10/31 Results.

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

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/30 Results.

10/30/18:

"Kuzavas-Haque at C.G.!":

It seems there was only one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis and that there was only one official GTA match at that session as "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque got together for a full 3 out of 5 Sets Singles Match (as reported by Marijus).  Let's go to the report from Marijus now.
 

The Cedar Grove Result:

3 out of 5 Sets Singles Match:
Marijus Kuzavas over Muhammad Haque, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0!  This was not a rank defense for Kuzavas as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Haque is strictly in the Intermediate Division.  No Aces.

The Marijus Memo: We played from about 7:20 to around 8:40pm. It was a fun match with many good points.  Muhammed is a very nice guy to play against.  The night was a bit chilly, so perhaps he was not very comfortable playing in such conditions.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for his timely reporting and I appreciate the fact that he took the time to play a full match with Muhammad.  I hope that effort is rewarded with someone stepping up and answering the Open Challenge that Kuzavas issued yesterday...with a Challenge Match that takes place today/tonight.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/29 Results.

10/29/18

"Phoenix-Ortega at C.G.!":

It seems there was only one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and that there was only one official GTA match at that session as Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega got together for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match (as reported by Edwin).  Let's go to Edwin's report now.
 

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edwin Ortega over Jay Phoenix, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, to become both the New # 20 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 3 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

The Edwin Editorial: We started in the afternoon which was cool and also perfect for a nighttime session.  We started around 4pm and ended around 6:40.  It seemed Jay was still warming up in the 1st Set.  The 2nd Set was more competitive as Jay climbed back from being down 2-4 and eventually forcing the Tiebreaker.  Despite the score, the 3rd Set was still competitive with multiple Deuce games during the set.  As always, it was fun competing with Jay!  

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting...always appreciated!  This friendly rivalry has produced many closely contested matches over the past few seasons.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/28 Results.

10/28/18:

"Doinks-Susan, Janice-Sally and much more at C.G.!":

There was one extended session of GTA Sunday Tennis at the Cedar Grove Courts as it got underway in the morning hours and then continued throughout the afternoon and evening hours as well.  There was a full Singles Challenge Match between "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and Susan Koshy (with Doinks reporting) and then there was a GTA Women's Championship Match with the GTA Women's Champion: Janice "J-Wow" Wang putting her Title on the line against "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay (as reported by "The Riz" John Rizzo).

There was also plenty of other action along the way.  Other contributors to this report from that session are "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque.  I will do my best to gather all their info and put it in some semblance of chronological order here in this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Doinks Srinivasan over Susan Koshy, 6-3, 6-3, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division!  In the process, Koshy entered the division as the New # 15 Ranked Player.  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: Susan was up 3-1 in the 1^st Set, but then she started making errors.

GTA Women's Championship Match:

Janice Wang over Sally Pillay, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to complete her second successful GTA Women's Championship defense of her first reign!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Challenge Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 2 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  Marijus: 2 Aces on Natalia! 

 

The Marijus Memo: We played from 2:40 to 3:50pm.  It was a good competitive match.  Nate was, as always, steadily getting to every ball and putting it back in play and Natalia keeps improving and giving a tougher fight every time we play them.

 

Samara's Notes: Nate reported the same and then also reported another match score which we will get to later in this report.

 

Dino Celis/Elias Eid over Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Elias Eid

Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque over Dino Celis/Elias Eid, 6-3!  No Aces.

Jorge Solano/Elias Eid over Jay Phoenix/Muhammad Haque, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

 

The Muhammad Memo: I played there from 4pm to 6:30.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Nick Inciong/Guy Dupoux over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-2, 8-6!  No Aces.  The match allowed Inciong/Dupoux to enter the Doubles Division as the New # 67 Ranked Team. 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting…much appreciated! 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

10/26 Results.

10/26/18:

"M-Dub action in Maywood, 14 play (2 New, 1 Return) at The Bubble!":

GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at two locations: The Maywood Tennis Club as the teams of Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace and "SWAT" Rich Liu/"K.O." Kazumi Otake got together to continue and conclude their in-progress M-Dub match which served as the "Final" for the Nutley portion of the tourney, but was to determine one of four Semifinal teams in the overall event (as reported by Rich); and The Wayne Bubble (as reported and organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo as "Hollywood" Frank Samara had to pull out of the event due to the continuing and developing situation with his mom's health).  We will first get the recap from Rich in Maywood and then we'll get the full report from John at The Bubble.

 

The MTC Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match (M-Dub Nutley "Final"):

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 33 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the overall Semifinals of the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament!  Patrick: 1 Ace on Rich in the 1^st Set!

 

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Rich for his very timely reporting…it is much appreciated!  And I congratulate Patrick and Juliet on their impressive victory.  And I thank all four of them for taking the time and making the effort to get this match done (including taking on the expense of playing the balance of the match indoors…the 1^st Set had taken place at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley when we had the second Sunday of M-Dub action simultaneously in Nutley and in Cedar Grove).

 

The Consequences: Hsu/Wallace is now the first of the four Semifinalist teams with two pending matches left to be played.  One is the still-pending match from the Cedar Grove, Part One portion of the tournament – "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak/"NCIS" Nicole Caputo versus "NC-17" Nick Caputo/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson.  And then the other match is from the Cedar Grove, Part Two portion of the tourney – Samara/"Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon vs. "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld/"The Olympian" Marie Salamon.

 

The winning teams that emerge from both of those matches will be two more of the four Semifinalist teams overall.  The fourth team will be the tandem that lost their match prior to the Semis by the closest margin (i.e. The Lucky Losers).  They will face the team that won their match prior to the Semis by the widest margin…leaving the other two teams to face one another in the other Semi.    

