7/9

Ortega-Santos in Wayne, Gen hosts 2 at HP, Kris hosts 4 at C.G.!”:

There were three sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Rematch between “Eddie O” Edwin Ortega and “Stealth” Omar Santos), Holster Park in Clifton ("The S Bomber" Genalin Capan had initially only planned on having a hitting session with "Holy Moly" Mike Mole at the new courts at Holster Park, but it led to an official One-Setter) and The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by “Papa K” Kris Srinivasan).

Let’s first go to the report provided by Edwin.

The Nellis Drive Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Rematch:
Edwin Ortega over Omar Santos, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to successfully defend both his # 21 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 11 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 3 Aces (though Omar thought it was four)!

The “O” Memo: The 2nd Set was more competitive than the 1st Set as I had to overcome a 0-3 deficit to eventually force a Tiebreak.

Samara’s Notes: I thank Edwin for reporting in such a timely manner. 

Let's go to that Saturday score sent in by Gen.

The HP Result:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: We started with just a hitting session at 3pm and that lasted for 30 minutes.  We then played this One-Setter from 3:30 to 4:10. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for reporting that score.

We now head up to Cedar Grove where we let “Papa K” take it away. 

There was repair work being done at The Cedar Grove Courts on Saturday.  Basically, it was just fixing the cracks and painting those spots.

In the process, the guys mentioned that we could resume playing on Monday to give enough time to allow the paint to dry…but I'd like to think it should be ready by Sunday.  So we ended up playing a bit down at the old tennis courts down the road.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar over Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

3 out of 5 Sets:
Senthil Kumar/Sairaj Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2!  No Aces.

Both Senthil and Sairaj played solid tennis and were sure of their shots, unlike us.  Sairaj indeed was brilliant with attacking shots while Senthil showed his finesse.  There were a few close games that we couldn’t close, but it might not have been enough for our inadequate play anyway.  Cheers!

Samara’s Notes: Now that Kris has been back from vacation for a bit, the Cedar Grove scene is coming back to life in a big way.  Kudos to Papa K for always being so willing to host up there.

All the best,
Frank Samara

7/6

18 play (1 New, 1 Return) at C.G.!:

               

GTA Wednesday Night Tennis only took place at The Cedar Grove Courts.  Results came in from various sources and also by various means.  Since this initial report went out, Laura “The Aura” Gawley came in with a missing result.

 

Let’s get to those results now.

 

The Cedar Grove Results:

 

Joe Rodrigues over Jay Phoenix, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

 

The J-Rod Report: We played this at the older courts down the street from the usual Cedar Grove Courts as they were all full at the time.  It was a very good One-Setter with some great points.  The conditions were very humid…comparable to Federer’s match earlier in the day at Wimbledon. 

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 10 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces (apparently).  It was the official GTA Return of Tommy Reszkowski.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Women’s Doubles Match:

Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-4, 6-2, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Women’s Division!  Laura: 2 Aces on Dawn!

 

Nathan Fernandes/Sally Pillay over Laura Gawley/Dawn Peterson, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

The Spin Zone:  I was beat from pulling weeds in the hot sun all day and I was terrible.  Doinks played well and kept us in it since most (if not all games) went to multiple Deuces.  Fernanda made some beautiful gets and Tommy hit several nice volleys to take this One-Setter.

 

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Toker’s Take: We were winning 3-0 and then I don’t know what happened, but we lost…LOL!

 

Dan Martinelli/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

The Spin Zone: I played better this time around, but the victory goes to Sally who was showing up all of us hitting hard winners all night long.  Except for Sally double faulting in one game 3 times, she was nearly perfect.  

 

Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo over Edwin Ortega/Michael Chang, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Michael Chang.

 

The Say from Papa K: Michael, who is South Korean, has a solid game indeed.  He was well supported by Edwin.  Tito worked his magic as I am still playing crappy.  It was a good match overall that seemed to consume the entire night!  Cheers!

 

Dan Martinelli/Sally Pillay leading Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

Samara’s Notes: I thank Joe, Fernanda, Spin, Doinks, Kris, Sally, Kat and Laura for their contributions to this report. 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

7/5

“Kris/Nate host 12 at C.G.!”:

               

GTA Tuesday Night Tennis only took place at The Cedar Grove Courts.  Usual host “Papa K” Kris Srinivasan has returned from his vacation and just now sent in some results after “Nate the Great” Nathan Fernandes sent in the first round of scores via text message.

