9/27 Results.

9/27/18:

"Phoenix-Ortega at C.G.! WD from Monk Memorial Final!":

There was just one session...just one match for GTA Thursday Night Tennis.  And, thankfully, they got it in early as the rain came unexpectedly early...earlier than predicted!  Never before has there been a season of GTA Tennis where the majority of the meteorologists have been more wrong more often...moronic!  Anyway, getting back to the match, Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega got together at the Cedar Grove Courts early enough to play a full Singles Challenge Match (as reported by Jay).  So we will go to his report now...and then address a situation that developed later in the evening.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Jay Phoenix over Edwin Ortega, 7-5, 6-3, to successfully defend both his # 21 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 1 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces. 

Jay has his say: Edwin Ortega challenged me to a full match.  We played at CG from 5:10 to 6:30.  In spite of the score, I feel we are evenly matched.  Most of the games went to Deuce.  Over the last four years, we have played dozens of times and our matches are pretty much split down the middle.

Samara's Notes: I thank Jay for his very timely reporting of this match and I congratulate him on the win.

The Consequences: With this rank defense, Jay has guaranteed himself a place in the match to determine a New GTA Intermediate Champ.  After the September Rank Defense Review is conducted at the end of the month (just a couple of days away), we will know who his opponent will be.  If nobody else in The Top 10 of the Intermediate Division has defended their rank this past month, Phoenix may very well be facing Ortega once again.

Speaking of consequences, later in the evening Tom La sent a couple of text messages to Frank Samara to inform him that he has aggravated his tennis elbow situation quite significantly...so much so that he will not be able to play tennis for at least a few weeks.

As such, La has to bow out of the Monk Memorial Final.  The rules of the GTA do not allow for substitutions to be made in tournaments where there is advancement/progression (unless it was in the Opening Round before the match was played).  Tim Nguyen did allow a substitution to take place in this very same tourney in order to keep the Nutley portion of the event moving forward as he did not know the rules of the league in that moment and was doing his best to keep the tourney afloat at that location.

Given that and the fact that the winning team that emerged from Nutley was Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair, that decision was allowed to stand as it was of no consequence anyway.  And now since Valencia/Nair is the team in the Finals of the Monk Memorial Tournament, they benefit from La's withdrawal (which is most unfortunate for Tom's partner, William Bobila) as Edgar and Arun are now the 2018 Monk Memorial Champs!  This makes them the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division as well as the Top Contenders entitled to the next shot at the GTA Doubles Championship currently held by Nick Caputo and Ryan Pienciak.

Again, it would be unfair to allow someone new to come in to take La's place as Bobila's partner and step right into a Final that everyone else had to earn their way into...so this is the only appropriate course of action to take.

Tom La was also committed to be involved in an East-West Challenge Singles Match against Arthur Fontanilla.  Since that is a series of separate matches and not an ongoing tournament of advancement/progression, substitutions are allowed in that situation.  Tim Nguyen and Rich Liu have already given their stamp of approval for such a substitution, but we are still waiting to hear back from the Team Captain for Team East, Keith Lewkowitz.  Also, Nguyen feels it would be appropriate to consult with Fontanilla as well.  We will have more on this situation as it develops.  It would be unfortunate for Team West to have to lose a point (especially with the EWC series so closely contested at this point) due to an injury.

9/26 Results.

9/26/18:

"Reszkowski/Toker-Caputo/Nicolas at FLTC!":

There was just one session of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis and it was indoors at the Fair Lawn Tennis Club as evening rains scared away any outdoor sessions from occurring.  The session featured a Mixed Doubles Challenge Match as "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker put their rank on the line against "NC-17" Nick Caputo and Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas (with both Fernanda and Nick reporting). 

Let's go to their dual report now.

The FLTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 6-4, 6-3, to become the New # 3 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Toker's Take: We had a half hour to spare since we paid for two hours, so we played a One-Setter afterwards.  I love playing with them.  We had a lot of fun points.

The NC-17 Screening: It was a great match with many awesome points.  Fernanda and Tommy are fun to play and great competitors. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Fernanda and Nick for their timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/24 Results.

9/24/18:

"EWC Mixed Dbls at PAC, Women's Dbls at C.G., Men's Dbls Titles at GCPl!":

There were three sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis and they pretty much ran at the same time to varying degrees.  The first was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as the EWC Mixed Doubles Match took place with "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan representing Team West and going up against "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz and "M-Pact" Megan Reed playing for Team East (with both Gen and Keith reporting).

The next was the usual session at The Cedar Grove Courts, but it only featured some Women's Doubles action as reported by "Dominant" Dawn Peterson.

And the last of the three sessions was at Grover Cleveland Park in Caldwell and it featured the long-awaited GTA Doubles Championship Match as the GTA Doubles Champions: "NC-17" Nick Caputo and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak put their Titles on the line against the 2018 M2 Champs: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes (with Ryan reporting…and then they switched the teams up for a couple of One-Setters afterward).

So we start in Nutley, then go to Cedar Grove and then finish this report in Caldwell.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

EWC Mixed Doubles Match:

Mike Mole/Genalin Capan over Keith Lewkowitz/Megan Reed, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 6 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while earning one point for Team West in the East-West Challenge series!  In the process, Lewkowitz/Reed entered the division as the New # 37 Ranked Team.  Mike: 1 Ace on Megan in the 2nd Set!

Gen's Notes: We got started at 7pm.  It was windy and cool evening.  The total time of the match was 54 minutes.  It was nice to meet Megan and Keith.  Both are pretty good players.  We had some really nice competitive plays during the match.  Mike was serving well and his forehand was just on.  My net game was consistent tonight.  Glad we got a win for Team West. Thanks to all for a good match.

The Kaptain's Commentary: Simply put, the better team won!  They both played legitimate tennis and this was just an old fashioned ass whooping.  They were kind enough to come to Nutley.  Mike served great and had a few nice drop shots.  Genalin was amazing at the net. I want to say Mike had two Aces on me (Gen only reported the one on Megan), but that doesn't tell the whole story.  Admittedly, when he hit to me there were many times that his serves were so good that I barely got the racquet on it and avoided what would have been Aces.  I'd say there were at least a dozen of those occurrences.  The ball may have gone over, but immediately someone on their team would then put it away because of my weak shots.  I hit a lot of lollipops back and that's because Mike and Genalin forced it.  Megan, to her credit, deserved better and if paired with a more competent player she would have had a better result. She showed her typical strong game.  Kudos to the winners!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Gen and Keith for their very timely, detailed and comprehensive reporting.  It is very much appreciated. 

The Consequences: Team East still has the lead over Team West, but now it has been cut to 5-4 as this EWC series continues to grow more interesting as it evolves.  Still, the East only needs two more wins to claim an overall victory.

We now go to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Dawn Peterson/Diane Raum over Brenda Jordan/Michele Panzitta, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 10 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Dawn for her very timely reporting…much appreciated!   

And now it is time to take it to Caldwell to close out this report!

The Grover Cleveland Park Results:

GTA Doubles Championship Match:

Nick Caputo/Ryan Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes, 6-4, 6-1, to complete their fourth successful GTA Doubles Championship defense of their first reign!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Chris in the 2^nd Set!

The Ryan Report: We played from 7pm to exactly 8:21.  We were serving at 5-1 in the 1^st Set, but it took us a few games to close it out as they came back strong.  

Then we switched up the teams and played two One-Setters. 

Ryan Pienciak/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Nick Caputo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Nick Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/Nathan Fernandes, 6-4!  Chris: 1 Ace on Nate!

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely contributions to this report.  And I congratulate the Champs on such a dominant victory…very much unexpected!

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/23 Results.

9/23/18:

"44 play (7 New, 2 Return) at NTC, Abhi-Dan K. at PAC, Scott-J'Rod at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis and one of them was a big one while the other two featured Singles Challenge Matches...one of which would have a major impact on the league! 

The first one to get underway was "the big one" as it was the second tennis party/BBQ session at Nutley Tennis Club (aka NTC) this season (the first one was held back on August 5th).  It was at the invitation of both "Bionic" Bo Folchi and "Dynamic Dee" Denise Savino (both NTC players and Board Members).  As it was with the previous NTC event, the party was organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo.  But before we get to all the details of how that event unfolded, let's first briefly address the other two sessions of the day.

Also in Nutley, but getting started in the early evening (just as the action was starting to wind down at NTC), "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi and "The Dark Knight" got together for their East-West Challenge Singles Match (with both reporting).  Coming into this match, Team West held a 4-3 lead over Team East.  The first collective to get to a total of seven points will win the series (though we will play it out to its proper 13 total points conclusion).

The other session was up at The Cedar Grove Courts as, during the day, "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld issued an Open Challenge to the league to try to motivate some players to go to Cedar Grove.  One player answered the call and that man was "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues.  It led to them playing an impromptu Challenge Match (with both reporting).

We will now detail how everything transpired at Nutley Tennis Club and we will repeat the description of NTC as we first reported it for the August 5th event. 

NTC features five red clay courts and nice deck with two grilles for a BBQ.  The deck is adjacent to (and connected to) the Clubhouse.  To try to paint a mental picture for those who have yet to see or visit Nutley Tennis Club, there are a couple of steps down from the Clubhouse section of deck (almost like a big open porch) to Court One...so that is the "Show Court."  Go up a slight incline of grass to Court Two.  Courts One and Two are separated by a fence from Courts Three, Four and Five.

Court Three ramps down from Court Two.  Court Four is between Courts Three and Five and the decline from Court Three to Court Four is fairly steep.  Then, the decline from Four to Five is only slight.  So, in essence, there is almost a circular pattern to the way the courts are laid out on the grounds of the Club.  The setting is very private as it is at the end of a dead end street (Maple Place) and then there is a long driveway that leads to the property which borders a substantial section of trees which separate it from the park that runs just about the entire length of Nutley.