 

The team that eventually wins the entire M-Dub Tournament will be the next Top Contenders (and New # 2 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division) to challenge the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley.  There is a very solid chance that the eventual Title Match will not take place until the 2019 Season at the rate this tourney (the M-Dub) is currently advancing. 

We now head west to The Wayne Bubble.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Senthil Kumar/Nick Inciong over Ryan Pienciak/Fred Crespo, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 36 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Pienciak/Crespo entered the division as the New # 63 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Debut of Fred Crespo.

 

Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivisian over Senthil Kumar/Janice Wang, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

 

The Riz Report: Ryan/Doinks led 5-2 in the set before Senthil/Janice came back to force the Tiebreak and then have a 6-3 lead in the TB with 3 Match Points!  Ryan/Doinks then won the final five points and the match.

 

Samara's Notes: Sounds like this one could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. 

 

Don Moya/Laurie Boughton over Tom Heidt/Denise Savino, 7-5!  No Aces.

 

Don Moya/Denise Savino over Tom Heidt/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Paul Mallick/Arindam Mukherjee over Frank Hohorst/Matt Aery, 6-4, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 64 and # 65 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Return of Paul Mallick and the official GTA Debut of Arindam Mukherjee.  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: Much like Umang Jain prefers to be called "Ash," Arindam likes to be called "Buba."

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Nick Inciong/Paul Mallick over Frank Hohorst/Matt Aery, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New # 65 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Arindam Mukherjee over Fred Crespo, 6-0!  No Aces. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely and comprehensive report…and also for having to run the entire session without my help. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

10/23 Results.

10/23/18:

"7 play at PAC, 9 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with both "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque and William "Bombs Away" Bobila reporting and the other at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes all reporting. 

So we first go to the dual recap from Nutley and then the report from Cedar Grove. 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

William Bobila/Edgar Inclan over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 7-5!  William: 1 Ace on Rich on the Ad court; and Rich: 1 Ace on William on the Deuce court!

Edgar Valencia/Umang Jain over Muhammad Haque/Santosh Mangnale, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Muhammad and William for their very timely reporting…much appreciated!  And now let's head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Diane Raum against Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces. 

The Brief from Brenda: Luckily, there was no rain at the Cedar Grove courts, but there was a beautiful full moon.  The Pickle Ball players took up two of the courts until 8pm.  After we played the full match, Doinks then came over, so Diane stepped out of the next one.

Doinks Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson over Brenda Jordan/Kathy Marabondo, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Brief from Brenda: Dawn and I were done after playing three sets, so Diane stepped back on and was hitting with Doinks and Kathy Marabondo when I left.  It was a good night of tennis and the weather was perfect.

The Details from Doinks: It was dry in Cedar Grove.  It was actually quite pleasant and milder than the day before.  Afterward, both Brenda and Dawn had to leave.  So, the remaining women (Diane Raum, Kathy M. and I) played Canadian Doubles. 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jordan Bachvaroff/Joe Rodrigues, 6-2, 6-3!  No Aces.  While Fernandes/Sout re-up their activity level (they've already made their monthly rank defense anyway), the match enables Bachvaroff/Rodrigues to enter the Doubles Division as the New # 62 Ranked Team.

Samara's Notes: I thank all three for taking the time to send in the results in such a timely manner…always awesome! 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

10/22 Results.

10/22/18:

"Women's Doubles Title Match part of 9 at C.G.!":

GTA Monday Night Tennis took place at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match as the reigning Champs: "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay and Laura "The Aura" Gawley put their Titles on the line against "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan (with both Laura and Gen reporting).  There was also an additional Mixed Doubles One-Setter afterward (as reported by Gen) and then a full 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match (as reported by "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes).

Let's go to the dual recap now.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:

Sally Pillay/Laura Gawley over Genalin Capan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0, 6-2, to complete their sixth successful GTA Women's Doubles Championship defense of their second reign!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: We started the match at approximately 7:30 and finished at 8:15.  Gen and Doinks are always fun to play!  It was cold and I think we were all moving a little slower than usual until we warmed up!

Gen's Notes: We tried to play this match a week ago (last Monday), but it was rained out.  We started the match at 7:30 and ended by 8:15.  It was a very chilly night with the temperature only in the mid 40's.  We had a few multiple Deuce games, but just couldn't get past the Champs.  They just dominated.  Doinks and I tried, but they are tough competitors.  It's always a pleasure to play them.  Congrats to Sally and Laura on a very impressive win!

Samara's Notes: Though it had not been previously publicly announced, Natalia Sout opted to not cash in on the guaranteed title shot she had earned as the result of her winning the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament with Gawley as her partner.  Thus, the Champs were then informed they needed to defend their Titles against any team ranked in the Women's Doubles Division within the month of October.  Now that they have done that, they are now asked to wait for a winning team to emerge from the upcoming W-Dub Women's Doubles Tournament as that yet to be formed tandem will be the next Top Contenders after winning the tourney.  There is a very strong likelihood that the match will not take place until next season.

Let's now go back to Gen for that additional One-Setter score.

Mike Mole/Genalin Capan over Kyle Eng/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: We played this one from 8:20 to 8:55.  Mike and I had a 3-0 lead.  Kyle and Doinks got it closer, making it 2-3.  We took the next two games for 5-2.  They took one more game before Mike served it out for the win.  Despite the cold, we had a fun and competitive set.  Mike and I were done for the night.  Kyle and Doinks stayed on Court 3 to hit around until it was lights out at 10pm.

There was some Mixed Doubles action in progress on Court 4 (Nate/Natalia vs. Nick Inciong/Sally Pillay).  I'm not sure how that turned out since I left around 9pm.

