chance at being a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-3!  Dawn: 1 Ace on Kathy!

The Brief from Brenda: We decided to play a Super Tiebreak instead of a full 2^nd Set and Kathy and Michelle won that one, 12-10!  Michelle is a very good player as well as being a very nice person.

Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for her very timely reporting.  Unfortunately, that Super Tiebreak will have to be unofficial.  The only time we count them as official is when they are played in lieu of a full 3^rd Set.  So, instead it will just be the official One-Setter and then the unofficial STB that followed.

Chris Chiaro/Justin Berardo over Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff over Chris Chiaro/Frank Hohorst, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Abhilash Gadi/Pranav Sinha, 6-3!  Pranav: 1 Ace on Chris!

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Abhilash Gadi/Pranav Sinha, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Chris for his timely submission of all those results.  Scott had reported some of those as well and then he had another one that follows now.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff over Frank Hohorst/Guy Dupoux, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 82 and # 83 Ranked Teams respectively!  Guy: 3 Aces (two on Scott and one on Jordan); and Jordan: 1 Ace on Frank!

The Skinny from Scott: Overall, it was a good night of tennis!

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his timely reporting as well.  We now turn it over to our last contributor from that session, John Rizzo.

Guy Dupoux/Laura Gawley over Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Abhilash Gadi/Laura Gawley over Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting, too!  All those that take the time to submit their scores…it is always greatly appreciated!       

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/18 Results.

6/18/18:

"Caputo-Gottlieb in Wayne, New I-M Champ! Moka hosts 3 at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis: an early evening one at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne as "NC-17" Nick Caputo and Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb were finally able to coordinate their schedules and play the Final of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament for the vacant GTA Intermediate Title.

Then there was a shortened session at the Cedar Grove Courts as severe thunderstorms that rolled through the area.  Prior to that, "Instant" Moka Pathan was able to play a couple of Singles One-Setters (against two different competitors) and he reported them.

Let's first go to that monumental result from Wayne (as reported by Nick) and then get the two others scores from Moka.

The Nellis Drive Courts Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Final/GTA Intermediate Title Match:

Nick Caputo over Jeremy Gottlieb, 6-4, 6-3, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champion while also successfully defending his # 16 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The NC-17 Screening: Hot, Hot, Hot!!!  Jeremy is a tough, young competitor.  We had fun with a ton of great points.  He ran me all over the place.  It was difficult to breathe at times for both of us and we left soaked.  We started at 6pm, ending about 7:30.  We were 3-3 in the 1^st Set when Jeremy broke me to go up 4-3.  I was able to break back to make it 4-4, then I won the last two games to take the set.  I was then up 2-0 in the 2^nd Set and Jeremy tied it at two games all.  I then went up 5-2, but Jeremy held for 5-3 and then I held for the match.  And thanks, Frank, for a great tournament!

Samara's Notes: First, congratulations to Nick!  He is now the New GTA Intermediate Champion.  That is, of course, until he cracks The Top 10 of the Advanced Division...drops the Title and leaves that division behind.  Jeremy, major kudos to you as well!  Both competitors came into this match undefeated in Singles competition in the GTA.  I suspect Gottlieb will also soon make the leap to becoming solely an Advanced Division level player.

As for Caputo, if and when that leap happens…we would not have another full tournament to fill the vacancy for the GTA Intermediate Title.  As it is, our biggest Men's Singles Tournament of the year (the annual Grove Cup Tournament) is less than a month away.  Instead, we would have the Top 2 Contenders in the Intermediate Division play a full match to determine the next New Champ.

I also thank Nick for his very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.

We now get the word from Moka up at Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Moka Pathan over Edwin Ortega, 6-1!  No Aces.

Moka's Brew: There were a lot of Deuce games to start the set as we were both finding our groove.  I got fortunate as he missed a couple of drop shots.               

Moka Pathan over Jay Phoenix, 6-0!  No Aces.

Moka's Brew: There were a lot of long rallies which I ended up being on the right side of at the end.  It was a good set despite the score because Jay gets to everything.

Samara's Notes: I thank Moka for his timely reporting as well.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/17 Results.

