7/30 Results.

7/30/18:

"M2 Semi WD, Kuzavas-Ortega part of 19 (1 New) at C.G.!":

There was just one official session of GTA Monday Night Tennis.  It was the usual evening one at the Cedar Grove Courts and it got started with the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match between "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega (as reported by Marijus).  Other contributors to this report are: "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton and "The Riz" John Rizzo.

But before we get to what went down up in Cedar Grove, we now have to address the second tournament withdrawal in as many days as we later found out that William "Bombs Away" Bobila had to make the tough decision of pulling his team with Elmer "The Glue" Agapito out of their M2 Semifinal Match against Kuzavas and "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas as Bobila had recent surgery (of the cardiovascular kind…I will leave it at that unless William wants to discuss the details further).  The good news is that all went well, but he will need a considerable amount of time to recover from the surgery before he can play tennis again.

This means that Kuzavas/Kazlauskas advance to the M2 Finals via a bye.  They will now face Fernandes and GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro to determine who will be our 2018 M2 Champs and next Top Contenders to the GTA Doubles Championship currently held by "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "NC-17" Nick Caputo.  All these coming matches look to be great ones! 

And, getting back to Mr. Bobila, on behalf of the entire GTA…I wish William a full and speedy recovery!

With that announcement now out of the way, we'll now go to Cedar Grove for all the on-court action.

The Cedar Grove Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Edwin Ortega, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 4 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Marijus: 7 Aces; and Edwin: 2 Aces! 

The Scoop from Super Mario: It was an entertaining and fun match.  Edwin had some good shots and defended well. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for reporting that result in a timely fashion.  I also congratulate him on a very impressive victory!

 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson over Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta, 6-1, 6-8, 10-6 (STB)!  No Aces.  Once they went to the STB, the # 5 Rank of Jordan/Peterson was no longer on the line (Sheldon/Panzitta are the # 6 Ranked Team).  The match does, however, serve to renew and/or continue the active status of both teams in this division.

The Brief from Brenda: The 2^nd Set was one where they played out the games rather than going to the traditional Tiebreak.  Then, all but Dawn decided they were too exhausted to play a full 3^rd Set, so that was why they opted to play the Super Tiebreak instead.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1, 6-0, to successfully defend their # 22 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces. 

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 6-4!  No Aces. 

Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-4!  No Aces. 

Andrew Kroessler/Laurie Boughton over Jim Tenney/Dawn Peterson, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Jim Tenney.               

The Lowdown from Laurie: Dawn said Jim is a beginner, but he did AWESOME!  He is not afraid of the net, did well up there, and had some WICKED down-the-line passing shots, along with some fierce returns of serve! :-)   He has a great "coach" in Dawn! :-)  It was a fun set! :-)

Mike Kazlauskas/John Rizzo over Senthil Kumar/Pranav Sinha, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Senthil Kumar/Pranav Sinha over John Rizzo/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 79 and # 80 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone else for their very timely reporting as well.  It is much appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/29 Results.

7/29/18:

"5 at PAC, 10 at AP, Bros in WW, 4 at NTC, 11 at C.G., Corrado's WD!":

There were five official sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: an early morning session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as reported by "TNT" Tim Nguyen; the usual morning session hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara at Albion Park in Clifton; one in the early afternoon down in Wildwood featuring The Pienciak Brothers (Adam and Ryan, aka The Bros) doing battle with one another (as reported by Adam); then an early evening session at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo; and then an evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts with report contributions made by "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

And then at the end of the evening, "MC Smash" Mike Corrado had a return flight (I am assuming he was away on vacation) that got back later than expected.  As such, he had to cancel the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match he had scheduled against "Daddy O" Paul Daddio.  Up against the deadline and realizing he had been the player who was available less often for the scheduling of said match, Mike decided to withdraw…giving Paul the bye to advance to the Round of 16.  While the circumstances are unfortunate, his decision to not hold up the tourney any longer is to be respected.

Let's get to all the action in the order it is listed in the opening paragraph…doing our best to recreate the sequence of events how they played out on this epic Sunday of GTA action.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

 

We had a nice meet-up at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley from 8:30am to 11 am.

 

Tim Nguyen/Vivian Lee over Arunraj Nair/Joe Renga, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Tim Nguyen/Keith Lewkowitz over Arunraj Nair/Joe Renga, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Arunraj Nair over Tim Nguyen, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

After tennis, we headed over to Nutley Diner for coffee and brunch.  It was a nice Sunday morning with a good workout, nice weather and chatting with a group of tennis friends!

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Tim for stepping up as the impromptu host of that session and providing us with his report.

 

We now head northwest a bit to go to Clifton and here is my report of the session from Albion Park.

 

When Samara arrived at Albion at 10:55, he saw two of the three courts occupied by GTA players and two more guys also making their way toward the courts.  One was "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli who had already been on the courts and went back to his car to grab a wrench to raise the height of the too-low net on the North Court (later in the session, he would do the same to the net on the South Court) and the other was "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque.

 

On Center Court, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis were already in the second of their two back-to-back Singles One-Setters while on the North Court it was a hitting session featuring "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara going solo against "Big George" Jorge Solano and Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda.  Spin would soon take Suzanne's side and that would eventually lead to a Mixed Doubles One-Setter.

 

Frank and Muhammad entered into a hitting session on the South Court.  At 11:15, Rose "The Thorn" Inciong (I'll explain the new nickname a little later on in this report) arrived and soon took Samara's place in the hitting session with Haque as Frank had to write down scores and socialize with those already out on the courts.  Eventually, Samara would return to the South Court along with Chiaro for some Doubles action.  Celis sat out a while and then would eventually have a hitting session with Solano after the Mixed Doubles action ended on the North Court.

 

The final arrival of the day was made by Rose's husband, "The Icon" Nick Inciong, at 1:05.  So we only had a turnout of ten players which was somewhat disappointing when considering how beautiful the day was...a peak temperature in the lower 80 degree range coupled with full sun and absent of the humidity which has been plaguing us lately. 

 

Enough chit chat!  Let's get to the scores!

 

The Albion Park Courts Results:

 

Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-0!  No Aces.  This one got underway on the Center Court somewhere around 10:15 (based on the estimates of both Chris and Dino).  Not sure when it ended as it went right into this next one.