Samara's Notes: Thanks Gen.  We now go to Nate for that last official result of the session.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Nick Inciong/Sally Pillay, 6-3, 6-4, to successfully defend their # 5 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Inciong/Pillay entered the division as the New # 41 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laura, Gen and Nate for their timely reporting...much appreciated!

10/20 Results.

10/20/18:

"Ortega-Santos in Wayne, Women's Dbls and Doinks-Fadia at C.G.!":

Turns out there were two official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: the first one in the early afternoon at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (alongside and across the street from the Wayne Bubble) as "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and "Stealth" Omar Santos got together there for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match (as reported by Edwin); and the second one extended over the course of the afternoon and into the evening as first there was some Women's Doubles action (as reported by "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon) and then there was another full Challenge Match, this one featuring "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan going up against Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas (with Doinks reporting).

Let's first go to Wayne and then to Cedar Grove after that.

The Nellis Drive Courts Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edwin Ortega over Omar Santos, 6-7 (7-1), 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend both his # 24 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 4 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 2 Aces (1 in the 2nd Set and 1 in the 3rd Set)!

The Edwin Editorial: We started somewhere between 1pm and 1:30.  I was up 4-2 in the 1st Set, but Omar managed to come back and force a Tiebreak and win it.  I then took the next two sets.  It was a good match!  Afterward, we decided to play one more set so I can try out my newly strung racquet.

Omar Santos leading Edwin Ortega, 5-0 (Incomplete when Omar had to leave)!  No Aces.

The Edwin Editorial: It looked as if Omar was going to give me a bagel, but then he had to leave.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Women's Doubles Match:

Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo over Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Chat from Kat: Although the match seemed tight, Diane and I were soundly beaten in the 3rd Set.  Kathy and Dawn were very steady and consistent.  It was tough for us to lose so miserably in the final set.  Hopefully, we'll challenge them again. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Kat for her very timely reporting...always appreciated! 

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Doinks Srinivasan over Fadia Nicolas, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: I texted both Sally Pillay and Fadia to see who would be available to play Singles in the evening.  Fadia replied first and came at 8pm.  It was our first time to play each other in Singles.

Fadia's drop shots and serves were not working in the first two sets (the match) and she gifted me with uncharacteristic errors.  I was lucky to win in straight sets.

Since there was a half hour left, we decided to play an additional set.

Fadia Nicolas leading Doinks Srinivasan, 5-2 (Incomplete when they had to stop due to rain)!  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: This time her serves started to click and her drop shots were too good and I also started making some errors.  She was up 5-2 when it started to rain.  I made her finish her service game to seal the score at 5-2 then we had to stop because the rain was becoming too steady and it made the court wet and unsafe for running down balls.  She would have won this set the way she was playing.

We had a good workout and the cool temps were just perfect for playing.  Thanks to Fadia for driving to Cedar Grove for some tennis.

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

10/19 Results.

10/19/18:

"Liu-Valencia part of 7 at PAC, 14 play at The Bubble!":

GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at two locations: The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (as reported by "TNT" Tim Nguyen) that ended up featuring an impromptu GTA Intermediate Title Match between the still New GTA Intermediate Champ: "SWAT" Rich Liu and "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia; and The Wayne Bubble (as reported by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo).  We will first get the report from Tim in Nutley and then we'll get the full recap from Frank at Cedar Grove.

 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

William Bobila/Tim Nguyen over Rich Liu/Sam Wong, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 60 and # 61 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

 

William Bobila/Tim Nguyen over Muhammad Hague/Sam Wong, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Tim Nguyen/David Wong over Muhammad Hague/Sam Wong, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Muhammad Hague/Sam Wong over Tim Nguyen/David Wong, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu, 6-0, 6-4, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champ and also the New # 16 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Tim for his very timely reporting…it is much appreciated!  As for that last result, it pretty much came out of the blue as it had seemed Rich had turned the tide against Edgar in their ongoing friendly rivalry.  As the Former Champ, Liu is entitled to the immediate rematch before anyone else can take a shot at Valencia.

We now head west to The Wayne Bubble.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

 

Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak over Tony Shiao/Senthil Kumar, 6-0!  Tony: 1 Ace on Ryan!  This one took place on Court Two and lasted all of eleven minutes (8:19 to 8:30…and the guys were the only ones of all the players on the three courts abiding by the traditional changeovers every two games)!  As such, they then had time for this next one.

 

Tony Shiao/Senthil Kumar over Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak, 6-4!  Tony: 1 Ace on Ryan (Senthil admitted to likely robbing Adam of an Ace…LOL!)!  This one got underway soon after 8:30, but not sure when it ended.  It was a measure of revenge for Tony and Senthil after the drubbing they had taken in the earlier set.

 

Tom Heidt/Charlie Vreeland over Frank Samara/Laurie Boughton, 7-6 (7-4)!  Frank: 1 Ace on Tom!  It was the official GTA Return of Charlie Vreeland.  As we did not do the changeovers every two games, I was pretty much only able to remember how each game had ended (unless I deemed it necessary to try to remember a little bit more of it than that).  So here now is the basic breakdown: Frank held serve on Double Game Point and Tom was broken on Break Point after hitting a Double Fault to essentially break himself and make it 0-2.  Laurie was broken (had been down Triple Break Point, it was cut down to Break Point and then came the break) and then Charlie held (Double Fault for Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to level the set at 2-2.  Samara again held on Double Game Point, but this time around Heidt held as well (a Double Fault to set up Double Break Point, a rebound to Deuce, Game Point and then another Double Fault to make it 2^nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to keep things tied at 3-3.  Boughton was broken again (a Double Fault for Double Break Point and then the break) while Vreeland held again (on Game Point) to go up 5-3.  Hollywood then held a third straight time (it was 30-Love when he hit a sideline Ace on Tom to set up Triple Game Point, but he then followed that with a rare Double Fault to make it Double Game Point, then came Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) while Gotta Lotta Heidt was broken on Double Break Point to balance the set again, this time at 5-5!  L-Boogie was broken a third straight time (again a Triple Break Point start was cut down to Break Point, but then came the break), but then The Big Blast was finally broken (Game/Match Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to bring us to the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve, Tom then held both of his serves while Laurie held her first but was broken on her second for 2-3.  Charlie also held his first (to go up 4-2) but was broken on his second for 4-3.  Samara was then broken on both of his serves to set up the 2^nd Match Point opportunity for the opposition as the Heidt/Vreeland combo now had a 6-3 lead!  Tom was broken on his first serve for 6-4 and now the 3^rd Match Point, but then he held on his second to seal the deal!  We played this one on Court Four from 8:19 to 9:09.