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), we also sought to include some NTC Members who have either had some past affiliation with the GTA or where they perhaps acquired knowledge (and perhaps some interest) of it.  Some may have simply been more attracted to the BBQ aspect of it.  

While John (with help from Bo and Denise) was the overall event host, "Hollywood" Frank Samara served as the host in the traditional sense of collecting all the scores along the way.  Rizzo and Samara worked together in the setting of the matches.  Unlike the APC event where we let some results (if they featured strictly APC members/players) fall by the wayside and go unrecorded, at this outing we collected every result along the way.

Much thanks to Bo and Dee for accommodating the event as it went along.  The session ran from 1pm to almost total darkness (at Nutley Tennis Club, there are no lights there).  Also, kudos to John who did double-duty by putting together the vast majority of the matches and manning the grille.  He even managed to play a Doubles One-Setter near the end of the session (as was the case for Samara as well).

The previous session at NTC on August 5th featured 47 official competitors (just six of which were new and making their official GTA Debut).  This time around, we had three less players overall (a total of 44), but one extra (seven) playing for the first time in our league!

We thank all those competitors who withstood the heat to be part of what was surely another epic session in the history of this league.

We now go to a lengthy list of results from the Nutley Tennis Club!

The NTC Results:

Tim Nguyen/Mike Sindler over David Wong/Vivian Lee, 6-0!  No Aces.  The first official action of the day got underway on Court Two at 1:20 and was over by 1:40.

Marty Goldstein/Nobuko Okabe over Denise Savino/Judy Quigley, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Marty Goldstein and Judy Quigley.  This was an all-members (of the NTC) match played on Court Five from 1:25 to 2pm.

Edgar Inclan/Fadia Nicolas over Nick Caputo/Nicole Caputo, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Nicole Caputo.  This Mixed Doubles action was worthy of "The Show Court" (aka Court One) and it lasted from 1:30 to 2:05.  The Caputos jumped out to a 3-1 lead only to then drop five straight games to take a tough loss!

Bo Folchi/Pat McNamara over Paul Daddio/Jane McNamara, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Pat McNamara and Jane McNamara.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Four from 1:35 to 2pm.  Pat is an NTC member, but I'm not sure if her younger sister Jane is (though I doubt it).

Frank Hohorst/Dolores Krazanowski over Laurie Boughton/Sagarika Ramanan, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Sagarika Ramanan.  This one got going on Court Three at 1:45 and ended by 2:05.  Dolores is an NTC member (as is Laurie).  Sagarika (aka Saga) is a friend of Fadia's and will likely be playing more with us in the future.

Dino Celis/David Wong over Senthil Kumar/Vivian Lee, 6-4!  No Aces.  Court Two hosted this action from 1:50 to 2:30.

Fadia Nicolas/Sagarika Ramanan over Pat McNamara/Jane McNamara, 6-2!  Fadia: 1 Ace!  This Women's Doubles action took place on Court Five and lasted from 2:10 to 2:40 as Fadia and Saga were just a bit too much for the McNamara Sisters.

Nick Caputo/Nicole Caputo over Bo Folchi/Denise Savino, 7-5!  Nick: 1 Ace on Bo (a heater that kicked off the back edge of the service-line tape)!  This excellent Mixed Doubles action (perhaps the best of the entire session) proved to be more than worthy of "The Show Court" (aka Court One).  It lasted from 2:10 to 2:50.

The Skinny: It started to seem like a case of "The Mutual Admiration Society" as Nick marveled at the amazing 66 year old Bo (a former 7-Time GTA Champion) for his movement on the court and especially his shot-making ability (his inside-out forehand, in particular) while Bo went into recruiting mode as he salivated at the thought of having a player of Nick's caliber at NTC.  Let's not leave out the ladies as Nicole was highly impressive considering the fact that she only played with us once earlier this season (many months ago) and then not for close to 20 years prior to that!  And while Mr. Folchi certainly still lives up to the "Bionic Bo" moniker, Ms. Savino is also quite worthy to be "Dynamic Dee" as she is a veritable volley machine up at the net.  Good stuff all around!

Sam Wong/Nobuko Okabe over Joe Renga/Marie Salamon, 6-2!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Four from 2:15 to 2:35.

The Skinny: Just an FYI, there is no relation between Sam Wong and David Wong.

Frank Hohorst/Mark Cipollini over Paul Daddio/Mike Sindler, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Mark Cipollini.  Court Three hosted this action from 2:15 to 3pm.

William Bobila/Edgar Inclan over Tim Nguyen/Sam Wong, 6-1!  No Aces.  They played this one on Court Five from 2:45 to 3:05.

Kyle Eng/Nicole Fredericks over Vinnie LaSalle/Sue Fredericks, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Nicole Fredericks and Vinnie LaSalle.  This Mixed Doubles action occupied Court Two from 2:45 to 3:20.

The Skinny: Nicole is the daughter of Sue and Rob Fredericks and Vinnie is their longtime friend...but he is also good friends with Nick Caputo and he is the brother of Mark LaSalle who had played with us one time (a "Bubblepalooza" event at The Wayne Bubble in early 2017).  Both Vinnie and Mark are very likely to play more with us in the future.

Matt Fortunato/Marty Goldstein over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 7-5!  No Aces.  This took place on Court Four and lasted from 2:45 to 3:45...exactly one hour long!  The last game went to 8 Deuces!

Arlene Hyde/Sagarika Ramanan over Laurie Boughton/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3!  Saga: 1 Ace on Laurie!  This Women's Doubles action stole the show on Court One from 2:55 to 3:25.

Senthil Kumar/Vivian Lee over Nick Inciong/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Three and lasted from 3:05 to 3:50.

Dolores Krazanowski/Jane McNamara over Nobuko Okabe/Pat McNamara, 6-1!  No Aces.  Court Five hosted this Women's Doubles action from 3:15 to 4pm.

Dino Celis/Janice Wang over Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  Frank: 1 Ace on Doinks!  This Mixed Doubles action occupied Court Two from 3:25 to 4pm.

Dan Hwang/Vinnie LaSalle over William Bobila/Edgar Inclan, 6-2!  No Aces.  The show must go on and on it did go on Court One from 3:35 to 3:55...basically the length of a sitcom with the commercials removed!

Tim Nguyen/David Wong over Sam Wong/Joe Renga, 6-2!  No Aces.  These four played on Court Four from 3:50 to 4:15.

Bo Folchi/Denise Savino over Rob Fredericks/Sue Fredericks, 6-2!  No Aces.  This all-NTC Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Three from 4pm to 4:35.

Janice Wang/Marie Salamon over Doinks Srinivasan/Vivian Lee, 6-4!  No Aces.  Women's Doubles had its say on Court Two from 4:05 to 4:45.

Nick Inciong/Arlene Hyde over Kyle Eng/Nicole Fredericks, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  Another excellent showing of Mixed Doubles action on display on Court One as this one got underway at 4:05.  Not sure when it ended as I was already in action on Court Five at that time...meaning it ended sometime after 5pm.  So it had to be close to an hour long if not longer!

Senthil Kumar/Vinnie LaSalle over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  No Aces.  Court Five hosted this one from 4:10 to 4:45.  Hwang/Hohorst were down 0-4 before tying it up at 4-All only to then drop the last two games for a tough loss, but a fine effort nonetheless.

Matt Fortunato/Laurie Boughton over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 7-5!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action got underway on Court Four at 4:20.  Not sure when it ended as I was then in action on Court Five (just one court over, but our action was so intense...I did not want to take notes on the changeovers unless absolutely necessary), but it had to be yet another One-Setter close to one hour long!

Sam Wong/Dolores Krazanowski over David Wong/Joe Renga, 6-3!  No Aces.  They played this one on Court Three from 4:40 to 5:10 (I had a moment to write down the time of the ending during one of our changeovers on Court Five).

Senthil Kumar/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got going on Court Two at the same time our action was getting underway on Court Five (at 5pm), so I did not see when this one ended (but it was finished before ours was...which is coming next).

Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan over Dino Celis/Marie Salamon, 7-6 (10-8)!  No Aces.  I had every point in every game memorized until we got to the epic Tiebreak!  And then it was like my mind's memory could not hold it all anymore and it just burst like a dam!  Damn!  Anyway, I was still able to recall the holds and breaks of each game and then every point of the Breaker.  So, here now, is the basic breakdown: Doinks held serve, Dino held, but Frank was the first to be broken for 1-2.  Marie was also broken to level it at 2-2, but then Srinivasan was broken while Celis held again to take a 4-2 lead for his team.  Samara then held while Salamon was broken again to knot the score once more at 4-4.  The Marathon Woman then held to take the lead for her team at 5-4, but then The Scorpion Dragon had his third straight hold to even it up again at 5-5!  Then, Hollywood had a service game from hell as it went to 9 Deuces only to ultimately be broken for 5-6!  But The Olympian had her third straight break and we were off to the Breaker!  In the Tiebreak: Doinks held her lone serve while Dino was broken on his first but held his second for 1-2.  Frank held his first but was broken on his second for 3-2.  Marie held her first for 3-3 at the changeover, but was broken on her second for 3-4.  Doinks was broken on her first but held her second to go up 5-4.  Celis was broken on his first to set up Match Point at 4-6, but then he held to make it 5-6 and the 2nd Match Point with service returning to Samara.  The Wood was broken on the first of his two serves for 6-6 at the second changeover and he was then broken again to go down 6-7 and hand a Match Point to the opposition (the third MP overall)!  But Salamon was broken on both of her serves to then go down 7-8 and return the Match Point favor to her opponents as this was now the fourth MP overall (the third in favor of Samara/Srinivasan) with The Marathon Woman now ready to serve.  She was broken on her first for 8-8, but then held her second for 9-8 and the 5th Match Point with service returning to The Scorpion Dragon.  It was there that he was broken on the fifth MP overall to cap an amazing Mixed Doubles One-Setter on Court Five that began at 5pm and ended exactly at 6pm...precisely one hour long!