 

Chris Chiaro over Dino Celis, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one was finished on the Center Court at 11:10.  Somewhere along the way, Chris broke a string on his racquet and had to go to his spare racquet.  His level of play then dropped, but he regained his composure soon enough to avoid the upset.

 

Chris Chiaro/Rose Inciong over Frank Samara/Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Rose was broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break), Frank was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break), but Chris was the first to hold serve (a 30-Love lead soon shifted to Break Point, then came Deuce, Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) for 2-1.  Muhammad was broken (Triple Break Point start reduced to Break Point, but then came the break) and then Inciong held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold) to extend her team's lead to 4-1.  Samara held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, then Game Point where Frank hit a wicked Windmill Overhead Smash that somehow bounced between the legs of Chris without castrating him, but was on point for the winner and the hold) to pull to 2-4, but then Chiaro held again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and the the hold) to extend his team's lead to 5-2!  Haque also held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5, but The Thorn held a second straight time (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point where Frank hit a roller that just made its way over the net to be an unreachable winner and bring the game back to 2nd Deuce, but then came the 2nd Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win!  We played this on the South Court from 11:25 to 12noon.

 

The Skinny: This was Frank's first time ever meeting Rose and he was quite impressed with her level of play.  She is also very nice and easy-going...a welcome addition to our league.

 

Dan Martinelli/Suzanne Bujara over Jorge Solano/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-2!  Jorge: 1 Ace on Sachiko!  They played this one on the North Court from 11:30 to 11:55. 

 

The Skinny: Little by little, Spin's mobility is slowly returning.  Baby steps...baby steps!  Or, as they once said on "Seinfeld,": "Tippy-toe!  Tippy-toe!"

 

Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Suzanne Bujara/Rose Inciong, 6-1!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Rose was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and then a Double Fault to break herself), Sachiko held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, then Game Point and the hold) and then Suzanne was broken at Love to quickly find her team down 0-4!  Samara was then broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and the break) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard, but then Inciong was broken again (started with a Double Fault, then Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break) while Tokuda held again (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game/Match Point and the hold) to earn the victory!  Again, we played on the South Court as this one lasted from 12:08 to 12:32.

 

Muhammad Haque/Sachiko Tokuda over Suzanne Bujara/Rose Inciong, 6-1!  Rose: 1 Ace on Sachiko!  This one was also contested on the South Court.  Its duration was from 12:44 to 1:11.

 

Frank Samara/Muhammad Haque over Nick Inciong/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown: Suzanne was broken (a Double Fault set up Triple Break Point, then came Double Break Point and the break), Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15...and I must say that the rally that made it 30-15 was the longest and best rally of the day, it then became 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Game Points to 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Nick was broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point and the break), Muhammad held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold), Bujara was broken again (30-Love went right to Break Point and the break) while Samara held again and this time around it was at Love on Triple Game/Match Point to lock down the shut-out win!  We played this on the South Court from 1:15 to 1:40.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who was a part of this fun session (even if it was somewhat of a laid-back and lightly attended one) and I especially recognize Muhammad and Suzanne (as both keep improving) for sticking around for one more just so Nick could at least play one official One-Setter.

 

We now head far south…all the way down to Wildwood…to see what those Pienciak Brothers were up to…LOL!

 

The Wildwood Crest Results:

 

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

From the AP: The Pienciak Brothers played two Singles One-Setters on a hot afternoon about a block from the beach in Wildwood Crest.  Play began around 11:30am.  On and off gusts of wind about 20 mph made play tricky, but the breeze was welcome due to the heat.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Adam for reporting in a very timely fashion…all the way from Wildwood.  We now head back north to Nutley for The Riz Report from NTC.

The NTC Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Dino Celis/Senthil Kumar over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 23 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo over Dino Celis/Alfred Chen, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Senthil Kumar/Alfred Chen over Dino Celis/John Rizzo, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely report.  And, finally, to close out this report…

 

We now shift west to Cedar Grove to finish out the day's action.

 

The Cedar Grove Results:

Fernanda Toker/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Arlene Hyde, 6-3!  No Aces.

Juani D'Andres over Marijus Kuzavas, 7-5!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Juani D'Andres.

Juani D'Andres over Marijus Kuzavas, 6-2!  No Aces.

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Juani D'Andres/Fernanda Toker, 7-5!  No Aces.

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Juani D'Andres/Fernanda Toker, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Scoop from Super Mario: Please note that Juani (Fernanda's nephew from Argentina) has not played any matches for the past six months as he has decided to quit pursuing a pro tennis career.  So, he was a bit rusty…but, nevertheless, he's still way too much for us!

Thomas Lee/Arlene Hyde over Kris Srinivasan/Diane Raum, 7-5!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar/Arlene Hyde over Kris Srinivasan/Diane Raum, 6-4!  Arlene: 1 Ace on Diane!

Kris Srinivasan/Arlene Hyde leading Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

The K has his say: Diane was solid, but the star of the night was indeed Arlene!  Nothing could go wrong for her on this particular night.  Amazing performance!  Cheers!

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/28 Results.

7/28/18:

"4 play at NTC, Mole-Bachvaroff and M2 Qtr part of 12 at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: with the first one starting in the early afternoon and lasting all the way into the evening…it was the usual but extended session up at The Cedar Grove Courts.  It first featured a "Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match featuring "Del Brotro" Mike Mole going up against "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (with both reporting) and it then had the M2 Quarterfinal between the teams of "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and "Daddy O" Paul Daddio/"The Adonis" Don Moya (with Marijus reporting) and the session featured other results as reported by Marijus, "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "The Riz" John Rizzo.  But earlier in the day, Rizzo first hosted a session at The Nutley Tennis Club that featured four players.  That NTC session would have likely been (time-wise) in the middle of all the action that took place up at Cedar Grove.

Thus, to simplify matters, we will first report the scores from NTC and then detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove.  And we will actually begin with Kevin since his action got the session underway first, then the dual report from Mike and Jordan, then to Marijus (with the overlap with Rizzo for that one last result).

The NTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Senthil Kumar/Arlene Hyde over John Rizzo/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, to successfully defend their # 33 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Rizzo/Nicolas returned to the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 62 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

 

John Rizzo/Arlene Hyde over Senthil Kumar/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo over Fadia Nicolas/Arlene Hyde, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting these scores in a very timely manner.  And we will get more from him in the coming report from Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tom Heidt/Brenda Jordan over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 6-1, 6-3, to become the New # 40 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Tom Heidt.

The Kevlar Commentary: We played at the hot and humid Cedar Grove Courts. We got our action underway at 1pm and after three hours of hard-fought tennis, we finished a few minutes after 4pm! 

We then switched it up and played a One-Setter with the result as follows…

Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan over Tom Heidt/Robin Wilson, 8-6!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kevin for his timely reporting.  And that last One-Setter was not a Tiebreak score, they played out the games. 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match:

Jordan Bachvaroff over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0, to become the New # 11 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 21st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  No Aces.

 

The Mole Memo: We played from 1:40 to 3:30.  Really hot out!  The 1st Set took a lot out of me, haha!  Jordan played well, a lot more consistent than me.  Fun match!

 

The Gist from Jordan: We started hitting at 1:30 under the hot sun.  We were hoping to go on the shady court next to us, but it was busy.  The 1st Set was very competitive as Mike played well and the Tiebreak was tough.  The sun seemed to get to Mike a little more than it got to me in the 2nd Set but I was in pain, too.  We were both very tired. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Mike and Jordan for their very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.  I also congratulate Jordan on an impressive victory. 

 

M2 Quarterfinal Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas over Paul Daddio/Don Moya, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, to successfully defend their # 2 Rank while advancing to the Semifinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

1st Set: The first break of serve went to them on my serve and Don was later serving at 5-3, but we broke back only to get broken again and drop the set at 5-7.

2nd Set: This set went in similar fashion.  I got broken and Don again was serving at 5-3, but he got a bit tight again and we got a break back.  From that point on, we had a momentum and won the set, 7-5.

3rd Set: We continued riding our momentum and were up 2-0 when we had to stop due to a rain delay with Paul serving at 30-All.

We later restarted the match from that point, but our momentum was now gone.  They broke us back to tie it at 3-3.  We got the break again on Don's serve to go ahead 5-4 and then serve it out for the win.

It was a great match!  We got a bit lucky when Don got a bit tense on his serve at the end of each set.  Also, he made some errors at the net, which might have swung the match other way. Mike was serving great, which helped us stay in the match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for his comprehensive report and congratulate him (along with Mike) on a very hard-fought, yet impressive victory!  Some wondered why this match was given so much time to get played, but it was because I saw both sides (teams) equally trying hard to get it scheduled and there were also several reschedules due to Mother Nature being an inconsiderate bi…err, witch when it came to scheduling.

Next up for M&M (aka The Lanky Lithuanians) in the Semis is the crafty combo of William "Bombs Away" Bobila and Elmer "The Glue" Agapito (Marijus recently had to fend off a feisty Elmer in the Grove Cup Tournament…so this should be a close one as well).

We now go back to Marijus for some additional results.

Paul Daddio/Don Moya over Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Scoop from Super Mario: After the conclusion of the tourney match, we played this One-Setter where this time they crushed us!

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Mike Kazlauskas/Don Moya, 7-5!  No Aces.  We came back from being down 2-5!

Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 7-5!  No Aces.  We tried to come back from being down 3-5, but could not seal the deal this time around. 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely and comprehensive reporting. 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/26 Results.

7/26/18:

"4 play at NTC, MXD2 Final part of 15 at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: there was the one at the newly renovated Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "The Dark Knight" Dan Knizter acted as the impromptu host of the session and provided us with a comprehensive report; and then there was the usual one at the Cedar Grove Courts and it featured the MXD2 Final between the teams of GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Former GTA Women's Champ: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "NC-17" Nick Caputo/Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas (with both Chris and Laura reporting).  "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan were the other two contributors to this report from that session.

The much-anticipated last of the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Matches did not happen as we had expected it would.  It was set to be "Daddy O" Paul Daddio going up against "MC Smash" Mike Corrado, but Corrado needed a reschedule (not sure if this was due to the uncertain weather forecast or a change in plans).  Paul said that Mike had told him he could play this coming Sunday.  That will be the final extension for this match.  If Corrado fails to come thru this last time around, then Daddio will receive a bye into the Round of 16.  But we are all hoping that the match will get played instead.

Let's first go to Dan's full report from Nutley and then the combined recap of all the results from Cedar Grove.  OK, Dan, take it away!

So I hit the Park Ave. Courts tonight around 7pm for the first time since their renovations were completed.  And I must say, it's a big improvement...no more cracks on the courts, the nets were perfect, the surface felt level, etc.

 

I played Rich Liu and tried to break this awful losing streak I've had against him (he's beaten me at least four straight times, all One-Setters).

 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

 

Dan Knitzer over Rich Liu, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

The TDK Replay: I played defensively, but introduced some offense whenever I saw an opening. Rich was getting to every drop shot I hit and playing solid at the net, but my lobs were on point!

 

Rich came back from down 2-4 to even it at 4-4 and then he nearly held serve to make it 5-4, but I broke him with some good court coverage, lobs, and even a few powerful inside-out forehands.  I closed it out on my serve to win it, 6-4, finally breaking my losing streak!

 

Rich played great defense (and great offense, at times).  Both of us served well and returned well (no Aces!).  As always, it was fun and physical!

 

Rich and I then teamed up to play against "Fiery" Fausto Murg and "Merciless" Miten Patel. 

 

Fausto Murg/Miten Patel over Dan Knitzer/Rich Liu, 7-5!  Rich: 1 Ace; Fausto: 1 Ace; and Miten: 1 Ace! 

 

The TDK Replay: Those guys came out swinging!  Fausto was an absolute beast at the net, seemingly getting to every shot (my previously great lobs were no match for his ups!) and he probably made about ten winners to perhaps just two unforced errors.

 

Miten was solid at the baseline, but quick enough to get my drop shots and rebound Rich's aggressive forehands whenever he was at the net. 