 

The Skinny: The quality was high throughout this contest as Heidt has improved much in the past season while his buddy Vreeland always brings the high-impact goods.  Boughton did her best to hang with the guys and was doing quite well until late in the set when she started getting dizzy spells.  It seems she needed to hydrate and we had her take a water break somewhere along the way and then again before heading into the Tiebreak.  It may have been better for her had we taken the traditional changeovers every two games.  As for me, I was somehow playing some very solid tennis despite not playing much lately (I even managed to whip out a fiery Windmill Overhead Smash along the way).  After this one, Laurie said she was done and called for Rizzo to replace her for the rest of the night.

 

Janice Wang/Arlene Hyde over Sally Pillay/Fadia Nicolas, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  The ladies played this one on Court Three from 8:25 to 9:05.  Based on that score alone, I would say this one has a chance at being a Nominee for One-Set Women's Doubles Match of the Year at season's end.

 

Frank Samara/John Rizzo over Tom Heidt/Charlie Vreeland, 6-3!  Charlie: 1 Ace on Frank!  Same as before, I memorize the basic gist of the games as we did not do the changeovers.  The simple rundown: John held (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold), Tom held at Love, but Frank was broken for the first time of the night (Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Break Point and then a horrible Double Fault to break himself!) for 1-2.  Charlie was also broken (15-30 and then a big corner Ace against Frank for 30-All, then Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break), but then so was Rizzo (on Break Point) for 2-3.  Heidt was also broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) and then Samara finally reverse the trend of service breaks as he held on Game Point to put his team up 4-3.  And then Vreeland was broken again (on Break Point) and then The Riz held on Game/Match Point to get the win!  We played this one on Court Four from 9:15 to 9:45.

 

Senthil Kumar/Fadia Nicolas over Tony Shiao/Arlene Hyde, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court Three at 9:15.  Not sure when it ended as they went right into a rematch…which we will get to at the end of this report.

 

Ryan Pienciak/Janice Wang over Adam Pienciak/Sally Pillay, 9-7!  No Aces.  Rather than going to a Tiebreak, they decided to do this one Wimbledon style and play it out until one team won by two games. 

 

Samara's Notes: I hope I got this next part right as I believe I was told that Ryan and Janice were up by a score of 5-4 and had three Match Points that all were saved by Adam and Sally.  I say I hope I have it right…meaning that perhaps it was the other way around with Adam and Sally having that lead and the three MP's.  I do know that one of the two teams had that 5-4 lead and three Match Points.  A lot of details were being given to me all at the same time and I just hope I wrote it down right at the end of the night.

 

Tom Heidt/Don Moya over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  Again, no changeovers, so it is just the basic breakdown as follows: Don held (Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point and the hold), John held on Double Game Point, Tom held on Double Game Point and Frank held as a Double Break Point deficit soon bounced to Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold for 2-2.  Moya was the first to be broken (Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) while Rizzo again held on Double Game Point for a 4-2 lead!  Heidt followed with a nice service, going from down Love-30 to Game Point and the hold and then Samara was broken (Double Break Point again rebounded to Deuce, but then came another Break Point and the break) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4.  The Adonis then had a Love hold, but The Riz responded with his third straight hold at Double Game Point to keep things alive at 5-5!  Gotta Lotta Heidt was then broken in a battle (Love-15 shifted gears to Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce and then it was all Game Points until the last one of them was erased by a Double Fault to set up the 4^th Deuce and then came Break Point and the break) to make it 5-6, but then The Wood was shockingly broken at Love to force the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Don was broken on his lone serve and then John held his first but was broken on his second for 2-1.  Tom was broken on his first but held his second to pull to 2-3.  Frank held his first but was broken on his second for 4-3.  Moya then held both of his serves to shift the lead to his team at 5-4.  Rizzo held his first to level the TB at 5-5, but was then broken on his second setting up Heidt with the first Match Point of the entire set.  Mr. Heidt then rose to the challenge by holding that serve for the win at 7-5 in the TB!  We played this one from 9:49 to 10:35 as we took the session into "Overtime!"

 

The Skinny: The quality was high throughout this entire set as Moya brought his usual arsenal of shots to this shootout.  He was impressed by Samara's fast hands that often blocked back would-be put-away overheads and/or volleys.  Heidt continued to show his vast improvement throughout this contest.  Rizzo made several impressive gets despite wearing new tennis shoes that still felt tight on his feet.  Perhaps the ultimate agony of defeat was caused by the agony of the feet…LOL!  Seriously though…there were no excuses as it was a lot of fun playing this one.  As it will easily be eclipsed by other One-Setters throughout the season with more impressive TB scores, I doubt it will be a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of the Year…but it is definitely deserving of an Honorable Mention at the very least.