The Skinny: This was a lot of fun and we all had memorable moments both good and bad.  In my opinion, Doinks was the MVP in this one as she came thru in the clutch more than the rest of us did.  Marie also deserves props for the energy she brought to this One-Setter (especially considering how much she had already played that day...and she said she was finally getting warmed up!).  I also think it should be a definite Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end given the TB score, the drama (a 9-Deuce game and later multiple Match Points) and the quality overall.  Kudos to all!

Alfred Chen/Vivian Lee over Tim Nguyen/Denise Savino, 6-3!  No Aces.  More Mixed Doubles action on Court One as this particular show got underway at 5:05.  Not sure when it finished, but it was before ours got done at 6pm...that's for sure.

Sam Wong/Janice Wang over Dennis Cabanatan/David Wong, 6-3!  No Aces.  They began this one on Court Three at 5:15 and it must have ended prior to 6pm as I was unable to note it due to being in action on Court Five.  If it was Dan Hwang instead of Dennis playing in this one, that would have really been something last name-wise!  It would only be better if we somehow got the 80's band Wang Chung out of retirement to sing "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight!"

Dennis Cabanatan/Alfred Chen leading Dan Hwang/Janice Wang, 4-2 (Incomplete when Chen had to retire due to calf cramps)!  No Aces.  Not sure when it got underway on Court One, but it was halted at 6:15.

Kyle Eng/Nicole Fredericks over Rob Fredericks/Vinnie LaSalle, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got going on Court Four during the action I was still involved in on Court Five, but it ended at 6:25.

Nick Inciong/Arlene Hyde over Senthil Kumar/Sue Fredericks, 7-5!  No Aces.  This Mixed Doubles action took place on Court Two.  Not sure when it started, but it finished at 6:35.

Dan Hwang/Janice Wang over Dino Celis/Marie Salamon, 6-1!  No Aces.  Court One hosted this Mixed Doubles One-Setter from 6:20 to 6:45.  Afterward, Marie was hoping to still play one more, but it was getting quite dark at the time.  So Dino went solo in a hitting session against Dan and Janice until almost total darkness.

Samara's Notes: Again, this was a truly amazing session and I thank all the players who were a part of it.  And we hope to see many of those new faces on the courts of the GTA again in the near future.

Speaking of "amazing," let's stay in Nutley but go slightly east to the Park Ave. Courts for a truly amazing match that took place there...as reported by Dan and Abhi.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Dan Knitzer over Abhilash Gadi, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to become the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series (giving Team East a 5-3 lead)!  In the process of entering The Top 10 of the Advanced Division, Knitzer is now deemed to be overqualified for competition in the Intermediate Division.  He will now relinquish the GTA Intermediate Title to solely compete in the Advanced Division.  No Aces.

The TDK Replay: This was a bloodbath...we left if all out on the court!  Getting spanked by Abhi in the Grove Cup was a wake-up call for me - I need to expand my game and try to win with topspin and not just slice.  So that was my mentality coming into this match.  From the get-go it was clear that this was going to be a tough win for either one of us.  We must have had several 10-shot-plus rallies in each GAME!  And there were multiple rallies that had to reach 20 strokes or more. 

I took an early lead in the 1st Set, breaking Abhi to go up 3-1.  He then won the next three games to take a 4-3 lead before I took his example and did the same to win the set at 6-4.  In this set I was letting my forehands fly, mostly to good success.  My only mistake was trying to drop shot Abhi.  He got to everything and seemingly hit great forehands on every approach!  Later in the match, I was only hitting drop shots to his backhand side!

In the 2nd Set, Abhi ran around his backhands and strategically brought me to the net, then pushed me back to the baseline and then around the sides to his advantage.  That along with my serve completely falling apart allowed him to take the set at 6-2.  The only two games I won were breaks of his serve.

Fortunately, my serve returned in time to start the 3rd Set.  We both held serve for the first five games before I broke him to go up 4-2.  He broke me to pull to 3-5.  At this time, we were both just trying to keep the ball in play...we were not swinging.  I was then up 5-4, but Abhi was serving.  He was down 15-40, Double Break/Match Point only to erase that MP and the next one to rebound to Deuce!  It then went back to Ad Out...the 3rd Break/Match Point.  It was in this point where Abhi hit a passing shot that I had to look twice at before definitively calling it out to end the match! 

Abhi's speed makes me feel slow!  He won a heartbreaking point where I pulled him in with a drop shot, then pushed him back to the baseline and made him then run across the baseline only to then botch an Overhead Smash!  Djokovic-esque plays!  Thanks for giving me a topnotch workout, Abhi!

And Frank, thanks for organizing this EWC series along with Tim, Rich and Keith!

The Accelerated Report: Dan explained it beautifully...it was a war, indeed!  After the defeat in the Grove Cup, Dan came back with a very good game plan as he curbed his aggression to play a much more controlled game.  We started at 6:30 and completed the match at 9pm!  Although it was a 3-Setter, it felt more like a 5-Setter!  Both of us were not ready to give up any easy points and even the drop shots were effectively countered. 

All in all, well-played by Dan.  It is a thoroughly deserved victory.  I look forward to playing each other once again.

Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for their timely, detailed and entertaining reporting.  I also appreciate the kind words from Dan.  I must congratulate him as well on a highly impressive victory!  If I've been saying that Abhi has been in the lead for consideration in terms of being the Most Improved Player of The Year this season...then what does that make Dan?  There is still a good amount of season left, so anything is still possible.  Also, kudos to Abhi for a fine effort here.  After what happened between these two in the Grove Cup, this has to be considered as somewhat of an upset...even if it is a minor one and not a major one.

The Consequences: Ah, there are so many!  Let's start with the fact that Team East is now up 5-3 and just two more match wins away from total victory in the East-West Challenge series (though we will play out the series to the 13th and final match to determine the ultimate margin of victory for either collective). That will be the major upset if it does indeed happen.  Also, this win rocks the Intermediate Division as we now must once again find a New Champ for that division.  And, quite obviously, this match has impacted the Top 10 of the Advanced Division as more and more new talent continue to crash that party.  This season has likely featured the most flux in that regard.

And now we head west to Cedar Grove for yet another Challenge Match...as reported by both Scott and Joe.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Joe Rodrigues, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 11 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Scott: 1 Ace in the 1st Set!

The Skinny from Scott: In the 1st Set, Joe was on his game!  I also made a ton of unforced errors and hit five Doubles Faults in that one set alone (though I also had the lone Ace in this set).  In the 2nd Set and 3rd Set, I found my game and made Joe run a lot more.  He grew tired and the 3rd Set became tough for him.  All in all, it was a good night of tennis and a great workout!

A Cup of Joe: It was a solid match, a good run for both of us.  We both had our moments and also made many unforced errors.  In the end, the difference was that Scott was able to punish my short returns.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely and detailed reporting.  I congratulate Scott on his solid victory, but also offer kudos to Joe for a fine effort.  So many people in the league (myself included) always say how Joe should be ranked higher than he is.  He has had several close calls and heartbreaking defeats in what were opportunities to do just that.  This one did not play out so dramatically as those others have done in the past.  Hopefully, the right match-up will come for Rodrigues to move up in the near future.

Wow!  It certainly was an epic Sunday of GTA Tennis!  Again, hats off to all those who were a part of it!         

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/22 Results.

9/22/18:

"Anish-Ralph in VP, 4 play in MP, Mixed Dbls Titles, Laurie-Natalia + 4 at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis…as long as we can consider the Cedar Grove session as one long extended one from morning until night.  If we do that, we will place it third (to keep things simple) with the first one (also in the morning) being a Singles Challenge Match that took place in Verona Park between buddies "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard (with Anish reporting).

The second was the new weekly tradition of having a morning session at Mountainside Park in Montclair (with Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton reporting). 

Then at Cedar Grove we had the long-awaited GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match as the GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"The Smackdown" Sally Pillay put their Titles on the line against the 2018 MXD2 Champs: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (with Laura reporting).  This, too, got underway in the morning.

This extended session then moved into the afternoon with a Women's Singles Challenge Match featuring Boughton putting her rank on the line against Natalia "Nitro" Sout (as reported by Nat).  And then in the evening there was further action as reported by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.

So we first go to Verona, then to Montclair and we end up at Cedar Grove (starting in the morning and ending in the evening)! 

The Verona Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Anish Mehta over Ralph Bernard, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 8 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Anish: 1 Ace!

The AM News: Ralph was interested in playing an official Challenge Match. We started at 9:30am.  The conditions were tough as Verona Park, in the morning, is a challenging place to play because of the sun glare and the shade from the trees.  It was also a windy morning.  We also had a lot of stray balls from other courts.  I was leading Ralph 5-1 in the 1^st Set before he started cleaning up his game to reach 5-4 and get back on serve.  I squeezed out a break in the final game.  I was able to break early in the 2nd Set and didn't lose focus despite the challenging conditions.  I'm sure we'll play under better conditions soon.

As mentioned, I wouldn't recommend Verona Park in the fall in the mornings.  It is too difficult if it's a sunny day.  Options are limited, though, because high school tennis and other adult programs are now taking place at a lot of courts.

Samara's Notes: I thank Anish for reporting in a timely manner (as he did for Friday night as well, again, that was my fault) and I also congratulate him on an impressive victory!

We now go to Laurie's report from Montclair (another location no longer recommended as a site for Saturday morning play…oh well!).