 

"Fiery Fausto" and "Merciless Miten" went up 5-1, but Rich and I would not be defeated so easily.  We held off two Match Points when down 1-5, and then another three when Rich served at 4-5.  Rich saved the last MP on his serve with an Ace to the outer line of the ad box.  He was an absolute beast in that game, covering the court like Nadal and hitting something resembling a banana shot as well!

 

I served when we were down 5-6 and immediately lost the first three points to give Sir Fiery and Mister Merciless a Triple Break/Match Point edge, but Rich and I rallied back to win the next two points before finally falling on the 3^rd Break/Match Point (the 8^th MP overall!).  It was a great One-Setter all around! 

Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his very comprehensive and colorful write-up.  I congratulate him on the long-awaited one-set win over Rich.  And that last One-Setter has an outside shot at being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Time to head west to Cedar Grove for all that happened up there.

The Cedar Grove Results:

MXD2 Final Match:

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while becoming the 2018 MXD2 Champs and next Top Contenders (to the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship)!  No Aces.

 

The Lowdown from Laura: We started at 6:30 and played until 7:35!  We had a lot of great points as Nick and Fadia were a lot of fun to play with!  

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Chris and Laura for their very timely reporting (Chris provided some additional scores later in this report).  I also congratulate them on a highly impressive victory that capped an incredible run thru this tournament!  I do not envy our current GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay, who have to face Chiaro/Gawley next! 

 

Senthil Kumar/Kathy Sheldon over Jordan Bachvaroff/Brenda Jordan, 6-2!  No Aces. 

 

Jordan Bachvaroff/Brenda Jordan over Senthil Kumar/Kathy Sheldon, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

The Brief from Brenda: We didn't play a 3rd Set (to make it a full match) because Kathy had to leave.

 

Chris Chiaro/Janice Wang over Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis over Nick Caputo/John Rizzo, 6-2!  Chris: 1 Ace on John!

 

Joe Rodrigues/Nick Inciong over Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New #60 and # 61 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

 

The Details from Doinks: Senthil and I were up 6-1 in the Tiebreak when Kris and Fadia saved bunch of Match Points to pull to 6-5 before we finally closed it out!

Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 3-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis leading Joe Rodrigues/Nick Inciong, 3-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who contributed to this report in such a timely manner.  As always, it is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/25 Results.

7/25/18:

"Zapusek-Flax in Fair Lawn!":

In between the morning rains and the evening rains, there was one lone session featuring one lone match and it took place in Fair Lawn.  In the ongoing friendly rivalry between buddies, "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek and "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax, this was yet another entry in their series.  They have two go-to spots, Fair Lawn (near to where Mike lives) and Albion Park in Clifton (close to where Dave lives), whereby they take turns playing their matches against one another.  They like to get in three sets of play at each outing.  If the first two sets split, they do it as a 2 out of 3 Sets Match.  If one of them takes the first two sets, but then the third set goes the other way...they just consider it to be a Challenge Match followed by a One-Setter.  But lately, Dave has been on a roll as he has continued to win these battles in three straight sets (i.e. the 3 out of 5 Sets Match instead).  And here is the latest result from them (as reported by Dave, as always).

The Fair Lawn Result:

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:

Dave Zapusek over Mike Flax, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 45 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Dave for his timely reporting.  Perhaps this coming Sunday (as the forecast remains sunny and clear), we will be able to work Dave (and possibly Mike) into our action after they play their usual Challenge Match against one another.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

7/24 Results.

7/24/18:

"Ralph-Moka at VHS, 8 play at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: the first one was at the Verona High School Courts and it featured the first of the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Matches to be played.  It was between "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard and "Instant" Moka Pathan (with both reporting); and then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts with the contributors from that session being "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "NC-17" Nick Caputo. 

First we go to Verona and then to Cedar Grove.

The VHS Result:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match:

Moka Pathan over Ralph Bernard, 7-5, 7-5, to become the New # 9 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Ralph: 3 Aces (1 in the 1^st Set and 2 in the 2^nd Set)!

 

The Ralph Report: It was a fun, competitive match. Moka is a consistent player and you can't let up if you're going to beat him.  The 1st Set was back and forth for the most part.  The 2nd Set was much different.  I played much better, delivering a lot of winners from both sides and had two Aces (had one in the prior set) to get out to a quick 5-1 lead.  I was, of course, thinking the match was going to a 3rd Set, but then errors started creeping in and I think I let up mentally a bit since I had such a big lead (thinking ahead to the 3rd Set).  Moka then proceeded to win the next five games taking it in two straight sets...definitely a disappointing result!  I have to be a stronger closer.  I want to wish Moka good luck on his next match and beyond.

Moka's Brew: We played at the Verona High School courts from roughly 7:15 to 8:35pm. 

1st Set: We exchanged service holds until I broke to go up 4-2, but then he immediately broke back and took the next couple games to go up 5-4.  I broke him to stay in the set and then I took the final two games for the set.  

2nd Set: He really played well to start the set as he took leads of 3-1, then 5-1.  I held to make it 5-2, at which point he turned on the lights.  I got my second wind, somehow, and he made a few unforced errors as I improbably took the next five games to win the set and match.  

I want to thank Ralph for scheduling this match on such short notice and also for offering up such a competitive match.  He kept me off balance with his slice backhand and flat forehand shots.  I feel fortunate to have won. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both players for their timely and comprehensive reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.  I also congratulate Moka on a hard-fought yet impressive victory.  Moka is now the first player in the tourney into the Quarterfinals (and he was also the first into the Round of 16). 

 

We now head south to Cedar Grove.  We will start with the scores from Brenda and finish with the results submitted by Nick.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Brenda Jordan/Michele Panzitta over Kathy Sheldon/Robin Wilson, 6-1!  No Aces.

Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Robin Wilson/Michele Panzitta, 6-2!  No Aces.

Brenda Jordan/Robin Wilson over Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta, 6-4!  No Aces.

Non-Title Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-4!  No Aces.  This was not a GTA Doubles Championship defense (even though A. Pienciak/Rizzo are a ranked team in the Doubles Division) as the reigning GTA Doubles Champions have been told not to defend their Titles until a winning team emerges from the ongoing M2 Men's Doubles Tournament.

Adam Pienciak/Nick Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Brenda and Nick for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/23 Results.