Let’s get to those results now.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Dave Zhu/Jane Fan over Jay Srinivasan/Nithin Poosala, 6-3!

Chris Chiaro/Michel Encarnacion over Joe Rodrigues/Nathan Fernandes, 7-5!  Chris: 1 Ace on Nate!

Michel Encarnacion/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Raj Shah, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Nathan Fernandes over Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli, 6-2!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli leading Dino Celis/Nathan Fernandes, 3-2 (Incomplete)!  No Aces.

Samara’s Notes: I thank both Nate and Kris for their reports.  Kris indicated there were some other GTA players there as well.  But what goes unreported remains unofficial. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

7/4

"Samara hosts 8 at HP!":

"The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto greeted "Hollywood" Frank Samara upon his arrival as he pulled into the parking lot at Holster Park at 10:20am for the special session of GTA Monday Tennis - Fourth of July edition, to be played there.  Once again, the weather was beautiful...though a bit hotter than the day before.

As it turns out, Samara was the fourth to arrive.  Vin had been there since 9:15am hitting with Tito "Touch" Castolo.  They took an extended break at 10am and both of them were prepared to leave at 10:15.

But just as they were about to go, "Big George" Jorge Solano arrived.  And as they were of the mindset to return to the courts, that is when Samara pulled in along with his two children, Angeliz and Dante.

The foursome headed back to Championship Court where Vin and Tito had been hitting earlier while the two Samara children headed for the new playground area instead.  Eventually, however, the two of them would get onto the Entrance Court for some tennis practice with one another.

At 10:40, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak made his way toward Center Court and he was soon followed by his father Rick "Papa" Pienciak and his brother Adam "The Bro" Pienciak.  And another five minutes after that, Ryan's former Clifton High School Tennis Teammate, "TNT" T.J. Shah also arrived to make it another foursome.

Eventually, more members of The Pienciak Family made it to the park and the younger ones enjoyed the shady area outside the fence with the two young Samaras. 

At 11:45, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli stepped onto the courts, but ultimately it would only be to make an extended cameo appearance.  He would have been willing to play had his services been needed.  But we never rose above eight official competitors for the session.

And the sunny weather inspired a shortened session as we all started wilting in the hot July heat.  The last of three Doubles One-Setters ended exactly at 12:11.  Those remaining walked off the courts soon after, leaving behind a couple that had just taken the Entrance Court at 12:05.

Still, the action that we had was fun and exciting.  So, once again, here we go!

The HP Results:

Jorge Solano/Tito Castolo over Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-4!  No Aces.  It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15, an un-returned serve for 15-All, but then it was onto Double Break Point only to have back-to-back un-returned serves bring it to Deuce, then it was Game Point and the hold), Jorge was broken (Frank hit a winning volley and Jorge blew an overhead on the way to Triple Break Point, but then that got reversed all the way to Deuce where Frank hit a monster of a winning Overhead Smash to make it Break Point and then came the break) and Vinnie held (Vin hit a winning Backhand Volley followed by another winner he hit for 30-Love, but then Frank blew a drop shot to make it 30-15, it was then Double Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 3-0.  Tito held (Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash and there was an un-returned serve for 30-Love, but then it shifted to Break Point as Tito blew an overhead and then there was the rally of the match where Frank made several great gets that led to his team winning the point, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but Samara held again (Vin blew an overhead and Tito hit a killer return for Love-30, but that shifted to Game Point as Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash, but that was where Tito hit a winner as equally impressive as his winning return earlier to make it Deuce, but then it was Game Point again, 2nd Deuce where Frank hit a winner for Game Point where Frank hit another monster Overhead Smash to secure his own hold) as his team took what seemed to be a somewhat commanding lead at 4-1!  But from there, Solano held (an un-returned serve and Vin blew an overhead for 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All where Tito hit a winner for Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), De Benedetto was broken at Love after starting with a Double Fault and then Tito hit a winner and Jorge hit a winning volley along the way, Castolo held again (15-Love where Frank hit a blistering winner for 15-All, but then it went straight to Double Game Point as Jorge hit a winning volley along the way and then came the hold), The Wood was finally broken (a winning Overhead Smash from Tito and a winning volley by Jorge made it Love-30 and that was where Frank hit a rare Double Fault to make it Triple Break Point and next came a shocking Love break) as his team was now down 4-5!  Big George held again (Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash for 30-Love, it was then Triple Game/Match Point, then Double Game/Match Point where Tito hit a scintillating passing shot winner to seal the deal) as his team took five straight games to cap the comeback!  We played this one on Championship Court from 10:30 to 11:20.

Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak over T.J. Shah/Adam Pienciak, 6-4!  Adam: 1 Ace on Ryan (a big one right in the corner)!  This one got underway on Center Court at 10:55.  Not sure when it ended as I thought all four were only taking a break in the shade before heading into another one (or continuing on further in a full match), but that never happened.

Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Jorge Solano/Tito Castolo, 6-4!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held (two un-returned serves led to 30-Love and that was where Tito hit a winning lob to make it 30-15 where another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point and then came the hold), Tito held (a winning volley by Jorge and a winning Overhead Smash from Tito led to Triple Game Point, but then Frank hit a winner on the way down to Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold), Vinnie held (it went point for point from 15-Love to Game Point as Jorge hit a winning volley along the way and so did Frank just prior to the Game Point and then an un-returned serve secured the hold), but Jorge was the first to be broken (Jorge hit a winning volley for 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All right after Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash and then it was Game Point, Deuce where Frank hit another big-time winning Overhead Smash to make it Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to go down 1-3.  Samara was then broken at Love as he blew an overhead to start things off, then Jorge hit a winning volley, Vin blew a volley and Jorge hit another winning volley to take the game) to have his team's lead cut to 3-2, but Castolo was also broken (Jorge hit a winning volley for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 as Frank also hit a winning volley and that was where Jorge hit a winning Overhead Smash, but then came Break Point and the break) to go down 2-4.  De Benedetto was also broken (30-Love went straight to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce where Tito hit a drop shot winner for Break Point and then Tito hit another drop shot winner for the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3, but Solano was also broken as it went from 15-Love to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break for 3-5.  And then came the game of the match, one that went so long that all the winners were forgotten along the way...but suffice to say that Frank hit many of the winners to set up the Match Points only to have either Tito hit some crafty winner or Jorge hit a winning volley to reverse it back to Deuce!  Hollywood had extra incentive to close this one out as his kids were complaining from outside the fence about how thirsty they were and that they wanted to leave!  As Frank was on service, he got off to a Love-30 start only to take it straight to Game/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, 3rd Game/Match Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, 4th Game/Match Point, 6th Deuce, Break Point and the break to have his team's lead cut to 5-4 as the battle would continue on further!  But then Tito touch was shockingly broken a second straight time as it went Love-15, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, Double Break/Match Point, it ended on Break/Match Point which was the 6th M.P. overall!  This rematch was also played on Championship Court and it lasted from 11:22 to 12:11.

Samara's Notes: Spin made his arrival midway through this battle and I believe he thoroughly enjoyed the action as it ended up being quite intense...especially when Samara was trying to end it as early as possible only to be denied repeatedly.  While he could not get it done on his serve, Frank seemingly took his game up another notch while Castolo surprisingly lost his "Tito Touch" as he could not hold his serve for the second time in three tries in this One-Setter.  Both teams could walk away content from this session as each one won a One-Setter with a score of 6-4. 

All the best,
Frank Samara 

7/3

"Samara hosts 18 (2 New, 3 Return) at HP, Jachens hosts 4 at RHP!":

Both "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto and "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot at Holster Park at 9:45am for the second session of GTA Sunday Tennis to be played there.  Once again, the weather was beautiful...and thankfully, a little cooler than the previous week.

Nobody else was there, so the two of them took Championship Court and entered into a hitting session with one another. 

At 10am, "Big George" Jorge Solano arrived just as two interlopers took the Entrance Court.  Jorge took Vin's side in hitting against Frank.

Another five minutes later, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak made his way toward Championship Court and sided with Samara in hitting against Solano and De Benedetto.  This hitting session went on for a while and when Frank asked Ryan if he wanted to get into a One-Setter, Pienciak hesitated as he said both his father and brother were on their way to play as well.

When Rick "Papa" Pienciak stepped onto the courts at 10:20, Samara told him to take his place.  Then, Frank shifted over to Center Court to hold that one.  It was a good thing that he did as "Holy Moly" Mike Mole was now making his way toward the courts around 10:25.

The two started a hitting session.  Another five minutes later, "J-Vo" Jovo Bjelcevic stepped onto Samara's side of Center Court to also hit against Mole. 

And then at 10:45, "Lean" Dean Delgado was about to become the fourth player on Center Court.  But just as that foursome was starting to plan a Doubles One-Setter, Samara saw "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli driving into the parking lot.  Frank immediately ran off the court and headed down the hill to meet him in the lot.