6/17/18:

"Samara hosts 9 at BP, Marijus-Dino in VP, Riz hosts 4 at NTC, then 4 at C.G.!":

There were four official sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: finally, the usual late morning one at the Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (the last one was the last Sunday in April!); a late afternoon/early evening one in Verona Park featuring a Challenge Match between "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis (reported by Marijus); an early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and featuring an excellent Doubles Match; and then the usual evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts as Dino informed John via text that they needed a fourth player, so Rizzo went up there and hosted that session as well.  "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli made a cameo appearance there (he had hit at the Brookdale session…which we will now detail first).

Samara arrived at the park at 10:50 with his daughter Angie and son Dante.  As they approached the courts, they saw "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues already waiting there.  Four of five of the courts on the far end were occupied, but Joe said he did not recognize anyone down there as being our players (Frank took a peek from afar and that seemed to be the case).

Frank and Joe took Court One while Angie and Dante took Court Three to hit.  Rodrigues said he would have to go in an hour or so.

Around 10:55, "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara arrived and she stepped onto Court One to hit against both of the kids (which was very nice of her to do).

Dino arrived around 11am and took Joe's side of the court in hitting against Frank.  Around 11:15, both "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon and "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque arrived.  Samara stepped off Court One to allow the other four gents to play some Doubles.

As he was about to shift over to Court One to hit with Suzanne and his kids, The Tokudas (Tony and Sachiko) arrived at 11:25 and went to Court Two.  So, instead the plan was changed to have some Mixed Doubles on Court Two with Samara and Bujara versus The Tokudas.  At this time, the Samara kids decided to sit in the shade as Dante drew while Angie played games on her phone.

The Men's Doubles One-Setter had started exactly at 11:27 and the Mixed Doubles one got underway at 11:35.  Thus, when "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar arrived at 11:40, he became "the ninth wheel" for a while.  He took the time to jog around and stretch a bit before watching the on-court action and waiting patiently.  Turns out he already knows Tony as Mr. Tokuda is a tennis coach for children up in Wayne.

Spin arrived at 12:10 and soon after that got involved in a hitting session on Court One where he paired with Angie in hitting against Frank and Dante.  We used the lower pressure (I think) balls that bounce slower which helped extend the rallies.  Angie is rapidly improving and is also implementing some fast-paced shots while Dante is getting better at a slightly slower rate (but still improving, nonetheless).

We ended up with just nine official competitors on this Father's Day session of GTA Sunday Tennis and most of us left by 1:30…leaving behind Chazz and Muhammad who had started a Singles One-Setter just before that, but ultimately did not finish it (we will find out why a little later).

The Brookdale Park Results:

Dino Celis/Joe Rodrigues over Chazz Weldon/Muhammad Haque, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court One at 11:27 and did not finish until 12:35!

Tony Tokuda/Sachiko Tokuda over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Tony held serve (Triple Game Point cut to Game Point, but then the hold) and Suzanne was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) for 0-2.  Sachiko was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) and Frank held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, but then came Game Point and the hold) to level the set at 2-2.  Mr. Tokuda held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) and Bujara was broken again (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) for 2-4.  Mrs. Tokuda held this time around (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to increase her team's lead to 5-2 and then Samara held again, but it was a struggle as it went from Love-15 to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 4^th Deuce, Break/Match Point, 5^th Deuce, a 2^nd Break/Match Point, 6^th Deuce, Game Point and the hold to pull to 3-5.  But T-Squared held again (a 30-Love lead then collapsed to Break Point, but then it went to Deuce and Game/Match Point where the hold came on the 3^rd M.P. overall) to get the win!  We played this on Court Two from 11:35 to 12:12.

The Skinny: The more I see of Tony on the court, the more impressed I am with his game as he is a very steady and knowledgeable Doubles player.  I was not at my best on this occasion though I had some impressive moments.  Suzanne, despite some errors, continues to improve by leaps and bounds.  She had a couple of great winners that wowed the crowd.

Senthil Kumar/Tony Tokuda over Chazz Weldon/Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.  Court One hosted this one from 12:40 to 1:15.

Chazz Weldon leading Muhammad Haque, 4-3 (Incomplete when both decided to call it a day as Chazz was dealing with stomach cramping issues and Muhammad was feeling fatigued from the heat)!  No Aces.  They got this one underway on Court One at 1:29…not sure when they called it quits.

Let's go to Verona Park for that lone result there now!

The Verona Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Dino Celis, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 4 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Marijus: 2 Aces!