7/23/18: 

"Jeremy's WD, Shiao-Gadi at VP, 7 play at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis.  The first one was at the Verona Park Courts as Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi got back together to finish their in-progress "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match (which they had begun this past Friday night).  And then the second one was the usual evening session at the Cedar Grove Courts with "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues and the GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro being the contributors to this report from that session.

But before we get to all that, we first report that earlier in the day Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb decided that he had to make the difficult decision to withdraw from his "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match against "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega.  Jeremy cited an increased work schedule that was now preventing him from putting this match together with Edwin ahead of the deadline for all the Round of 32 matches to be completed.  While this is a most unfortunate development (as Gottlieb is seemingly one of the more talented players in the draw), his decision is respected and understood.

Ortega now advances to the Round of 16 via a bye where his opponent will be "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas.

With that announcement now out of the way, we'll go to Verona first and then recount all that was reported from Cedar Grove.

The Verona Park Courts Result:

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Abhilash Gadi over Tony Shiao, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New # 6 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Tony: 1 Ace! 

The Accelerated Annotation: The weather was kind enough to let us complete our 3rd Set. In that final game, I overcame Tony's forehands and won the set, 6-4 to take the match.  I thank Tony for a great tennis match.  I really enjoyed playing with you.

The Sure Shot from Shiao: We met at Verona Park at 7pm to finish the match and it was super-humid, but the clouds held onto the moisture.  Abhi was on fire and was able to move me around basically getting to just about every ball.  I went for my deep topspin forehands because I knew long rallies would tire me out, but I was lacking at net and blew a few easy put-away shots.  I congratulate Abhi for his well=deserved win and wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in the tournament!  

Samara's Notes: I thank both players for their very timely reporting.  Abhi, congratulations on a hard-fought, breakthrough victory!  Now that he is in the Top 10 of the Advanced Division, he'll be permanent removed from the Intermediate Division (as being considered overqualified for it).  Tony, kudos on your fine effort!  And I also thank both of them for getting the match finished last night...and for doing it in the full-length manner as well.

We now head slightly north to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

 

Nathan Fernandes over Joe Rodrigues, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Joe for reporting that result in a timely fashion.  He also reported the next one and so did Chris...and then Chris provided the balance of the scores.

Adam Pienciak/Greg Swierczek over Chris Chiaro/Joe Rodrigues, 7-6 (7-5)!  Greg: 1 Ace on Joe!

Chris Chiaro over Adam Pienciak, 6-3!  Adam: 1 Ace on Chris!

Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Adam Pienciak/Abhilash Gadi, 6-4!  Adam: 1 Ace on Chris!

Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan tied with Nathan Fernandes/Abhilash Gadi, 3-3 (Incomplete due to lights out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Joe and Chris for their very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated. 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/22 Results.

7/22/18:

"Z-Flax at AP, Dino-Tommy at VP, M2 Qtr TBC part of 9 at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis even though the usual morning session hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara at Albion Park in Clifton was cancelled due to heavy rain in the overnight/early morning hours.  The first one, ironically enough, was at Albion and was even earlier than Samara's session would have been.  It featured a full 3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match between buddies, "The Z-Man" Dave Zapusek and "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax (as reported by Dave).  It turns out the courts dried there in time for the usual morning session after all.

The next one was at the Votee Park Courts in Teaneck and it featured one of the last remaining "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Matches.  This one was between "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis and "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski (as reported by Dino).

And the third and final session of the day began in the early evening and was at the Cedar Grove Courts.  It featured the much-delayed final M2 Quarterfinal as the teams of "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and "Daddy O" Paul Daddio/"The Adonis" Don Moya finally faced off against one another (with Marijus and Paul reporting), but Mother Nature decided to mess with them further as this match remains a "work in progress!"  The other contributor to this report from that session is GTA newcomer, "Vivacious" Vivian Lee (with a score assist from Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas).

Let's get to all the action in the order it is listed above.

The Albion Park Courts Result:

 

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:

Dave Zapusek over Mike Flax, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 47 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  They played from 9am to 10:40.

 

Samara's Notes: Looks like the courts at Albion dried much faster than expected.  I appreciate the very timely reporting from Dave. 

 

We now head northeast to Votee Park for the next result.

 

The Votee Park Courts Result:

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Tommy Reszkowski over Dino Celis, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, to become the New # 10 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21st Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Tommy: 3 Aces!

 

The Details from Dino: He was the better player today...he had better movement than me.  I wish him good luck in the next round against Ryan Pienciak.

 

Samara's Notes: Dino had originally said they had planned on meeting for the match at 10:30.  He sent me the text of the result at 12:45, so we can safely assume that the match began and ended within those parameters.  I thank Dino for the very timely reporting of the result.  And I wholeheartedly congratulate Tommy on the very impressive victory!  This win now puts him in the running as yet another possible contender to be a Nominee for Most Improved Player of The Year at season's end.

 

The Consequences: Now that Reszkowski has entered The Top 10 of the Advanced Division, he is now considered to be overqualified for competition in the Intermediate Division.  He will be removed from it as of this date.  

 

We now shift southwest to Cedar Grove to finish out the day's action.

 

The Cedar Grove Results:

M2 Quarterfinal Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas leading Paul Daddio/Don Moya, 5-7, 7-5, 2-0 (with Paul serving at Deuce)!

The Scoop from Super Mario: We started the match this day and, unfortunately, it did not go to the end.  We started around 3pm.  Then, around 4pm, we had to stop due to rain.  We waited it out…waited for the courts to dry and about 30 to 40 minutes later we resumed the match. Around 5:30 or 6pm, we had to stop again as the rain resumed and this time it was not going to stop.  The current agreement is to try to finish it Monday around 8pm at Cedar Grove, but that will depend upon the weather.

The Dilly-O from Daddio: It has been a very competitive match, only a few breaks in the two plus sets.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus and Paul for their very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.  Since this recap, the scheduling negotiations went back and forth between Marijus and Paul.  It is a shame they did not try to finish it on Monday night as the weather ended up cooperating after all, but the forecasts were iffy all along…so it is well understood why they opted for this coming Friday instead (the first completely rain-free day in this week's weather forecast).  And this match deserves to come to its proper end as they may well be on their way to a potential Doubles Match of The Year Nominee at season's end…as long as the 3^rd Set ends up being as close and competitive as the first two sets.

