5/19 Results

5/19/19:

"Gero-Gero at AP, 2 play at PAC, 33 play (2 New) at NTC Spring Party!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis. One was at Albion Park in Clifton and it featured the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 20 Match between "Daddy" Brad Gero and "Son of Brad" Alex Gero (yes, father versus son) that was reported by Brad. There was a session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley that had a Singles One-Setter between "Sudden" Santosh Mangnale and "The Professor" Carl Brownson (as reported by Carl). And finally, there was the long-awaited GTA-NTC Spring Tennis Party/BBQ that was co-hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and "Hollywood" Frank Samara (Rizzo was in charge of the invites, food arrangements and most of the match-ups while Samara recorded them all to be reported here). Originally, it was also going to be something of a "going away party" for "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak. But once we found out that both Adam and his brother Ryan (aka "The Lumberjack") would instead have to attend a family function, the theme of the party shifted somewhat. Still, it ended up being quite the event with 33 players (two of them new and making their official GTA Debut as "TNT" Tim Nguyen brought in two friends of his - Sasha "Super" Zonic and Roy "Sabre" Sanchez). Rizzo opted not to compete to allow his injuries more time to heal. There were also cameo appearances made by NTC Members - Judy Quigley along with Dolores and Walter Krazanowski. Much thanks to The Krazanowskis for helping cook at the BBQ. And also much gratitude to "Dynamic Dee" Denise Savino and "Bionic" Bo Folchi for helping with set-up, bringing supplies and food plus much more.

Let's start this report in Clifton, then go to PAC in Nutley followed by the lengthy list of scores from NTC.

The Albion Park Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 20 Match:
Alex Gero over Brad Gero, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 36 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing (via a bye) to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament! Alex: 2 Aces!

Samara's Notes: I thank Brad for submitting this result in a very timely manner and I congratulate Alex on his victory.

The Consequences: Alex now advances to the Quarters where he will face "Slammin' Sammy" Sam Wong.

The PAC Result:

Santosh Mangnale over Carl Brownson, 7-5! Carl: 1 Ace!

The Professor's Talking Points: Santosh made a big comeback to take this one; I took a quick lead going up 3-0 and continued to have the lead at 4-1 and 5-3, but Santosh started moving me side to side and I ran out of gas. It was a fun and competitive set.

Samara's Notes: I thank Carl for reporting this in such a timely manner...always appreciated.