10/10/18:
"Wild Wed. – Team East wins, 2 New Champs and much more!":
There were four sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis on an action-packed and history-making night where the weather once again felt more like early September rather than early October. The temps had gone down somewhat from the daytime, but the humidity was still rather high. Still, the conditions were favorable enough that everyone seemingly came out of the woodwork to play tennis (many of them not in the GTA).
"Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot in front of The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley only to find not only the lot quite crowded, but all four courts full (only one of them with our players…not counting "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla who had a second court, but was playing with a non-GTA guy) and a growing throng of potential players waiting outside the fence.
But before Samara could even get much further than his car, he saw "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz standing in the lot together. They were set to face each other in a full Singles Challenge Match, but were now deciding it would be best to take their chance on the other side of the Passaic River in Lyndhurst to try to find an empty court there (thankfully, their quest was met with success).
"SWAT" Rich Liu and "Vin Diesel" Vinnie Puglisi were also in the lot, but soon made their way toward the courts together. And "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia pulled into the lot around this time, but after hearing what was going on…I think he decided to go to Brookdale Park in Bloomfield to try his luck there instead.
When Samara finally walked up the hill toward the bench area, he saw "The Other Edgar" Edgar Inclan and Fred "Supa Dupa" Suba waiting there along with two non-GTA guys who got there ahead of them (eventually, those other two guys invited Edgar and Fred to play some Doubles with them once two girls got off of Court Four). Meanwhile, Puglisi joined "Ravishing" Randy Doran as he was hitting against both "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque and "Radioactive" Santosh Mangnale for a Doubles hitting session on Court Three (while Art and the other guy were on Court Two and two other guys were playing Singles on Court One).
Edgar and Fred told Frank that William was on his way for the planned EWC Singles Match against Mangnale. Samara's frustration was building as it seemed that none of what had been planned would be possible. So Frank decided to just remove himself from the scene entirely around 7:10/7:15. As it turns out, that would be the wrong decision as the courts would eventually clear for the Bobila-Mangnale match as well as Liu facing Jay "The Rising" Phoenix in a match to determine the next New GTA Intermediate Champ.
Later in the evening, Samara's old flip phone started blowing up (which it may do for real one of these days!) with multiple text messages of results pouring in from all over the place! Besides the two big matches from Nutley, Mike and Keith managed to play a full match in Lyndhurst. "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan reported some action from the Cedar Grove Courts. And then there was the GTA Championship Rematch between New GTA Champion: "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak and Former Champ: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro (as reported by Chris).
There is so much action to get to…that I should shut up now and just get down to it!
The Lyndhurst Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Mike Mole over Keith Lewkowitz, 6-2, 6-0! No Aces. This was not a rank defense for Mole as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Lewkowitz is strictly in the Intermediate Division.
The Mole Memo: We played at the courts in Renaissance County Park from 7:30 to 8:30.
The Kaptain's Commentary: Sometimes I look at losses and just walk away angry, but this one I just have to say that the better player obviously won. And it's a loss I don't mind having at all because as a competitor I've always wanted a fair match against a solid player and Mike is obviously skilled. I wish I'd have given him somewhat of a workout. There is clearly a huge talent gap here, with Mike and the rest of the Cedar Grove guys being better than me by leaps and bounds. But losing to Mike tonight, I have to say was a good experience and I couldn't have picked a nicer guy to play against…a true gentleman.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting and I also appreciate the additional details from Keith.
The Park Ave. Courts Results:
EWC Singles Match (to end the series):
Santosh Mangnale over William Bobila, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-4 (STB), to earn a point for Team East and clinch the overall series victory at 7-6! Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, Bobila's rank was no longer on the line. Thus, Mangnale enters the Intermediate Division as the New # 44 Ranked Player. Santosh: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set (to the Deuce court)!
Words from William: Sorry our team lost. We played for almost two hours and it was a close match. He played consistently throughout the match. In the 1st Set, I was up 3-1 and 5-3. I had two Set Points and blew both. In the 2nd Set, I started off strong with a 4-1 lead, then up 5-2 and finished it at 6-3. In the STB, it was his turn to be aggressive as he took a 4-0 lead. I made it 2-4 and then he won the next five points to go up 9-2! I won two more for 4-9 before he finished me off at 10-4. My congratulations to Santosh! My mind wants to win, but my body can't do it anymore...LOL! I lost to a 34 year old guy!