 

And we now go to Vivian for the rest of the results.

 

Sally Pillay/Vivian Lee over Fadia Nicolas/Arlene Hyde, 6-4!  No Aces.

Viv's Notes: It was fab!  I met Sally for the first time (I knew Fadia and Arlene from before). Sally and I played Doubles to get Fadia and Arlene prepped for the upcoming tournament.  Then, Arlene left and Janice Wang took her place and played…but that was soon stopped by the rain.  But, all in, it was all good!  Frank, I thank you for your help in guiding me toward the action at the Cedar Grove Courts.

Samara's Notes: I thank Vivian for providing me with such a report considering how new she is to the league.  She had reached out to me earlier that day to see if any GTA Tennis action would be taking place despite the uncertain weather situation.  I was able to guide her toward Cedar Grove and I am thankful we had players there that were so welcoming to her.  That is our league at its best!  

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/21 Results.

7/21/18:

"Mole-Capan's Battle of The Sexes at Albion!":

There was just one session of GTA Saturday Tennis and it came early in the morning as "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan got together for a full "Battle of The Sexes" Match (as reported by Gen).  When rain rolled in later in the evening, it prevented the usual night session at The Cedar Grove Courts from happening.

So now we go to the result from Gen.

The Albion Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Match"

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2, 6-3!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: We played from 8:20 to 9:40am.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.

Best wishes,
Frank Samara

7/20 Results.

7/20/18:

"Marijus-Elmer, MXD2 Semi part of 29 (1 New) at C.G., Tony-Abhi TBC at VP!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: the first one was the usual evening affair at The Cedar Grove Courts…except for the fact that it got underway in the late afternoon starting off with a "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match between "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and Elmer "The Glue" Agapito (with Marijus reporting) and then it also included the last of the two MXD2 Semifinal Matches as GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro teamed with Former GTA Women's Champ: Laura "The Aura" Gawley to take on the team of "The Adonis" Don Moya and "J-Wow" Janice Wang (with Chris reporting).  Other contributors from this epic session are: "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, "Del Brotro" Mike Mole, "Instant" Moka Pathan, "The Riz" John Rizzo, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Icon" Nick Inciong (but not necessarily in that order).

But then there was a concurrent session that actually ran later than the one at Cedar Grove…it was at Verona Park with Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi getting together for their "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).

We will now do our best to strike some semblance of order with all the scores from Cedar Grove (as there was some overlapping in the reporting…and we will leave the incomplete sets for the end) and then we will finish this report in Verona.

The Cedar Grove Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Elmer Agapito, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, to successfully defend his # 4 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Marijus: 3 Aces (2 in the 1^st Ste and 1 in the 3^rd Set)!

The Scoop from Super Mario: The 1st Set went 0-1, 1-5 and 3-6 from my perspective.  Elmer played great offense/defense combination while I was making way too many double faults and unforced errors.  At 1-5 I tried mounting a come back, but it fell short.

The 2nd Set went 0-4, 2-5, 6-6 and then 7-6 (7-3) in my favor.  My problems and Elmer's great playing continued well into the 2nd Set.  Elmer was serving for the match at 5-2 and up 40-15 (Double Game/Match Point)!  Somehow I got lucky in saving 3 Match Points in this game.  He made a couple of easy errors and I felt that he tightened up at this moment.  He also started making double faults from that point on while before that he had none.  Meanwhile my game got a little better as I stopped making doubles and cleaned up on the unforced errors. In the Tiebreak I was up 6-1 before closing it out at 7-3, so he saved a couple of Set Points.

The 3rd Set went 0-2, 1-3 and then to 6-3 in my favor.  Again I fell behind in this one, but not as deep and was able to come back.

Overall, this was a very good match with lots of good points from both sides and a number of silly errors on both sides as well where we would lose a point which should have been won. Elmer has a good solid overall game.  His serve is a high-bouncing kick serve which is difficult to attack.  Both forehand and backhand ground-strokes are weapons for him.  And given how the match went on, I consider myself extremely lucky winning this one.  We played from about 5:20 to around 8pm (those are rough estimates as I did not check the time).

Samara's Notes: First, I thank Marijus for the very timely and extremely comprehensive reporting which is always very much appreciated.  Second, I congratulate him on an impressively hard-fought victory!  Third, I offer up major kudos to Elmer who has proven he will soon be an upper echelon Advanced Division player before long.  And fourth, I do believe this match has a chance at becoming a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

We are going to now go to a couple of scores sent in by Mike Mole, then a couple more from Moka before getting back to some other results reported by Marijus…and all of that is as follows.

Mike Mole over Edwin Ortega, 6-3!  No Aces.  We played from 5:30 to 6:30.

Omar Santos over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  We played from 6:40 to 7:30.

Moka Pathan over Mike Kazlauskas, 6-0!  No Aces.

 

Moka Pathan over Mike Kazlauskas, 7-5!  Mike: 3 Aces; and Moka: 1 Ace!  

 

Moka's Brew: We played on the courts up the street from the regular Cedar Grove Courts because all four there were taken.  I was up 3-0, and 4-1 in the second One-Setter before Mike ran off four straight game to make it 4-5, then I broke him to stay alive and took the final two games.  They were very fun and competitive sets!

Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas over Mike Mole/Dan Hwang, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Fadia Nicolas over Ryan Pienciak/Sally Pillay, 6-3!  No Aces.

Mike Kazlauskas/Sally Pillay over Dan Hwang/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3!  Mike: 5 Aces (4 on Fadia and 1 on Dan); Fadia: 1 Ace on Mike; and Sally: 1 Ace on Fadia!

MXD2 Semifinal Match:

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Don Moya/Janice Wang, 6-2, 6-4, to successfully defend the # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the Finals of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament!  Don: 2 Aces on Laura!

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Chris for his timely reporting of this match.  Now he and Laura will face Nick Caputo and Fadia Nicolas in the Finals.  That should be a very solid match!

 

Here are a couple more scores sent in by Ryan (he had also sent in that one he was involved in above).

 

Tito Castolo/Rob Gawley over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Tito Castolo over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-4!  No Aces.

John Rizzo then also reported the following.

