8/6/18:
"Paul-Randy in PAC, Adam-Rich in VP, Dan K.-Jay in PP, M2 Final TBC part of 8 at C.G.!":
There were four official sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis...a night that we should call "Major Monday" as many big matches took place on this particular evening! They all pretty much ran at the same time, so I am going to run this report with more of a geographical flow than a chronological one.
The first one was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley and featured the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match between "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and "Ravishing" Randy Doran (with both reporting). The second one was in Verona Park and featured yet another "Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match. This one was between "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak and "SWAT" Rich Liu (with both reporting).
Next we had a session in Pulaski Park in Bloomfield as "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer and Jay "The Rising" Phoenix battled for the vacated GTA Intermediate Title (as reported by Dan). And then we had the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts which featured the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament Final Match between the teams of "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes (as reported by Marijus). "Bravo" Brenda Jordan is the other contributor to this report from that session.
Let's now get to all the epic action…and we start in Nutley!
The Park Ave. Courts Result:
"Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match:
Paul Daddio over Randy Doran, 6-0, 6-7(7-4), 6-2, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 21st Annual Grove Cup Men's Tournament! No Aces.
The Dilly-O from Daddy O: Great match! Randy is very consistent and will force errors on you. We played from 7:50 to 9:55! Randy will provide a serious challenge to many Top 15 players.
The Randy Recap: This was a fun match! In the 1st Set, Paul dominated me. The 2nd Set was close. And then in the 3rd Set I feel I could have been more competitive if not for my slipping racket grip from the sweaty, humid, rainforest-like conditions in which we were playing. Paul has an awesomely complete, consistent, well-rounded game and I wish him the best of luck with advancing (and winning) in the tournament.
Samara's Notes: Sounds like it was one heck of a match as it lasted over two hours. Congratulations to Paul for a hard-fought victory, but also major kudos to Randy for such a spirited effort. And I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting. It is definitely appreciated.
We now head southwest to Verona for the next result, yet another Grove Cup Round of 16 Match.
The Verona Park Courts Result:
"Grove Cup 21" Round of 16 Match:
Adam Pienciak over Rich Liu, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 21st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!
From the AP: We played at Verona Park beginning at around 8:15. It was a balmy evening! Despite the score, Rich and I had many great rallies and one game that went to 7 or 8 Deuces. Plus, we both got quite the workout!
The Rich Report: Adam beat me easily in a hot, grueling match that lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. I did see tons of sweat on him, so I think he got a workout at least.
He's the real deal, powerful and has good placement as well as having solid net play. In the 1st Set, I think he had only one unforced error! In the 2nd Set, one game went to like 7 Deuces yet he pulled it out after being down 0-40, coming back with two great serves back-to-back! So he's clutch as well. I was clearly outmatched. He had a good game plan too, exploiting my weak backhand on rallies. I think I had over 20 errors on my backhand – I need to really work on it! It is clearly exposed versus really good players. I also had too many double faults on my service game. It was fun and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to play the Top Seed in the tourney. And thanks for all you do, Frank!
Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for the thank you…and I thank both of them for very timely and detailed reporting (always appreciated)! Congratulations to Adam on such a dominant victory! I know Rich will always go down swinging and I'm sure that is what happened here. Seeing this score makes me feel a little less bad about not advancing to the Round of 16 to face Adam…LOL!
We now head north a bit to go to Bloomfield and find out what happened in the GTA Intermediate Title Match.
The Pulaski Park Courts Result:
GTA Intermediate Title Match:
Dan Knitzer over Jay Phoenix, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champion while also successfully defending his # 18 Rank in the Advanced Division! Dan: 2 Aces!
The TDK Replay: So we played at Pulaski Park in Bloomfield. My serves were landing, the backhand was rocking and I jumped out to an early lead, though Jay was able to deflect my better serves and more aggressive forehands very effectively. We had some long points and both of us had some success at the net, but my lobs were landing, and my slices were chopping! Jay played great defense, returning balls that I thought I had easily put away and forcing me to make over-ambitious shots. But I also did the same to him. And I added a little extra kick to my second serve, which he couldn't punish which saved a few key Break Points en route to winning the 1st Set, 6-2.
In the 2nd Set, Jay began serving much better and jumped out to a 3-2 lead, but I broke him a few times and then held serve behind some clutch shot-making. I also implemented some uncharacteristically hard serves including an Ace to go up 4-3. Eventually I won the set, 6-3. It was a very competitive, physically draining match, and I'm glad it didn't go to a 3rd Set!
Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his very comprehensive report (timely as well) and congratulate him on becoming the New GTA Intermediate Champ! I can envision this leading to a scene at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley where that crew will be battling quite often for the Intermediate Title.
We now go one town west to Cedar Grove for the rest!
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Brenda Jordan/Michele Panzitta over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5, to become the New # 13 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!
Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for reporting in such a timely manner. And now we turn it over to Marijus to discuss the in-progress M2 Final!
M2 Final Match:
Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes leading Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 4-3 (Marijus is to serve next)!
The Scoop from Super Mario: We started our match, but did not have enough time to finish it even though we started around 7:20 and stopped at 10pm. The plan is to finish the match on Wednesday at 7pm at Cedar Grove.
Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for keeping me in the loop on the status of this in-progress match. Mother Nature may lay those Wednesday night plans to waste! We shall see!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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