The Mountainside Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo over Laurie Boughton/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 20 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division!  In the process, Boughton/Bujara entered the division as the New # 22 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for her timely reporting…much appreciated!  Now we head to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match:

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New GTA Mixed Doubles Champions!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: Chris and I finally were able to play Marijus and Sally this Saturday morning!  After many rainouts, we finally got a beautiful day!  We started playing at approximately 11:10 and played until about 12:45!  Sally held her serve in the 4th game and Marijus held his serve in the 2nd Set!  They were a lot of fun to play against, as always!  Luckily for us, we were a bit more consistent today!  Chris was very steady and was aggressive at the net!

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-4! Marijus: 1 Ace on Chris!

The Lowdown from Laura: We then played a One-Setter for fun.  Doinks and Kris came over to watch for a little while.  We finished at 1:20.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laura for her very timely reporting and I also congratulate her and Chris for a surprisingly dominant victory!

The Consequences: As Former Champs, Marijus and Sally are entitled to the first rematch.  If Chris and Laura manage to emerge victorious once more, they will then be asked to refrain from defending their Titles until a winning team emerges from the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Challenge Match:

Natalia Sout over Laurie Boughton, 6-1, 6-2, to become the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Women's Division!  Laurie: 2 Aces!

The Stats from Nat: Laurie was very gracious to except my challenge.  It was easy to schedule the match and fun to play.  Laurie came up with a lot of great shots.  I was just lucky today.

Samara's Notes: I thank Natalia for her timely reporting and congratulate her on an impressive victory!  We now turn this report over to Doinks for the rest of what happened at C.G. 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Doinks Srinivasan/Susan Koshy over Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to become the New # 12 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  It was also the official GTA Return of Susan Koshy.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very timely reporting as well.  It turned out to be quite the historic day at Cedar Grove. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

9/21 Results.

9/21/18:

"Mole-Capan at AP, Dino-Carl at MP, 4 play at PAC, 10 play at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: the first one started in the morning at Albion Park in Clifton and featured a full 2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Match between "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan (as reported by Gen).

The second took place in the early afternoon at Mountainside Park in Montclair as Carl "Buster" Brownson answered the Open Challenge that "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis had issued to the league.  Carl reported the result.

The third one took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as it was hosted by "TNT" Tim Nguyen and featured a full Doubles Match.

And the fourth and final session was at The Cedar Grove Courts with both "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan reporting from there. 

So now we start at Clifton with the result from Gen, then we go to Montclair, Nutley and Cedar Grove in that order. 

The Albion Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Match:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2, 6-4!  Mike: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

Gen's Notes: We started hitting at 10:40 and played the match from 11:20 to 12:30. 

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Gen for her very timely reporting...much appreciated!

We now move south just a bit to Montclair for the report from Carl.

The Mountainside Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Dino Celis over Carl Brownson, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1!  This was not a rank defense for Celis as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Brownson is solely in the Intermediate Division.  No Aces.

The Brief from Brownson: Dino ran away with the 1st Set, 2-0, 2-1 and onto 6-1. He's got heavy ground-strokes, and it took me a solid set to adjust to them.  In the 2nd Set, I took an early break and went up 2-0, and then was serving well enough to hang onto it and take the set.  Dino graciously agreed to play a legit 3rd Set rather than a Super Tiebreak (to make an actual rank defense possible), but it didn't matter as he ran away with the set and match, cruelly but masterfully exploiting my slow, tired feet.  It was fun hitting with Dino.

Samara's Notes: I thank Carl for his very timely and detailed reporting.  And, just to clarify, had Brownson defeated Celis, it would have been for Dino's Advanced Division rank.  But when a player solely ranked in the Intermediate Division fails to succeed in that challenge, it does not benefit the player ranked in the Advanced Division as an actual defense (it especially does not meet the requirements of the Monthly Rank Defense Review as the challenger needs to be within fourteen ranks of the higher-ranked player…unless Brownson had pulled off the upset, because then he would have proven to be worthy challenger).

We now head east to Nutley to get the result from Tim.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tim Nguyen/Arunraj Nair over Muhammad Haque/Joe Renga, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 51 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Haque/Renga entered the division as the New # 63 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, Tim is the man on the scene at Nutley and I thank him for his timely report. 

We now head west to close things out in Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Joe Rodrigues/Janice Wang over Ryan Pienciak/Jorge Solano, 6-4!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Janice Wang over Joe Rodrigues/Guy Dupoux, 6-2!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Kyle Eng over Joe Rodrigues/Don Moya, 6-1!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Don Moya over Ryan Pienciak/Joe Rodrigues, 6-1!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-2)!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Ryan and Doinks for their very timely reporting…always appreciated! 

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/20 Results.

9/20/18:

"Mole-Doran, Albion Final and more at PAC, Toker-Sout, Scott-Jordan and more at C.G.!":

There were just two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis, but each one featured big matches and multiple sources.  At The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley, it got started with the EWC Singles Match between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Ravishing" Randy Doran (as reported by both) and then there was also the Monk Memorial Semifinal/Albion Final (now being played at Park Ave.) featuring William "Bombs Away" Bobila/"Macho Man" Tom La versus "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque/"Vin Diesel" Vinnie Puglisi (as reported by William and Tom).  "SWAT" Rich Liu reported the balance of what took place at this session.

The other session was at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured two Singles Challenges Matches.  The first was between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and Natalia "Nitro" Sout (with Fernanda reporting) and the second was between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (with Scott reporting).  "The Riz" John Rizzo reported the balance of what occurred at this sesssion.

So now we start at Nutley with the dual report from Mike and Randy, then the dual report from William and Tom and then to Rich for how everything else unfolded there. 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Randy Doran over Mike Mole, 6-4, 6-1, to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: Randy is a very good player, very consistent.  I made too many errors.  It was a fun match.

Feeling Randy: We started playing around 7:00pm and snagged the first court at Park ave courts on a cool night.  Mike has a great serve and a sweet forehand- had a fun match.  Afterwards, we played in 2 sets of competitive doubles matches which left us both exhausted.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his very timely report...much appreciated.  And I congratulate Randy on a highly impressive victory!  Team East now takes a 4-3 lead over Team West!

Monk Memorial Semifinal/Albion Final:
William Bobila/Tom La over Muhammad Haque/Vinnie Puglisi, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 (STB), but Puglisi forfeited while his team was up 8-5 in the STB due to disputed calls, to successfully defend their # 54 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Finals of the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

The La Lowdown: In the 1st Set, Vinnie hit a shot to me that I called out and he insisted it was in, but it was not his call to make.  In the 2nd Set, there were a couple of times where the kids on the next court hit balls onto our court.  He wanted to replay them after the point was over, but I told him he has to stop it during the point...not after.  The last straw was in the STB when we had done the first changeover when it totaled six points...but forgot to do the second one after the 12th point.  We remembered after the 13th point and were going to do it then.  He said we must replay the point, but we said we won that point fair and square and should just change sides now.  He walked off and quit the match!

In William's Words: Middle of the 1st Set, they made a shot and Vinnie thought it was IN and Tom called it OUT…Vinnie argued and got pissed off!  We started the 2nd Set and Mr. Puglisi was not seriously playing enough…just like throwing the games.  There were some shots we made and Tom and I taught it was way IN and Vinnie called them OUT!  When we contested the call, he said, "You cheated, too!"

Then, there was a point where I called a timeout because there was a stray ball crossing over our side.  So we replayed the point and he argued about that.  Then another stray ball came in again on their side and they did not call a timeout.  Then he accused us and asked why we did not call a timeout.  I said to him that it was on their side which I can't see because I was hitting the ball.  They should call the timeout.  I then told him it's only a game.  He got more pissed off!

Here was the last thing that happened before he quit.  We were playing the Super Tiebreak and the score was 4-8, and then we were in the 13th point which we won to make the score 5-8.  Then all of us realized that we should switch or change court sides after every six points which would have been at 4-8.  Vinnie was arguing that the score should go back to 4-8.  Tom and I said we won the 13 point, so we continue to play at 5-8 and we can switch court sides now.  Then he just walked away and forfeited the match!

Samara's Notes: I must say that Vinnie disputed one of my calls this past Sunday, but I stood my ground and he didn't give me a hard time about it.  He also wanted to replay a point after it was done and I had told him the same thing...you have to stop and call "Let!" as soon as it happens.  On another point, he expected us to call a "Let" but since the ball was behind us...it didn't bother us and we played the point out (and won it).  People can't wait to see how the point will turn out and then once it goes their opponent's way decided to play it over.  Furthermore, Puglisi did not seem to have genuine interest in being part of the tournament or the league itself...so maybe this is for the best.  He can remain on the ranks just in case he mixes in again with any of the players at The Park Ave. Courts, but his taking this loss is no loss as far as I'm concerned.

The Consequences: The Monk Memorial Final will now feature Bobila/La going up against William's buddy, "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia and Arunraj "Air" Nair.  The winning team becomes the new Top Contenders and # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division.

2 out of 3 Set Doubles Match:
Randy Doran/Rich Liu over Mike Mole/Edgar Inclan, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 29 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Mole/Inclan entered the division as the New # 60 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Return of Edgar Inclan.  No Aces.

The Rich Recap: The Ravishing One and I beat Mike and Edwin.  It was a fun match as they won the first two games and then we came back to win the next nine games.  It was a good match for us as we needed the Doubles practice for the EWC.

Rich Liu/Fausto Murg over Randy Doran/Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Rich Recap: Fausto was a monster!   

Samara's Notes: I thank all the above contributors for their very timely and comprehensive reporting…awesome job!

Let's now go to Cedar Grove session starting with the reports from Fernanda and Scott and then John will bat "clean-up."