 

Tony Shiao/Arlene Hyde leading Senthil Kumar/Fadia Nicolas, 5-4 (Incomplete when the session ended at 10:35)!  No Aces.  Not sure when this Rematch One-Setter got underway on Court Three, but I do know when it ended.

 

All in all, it was a great first "GTA Friday Night Bubble Party" session to kick off the indoor season at The Wayne Bubble…and the two Night Owl groups will soon have their sessions going on up there in the near future.  I certainly hope that some scores will be reported from those sessions right thru December 15^th when the 2018 GTA Season will officially end.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

10/18 Results.

10/18/18:

"Women's Doubles action at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis and it took place at The Cedar Grove Courts as four of our ladies got together for some Women's Doubles action (as reported by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan).  Let's go to her report now.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Diane Raum/Kathy Marabondo over Doinks Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, as both teams entered the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 23 and # 24 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: Diane texted some of the ladies and we were all motivated to bundle up and play.  Dawn and I got outplayed in the 1st Set as both Diane and Kathy were finishing points at the net.  In the 2nd Set, Dawn and I switched our return sides as she now played on the Deuce side while I handled the Ad side.  We also played more aggressively with our net play.  We used the same strategy in the 3rd Set.  We had some long service games, breaks of serve and some net rallies.  Diane and Kathy prevailed in the end, winning the match.  It was a pleasantly cool evening of fun tennis.  The other court was occupied by some Men's Doubles action.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her timely and detailed reporting.  It sounds like the ladies had a great match...and there have been so many solid full Women's Doubles Matches this season...truly unprecedented!  Doinks went on to say who was on the other court and I'm not going to even bother listing them or trying to chase down any scores from them.  It turns out one of the guys has played with us a couple of times already, but since nobody has ever reported his name...he has yet to actually enter the league.  And I had heard there was a similar lack of reporting from the Wednesday night session last week as well.  I have too many more important issues to deal with right now to allow this type of BS to continue to bother me.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

10/16 Results.

10/16/18:

"6 play (1 New) at PAC, 5 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton reporting and the other at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon reporting.

So we first go to Laurie in Nutley and then to Kat at Cedar Grove. 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Muhammad Haque/Laurie Boughton over David Soto/Freddie Quito, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Freddie Quito.

David Soto/Freddie Quito over Edgar Valencia/Laurie Boughton, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

Rich Liu over Edgar Valencia, 6-0!  No Aces.

Rich Liu over Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Laurie for her very timely reporting…much appreciated!  And now let's head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Diane Raum/Kathy Marabondo over Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Chat from Kat: We had a group of ladies play.  It was a chilly night.  It was Brenda, Diane, Kathy and me.  Dawn was there and a part of the mix, but as she was the 5th player…she was rotated in next.  But in this first one, Brenda and I just couldn't get it going.  I was NOT an asset this set!

Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match: 

Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 6-3, to become the New #4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Chat from Kat: Diane was awesome especially at the net!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kathy for her very timely reporting…always appreciated!  It seems that perhaps the early presence of the Pickle Ballers may have reduced our turnout somewhat.  Kat said other GTA players were there, but they may have just been hitting…she's not sure. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/14 Results.

10/14/18:

"M-Dub Parts 2 and 3 - Nutley and C.G., 5 at NTC, Nat-Laurie at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis and the first two of them largely focused on the ongoing M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament.  The portion that we have been calling, "Cedar Grove, Part 2" actually got underway second as the "Nutley, Part 3" section started almost an hour earlier at The Park Ave. Courts.  Then there was a late afternoon/early evening session at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (perhaps the last of this season).  And finally there was a late match at Cedar Grove as Natalia "Nitro" Sout put her rank on the line against Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton (who had already competed in the Nutley portion of the M-Dub and played a full Singles Match against "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara).

So we will first go to the dual report from Boughton and "TNT" Tim Nguyen to see how everything went down in Nutley.  We will then go to Cedar Grove as "Hollywood" Frank Samara will fully detail how it all unfolded up there.  We will then end up back in Nutley, but this time at NTC for those scores as supplied by John.  And then we bounce back to Cedar Grove one last time for the last result of the night (as reported by both Laurie and Natalia). 

We have a lot to get to…so let's get to it!

The PAC Results:

The following teams came together via the blind lottery draw process.

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake over Tom La/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Kazumi Otake.

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Patrick Hsu and Juliet Wallace.

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Muhammad Haque/Takako Teto over Sam Wong/Kathy Marabondo, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Takako Teto. 

 

M-Dub "Nutley section" Semifinal:

Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake over Sam Wong/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the Nutley Finals portion of the M-Dub Tournament as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

M-Dub "Nutley section" Semifinal:

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Muhammad Haque/Takako Teto, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the Nutley Finals portion of the M-Dub Tournament as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laurie: The new players who came into this tourney (Kazumi, Juliet and Patrick) did not realize there would be a further commitment beyond this day.  As such, they wanted to try to play the Final the same day…but we were also running out of time as the day was growing long.  All four (including Rich) were eager to play a One-Setter only as the Final for the day...they did not want to do a full 2 out of 3 as one person felt they simply could not do it.

I clearly indicated that I highly doubted you would agree to that.  I couldn't reach you by phone as you were playing, soooooooooooooo…all four agreed they wanted to play the One-Setter…even  with the warning/disclaimer from me that if you agreed, fine...but all who knew you said we HIGHLY DOUBTED it would fly...and, if not, no cigar! :)  But I said at least they'd get a "practice" set in to see the opponents' "style" before they met again formally.  Now here it is…

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake, 6-4!  Patrick: 1 Ace on Rich!