 

John Rizzo/Tito Castolo over Jay Phoenix/Rob Gawley, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Gen then submitted the following report.  All the following took place on Court One.

Van Vima/Laurie Boughton over Genalin Capan/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Van Vima.

Nathan Fernandes/Suzanne Bujara over Laurie Boughton/Genalin Capan, 6-2!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: Nate and Suzanne were up 5-0 when we finally got on the board and won two games.  Laurie and Suzanne then started to play a Singles One-Setter when after two games they decided to scrap it so that Natalia and I could play Doubles with them instead.

 

Samara's Notes: We will get to that incomplete One-Setter in just a bit.  Let's go to Nick for one more complete score before we list all that was either incomplete or unofficial.

 

Kyle Eng/Andrew Kroessler over Dennis Cabanatan/Nick Inciong, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Kyle Eng/Andrew Kroessler leading Dennis Cabanatan/Nick Inciong, 6-5 (Incomplete and on serve when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

Laurie Boughton/Natalia Sout leading Genalin Capan/Suzanne Bujara, 4-3 (Incomplete with Laurie on serve as the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces. 

Mike Kazlausas/Sally Pillay leading Dan Hwang/Fadia Nicolas, 4-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Tito Castolo, 10-6 (stand-alone, unofficial Super Tiebreak)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who reported in such a timely fashion from Cedar Grove.  It is all greatly appreciated!  We now head slightly south to Verona for the dual report from Abhi and Tony.

 

The Verona Park Result:

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match (still in progress):

Abhilash Gadi leading Tony Shiao, 5-7, 6-3, 5-4 (15-0)!  No Aces. 

The Accelerated Annotation: This match is definitely the best I've played so far in my short tennis career! The match is incomplete as the lights went off right near the end of the 3rd Set.  

We started hitting around 7:30pm and the match began around 7:45 and lasted until 10:15 when the lights went off (Verona runs a bit longer than Cedar Grove).  We played 2 hours and 30 minutes of some really good tennis which had long rallies, several Deuce games and cross-court winners.  Although we would have loved to finish the match all in the same day, no one deserved to lose.  I thank Tony for a quality tennis session.  We will continue this match on a different day and try to finish it before the Tuesday deadline. 

 

The Sure Shot from Shiao: This was a long match with some serious rallies.  I am surprised that Abhi was fairly new to the game of tennis...he has a great forehand, ran down just about every ball, and is a tough contender.  I'm bummed we couldn't finish the match this day, but we will try to do so before Tuesday. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely and comprehensive reporting.  I also applaud both their efforts in this epic match (perhaps on its way to being yet another contender for Singles Match of The Year at season's end).  In subsequent e-mails since this initial report, Abhi said they were considering scrapping the in-progress 3^rd Set and playing a deciding 10-Point Super Tiebreak instead.

 

I must go on the record and say I think this is a very bad idea (though it is allowed in all rounds of the tourney except for the Tournament Final…and never in any Championship Matches).  And while I understand the trepidation (on the part of both players) of continuing a match so near the possible finish line, to scrap what they have done is not the solution.  First, they would likely dash the chances of this match ever becoming a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year.

 

Second, but more importantly, Shiao's rank would no longer be on the line in that scenario.  The only thing still at stake would be the elimination of the loser and the advancement of the winner.  With the weather trending the way it has since Friday night, the deadline for the Grove Cup Round of 32 will be extended from Tuesday night to Thursday night.  I hope that will inspire them to properly finish this match. 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/19 Results.

7/19/18:

"Samara hosts 23 (1 return) at C.G.!":

There was only one official session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis, but it was a big one as it was the first time in over a month that "Hollywood" Frank Samara acted as host of the session.  And even though there were no "fireworks" as advertised (warned, perhaps), the courts were abuzz with great GTA Tennis action…the way it should be!

As promised, Samara pulled into the parking lot outside the Cedar Grove Courts precisely at 7pm.  At that time, two of the four courts were already occupied by GTA players.  Getting out of their cars around the same time Frank was, he saw "J-Wow" Janice Wang and a man he did not recognize.  But that man soon said, "Frank?"  It turned out to be Thomas Lee who got started with us earlier this season after "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld brought him into the league from the indoor West Orange Tennis Club.  But then Thomas suffered a knee injury that took him out of action (so much so that he was recently eliminated for activity).  Soon the three of them (Thomas, Frank and Janice) headed out onto Court Three to hit with one another as Janice took solo duty in hitting against the guys (Samara thought Lee might want to split the court if he was still dealing with mobility issues).

Over on Court One, the teams of "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon/"Bravo" Brenda Jordan already had some official action underway.  Court Two remained vacant.  And on Court Four, a Doubles One-Setter was just getting started between the teams of "Del Brotro" Mike Mole/"Lucky" Leo Victor and "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff/"Mo" Mostafa Hussaini.  But just one game in, they switched up the teams as it then became Mole/Bachvaroff versus Victor/Hussaini.  This did not seem like a good idea, but Mike said it was at the request of Leo and Mostafa.

At 7:30, "The Host with The Most" at Cedar Grove, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan came across the street and headed out onto Court Three to make it a foursome.  Much like Carlito of WWE fame some years ago, Kris had his ever-present apple in hand and/or in his mouth as he looked like "Mr. Casual" hitting shots at the same time.  Thankfully, the apple disappeared by the time we entered into official play.

Santosh "Ever" Reddy arrived at 7:40 and sat on the bench alongside Court Four.  Five minutes later, "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar both arrived.  The three then headed out onto Court Two for a hitting session.

At 7:55, "The Riz" John Rizzo and Tito "The Titan" Castolo arrived around the same time.  John allowed Tito to become the fourth player over on Court Two while Rizzo opted to sit on the bench alongside Court Four for a while.  He wouldn't be alone for long as "Kerosene" Kyle Eng arrived at 8pm.  Five minutes later, Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan arrived and he was followed in by The Gawleys - Rowdy Rob (aka The Rogue) and Laura the Aura!  Thankfully, none of them would have to wait all that long to play.

"The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 8:20.  "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues arrived at 8:35.  And "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived solely for an extended cameo appearance at 8:50 (he left at 9:45) as he was able to get some good conversation over on the bench with Samara and also Mole for a shorter period of time.