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Fernanda Toker over Natalia Sout, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Toker's Take: We started at 6:55 and ended at 8:05.  It was fun playing with her.  She played her usual consistent game which is very similar to mine, so I had to be more aggressive to not let her play her game and I'm very lucky that it worked out. 

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, (Jordan resigned at 3-2 in the 3rd Set after losing serve), to successfully defend his # 10 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Scott: 3 Aces in the 2nd Set! 

The Skinny from Scott: Good match…a lot of running, a lot of unforced errors, like usual.  All in all, a solid match.  The match lasted over two and a half hours as we started at 6:15 and it didn't end until almost 9pm!

We now go to John for the balance of this report.

The vibe was great at Cedar Grove with many matches featuring high quality players.
 
Senthil Kumar/Christian Danku over John Rizzo/Janice Wang, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces.
 
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Janice Wang over Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to become the New # 8 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.
 
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Frank Hohorst/R.J. Laxamana over Dan Hwang/Tito Castolo, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 61 and # 62 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Debut of R.J. Laxamana.  No Aces.
 
The Riz Report: Frank and R.J. were down 0-4 in the 3rd Set.
 
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Scott Bergenfeld/Christian Danku, 6-3!  No Aces.
 
Scott Bergenfeld/Fernanda Sout leading Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Just as I said for Nutley earlier, I thank all the above contributors for their very timely and comprehensive reporting…awesome job!  It ended up being yet another epic night of GTA action!

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/19 Results.

9/19/18:

"Mole-Resz at VP-T, Tony-Ralph at VP-V, 2 at BP, 4 at PAC, 13 at C.G.!":

We had five separate sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis.  The first of the five was at Votee Park in Teaneck as "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski got together for a full Challenge Match (with Mike reporting). 

The second was yet another Challenge Match, but this one was played in Verona Park as Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard faced off there (with both reporting).

The third was in Brookdale Park in Bloomfield as The Pienciak Brothers, GTA Champion: Adam "The Apex Predator" and Ryan "The Lumberjack" faced off against one another in a lengthy Singles One-Setter.

The fourth was the frequent weeknight session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with "TNT" Tim Nguyen and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque both reporting all that took place there.

And the fifth was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with the contributors to this report from that session being "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and Thomas "Not Tommy" Lee.

Let's start things off in Teaneck and get the word from Mike.

The Votee Park Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Mike Mole over Tommy Reszkowski, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, to successfully defend his # 12 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: It was a very hard-fought match that could have gone either way.  Tommy is very fit, gets everything back and is pretty consistent.  It was a fun match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a very hard-fought victory.  I also offer up kudos to Tommy for such a spirited effort as his consistent improvement continues to show.  Even though it was a straight-set affair, it may have a chance at being a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end…especially given that score in the 1^st Set!

We now head southwest to Verona to get the dual report from Tony and Ralph.

The Verona Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Tony Shiao over Ralph Bernard, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Tony: 3 Aces (2 in the 1^st Set and 1 in the 2^nd Set); and Ralph: 1 Ace in the 2^nd Set!

The Sure Shot from Shiao: Ralph reached out to me in the morning and we decided to play a match at Verona Park at 8pm.  We didn't waste any time practicing and pretty much went straight into the match.  Ralph took an early lead.  I believe he was up 5-2 in the 1st Set before I was able to make a comeback and take the lead at 6-5.  His shots had tremendous pace and if I hit a short ball or a floater, he would easily put it away.  I then focused on moving the ball and went for deep baseline shots, but I couldn't break Ralph and we went into a Tiebreak where I was able to squeeze out the win.  It was a bit after 9pm now and the air was damp and our rackets were slipping and sliding from the high humidity.  In the 2nd Set, we were neck and neck but I was able to hold out for a 6-4 win.  The match was extremely close and filled with hard-hitting shots.  The games could have gone either way.  I'm looking forward to playing Ralph more in the future. 

The Ralph Report: DITTO!  Nothing to add as Tony explained the match very well.  Very good match!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Tony and Ralph for their very timely reporting and I congratulate Tony on a highly impressive victory!  Also, kudos to Ralph for a fine effort as well! 

We now head north a bit to get the score from Ryan in Bloomfield.

The Brookdale Park Result:

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 9-7!  No Aces.

The Ryan Report: Adam and I decided to play a set or two at Brookdale as we got off to a late start.  It was tied at 6-6 at 9:30.  As we didn't have time for another set, we decided to finish it Wimbledon-style.  That's also when I stupidly said, "wow…we've both held serve for 12 games. That's impressive!"  Of course, I broke Adam the next game and he immediately broke me back. Then he held serve and I was broken again.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely reporting.  That looks like it could be a likely Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

We now go one town east to Nutley for the dual report from Tim and Muhammad.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Muhammad Haque/Arunraj Nair over Tim Nguyen/Santosh Reddy, 7-5, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 58 and # 59 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division respectively!  Muhammad: 1 Ace!

Tim Nguyen/Arunraj Nair leading Muhammad Hague/Santosh Reddy, 3-0 (Incomplete as Santosh had to leave a little early)!  Santosh: 1 Ace!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Tim and Muhammad for sending in those scores in such a timely manner…greatly appreciated!

We now go west to Cedar Grove for the balance of this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Set Women's Doubles Match:

Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for reporting that result in such a timely manner…always appreciated!  And now we turn over the rest of this report to Thomas…and the man definitely has some serious reporting skills!

It was good to get back to Cedar Grove after what seemed like weeks of rain!

Joe Rodrigues/Vivian Lee over Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon, 7-5!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: It was a One-Setter of Streaks!  We were up 1-0, then down 1-3, up 4-3, down 4-5, even at 5-All and then lost it at 5-7!  Early on, Vivian/Joe tried to play the short game with me at the net, but they were having no success as I seemed to find all the angles and right touch.  After a couple of games like that, Vivian and Joe went to work on Marie.  Joe was serving from the Deuce side and was consistently taking Marie out wide.  Marie was great to get her racquet on the ball and get a return, but rather than play short to me, Vivian and Joe kept feeding deep balls and high lobs to Marie.  That's where they wore us out and eventually prevailed.  It was lots of long games going back and forth between Ad-in and Ad-out.

Dennis Cabanatan/Vivian Lee over Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon, 6-1!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: Dennis is a southpaw with good strokes and a big forehand.  He tends to hit deeper to the baseline with topspin.  It was 1-1 and I was serving the third game when some flying creature decided to nest inside my eye socket!  After a brief interlude with me flushing out my eye with water, we finished the match.  We lost all focus though as the set went quickly.

Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee over Omar Santos/Christian Danku, 6-2!  Rob: 1 Ace on Christian!

There's no doubting Thomas: Omar has an odd serving form. Christian has a harder first serve, but a much softer second serve.  Rob was remarking the lines on the court with his signature slices and cuts, particularly with his backhand on the Deuce side back down the line.  I think he was giving Omar fits as it was Omar's backhand side on the Ad-side of the court.  I continued my strong net play which counteracted strong ground-strokes coming from Christian.

Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee over Dino Celis/Omar Santos, 6-3!  No Aces.

Dino Celis/Omar Santos leading Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee, 2-0 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: Dino has excellent strokes and form.  He likes to take you out wide on the backhand side with the first serve and then goes into the body on the second.  Dino was hitting some ropes that were just clearing the net in the first couple of games which Rob and I needed to adjust to during the match since neither one of us is a heavy-hitter.  But Rob's slices and spinners, all over the court frankly, may have kept Omar and Dino a little bit off balance.  Rob and I started to force net play where we won more points.  There were a couple of longer cross-court rallies between me and Dino on the Deuce side and then me and Omar on the Ad-side where I was fortunate to just outlast them as they eventually hit long or wide.

Samara's Notes: As stated earlier, I am highly impressed with the reporting skills of Thomas.  His report was both timely and thoroughly descriptive…kudos!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/17 Results.

9/17/18:

"4 play at WOTC!":

While rainy weather made outdoor tennis impossible on Monday night, there still was one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it took place at the West Orange Tennis Club as four of the guys got together to play some Doubles (as reported by "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak).  Let's go to those scores now!

The WOTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Non-Title Match:

Nick Caputo/Ryan Pienciak over Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-2, 7-5!  No Aces.  Even though A. Pienciak/Rizzo are already a ranked team in the Doubles Division, the current GTA Doubles Champions (Caputo/R. Pienciak) are still restricted from defending their Titles until they first give the shot to the 2018 M2 Champs: Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes.  This match served to re-up their activity within the division.

Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak over Nick Caputo/John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely reporting.  As always, it is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/16 Results.

9/16/18:

"Chris-Adam in W.P., Monk Memorial in Nutley and Clifton, 4 play at NTC, just 3 at C.G.!":

There were five separate sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis, though the last one in Cedar Grove only had three people and ended up being nothing more than unofficial Canadian Doubles (as reported by "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld).

The day got started with the long-awaited conclusion of the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak that was put on hold after only the 1st Set had been completed as a downpour had cut the match short back when it was started.  Add to that the fact that the "Grove Cup 21" Men's Singles Tournament started right after that (which involved Adam) and then Pienciak was not in the best of health after he was eliminated from that tourney by his own brother, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak.  Anyway, the match has now finally been finished (as reported by Adam).  The conclusion of this match took place at Rose Park in Woodland Park.

Also getting underway in the morning was the annual tradition known as the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament.  This tourney features the concept of teams being put together via random blind lottery draw that very day.  For the past four seasons, it simultaneously took place in Clifton and Cedar Grove.  But this season, no interest at all from the usual Cedar Grove competitors.  Thankfully, the crew of Nutley regulars stepped up and took their place.  "TNT" Tim Nguyen was willing to be the host/organizer at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley while "Hollywood" Frank Samara did the same at Albion Park in Clifton. 