Samara's Notes: OK, so here is the situation.  We cannot allow a One-Setter to be the Final for this location.  For one, it just goes against the rules of all past GTA tournaments.  Two, it is unfair to all the other teams in the other sections of this year's tourney.  You simply do not escalate to a full match in the Semifinal Round of this section of the event and then backslide to a One-Set Final.

Having said all that, however, this does not have to be a practice set.  It could be the 1^st Set of a full Final…and since this is only the Final for this location, not the overall tournament, if the 2^nd Set falls in favor of Liu/Otake, they would only need to play a 10-Point Super Tiebreak after that to determine the winner.

I understand that the new players are unsure of their availability going forward (and I will e-mail all four parties separate from this Results report), but it does not have to take place next Sunday at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.  The balance of this match can be played anywhere and at a mutually convenient time for all four parties involved.

If Hsu/Wallace simply cannot continue this match, however, then they would be forced to forfeit the balance of it to Liu/Otake.  And in the GTA, that would mean a final score of 6-4, 0-6, 0-6…or flip that to it being 4-6, 6-0, 6-0, in favor of Liu/Otake…and this may be very important in determining the "Lucky Loser" team that becomes the fourth tandem (after the three location Finalist winners) to enter the overall Semifinals of the M-Dub Tournament.

Furthermore, if Otake also deems herself to be unavailable from here forward, then it would be equivalent to both teams bowing out as substitutions are not allowed (it is unfair to the others who had competed from the very beginning).  It would be a most unfortunate situation for Liu.  But, if this were to be the case, then the team that emerges from Cedar Grove, Part One as that section's Finalist would then face the team that emerges from Cedar Grove, Part Two as that section's Finalist in the overall Finals of the M-Dub Tournament with no representative moving forward out of the Nutley portion and also no need for a fourth "Lucky Loser" team in that scenario.

OK.  Let's now go back to Laurie for the balance of the results from The PAC session and then we will get some additional commentary from Tim as well.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:

Tom La/Suzanne Bujara over Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Laurie Boughton over Suzanne Bujara, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 4 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Tim's Take: It was another great session of GTA Tennis this Sunday at PAC!  Laurie was wonderful!  She got it all under control, got to the courts early, brought in sticky notes and a hat to draw the names, a notebook to keep the scores, and all the tennis matches went on as planned.  I was there more to be merely supportive, but Laurie had it all going good.  All the tennis players had a great time.  Some of us also went to Dunkin Donuts afterwards for coffee, foods and great chat!  Frank, thanks for organizing the entire event.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for all her hard work this Sunday, but also thank Tim…not only for his kind words, but for getting the Sunday sessions rolling at PAC for a few months now.  This portion of the tournament would not have been possible had it not been for all his prior efforts.

And now you will all be subjected to my long-winded recap from Cedar Grove.

When "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot alongside the Cedar Grove Courts at 9:55, he saw that Courts One and Two were still vacant while Courts Three and Four already had GTA players (participants in the M-Dub Tournament) already out on them hitting and getting warmed up for the event.  On Court Three, it was Horst and Tula Savickas hitting against one another.  And on Court Four, it was "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "Vivid" Vivian Lee on one side of the net hitting against "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon on the other side.  Samara thought it best to go hold Court One as we would need three of the four courts for the tourney.

 

Soon after that, Jeremy Katzeff arrived.  He talked to his buddy Scott for a bit before he joined Samara on Court One for a hitting session.  The timing was good as two teenage girls soon took Court Two (though they did not stay long...and the older of the two already looks to be quite the player).  Not too long into this hitting session, Bergenfeld took Samara's place in hitting against Katzeff as Frank had to get back to organizing everything as best he could. 

 

It was around this time at 10:05 that the "Mel Man" Melvin Hyman arrived.  Five minutes later, "The Roz" Jeff Rozner and "Queen B" Louise Bysiek both pulled into the parking lot together.  That meant the only one not there yet was "The Olympian" Marie Salamon.  Samara soon called her and she told Frank she was on her way and would be there in five more minutes.  Sure enough, she arrived at 10:15 and we now had the twelve players we needed to begin the tourney.

 

As time was ticking away, Frank raced around to all the ladies in attendance so that they could make their blind lottery selections.  Doinks, being the highest ranked woman in the tourney, was the first to put her hand in the bag to pull out her pick.  The raffle ticket said "Jeff" meaning she would be paired with Rozner.

 

Kathy was next up and she was both audibly and visibly pleased once she saw she had the "Frank" ticket as she would be teaming with Samara.  Louise was third in this rotation and her hand came out of the bag with a ticket that read "Horst" meaning she would be borrowing Mr. Savickas away from Mrs. Savickas (without looking back at last season's M-Dub results report, I do believe Horst and Tula were lucky enough to remain a team when Tula ended up getting the ticket that had her hubby's name on it).

 

The fourth picker in this process was doing this for the first time as Vivian, still in her first season with the GTA, extracted her hand from the bag only to find that she had the "Mel" ticket in it...pairing her with Mr. Hyman.  The last one to pick (though still fifth of the six ladies in this portion of the tourney) was Marie who was quite obviously ecstatic to soon have the "Scott" ticket in her possession as she knew she had the youngest yet highest ranked of all the men in attendance, Mr. Bergenfeld, as her partner.  And that left Tula with the player whose ticket was never actually pulled from the bag, the one representing Jeremy Katzeff.

 

The pairings of the match-ups for the Opening Round, a One-Set Eliminator, were then based on the rank of the women and not the men as we worked our way from the highest ranked lady's duo facing that of the lowest ranked woman's and then working our way to the middle.  That put Doinks and Jeff up against Tula and Jeremy on Court One (I believe Court Two had already been vacated by this time, but as it was the most leafy of the four...it remained vacant until the amount of players in attendance necessitated its usage), Sheldon/Samara versus Salamon/Bergenfeld on Court Four (as Kathy was the first to call dibs on it) and then Louise and Horst to battle Mel and Viv on Court Three.