We ended up with a total of 23 official competitors on a beautiful night (weather-wise) for tennis.  We were fortunate that we had all four courts at our disposal for the entire evening.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Kevin Doyle/Dawn Peterson, 6-4, 6-0!  No Aces.  Per the TMT Rules, Sheldon/Jordan entered the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 14 Ranked Team.  Doyle/Peterson is already the # 13 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division.  Not sure when this one started or finished as they then went into the following One-Setter (and all of this action took place on Court One).

Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-1!  No Aces.  This one finished at 8:20.

Mike Mole/Jordan Bachvaroff over Leo Victor/Mostafa Hussaini, 6-0!  No Aces.  This took place on Court Four and lasted from 7:10 to 7:37.

Frank Samara/Thomas Lee over Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Thomas Lee.  It went like this: Janice was broken (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, but then it went to Deuce, Break Point and the break), Thomas was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) and then Kris was the first to hold serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) for 2-1.  Frank also held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point and the hold) and then Wang was broken again (Love-15 then shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point and then the break) for 2-3.  Lee was also broken again (a Love-15 start shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break) to level the set at 3-3, but then Srinivasan was broken at Love after he hit a Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point and that made the score 3-4!  Samara held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold) for 5-3.  J-Wow wowed the guys with a Love hold to pull to 4-5 and then T-Bone (hey, Costanza wanted that nickname!) was broken a third straight time as a 15-Love start went right to Double Break Point and then the break came on Break Point to keep the opposition alive at 5-5!  The K Man rebounded with a hold (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce, another Game Point and then the hold) to reclaim the lead for his team at 6-5!   

Hollywood then had his third straight hold as a Love-30 start soon shifted straight toward Game Point and the hold as we were now headed for the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Janice held her lone serve, and then Thomas held both of his as did Kris for 3-2.  Frank, who held serve so well all along, was the first to be broken in the Breaker as the first of his two serves led to a 2-4 score at the first changeover.  He held the second time around to pull to 3-4 and then with Wang back on serve we had the best rally of the match that ended in her team's favor for a 5-3 lead!  She was then broken on the second of her two serves for 5-4.  Lee held the first of his two serves to even things up at 5-5, but then he was broken on the second of his two serves to hand over the 6-5 lead and a Match Point to Srinivasan who was now about to serve.  He was broken on the first of his two serves for 6-6 at the second changeover.  He did hold his second, however, as his team now had a second Match Point in their favor with service returning to Samara.  He ended up holding the first of his two serves after making an incredible get which allowed him to hit a sharp cross-court angle to draw the error from Janice to serve up a 7-Up (score, that is)!  Hollywood then held his second serve as well to take an 8-7 lead for his team.  This was now the 3rd Match Point overall, but the first MP in favor of Samara/Lee.  Service now bounced back to J-Wow and she ended up getting broken as the opposition took this TB at 9-7!  We played this on Court Three from 7:35 to 8:35 (exactly one hour long!).

The Skinny: For a guy who has only been playing tennis for a couple of years now, Thomas has excellent ground-strokes (especially on the forehand side...and he credits the clinics he took at the West Orange Tennis Club).  He said he still felt sluggish as he continues to recover from the injury, but there was no noticeable slowness in his movement as far as the rest of us were concerned.  He also lamented the fact that he never held serve.  He thanked his partner for doing just the opposite (holding serve every time).  Kris has complained of not being where he needs to be level-wise as of late.  He had some really impressive moments, but also had a couple of head-scratching type errors mixed in along the way.  Janice was mostly solid and steady throughout the contest.  Frank was playing with a purpose and it showed...though he still made a few sloppy errors as well.  This one may have a shot at becoming a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Mike Mole/Leo Victor over Jordan Bachvaroff/Mostafa Hussaini, 7-5!  No Aces.  This much better-balanced One-Setter also took place on Court Four (like the one this foursome staged before) and it lasted exactly forty minutes long, 7:40 to 8:20.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Abhilash Gadi/Tito Castolo over Senthil Kumar/Santosh Reddy, 6-2, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 76 and # 77 Ranked Teams respectively!  Abhi: 2 Aces on Santosh!  This one got underway on Court Two at 8pm, but not sure when it ended as they then went into a One-Setter where they switched up the teams (we will get to that one later in this report).

John Rizzo/Kyle Eng over Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley, 6-1!  John: 1 Ace on Rob (the very first serve of the match!); and Kyle: 1 Ace on Rob!  Court Four hosted this foursome from 8:30 to 8:55.  Rob is another player healing up from recent injuries and dealing with mobility issues.

Jordan Bachvaroff over Dennis Cabanatan, 6-4!  No Aces.  They got the job done on Court One as this one lasted from 8:35 to 9:10.  Nobody should think they were "court hogs."  This came at a time when many players were happy to sit outside on or near the benches and chit-chat for a while.

Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang over Dino Celis/Joe Rodrigues, 6-4!  Kris: 1 Ace on Dino!  This one took place on Court Three and lasted from 8:45 to 9:29.

John Rizzo/Kyle Eng over Leo Victor/Thomas Lee,6-1!  No Aces.  These four faced off on Court Four from 8:56 to 9:20.

Dennis Cabanatan/Laura Gawley over Jordan Bachvaroff/Rob Gawley, 6-4!  Jordan: 2 Aces (one on each); and Dennis: 1 Ace on Rob!  Court One hosted this one from 9:15 to 9:52.

Mike Mole/Kyle Eng over John Rizzo/Leo Victor, 6-2!  John: 1 Ace on Kyle; and Mike: 1 Ace on Leo!  This one took place on Court Four and lasted from 9:25 to 9:50.

Senthil Kumar/Abhilash Gadi over Tito Castolo/Santosh Reddy, 6-1!  No Aces.  Not sure when this one began on Court Two, but it finished at 9:50.

Dino Celis/Joe Rodrigues over Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang, 6-3!  No Aces.  Considering the fact that this one did not get underway on Court Three until 9:30, they all felt fortunate to get this one done at 9:59 (with less than one minute to spare!).

All in all, it was a busy and productive session...and, more importantly...it was a whole lot of fun!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

grasamara5@gmail.com