Overall, it ended up being a 16-Man/8-Team Event which was divided equally between Clifton and Nutley.  The Park Ave. portion of the tourney got going close to an hour before the Clifton half of it, so we will report that part first.  It was quite stunning this season that, after a four year run, there was absolutely no interest at all for anyone to compete in a Cedar Grove portion of the Monk Memorial...disappointing. 

Not too long after those two sessions closed, "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted four other players (he sat out due to a mild injury he sustained the day before...which also caused him to pull out of the Monk Memorial in Clifton.) at Nutley Tennis Club as those other competitors engaged in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match.

The fifth and final session was the one mentioned right at the outset of this report...the Cedar Grove session.  Even though it is unofficial action, we will still mention (kind of like an Honorable Mention) at the end of this report.

So let's first go to Adam now (Adam first...where have I heard that before?  LOL!), then to Tim's reported portion of the Monk Memorial (along with some additional commentary from Arunraj "Air" Nair) followed by Frank's in-depth detailing of all that transpired at his half of the tourney and then all that will be followed by the results sent in by John and then Scott.

The Rose Park Result:

GTA Championship Match:
Adam Pienciak over Chris Chiaro, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, to become the New GTA Champion!  No Aces.

From the AP: Despite the weather forecasts calling for temps in the 70 degree range, it actually (and eventually) got up to 85 degrees with full sun and no shade.  It was not an enjoyable day to play tennis.  Chris most definitely lost this match as opposed to me winning it.  He made a ton of unexpected unforced errors, so I just played cautiously throughout the match.  I'm sure the match will be a different story, and we hope to play it sometime this coming week.

Samara's Notes: First, I congratulate Adam on a very impressive victory.  Even though there was an almost unprecedented time gap between the two sets, it is an accomplishment to take two back-to-back from Chris no matter when each one was played.  I also thank Adam for his very timely reporting.

The Consequences: As the Former Champ, Chiaro gets the first shot (i.e. the immediate rematch) before the 2018 Grove Cup Champ: "NC-17" Nick Caputo can cash in on his guaranteed shot at the Title.  If Adam defeats Chris again, then Nick get the next shot.  But if Chiaro regains, then Pienciak would be entitled to the next rematch...keeping Caputo at bay a while longer.  We definitely have an interesting triple threat situation forming at the top of the Advanced Division right now. 

We now go from Woodland Park to Nutley to see how that half of the Monk Memorial went as we let Tim take it away!

Thank you, Frank, for having this Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament that honors your late stepfather.  It is such a great tribute.

The Nutley crew had one of its best gatherings this Sunday morning.  All eight of us were prompt in our arrivals as was Laurie Boughton who came to cheer us on (thank you, Laurie, it was so great).

When I arrived, I think one of the four courts was taken...but the rest of them were welcoming us with open arms.  Edgar was one of the first to arrive...then Santosh, Arunraj and the rest of us.  The teams were then drawn at random and here they are now in the match-ups for this location's Semifinals.

Dan Knitzer/Santosh Reddy vs. Tim Nguyen/Carl Brownson

Rich Liu/Keith Lewkowitz vs. Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

PAC Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Dan Knitzer/Santosh Reddy over Tim Nguyen/Carl Brownson, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 46 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division while advancing to the PAC Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals!  No Aces.

Tim's Take: This was one of the best Doubles Matches.  We played for over an hour with so many Deuce games.  It did not seem the games were ever going to end.  It was so much fun.  All the guys played well.

But then we had a problem as Santosh did not expect to be there so long.  He had a doctor's appointment he had to go to.  The group discussed what we should do and Dan suggested that I take the place of Santosh in the Finals.  I thanked Dan for that.

Samara's Notes: Just to chime in here before we return to the rest of Tim's report, but we normally never allow substitutions during a tournament.  In this situation, however, I was not aware of what was unfolding in Nutley as I was busy handling things in Clifton.  They made a decision to do what they could to move the tourney forward and I respect their effort and enthusiasm.  As you will all see later in this report, it almost becomes a moot point anyway.  Now we go back to Tim.

PAC Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Keith Lewkowitz, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend the # 45 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the PAC Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals!   In the process, Liu/Lewkowitz entered the division as the New # 52 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Tim's Take: Rich and Keith led in the beginning, but Edgar and Arun somehow turned things around to take the match and head to our Finals (I think one of them will likely give you more details).

Samara's Notes: Yes, it was Arun who had some additional commentary for us.

The Arun Rundown: Rich and Keith took the first nine games of the match (6-0 and a 3-0 lead in the 2nd Set).  At that point, I thought we were done.  Rich and Keith were too good for us, plus we were both making many unforced errors, too.  But Edgar kept believing we still had a chance and he was cheering me on...motivating me.  He said we just need one game to start a comeback...and he was right as after that, we never looked back.  If it was not for Edgar, the match would have been over fast.  He was flooded with emotions and he let out a big roar after winning the match.  It was priceless to watch his joy.  I think we get to have a few moments in matches like this of which we get to cherish for life.

Samara's Notes: I really like the colorful commentary that Arun has been providing as of late.  And I also congratulate Arun and Edgar on a highly impressive comeback victory!  To be nine games down and turn things around is most unusual.  Not totally unprecedented, but quite rare.  We go back to Tim now.

PAC Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal:
Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair over Dan Knitzer/Tim Nguyen, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend the # 45 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Monk Memorial Final!  In the process, Knitzer/Nguyen entered the division as the New # 53 Ranked Team.  Dan: 2 Aces!

Tim's Take: Already by the start of this match, everyone was so tired...but we decided to play on to finish our portion of the tournament all in one day.  Edgar and Arun got the win to move onto the Finals where they will face the team that emerges from Albion Park/Clifton.

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Edgar and Arun for taking the Nutley portion of the tourney.  And what I alluded to earlier is that since Valencia/Nair defeated Knitzer/Nguyen, it pretty much means that Tim taking the place of Santosh becomes a moot point.  If Knitzer/Nguyen went onto win the whole thing, then maybe there would have been some controversy.  And now we go back to Tim one more time for even more action from Nutley.

Along the way, Sam Wong, Vivian Lee, Frank Ratnasamy and Joe Renga all came by and they ended up playing one on of the other courts.

Sam Wong/Frank Ratnasamy over Joe Renga/Vivian Lee, 6-2!  No Aces.

This session did not end until somewhere between 1:30 and 2pm.  Afterward, we were all so tired.  We then all headed to Nutley Diner to hang out and eat together.

Frank, the Nutley crew thanks you again for organizing this tournament.  We had a good time and it was great tennis spirit!

Samara's Notes: Likewise, I thank Tim for all he did to make things run smoothly on the Nutley end of things.  This was his first time doing it and he handled it all well.  I also thank everyone in "the Nutley scene" right now as they have been keeping things red hot while some other scenes have gone lukewarm (at best).  So kudos to "The Crew" and I hope you continue to do all that you've been doing as of late.

It is now time to detail how things unfolded up in Clifton.  

The first of the two Albion Semifinal Matches officially got underway at 10:25am in Albion Park in Clifton (though the host, "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at 9:40) with the other kicking off five minutes later.  But let's backtrack a bit first. 

This tournament has become an annual tradition that serves to kick off the fall portion of each tennis season, but today the weather thought it was July 16th rather than September 16th as it was fully sunny with temps starting out around 75 degrees and hitting a peak temperature of 85 degrees!

When Samara arrived at the courts, he saw that one of the three courts (the North Court) was occupied as "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek was playing someone other than his usual sparring partner, "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax.  Whoever this other guy was, the two of them (Dave and "The Mystery Man") really liked to jaw-jack at one another.  They could never agree what the score was and they continued to taunt one another throughout the contest.  By the time 11am rolled around, they were at 5-5 in what I believe to be the 3rd Set.  Dave told me, along the way, that he had been up 5-1 in the 1st Set only to let his opponent win six straight games to take the set.  The Z Man said he had taken his foot off the pedal.  They seemingly agreed to finish the match on Monday morning.  Usually, Dave reports his matches against Flax to me...I never heard anything more about this one, so I have to assume this is a guy he does not want to bring into the league.

Anyway, it was not an issue having only two courts as that was all we would need for an 8-Man/4-Team Event.  And, thankfully, the other players started to arrive soon after Samara made his presence felt on Center Court (kicking off many acorns along the way).

Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque both arrived at 9:45.  Frank instructed them to start hitting on the South Court to make sure we held the two other courts before any potential outsiders could show up and set our plans asunder! 

Five minutes later, "Macho Man" Tom La arrived with the friend he promised he would bring (via e-mail to Samara the day before).  To Frank, he was a familiar face from the Park Ave. Courts.  The two actually had a brief conversation in Nutley earlier this season.  His name is Vinnie Puglisi.  Since he is quite jacked, we'll give him the moniker, "Vin Diesel!"  Anyway, Vinnie did not even know he was there for a tourney.  He just thought he would be playing some Doubles. 

At 9:55, "Big George" Jorge Solano made his way down the hill toward the courts...and he was followed by a surprise arrival, "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas!  Mike figured he would show up to see if he was needed.  If not, no big deal as he would have to leave around noon anyway.  For a short time, it seemed his services would be required as we went past the planned 10am starting time while waiting for some latecomers.

One of them was "Kerosene" Kyle Eng, who had registered for this tourney early on, arriving at 10:15.  That meant there was just one more competitor left to give us eight players (not including Kazlauskas).  That player would not be "The Riz" John Rizzo as he informed Samara earlier that morning he would not be participating as he suffered a minor injury the day before.