 

To advance to the next round (the "Semifinals" of this particular portion of the tourney, but not the true overall Semis of the entire tournament), you either had to be one of the three teams to win this One-Set Eliminator Round or the team that lost by the tightest margin (aka The Lucky Losers).  If two results shared the same score in terms of which contest was closest, we would then use the amount of time played as the final deciding factor (i.e. if the set took longer, it must have been closer).

 

From the outset, Kathy made it quite clear she did not want things to run long as she had a second tourney demanding her presence later in the day (I believe it was a Women's Doubles event up at the Packanack Lake clay courts in Wayne at 2pm).  Samara ensured Sheldon that she would have enough time to get thru all that was expected of her here (a win in the First Round would lead to the next round where the match would be a full one, albeit one with a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in place of a full 3rd Set).

 

After all the hitting was done, all the First Round One-Setters would get underway within two minutes of all the others.  By this time, "The Riz" John Rizzo had arrived to watch (I believe he got there by 10:30...it could have been a bit earlier, actually) and Samara asked him to keep track of the finishing times as it could serve as a crucial factor in determining advancement to the next round. 

 

Once the action was underway, "Stealth" Omar Santos arrived around 11am and took a seat next to Rizzo on the bench before both would eventually find themselves in some on-court action.  The only other non-tourney competitor to make his appearance along the way was "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales (never noted when he arrived).  And later in the day, it was Nick "The Icon" Inciong (aka Chito) who made an extended cameo appearance upon his arrival at 1:05, but was never able to get involved in any official action.  That meant we had a total of fifteen competitors throughout the session.

 

Speaking of competition, let's get to it now!

 

The Cedar Grove Courts:

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan over Jeremy Katzeff/Tula Savickas, 6-0!  Jeff: 1 Ace on Tula!  I usually lead with the set or match that got underway first in a session, but this one actually started second (by the difference of just a minute) at exactly 10:39.  It was over in the quickest time by 11:03.  In fact, the four found themselves with enough time to play another set (one that would have no impact on the tourney whatsoever).

 

Non-Tourney One-Setter:

Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan over Jeremy Katzeff/Tula Savickas, 6-0!  Jeremy: 1 Ace on Jeff; and Jeff: 1 Ace on Jeremy (Jeff called it an act of revenge...LOL!)!  This one was over by 11:23.

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Frank Samara/Kathy Sheldon over Scott Bergenfeld/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one was actually the third of the three to get started at 10:40, but it would be the second one to be completed at 11:08.  As time was of the essence, I never noted the games along the way (the way I usually do).  Afterward, I simply remembered who held and who was broken...Frank held serve, so did Scott, but Kathy was the first to be broken for 1-2.  Marie was also broken and then Samara held again for a 3-2 lead.  Bergenfeld also held again to tie things at 3-3, but then Sheldon held while Salamon was broken again (she started with a Double Fault which I believe to be the only DF of the entire set) to have her team fall to 3-5.  Hollywood then pulled off "the hat trick" with a third straight hold when he sealed the deal on Game/Match Point!

 

The Skinny: All four of us played well, but the difference (besides being just one break of serve) was mainly Marie having such a tough time with the Samara slice game (even after encountering for numerous years now).  We all had fun in this one...and then we all turned our attention to Court Three...as the fate of the losers here (Bergenfeld/Salamon) still depended upon what was taking place on that court.

 

Many things were taking place on that court and not all of it was action.  And when it was "action," it was at a slow pace as it had been 4-3 in favor of Mel and Viv when we all began watching the match.  Soon, we knew that the losing team in this one would be the "Lucky Losers" overall once the score got to 4-4...but now it seemed to be a war of attrition coupled with a heaping dose of aggravation as there were numerous arguments over calls, lengthy breaks (to take drinks) and other time-consuming tactics that not only had all the other teams hanging around frustrated, but the on-court competitors themselves quite stymied.  At one point, Frank called out for an update on the score when Viv drew a raucous laugh from the crowd when she said with a healthy dose of venom in her voice, "who the hell knows?!?!"

 

It did eventually conclude in an official result, and it was...

 

Horst Savickas/Louise Bysiek over Melvin Hyman/Vivian Lee, 7-6 (7-0)!  No Aces.  Court Three was occupied with this one from 10:38 (the first of the three to get started) until 11:45 (the last of the three to be finished)!  Despite being an hour and seven minutes long, it is not going to end up being a Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year...that's for sure.

 

In this scenario, Hyman/Lee would have been The Lucky Losers advancing to the next round...but Mel suddenly said he had to leave as his wife, Margaret Cheung (going off of memory here as she is a former GTA player who has not competed with us in quite some time) had stepped on the courts somewhere along the way and was now waiting for him to leave.

 

As we do not allow substitutions in such tournaments, it meant that Vivian was now losing that opportunity by a default...and now that slot would be offered to the Bergenfeld/Salamon tandem instead.  Scott had just entered into a Men's Doubles situation on Court One where I believe he was teaming with his buddy Jeremy to take on Rizzo and Santos.  I think Bergenfeld was proud to say they had won the first game when that action had to be called as Scott would now serve a higher calling...a return to the actual tournament.

 

Speaking of substitutions, Kathy was actually hoping Vivian could take her place as she was growing concerned that the next round (a full match) would never finish in time for her to then leave and have time to make it to Wayne for her next on-court obligation.  Samara and Rizzo both assured her there was still plenty of time...plus, such a substitution would not be allowed anyway.

