10/31/18:
"15 play at C.G., Adam-Ryan at BP!":
There were two special Halloween sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis on an action-packed night where the weather felt more like early September rather than late October. Both sessions ran at the same time, but the first one got off to an earlier start as the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts got rolling around 6:15pm. We have four contributors to this report from that session – "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Riz" John Rizzo.
The second session was at Brookdale Park and it was a "Battle of The Brothers" as "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak faced off against his older bro, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak (as reported by Adam).
We will first detail what took place at Cedar Grove (in an attempt to get as chronologically correct as possible) and then get to Pienciak-Pienciak later in this report.
Let's start things off with Scott as he has provided some detailed commentary as well.
Jordan Bacvaroff and I rolled up to the courts at Cedar Grove around 6:15pm and started hitting. He was struggling with knee pain. We hit for around twenty minutes and then stopped due to the pain he was having.
A bunch of other people all came around 6:40. Everyone divided up and it was me, Natalia Sout and Nathan Fernandes left together on one court. I convinced Jordan to play even though he was in obvious pain. He agreed to play the net only and I would get the whole court. Great idea, Scott!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Scott Bergenfeld/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (9-7)! Jordan: 1 Ace on Natalia!
The Skinny from Scott: This One-Setter was the most I've run in a set in a long time. Jordan did a good job covering the net. But Nate was able to lob over his head multiple times during each point making me run back and forth. This was an extremely competitive set. It lasted until around 8:30…about an hour and a half long! There were a lot of long, long points and a ton of Deuce games! Afterward, I was exhausted and called it quits! I definitely got my workout in on this night!
Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his very timely and comprehensive reporting…always appreciated! This sounds like it has a very good chance at being a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
We now turn this report over to Gen as she also provided some additional commentary.
Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Joe Rodrigues/Genalin Capan, 6-4! Sally: 1 Ace on Joe!
Gen's Notes: We played from 7:38 to 8:10. It was a fun and competitive set. Marijus and Sally had an early lead at 2-0. Then we tied it up at 2-2. There was an exchange of breaks, but then we stayed on serve all way up to 4-All. Then Marijus/Sally took next two games for the win.
Thanks to Kris Srinivasan for coming out to the courts to bring a broom to clean the leaves off of Court Two. Special thanks to Joe who was the one who swept the leaves with some assist from Sally and me. Sally used her sweatpants and I used my racquet to try and clear some of the leaves...LOL!
2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Diane Raum/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3, 6-3, to become the New # 23 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division! No Aces.
The Details from Doinks: Kathy has a great lefty slice serve and low backhand slice. Diane is very consistent with rallies and has great net skills (especially with poaching).
During this match, Sally Pillay and Genalin Capan said they wanted to challenge the winners. So, that set up the next match.
2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Sally Pillay/Genalin Capan, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 (STB)! Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line. The match did enable Pillay/Capan to enter the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 26 Ranked Team. No Aces.
Gen's Notes: This one got started around 8:20 and ended at 9:55. In the 1st Set, Sally and I were down 2-4. We made a nice comeback by taking four straight games to close out the set.
In the 2nd Set, this time the roles were reversed. Janice and Doinks were down 1-4. We then started making more errors as Janice/Doinks rallied for a comeback by taking five straight games to take the set. Now we are tied one set a piece. We had 20 minutes left so we decided to just play the 10 Point Super Tiebreaker.
In the TB, Sally and I had the lead at 6-3. Then it was tied up at 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8. Janice/Doinks won the last two points to take the match.
Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks and Gen for their timely reporting…as well as their details and commentary. This looks like it could be a possible Nominee for Women's Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.
And now the rest of the results come courtesy of The Riz.
John Rizzo/Thomas Lee over Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues, 6-3! No Aces.
Mike Mole/Joe Rodrigues over John Rizzo/Thomas Lee, 6-4! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John and everyone else again for their timely reporting. It is much appreciated.
We now shift one town east to Bloomfield for "The Battle of The Brothers" that took place in Brookdale Park.
The Brookdale Park Result:
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division! No Aces.
From the AP: It should be noted that Adam was up 4-0 in the 2nd Set before trying his hardest to blow it.
Samara's Notes: I thank Adam for his very timely report as well…always appreciated!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