Thankfully, hot on the heels of that text message was one from William "Bombs Away" Bobila who said he was available if needed.  Samara's reply basically was, "you're needed!"  But now William was nowhere in sight!  Frank urgently sent him some text messages to try to determine his ETA.  And just as Samara was about to tell Kazlauskas that he would be "in" while Bobila would be "out," William pulled up to the curb just in time at 10:20.

Mike was Mr. Casual about it and said he would see if anyone was playing at Cedar Grove.  As it turns out, he ended up getting skunked there.  He had me text "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan prior to his departure to see if anyone was there yet, but there was no immediate response.  It turns out that Doinks, upon never getting any replies to her invitation for a session there which she had sent out to the league the night before, decided to go for a run instead.  By the time she saw my text, it was all too late.

Now knowing the eight players who would be involved, Samara wrote the names of the four lowest ranked players onto raffle tickets and then stuck them in a plastic bag.

Frank, being the highest ranked player at Albion for the second season in a row, drew first.  He had Kazlauskas (who was still there at the time) hold the bag to ensure all was on the up and up.  The raffle ticket he removed had the name "Jorge" on it.  This meant Samara would be teaming with Solano.

William was the next highest ranked player, so he drew next (with Frank now holding the bag).  His raffle ticket said "La" as in Tom La (since we had two Toms present for the same tourney).

Kyle was next up and he pulled the "Heidt" ticket out of the bag (the other Tom).

And then Muhammad would be left with the ticket that was remaining in the bag.  The name on that last ticket was "Vinnie"…so he got Mr. Puglisi. 

The initial match-ups, the Semifinals of Albion (which would be considered as Quarterfinals in the overall Monk Memorial Tournament), were determined by the seeding of the team captains.  With Samara the highest of the four, his team would face the lowest ranked captain Haque's team.  And that left the other two teams to meet in the other Albion Semi/Monk Memorial Quarter - Bobila/La vs. Eng/Heidt.

All four teams seemed somewhat evenly balanced.  The Bobila/La tandem had the most experience as tennis players overall and as Doubles specialists.  On paper, they seemed like the favorites to emerge from Albion as the team to represent Clifton in the Finals.

To save time, the 8-Man/4-Team format was presented to the league right with the provision that if the first two sets were split, a 10-Point Super Tiebreak would be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set to also not make everyone play too many sets of tennis in one day.  This was to hold true for both rounds in each location's Semifinal and Final, but Nutley decided to play one of their matches all the way (which was fine if time allowed it).

Only the overall Final of the Monk Memorial Tournament (i.e. the Albion winners versus the Cedar Grove winners) would need to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match where a 3rd Set would have to be played if the first two sets were split.  The 10-Point STB would no longer be an option.

"The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 10:45 and watched the action for a while before he was able to grab the North Court (after Dave and friend had left) at 11:05 to practice his serve for a while...and eventually hit with Bobila and play him in a One-Setter after he was done competing in the tourney.

We would also have another surprise arrival later in the day, but let's first get to the tourney action that took place.

The Albion Park Results:

Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
William Bobila/Tom La over Kyle Eng/Tom Heidt, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Bobila/La advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal!  No Aces.  They played this on the South Court from 10:30 to 11:25 (with the 1st Set ending exactly at 11am and the next set starting just a couple minutes later...and even though both foursomes took to the courts and started hitting at the same time, this match officially began five minutes later than the next one, but ended almost half an hour earlier).

Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Muhammad Haque/Vinnie Puglisi over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Haque/Puglisi advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal!  Vinnie: 2 Aces in the 1st Set (one on each)!  It was the official GTA Debut of Vinnie Puglisi. 

1st Set: Vinnie was broken (started off with an Ace up the T against Jorge, then 30-Love shifted to Break Point, then came Deuce and a Double Fault to set up another Break Point and then the break), Frank was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Muhammad was broken in a battle (Love-15, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, a shift to Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) and Jorge was broken at Love after hitting a Double Fault to set up Love-30, so nobody was able to hold serve up until 2-2.  Puglisi broke that trend as he was the first to hold and he did so dramatically as it was a Love hold after hitting a corner Ace against Frank that set up 30-Love, but Samara was broken again (15-Love shifted to 15-30, then came 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then Haque held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to put his team up 5-2.  Solano also managed a hold of his own (Love-15 then point for point until it was 30-All, then Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5, but Vin Diesel held again as Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then it went 30-All, Game/Set Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Game/Set Point and the hold for the game and the set.  We started this match on Center Court at 10:25 and the initial set ended at 11:03.  Two minutes later, we were onto the next one.

2nd Set: Frank was broken in a struggle (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point) and Vinnie held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) for a 2-0 lead in this set.  Jorge held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Muhammad was broken (Triple Break Point soon rocketed to Deuce, but then came another Break Point and the break) to level things at 2-2.  Samara was broken in yet another lengthy game (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then came 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points to 4th Deuce, another Break Point and finally the break) while Puglisi held again (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for 4-2.  Solano was then broken (15-Love fell right to Double Break Point, but then rebounded to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point) to fall to 2-5, but Haque was also broken (Triple Break Point, the break came on Double Break Point) to have his team's lead cut to 5-3.  But The Wood was broken yet again as he never held the entire match (Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it finally ended on Break/Match Point)!  The tough loss (for Samara/Solano) came at 11:52.

The Skinny: Puglisi is a powerful player who is also a lefty.  And not only does he have nice follow-through forehands, he also has some very deceptive slice shots in his arsenal as well.  I would estimate him to be a 4.0 player.  Haque held up his end of the deal quite nicely as he continues to improve.  Solano often did his thing with volleys at the net and he also made some surprising gets along the way.  Plus, he was able to at least hold his serve twice.  Samara was the letdown here as he never held once!  In his defense, he was serving from the west side of the court into the very bright sun (the stupid East-West set-up of the courts at Albion...and, yes, Frank volunteered to take that side of the court to serve despite his partner being the only one there wearing sunglasses).  But the sun factor was just enough to take whatever pace and placements Samara had displayed just two nights earlier in the EWC Men's Doubles Match at Park Ave.

Late in the game (so to speak) as both Semis were coming to a close, we found out that Tom and Vinnie (who had arrived together) would both need to leave by 12:30 at the latest.  This was a disappointment as the idea all along was to have both sessions crown a "territory" Finalist.  Now, the Final would be hanging in limbo while the Nutley crew did all they could to make sure a winning team (overall for their location) would emerge by the end of the day.

The upside is that the four players (two teams) into the Final are all Nutley regulars, actually (they are really starting to make their presence felt in the league).  And thus, the Albion Final will be played at The Park Ave. Courts (most likely to be this Thursday night).  From there, whichever team emerges from that match will then advance to the overall Monk Memorial Final to face Valencia/Nair (as it turns out, Bobila and Valencia are also good friends...which I did not know until William told me at this session).

William Bobila over Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got underway on the North Court somewhere around 11:50 (when they transitioned from hitting to competing, I did not initially notice) and it ended exactly at 12:37.  They were on serve all the way until Dino was broken in the last game to take the loss.

During the above One-Setter, a new face was heading toward the courts.  Jorge told Frank that he just met this guy the day before in the gym parking lot.  When this gentleman saw that Solano had a ball hopper in the back of his SUV, the guy immediately asked him about tennis.  So Solano gave him some info along with the address of Albion Park.

His name is Earnest Phillips (want to call him EPMD though he is not a doctor, he is close...he is a First Assistant in the OR).  He is a very nice guy who has some serious game (at least he brings it in hitting sessions).  On Center Court, he alternately hit with either Kyle alone or Kyle and Muhammad at the same time.  From watching his play, he may be a 4.5...it is hard to tell until we see if he brings that same pace and accuracy into actual matches.  He prefers lengthy hitting sessions over playing matches, especially Doubles.  But he will make for a good sparring partner to anyone looking to hit and hit hard!  He will suffer no lazy fools!

We now head east to go back to Nutley for the result from NTC via The Riz.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Dan Hwang/Janice Wang over Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 35 and # 36 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

The Riz Report: I just watched the action as the four of them played on Court Four.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely reporting.

We now will allow Scott to detail the little that took place up at Cedar Grove.  We let The Ice Berg take it away!

We had perfect weather, but an extremely limited turnout.  It was just Natalia Sout, Mike Mole and myself.  So we hit for an hour before deciding to play Canadian Doubles which I won by a score of 6 for me, 2 for Natalia and 0 for Mike!  I wish we had a better turnout.

Samara's Notes: Even though it is unofficial, I thank Scott for the effort he made here to report what took place at Cedar Grove. 

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/15 Results.

9/15/18:

"Laurie-Suze, Ralph-Rich in MP, Chazz-Edgar in RP, Omar-Christian in Wayne, Nair-Heidt + 4 at PAC, W2 Final + 4 at C.G.!":

There were five official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: with the first one starting in the morning as two Singles Challenges Matches took place at Mountainside Park in Montclair.  The first was Women's Singles featuring Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton going up against "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara (with Suzanne reporting) and the second was Men's Singles and part of the ongoing East-West Challenge series as "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard took on "SWAT" Rich Liu (with both reporting).  The day before, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson put it out to the league that she would not be able to host the session there as usual.  That turned out to be for the best as some children's tennis group took over all the courts (even though they did not occupy all of them…they have a rule against "outside" adults being present when kids are there…I said "outside" because coaches and parents are allowed to be there).

The second session was in the early afternoon and also in Montclair, but it took place at Rand Park and it featured yet another EWC Singles Match as "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon faced "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia (with Chazz reporting). 

The third was an impromptu session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne as "Stealth" Omar Santos was initially alone there just practicing his serve.  As he was about to walk off the courts, he was called over by someone he had never met before.  It led to them playing a full match (though they ended up playing a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in lieu of a full 3^rd Set) and the official GTA Debut of a new player, Christian Danku.