 

All was not lost for Ms. Lee as she had the chance to hit with John for an extended period of time over on Court Two.  When Jose went over there, then Rizzo and Lee shared the same side of the court hitting against Gonzales.  And, finally, when Tula (already eliminated) made her way over to Court Two to make it a foursome...they began what cold have been a One-Setter...except Vivian had to leave early.  We will get to that incomplete action in just a bit.  But first we have...

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Omar Santos over Jeremy Katzeff, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  Omar estimated that this match lasted from 11:30 to 12:30.  It was played on Court One.

 

John Rizzo/Vivian Lee tied with Jose Gonzales/Tula Savickas, 2-2 (Incomplete when Lee said she had to leave)!  Not sure when this abbreviated One-Setter got underway on Court Two, but it ended almost exactly where our next match finished (both at 12:50).

 

M-Dub "Cedar Grove, Part Two" Semifinal:

Frank Samara/Kathy Sheldon over Horst Savickas/Louise Bysiek, 6-1, 6-0, to advance to the "CG, Part 2" Final (to be played at a later date) while both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.  We got this one underway on Court Four at exactly 11:51.  With time being paramount not to the process, but to the concerns of Kathy...I once again did not take any notes along the way...but I did remember all the holds and breaks in all the games...as they went as follows...

 

1st Set: Horst was broken (despite starting off strong with big serves), Frank held, Louise was broken and Kathy had a Love hold for a quick 4-0 lead.  Savickas replied with a Love hold of his own to get his team onto the scoreboard, but then Samara held again and Bysiek was broken again to end the set at 12:14.  With the clock still ticking, we got the next set started just a minute later.

 

2nd Set: Kathy held, Horst was broken and then Frank held in a marathon game where he started off down Triple Break Point (up until this game, he had never come close to having his serve broken) only to bounce back to Deuce...I cannot remember all the twists of turns of Break Point and Game Points...but it went to the 8th Deuce before it finally went to yet another Game Point and the hold for 3-0!  Louise was then broken, but Sheldon held again for a 5-0 lead.  Savickas was on serve and this game was nearly as lengthy and actually even more dramatic than the prior service from Samara as Horst got out to a Triple Game Point lead only to then have it go to Double Game Point, a Double Fault (perhaps the only one in the entire match) for Game Point and then Deuce and it was all Game Points until 4th Deuce, then it went to Break/Match Point, 5th Deuce and all Game Points until 7th Deuce, then the 2nd Break/Match Point and finally the break for the match!  We finished this at 12:50.

 

The Skinny: This match was precisely one minute shy of being an hour long.  Samara was definitely not shy in telling his partner Sheldon that he had told her he would make sure to get the job done for her with plenty of time to spare (and that he would also remember how early in the process she was willing to bail on him...LOL!).  But it also must be said that she also played some "on fire" tennis along the way with several great gets and powerful returns.  Frank, for his part, was really on his game today...and it never wavered (unlike it has in recent times).  Kudos to the opponents, Horst and Louise, as they did not make it easy (despite what the score says) as those two lengthy multiple Deuce games clearly display otherwise.  We actually had a lot of fun in this one as well.  And then...like a flash...Kat was gone!

 

M-Dub "Cedar Grove, Part Two" Semifinal:

Scott Bergenfeld/Marie Salamon over Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 5-7, 10-2 (STB), to advance to the "CG, Part 2 Final" (to be played at a later date) as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  Scott: 1 Ace on Doinks in the 1st Set!  This match lasted exactly one hour and a half on Court Three (from 11:56 to 1:26).

 

The Skinny: From the times I was able to watch it, this match featured a lot of hard-fought and lengthy rallies with some impressive get-making on both sides.  What Jeff may lack in mobility (due to prior hip surgery, knee issues and perhaps other ailments), he makes up for with solid, experienced and hard-hitting shot-making.  Speaking of hard-hitting shots, Scott always comes equipped with his mighty forehand.  Doinks was doing her thing with the looping forehands that almost always seem to find the baseline while Marie was clipping shots many thought would pass her with her adept volley game up at the net.  After the match, Salamon said she felt she finally found her stride in this match after getting off to a shaky start in the initial round (the One-Set Eliminator).

 

The Consequences: This sets up a rematch between the two tandems - Samara/Sheldon and Bergenfeld/Salamon, except next time it will be a full match (though a 10-Point Super Tiebreak can still be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set...it will be at the option of the two teams at that time...only the overall Tournament Final will need to play a full 3rd Set, if it becomes necessary).  Frank and Kathy should not be foolish by feeling overly confident going into this next contest as the difference in their initial encounter with the opposition (Scott and Marie) was just one break.  It should be quite the match, indeed!

 

Omar Santos/Louise Bysiek over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 7-5!  Louise: 1 Ace on Tula!  This Mixed Doubles One-Setter took place on Corut Four and lasted from 1pm to 1:41.  It was the last official action of the day at Cedar Grove...at least for the daytime session.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who came thru and made this tourney possible...both here at Cedar Grove and earlier at the Nutley session.

Now we turn this report over to The Riz.

The NTC Results:

 

Ryan Sherry/John Rizzo over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 7-5!  No Aces.

 

Ryan Pienciak/Ryan Sherry over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Dan Hwang over Ryan Sherry/Frank Hohorst, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 59 and # 60 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated!

And now we go back to Cedar Grove for one last result for the day and night.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Natalia Sout over Laurie Boughton, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 3 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Nat's Note: As always, it is a pleasure to play with Laurie. 

The Lowdown from Laurie: Now, the scores are not necessarily indicative of the quality of play! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting.  I congratulate Natalia on a most impressive victory.  And I offer kudos to Laurie for always retaining her refreshing sense of humor!  

All in all, it was a very historic day for the league…and I thank all those who were a part of it.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com