The Scoop from Super Mario: It was a good match in the scorching heat!  Lots of solid points!  Dino was fighting well.  He's almost back to his pre-injury form.  He just needs to tune a couple small things and he'll be kicking our butts again!

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for his very timely reporting and also congratulate him on an impressive victory.  We now head to Nutley for The Riz Report from NTC.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

John Rizzo/Alfred Chen over Dan Hwang/Kyle Eng, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, to successfully defend their #68 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Hwang/Eng entered the division as the New #81 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

The Riz Report: We were down 4-5, 15-40 (Double Match Point) in the 2^nd Set before coming back!

Samara's Notes: That sounds like a possible Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  And, finally, let's go to Cedar Grove for the lone official result reported from there (there was a three-way hitting session afterward).

The Cedar Grove Result:

Dino Celis/Arlene Hyde over Kris Srinivasan/John Rizzo, 7-5!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely reporting.  It is truly appreciated.       

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

6/14 Results.

6/14/18:

"4 play at NTC, 4 play (1 New) in BP, Scott-Jordan part of 13 at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: an evening one at Nutley Tennis Club as "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "The Riz" John Rizzo teamed together in an effort to help another team qualify for the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament.  That team, "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport and "The Lion Tamer" Andrew Ramer, was in the M2 last season (but last year we did not have the pre-qualification provision); there was a concurrent session at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield as "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis joined forces to aid in yet another team qualifying for the M2.  This team is William "Bombs Away" Bobila and his new partner (making his official GTA Debut), "Uncle" Elmer Agapito (reported by both Mike and William); and the third session was an extended one which actually began before the previous two and ended after both...it was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts with no true host presiding over the festivities.  There was a full Challenge Match between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (reported by Scott).  We also received results from four other sources: "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar and Rizzo (who did double duty and went up to Cedar Grove after the NTC session had ended).

Let's first go to Nutley for the comprehensive match recap, then to Bloomfield and then finally to Cedar Grove for the full report of all the action there.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Dan Praport/Andrew Ramer over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 10-2 (STB), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 74 and # 75 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Return of Andrew Ramer.  John: 2 Aces on Dan in the 2nd Set!

1st Set: John held serve (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and the hold), Andrew held (Love-30 shifted to 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Double Fault to Break Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Frank held (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Double Fault for Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Dawn was the first to be broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break) for 1-3.  Rizzo was broken (30-Love shifted straight to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break), but Ramer held again (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to level the set at 3-3.  Samara was broken (Love-30 shifted right to Game Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point and the break) to lose the lead for his team at 3-4.  Praport was also broken again and this time around it was at Love to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  The Riz held (Triple Game Point lead cut to Game Point, but then came the hold) to reclaim the lead for his team at 5-4, but then The Lion Tamer held a third straight time (a Love-15 start shifted straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to keep things alive at 5-5!  Hollywood was broken a second straight time (15-Love went right down the tubes to Double Break Point and the break), but then The Speed Demon was broken a third straight time (Love-15, 15-All, then onto Double Break Point and the break) to take us to the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: John held his lone serve, Andrew held both of his and then Frank held his first, but hit a rare Double Fault on his second to make it 2-3!  Dan held the first of his two serves for 4-2 at the changeover and then he held his second as well for a 5-2 lead.  Rizzo held both of his serves to pull to 4-5, but then Ramer did the same to claim the set with a 7-4 TB score!  We began this set on Court Two at 7pm.  It ended at 7:45.  After a two minute break, we were onto the next set.

2nd Set: John held (15-Love then point for point to 30-All where a sideline Ace against Dan set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Andrew was broken for the first time (Double Fault set up Triple Break Point, it went to Double Break Point and then came the break) for a 0-2 start for his team.  Frank held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, but then came Game Point and the hold) and Dan was broken yet again (and at Love for the second time) after getting things started with a Double Fault!  Rizzo held yet again (15-Love, 15-All where another sideline Ace against Dan set up 30-15, it then went to Double Game Point, then got reduced to Deuce, but then came another Game Point and the hold) for a commanding 5-0 lead!  Ramer held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and the hold) to get his team on the board in this set and then Samara was broken (15-Love went right to Double Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-2.  But Praport still couldn't hold serve (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break/Set Point and the break) and suddenly the match was evened up as this set ended at 8:10 (a 23 minute set)!  As we were rapidly losing daylight and a full match needed to be played in order to get Praport/Ramer ranked in the Doubles Division and qualified for the M2, we opted for the 10-Point Super Tiebreak (began at 8:11).