At the next session (the fourth overall), something similar happened at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer ended up playing with someone who had been part of the Nutley Meet-Up Group, but was not yet aware of the GTA.  They only played a One-Setter, but that was enough for Rutul Patel to also make his official GTA Debut.  And later in the evening at that same location, Arunraj "Air" Nair and Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt got together for the third EWC Singles Match of the day (as reported by Arun). 

The fifth and final session of the day was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament Final Match between the teams of "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and Natalia "Nitro" Sout/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (as reported by Gen).  "Bravo" Brenda Jordan also reported results from that location.

So we first go to the two parks in Montclair, then to Wayne and Nutley before we end up at Cedar Grove in the evening!  Suzanne will start things off in Mountainside Park before we move onto Rich and Ralph's dual report to close out that session. 

The Mountainside Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Challenge Match:

Laurie Boughton over Suzanne Bujara, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division!  Laurie: 2 Aces!

The News from Suze: Diane Raum, Laurie Boughton, and I had a rousing session of Canadian Doubles before the East-West Challenge Match between Rich Liu and Ralph Bernard took place (sorry I forgot the score, but it was a close match).

To maintain our competitive rankings, Laurie and I then decided to play.  I congratulate Laurie on her win.  It was a fun time with quite a few Deuce games.  Few can match Laurie's drop shots, which got me every time.

 

Though the courts were busy, there appears to be a working water fountain, benches in the shade, and porta-potties.

 

FYI: It appears that the Chelsea Park Courts near the Allwood Library in Clifton are nearly complete.  I was driving by with passengers, so I didn't inspect them.

Samara's Notes: I thank Suzanne for her very timely and comprehensive report.  I also congratulate Laurie on an impressive victory.

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Rich Liu over Ralph Bernard, 7-5, 6-4, to become the New # 15 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge Series!  Ralph:  1 Ace in the 2^nd Set!

The Rich Recap: Ralph and I met around 10am for our EWC Singles Match.  We played from around 10:15 to 12pm.  The match was grueling with countless Deuce games.  In the 1st Set, Ralph took a 2-0 lead before I came back to win it at 7-5.  There were many close and long Deuce games.  In the 2nd Set, Ralph was up 3-0 before I gathered my mental composure and competed well, winning it at 6-4.  I thoroughly enjoyed the competition as Ralph is a very solid player as advertised.

I also want to thank Laurie, Suzanne and Diane for helping to warm me up as I had just woken up and came straight to the courts.  They were also very kind to offer their court to us.  GTA camaraderie!

The Ralph Report: Rich is a solid player and fights for every point.  I was not on my "A" game as I haven't played much due to tennis elbow (which is improving, but still there and not allowing me to hit at full power), but it was a good time had by all. We had a good amount of long rallies with plenty of running. 

Laurie and the other ladies were nice enough to give up their court for us to play our match!  There is an annoying development at those courts.  They have children's lessons there and nobody is allowed to play on the other courts from like 10am to 4:30 for the rest of the season!  It is some silly rule where adults and kids can't be on the courts at the same time.  I think it is ridiculous because their parents are typically there as well as the people giving them the lessons.  That leaves four courts just not being used all day…just a heads up.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting.  I also congratulate Rich on a very impressive, hard-fought victory…further proof of his improvement this season.

 

The Consequences: With this win, Liu tied up the EWC series at 2-2.  But there were still two more EWC matches on the way later this day…and we go to the first of those two now!   

The Rank Park Result:

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Chazz Weldon over Edgar Valencia, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division while scoring a point for Team West in the East-West Challenge series!  Edgar: 1 Ace!

 

All That Chazz: We played at Rand Park in Montclair and started a little after 1pm.  The match lasted one hour and seven minutes.  Edgar complained that the tennis court was too short and that caused him some errors.  

Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a very impressive victory!

The Consequences: This win put Team West back in the lead, 3-2 in the EWC series!

Now we move from Montclair to Wayne.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Christian Danku over Omar Santos, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 (STB)!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.  Omar: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!  Christian Danku makes his official GTA Debut as the New # 44 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division.

The Stealth Report: I had been practicing my serve at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (the Bubble is up already...had a chance to talk to Bill Bess).  Just as I was getting ready to leave, Christian (I did not know him yet) called me over to see if I would be willing to hit with him.  After hitting for a while, we decided to play a match.  The reason we went to the Super Tiebreak was it was hot out and we were getting exhausted (plus I had to pick up my daughter from a day camp by 4pm).  We played from 1:30 to 3:30.

Christian will be a good player in this league.  I thought he should have my rank, but Frank later explained to me the rules about matches with Super Tiebreakers not being allowed to be for rank.  He is definitely interested in playing more with us as he does not have any steady hitting partners.

Samara's Notes: While it is honorable for Omar to feel that way, the rules are the rules…for any rank (Singles or Doubles) to change hands in this league…a full 3^rd Set must be played if the first two sets are split.  But it does stand as a full match that at least allows Christian to go directly into the Intermediate Division (rather than first entering the Non-Competing Men's Division).  I welcome him to the league.  For the record, Santos was also willing to let "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues take his rank for what occurred the night before in Cedar Grove…but Joe said to report it as two separate One-Setters as it had not been planned as a match…and Omar had just played a full match against "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz for the EWC series. 

We now go from Wayne to Nutley.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Rutul Patel over Dan Knitzer, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Rutul Patel. 

The TDK Replay: Got us another recruit!  Rutul beat me with consistent ground strokes and a very nice serve.  He's in our Nutley "whatsapp" Meet-Up group, but he didn't get your emails so I figured I'd formally introduce you guys!

Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his recruiting and also welcome Rutul to the league.

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Arunraj Nair over Tom Heidt, 6-2, 6-3, as both players entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 45 and # 46 Ranked Players as Arunraj earned a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series!  Arun: 4 Aces; and Tom: 1 Ace!

The Arun Rundown: The match was scheduled for 7pm.  I reached the courts around 6:30.  When I reached the courts, Tom was already present, practicing with Laurie.  Tom identified me, and welcomed me to the courts.  We started the match soon after a short warm-up.

I was able to get to a lead of 3-0 quickly, but Tom came back strongly resulting in it being 4-2.  I went on to win the set at 6-2.  Tom had the lead in 2nd Set and at one point he was leading 2-1.  Tom was serving well and had better control over his shorts compared to me.  I reduced my unforced errors and I was able to take the lead at 4-2.  Tom fought hard in the seventh game (ending up in 7 Deuces), but ultimately I was able to get over the line.  I ended up winning the set at 6-3.

 

Tom is a great player and, more than that, he is a nice gentleman.  He appreciated my shots and game overall.  I felt like playing a friendly match and, with Laurie around, we had lot of fun and laughs.  The score doesn't justify the effort Tom put in as we had 8 Deuce games and a lot of rallies.  I would like to thank Tom for playing with me.  I would also like to thank Laurie for cheering us on, picking up the balls and her sense of humor.  After that, we had a Doubles One-Setter.

Arunraj Nair/Joe Renga over Tom Heidt/Laurie Boughton, 8-6!  No Aces.

The Arun Rundown: We chose to win by two games rather than do the Tiebreak.  It was a long and tight match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Arun for his timely and very comprehensive reporting.  I also congratulate him on a solid victory.

The Consequences: With this win, Arun tied up the EWC series at 3-3! 

We now move into the evening and head over to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

W2 Final Match:

Natalia Sout/Laura Gawley over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 7-5, 6-3, to win the 2018 W2 Women's Doubles Tournament which makes them the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Gen's Notes: We played this match from 7:20 till 9pm.  It was pretty awesome match with lots of highlight moments.  The 1st Set was tight as it can be.  We stayed on serve with a couple of exchanges of breaks.  Early on in the set, Natalia was on serve in a game that went to multiple Deuces (at least 8 or possibly 10 Deuces!).  We went back and forth and had our chances to break, but did not capitalize on them.  Natalia eventually held in that game for 2-All.  There was another exchange of breaks for 3-3.  It was pretty much on serve from there up until 5-5.  Then Nat/Laura got the break and held to close out the set at 7-5.  The duration was 55 minutes.

In the 2nd Set, Nat/Laura jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  It went to 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3 and 6-3. There were some really great rallies throughout the entire match.  The net was not in our favor tonight as 3 or 4 points had shots that hit the top of net and just dropped on the other side that went in their favor.  Also, our consistency dropped somewhat in the 2nd Set.  The duration was 40 minutes.

Overall, everyone played well.  Unfortunately, for Doinks and me, we just missed out on getting those big points when it counted.  It was a hard-fought match.  Congratulations to Natalia and Laura on their big "W" in the W2!

 

Samara's Notes: First and foremost, I thank Gen for her always timely and comprehensive reporting.  I also applaud her combined effort with Doinks as it is obvious that they fought hard.  I then congratulate the impressive victory…and overall tourney run made by Natalia and Laura.  Normally, this victory would make the Sout/Gawley the new and next Top Contenders.  But since Laura cannot clone herself, instead we have…

 

The Consequences: Since Gawley is currently one half of the GTA Women's Doubles Champions along with Sally Pillay, that obviously means Laura cannot be Natalia's partner in the earned title shot that Sout picked up here with this tournament victory.  Instead, Natalia now has the right to choose any woman currently ranked in the GTA (that can be someone from either the Women's Division or the Non-Competing Women's Division) to be her partner in the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match where they would then challenge Pillay/Gawley for their Titles. 

 

We now go to Brenda for the balance of the scores from that session. 

 

Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Moka Pathan/Brenda Jordan, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-0!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout leading Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan, 4-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! 

Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for her very timely reporting.  Wow!  What a day and night of GTA action!  The weekend got off to a hot start on Friday night and then Saturday kept the ball rolling all day long…leading to what promised to be an epic Sunday as well! 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com