And now it is Tim Time: Here are some more details...just wanted to fill in a little more details from the EWC Match at PAC. I got there a little after 8pm and expected to see you (Samara) there but did not, so I asked Joe Renga and he said you were not there at the moment. When I got there a little after 8pm, Santosh and William were nearly an hour into their match and still battling it out in the 1st Set. The score was 6-6 and they were into their Tiebreak. Santosh won the 1st Set with a TB at 7-4. I think they were both pretty tired already even just finishing the 1st Set as they were sweating and just from seeing from their expressions, and yet they continued on to the 2nd Set. William won that one and, at this point, they were not going to be able to complete a full 3rd Set…both were super tired…so the STB kicked in. Santosh got the first point and gradually was leading William 9-3 and eventually took it at 10-4 to bring home the series for Team East. During the STB, both Rich and I along with the other guys were watching intensely to ensure that it ran smoothly and luckily there were no close calls at all. They finished around 9:15pm. Congrats to both players for putting in a good match! I think they both were tired and happy it was over. They both could then rest and the courts were then occupied with Singles hitting sessions with Alfred Chen and me on Court 3, Vinnie versus his partner on Court 2, and Rich vs. Randy on Court 1 until the lights went out at 10pm. At certain times, Muhammad, Joe Renga and Mike Mole were also hitting.
Samara's Notes: I thank William and Tim for their timely and very detailed reporting. I congratulate Santosh and all of Team East on their 7-6 victory over my Team West. It came right down to the last match and could not have been scripted any better. And Mangnale is definitely one to watch as I predict he will soon make the jump to the Advanced Division.
GTA Intermediate Title Match:
Rich Liu over Jay Phoenix, 6-1, 6-4, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champ while also successfully defending his # 16 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
The Rich Recap: Jay and I played from 7:45 to around 9pm. In the 1st Set, I was able to win quickly but then Jay got his game together for the 2nd Set. Jay was kicking my butt for a while and leading 4-2 before I made a comeback to win it at 6-4. Jay is a strong player who really gets into the match. It was nice to meet Jay and I had a fun time. Thanks to Jay for the challenging match.
Jay has his say: I agree with Rich. He was the better player tonight.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting. Congratulations to Rich, the New GTA Intermediate Champ! It is another feather in his cap for consideration as the Most Improved Player of The Year this season.
We now head west to Cedar Grove to get the report from Gen.
The Cedar Grove Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Genalin Capan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 10-5 (STB)! No Aces. Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.
Gen's Notes: I'm not sure about the exact time we started playing (maybe a little after 7pm and we ended the match by 8:44). In the 1st Set, Doinks and I had the lead at 5-2. Then the momentum shifted as Kathy and Diane took the next four games to take the lead at 6-5! We then tied it up to take us to a TB! In the TB, Doinks and I jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Then it went 5-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and then 7-3 to end 1st Set.
In the 2nd Set, Kat and Diane were leading at 2-0. The rest was as follows…2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3 and 5-3 then 6-3 to level it at one set each. Due to time constraints (as Kat needed to leave before 9pm), we decided to play a Super Tiebreaker.
We had a fun and competitive match. There were many good rallies from the baseline and there was also some awesome net game. Diane was a wall at the net as she put away many shots. Kathy is the queen of super lobs and she also put away some nice forehand winners down the alley. Doinks hit some pretty deep shots that seem to always just catch the line. She also had some nice net plays. Everyone played well. Kat and Diane stepped up their game after the 1st Set. Diane started attacking more at the net and put the pressure on our side. Our team started making more errors as we sometimes just went for too much. Thank you, ladies, for a fun evening of tennis!
Afterwards, as if we were not already tired enough and soaked from playing Doubles in this humidity, Doinks and I decided to play a Single One-Setter.
Doinks Srinivasan over Genalin Capan, 6-4! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: This set lasted about 50 minutes. We had a few multi-Deuce games.
Samara's Notes: As always, I appreciate all the detail that Gen puts in her reports…awesome job!
We now head south for the biggest match of the night!
The Caldwell Result:
GTA Championship Rematch:
Chris Chiaro over Adam Pienciak, 6-2, 6-3, to become The New 4-Time GTA Champion! Chris and Adam: 1 Ace each!
Samara's Notes: I thank Chris for his timely reporting and congratulate him on a fairly dominant victory to once again become the GTA Champion! Now, with Adam being the Former Champ, Chiaro owes Pienciak the first rematch. Once one player can muster two consecutive wins over the other one, it then opens the door for the 2018 Grove Cup Champ: "NC-17" Nick Caputo to get the next shot at the GTA Championship. That is a tremendous triangle of talent atop the Advanced Division right now!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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