STB: John was broken on his lone serve while Andrew held both of his and Frank was broken on both of his as his team got off to a 0-5 start!  Dan held the first of his two serves for 6-0 at the changeover and then he held his second for a commanding 7-0 lead!  Rizzo held the first of his two serves to get his team on the board in the STB, but was then broken on his second for 1-8.  Ramer held the first of his two serves to take a 9-1 lead and set up the first of what could have been many Match Points.  He was broken on his second serve for 9-2 and the 2nd M.P., but then Samara was broken and it was over at 10-2!  The match ended at exactly 8:16 as the STB lasted only 5 minutes (some recent ones have gone as long as 15 minutes).

The Skinny: Each team was like a "Tale of Two Cities," or more accurately, a "Tale of Two Players!"  John and Andrew are both members of Nutley Tennis Club and regular players there.  Frank plays there infrequently and irregularly (same thing, I guess...LOL!) and Dan was just outright rusty (the playing surface would not have mattered) as he had last played in The Wayne Bubble back in December.  Rizzo and Ramer, "The Clay Boys," each carried the load for their respective teams while Samara and Praport were both erratic.  Dan had the most unforced errors overall and never held serve, but it is interesting to note that he was able to hold when necessary in both the 1st Set Tiebreak and the Super Tiebreak.  He was also quite the force at net as Andrew would serve big out wide to Frank's backhand (Samara was in his usual return position on the Ad court side) which would only allow a reach of a return to sail to Praport who was waiting at the net with the short put-away volley.  This was their team's most effective play as it won just enough points for their team to eke by and get the win.  Ramer has a solid game overall...a lot of height and reach which helps with overheads plus solid strokes from both sides (a very effective two-handed backhand is perhaps even more noteworthy than his forehand...though that shot is also very solid).  If Praport can shake off the rust in time for the tourney, they will be a tough out in the M2.   

And now we shift west (one town over) to Bloomfield.

The Brookdale Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
William Bobila/Elmer Agapito over Mike Mole/Dino Celis, 7-5, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 76 and # 77 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Debut of Elmer Agapito.  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We played from 7:30 to 9:30.  It was a fun match with so many Deuce games!  My serve failed me tonight...haha!

The Word from William: We played from 8pm to 9:40 (including the warm-up session).  It was a very close match as the lead kept on changing.  We thank Mike and Dino for playing with us on such short notice in order to allow us to qualify for the tournament. 

Samara's Notes: I think Mike and William were looking at different clocks...LOL!  Anyway, it is nice to have William back in the mix (same goes for Dan and Andrew above at NTC) and we now welcome Elmer to the league.

And now we shift west again, this time from Bloomfield to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Chazz Weldon over Jay Phoenix, 7-5!  No Aces.  This One-Setter was played from 5:30 to 6:30.

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Jordan: 2 Aces (1 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd Set); and Scott: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

The Skinny from Scott: It was a competitive match.  A lot of unforced errors from both sides, as usual.  We both need to stay focused and make the necessary shots.

Dan Martinelli/Natalia Sout over Joe Rodrigues/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Spin from Spin: Nat gets Spin a win!  At first, it looked like the foursome was going to be Natalia, Sachiko, Joe and Syed Rashid.  However, Court One needed another player.  Joe and Syed discussed who would play and it seemed that they could not make up their minds.  I did a quick "eeny, meeny, miney moe" and it was Syed who was sent over to Court One.  With my ongoing disability, we paired Natalia and Spin against Sachiko and Joe.  Everyone played well and it was a fun set.  The duration was about 28 minutes.  Natalia rose to the occasion and covered the court beautifully knowing her partner has limited mobility.  I want to thank Natalia, Sachiko and Joe for playing with the "lame" one.  Be sure it was much appreciated by yours truly.  It was great to be back!       

Nick Inciong/Tony Tokuda over Senthil Kumar/Syed Rashid, 6-2!  No Aces.

Nick Inciong/Syed Rashid over Jordan Bachvaroff/Senthil Kumar, 7-5!  No Aces.

Nick Inciong/Syed Rashid over Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo, 7-5!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is greatly appreciated!  It is also good to see that the man known simply as "Spin" was able to get back out onto the courts again.

Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com