Once again, someone had lowered the net height on Center Court and we needed The Doc's wrench to raise it back up to its proper height.  Spin once again worked his magic to restore order and justice to Center Court (much to Mike's chagrin...LOL!).

Just as it seemed it would be Samara and Mole squaring off against Delgado and Bjelcevic, "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales stepped onto the courts at 10:55.  Frank told Jose to take his place instead so he can join his fellow Heckler (Martinelli) on the bench alongside Championship Court to watch Jorge and Vin battle The Pienciaks.

When that one soon ended, Vin told Frank to take his place for the next one.  Just minutes after that one got underway, a face from the recent past arrived at 11:15.  It was "Big Business" Ayman Elbatanony.  He would have to sit on the sidelines for a while as all the action on the courts had recently launched.

At 11:30, Tito "Touch" Castolo made a quick cameo mainly to see who in attendance on Sunday would be interested in doing the same thing on Monday morning, the July 4th holiday.  There were enough positive responses to ensure that a session would take place the following day, with or without Samara acting as host.

By 11:40, Ayman was able to successfully coax both Spin and Vin into getting involved in a hitting session on the Entrance Court provided he went solo against this dynamic duo.

But only five minutes later, we had the arrival "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes to make it a foursome.  Nate would waste no time in a hitting session and it was Spin who set the sides, youth against experience!  Thus, it would be Spin and Vin versus Nate and Ayman.

At 11:55, we had the arrival of "The Bro" Adam Pienciak along with his wife and Ryan's daughter (I think I have that right).  Adam was visiting from out of state, so I doubt we will see much of him during the season.  But Papa Rick lives in Clifton and now seems encouraged to continue to join us for more GTA action in the future.  All three Pienciaks are formidable tennis players who are always very courteous, but are certainly less cuddly when it comes to dealing within the family.  It ends up being very entertaining.

Almost an hour later, we had our late arrivals - "The Olympian" Marie Salamon at 12:50, "Coach" Dino Celis at 12:55 and "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov at 1:10.  This gave us an impressive total of 16 official competitors throughout the session.

And at 1:50 (just as Samara, Martinelli and Celis were all set to leave separately), Uni and Dora Mendoza arrived.  Frank invited them to take over the Entrance Court provided they were willing to include Marie in their usual hitting session...and they were willing.

Late results were sent in via text or e-mail from both Mike, Nate and Rafaelo (much gratitude to all).  Here we go!

The HP Results:

Jorge Solano/Vinnie De Benedetto over Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak, 6-2!  Rick: 1 Ace on Jorge.  It was the official GTA Debut of Rick Pienciak.  This was played on Championship Court from 10:27 to 11:09.

Samara's Notes: Papa Rick is a crafty lefty with a spin-filled serve.  He can also switch to hitting with his right hand in order to stay in the point.  He was still rusty in this first one, but he would shake it off in his next One-Setter.

Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole over Dean Delgado/Jovo Bjelcevic, 6-0!  No Aces.  This one took place on Center Court and lasted from 10:57 to 11:24.

Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 7-5!  Frank: 2 Aces on Rick!  It went like this: Ryan held serve (Rick hit a passing shot winner and then a winning Backhand Volley to go up 30-Love which was where Jorge hit a big-time winning return for 30-15, but then an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut it to Game Point, then Deuce and Game Point again where Ryan hit a winning roller over the net for the hold), Jorge held (Jorge hit a winner to go up 15-Love, then it was 30-Love, 30-15 and Double Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold), Rick held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 with an un-returned serve and a drop shot winner from Ryan along the way, it then was 30-All where Ryan hit a winning Overhead Smash to set up Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold) and Frank held (Rick hit a winner for Love-15, but then Jorge hit a winning volley for 15-All, then it was 30-15 where Frank hit a corner Ace against Rick to go up Double Game Point, but that was where Rick made a nice get/winner combo to cut it to Game Point, but then came the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2.  Son Pienciak held again (Love-30 shifted to Game Point with two un-returned serves and a winning Backhand Volley from Rick along the way and then came the hold), Solano held again (an un-returned serve made it 30-Love where Rick hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it 30-15 and then it was Double Game Point where Ryan ripped a winning return to cut it to Game Point, but then another un-returned serve secured the hold), but Papa Pienciak was the first to be broken (Jorge hit a winning volley to make it Love-30, but then it shifted to Game Point as Ryan hit a winning Overhead Smash followed by a winning volley and then there was an un-returned serve only to have another winning volley by Jorge make it Deuce and then it was Break Point where another un-returned serve sent it back to 2nd Deuce only to have yet another winning volley by Jorge make it Break Point only to have yet another un-returned serve send it back to 3rd Deuce where Jorge managed to hit yet another winning volley to set up Break Point where Frank finally got the job done with a winning return for the break) to now make it 3-4!  But Samara was also broken (15-Love where Rick hit a winning return for 15-All, but then an un-returned serve made it 30-15 only to have Rick hit another winning return for 30-All and then Ryan made a great get/winner combo to set up Break Point where Ryan then hit a net-cord winner for the break) to knot the score once more at 4-4!  But The Lumberjack was also broken (15-Love shifted to Double Break Point as Frank hit a winner along the way, the break came on Break Point) and then so was Big George (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15, but then it shifted to Break Point as Ryan hit a winner along the way and then came the break) to level it again, this time at 5-5!  Big Papa then had an impressive Love hold as Ryan hit a monster Overhead Smash, there was an un-returned serve, then there was the best rally of the match and then yet another winning Overhead Smash from Ryan to secure his father's hold as The Pienciaks went up 6-5!  The pressure was on Hollywood, but he crumbled as Jorge blew a volley to get things off to a Love-15 start, it then went to 15-All where Jorge hit a winning volley for 30-15 and then Frank hit a nice sideline Ace against Rick to set up Double Game Point only to have that lead get cut down to Deuce and then it was Break/Match Point where Rick hit a clutch winner of a return to get the win!  We played this one on Championship Court from 11:11 to 12:05!

Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole over Dean Delgado/Jovo Bjelcevic, 6-3!  No Aces.  They contested this one on Center Court from 11:25 to 12:11.

Nathan Fernandes/Ayman Elbatanony over Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Ayman Elbatanony.  Entrance Court hosted this one from 11:47 to 12:13.  After this, Vin had to leave.  It led to a three-way hitting session with the remaining players which may have evolved into a "King of The Mountain" type thing...I'm not sure.

Frank Samara/Ryan Pienciak over Rick Pienciak/Adam Pienciak, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Adam Pienciak.  Here's how it went down: Rick held (Frank hit a winner for Love-15, but then it shifted to Double Game Point with two un-returned serves along the way, it was then Game Point where Ryan hit a winner to make it Deuce only to have another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold), Frank held at Love as Ryan hit a winning volley, there was an un-returned serve and then another winning volley by Ryan on the way to Triple Game Point and then the hold, Adam also had a Love hold as he had two winners and an un-returned serve along the way and then Ryan also held (Ryan hit a winner for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, it shifted again to Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold) as we were all on serve at 2-2.  Papa Pienciak held again (Adam blew an overhead for Love-15, but it shifted straight to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve and a winning Overhead Smash from Adam along the way, the hold came on Game Point), Samara had another Love hold as Ryan hit three winning Overhead Smashes along the way, but Bro Pienciak was the first to be broken (Frank hit a winning volley for Love-15 and then there was a Double Fault for Love-30, it was then Triple Break Point and then that was where Adam hit back-to-back winners on the way to Break Point, but then came the break) to fall to 3-4.  O.G. Pienciak held again (Frank blew an overhead for Love-15, it was then Love-30 before it shifted to Game Point with an un-returned along the way) and then Big Papa was broken (15-Love, 15-All, 30-15, Double Fault for 30-All, Break/Match Point, Deuce, 2nd Break/Match Point which is where it ended) to take the loss.  We played this one on Championship Court from 12:10 to 12:45.

Dean Delgado/Jovo Bjelcevic over Jose Gonzales/Mike Mole, 6-3!  Jose: 1 Ace on Dean.  This third and final encounter between these two teams was once again played on Center Court and it lasted from 12:14 to 12:55.

Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli over Dino Celis/Marie Salamon, 6-4!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown: Dino was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and there was a blown overhead by Marie and a winning return from Spin on the way to B.P. and then another winner from Spin for the break) and Frank held (30-Love, 30-15 where Frank hit a winner for Double Game Point, Double Fault for Game Point, but then came the hold) to go up 2-0.  Marie held (Dino hit a winner and there was an un-returned serve on the way to Triple Game Point, it was on Double Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold) to get her team on the scoreboard and then Spin was broken (two un-returned serves made it 30-Love, but then Dino hit a winning return for 30-15, it was at Double Game Point where Dino hit another winning return to cut it to Game Point, then it was Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to level it at 2-2.  Celis was broken again and this time it was at Love as Frank hit a big-time winning return and then Spin also hit a winning return along the way, but Samara was also broken (Triple Break Point got cut down to Break Point with an un-returned serve along the way, but then Dino hit a winner for the break) to level things again, this time at 3-3.  Salamon was broken (Dino hit a winner and then Marie hit a winning volley to make it 30-Love, but that went right to Break Point as Spin hit a winning return and Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way and then came the break), but Martinelli held (Spin hit a winning lob to make it 30-Love, but that was leveled at 30-All after Marie hit a winning volley, but then the hold came on Game Point) to go up 5-3.  Coach held (an un-returned serve and a winning volley by Marie made it 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where Marie hit another winning volley to set up Double Game Point where Dino secured his own hold with a winner) to pull to 4-5, but then The Wood held (Marie hit her most impressive winning volley to make it Love-30, but then it went straight to Game/Match Point as there was an un-returned serve and a drop shot winner from Frank along the way and then it was on that G.M.P. where Spin hit his best winner of the contest to shut the door) to get the win!  We played this one on the Entrance Court from 1:07 to 1:42.

Mike Mole over Jovo Bjelcevic, 6-0!  Jovo: 1 Ace!  They played this on Center Court from 1:10 to 1:24!

Nathan Fernandes/Ayman Elbatanony over Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces (apparently).  This one got underway on Championship Court at 12:49.  Not sure when it ended, but it must have been a marathon.  Nate reported that they were down 5-6 in the Tiebreak when they saved a Match Point!  This one could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Mike Mole over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-2!  No Aces.  This one got started on Center Court at 1:30.  Not sure when it ended.  

Uni Mendoza/Dora Mendoza over Rafaelo Kazakov/Marie Salamon, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of both Uni Mendoza and Dora Mendoza.  This one was played on the Entrance Court after most others left.

As it turns out, our original home location of Robin Hood Park saw some GTA action as well as "Big Jake" Rich Jachens acted as the impromptu host of a session that also included the three members of The Jani Court Crew: "P.S." Pankaj Savaliya, "Bollywood" Hiren Ramani and "Nasty" Nilay Patel.

Let's go to the report from Big Jake.

I stopped by RHP around 11:30am and found the three Jani Court guys hanging out there.  Two of them had just played a Singles with one another and they were short a fourth.  They generously asked me if I wanted to play and we did.

We played a close One-Setter, but no one knew how to handle a Tiebreaker so we played out the games until one team won by two.

The RHP Result:

Rich Jachens/Hiren Ramani over Pankaj Savaliya/Nilay Patel, 8-6!  No Aces (apparently).  

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for sending in that result and I am happy to see there was some GTA action at RHP.  No scores were ever reported from Cedar Grove.

All the best,
Frank Samara

7/2

“Gen hosts 5 at HP!”:

"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan had initially only planned on having a hitting session with "Holy Moly" Mike Mole at the new courts at Holster Park.  But calls and text messages to and from Gen led to others coming and it ended up becoming an impromptu session of GTA Saturday Tennis that also served as somewhat of a tribute to the 6th Anniversary of "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli's "horrific" injury at the "hands" of one of the net posts on Center Court at Robin Hood Park.

For those that do not know, Spin's right quad ended up getting profoundly punctured...to the point of fascia being visible.  Thankfully, Gen was there at that time and rushed him to the Emergency Room at Clara Maass Hospital.  From there, he made a speedy recovery and the rest is GTA history.

Let's go to those Saturday scores sent in by Gen.

The HP Results:

Chris Chiaro/Dan Martinelli over Norman Taclob/Mike Mole, 6-2!  Spin: 1 Ace on Norman!

Norman Taclob/Mike Mole over Chris Chiaro/Genalin Capan, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  Spin said it was nearly an hour long!

Mike Mole/Dan Martinelli over Norman Taclob/Genalin Capan, 6-2!  Spin: 1 Ace on Gen.

Gen's Notes: This session, in terms of the One-Setters, ran from 1:30 to 3:15.  From there, Norm and Mike had a hitting session while Spin and I chatted a bit.   Overall, everything ended around 4pm.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for being the impromptu host at Holster Park and I think it was nice that some rare GTA Saturday Tennis was played in honor of Spin and his historic wound.

All the best,
Frank Samara

6/30

6/30/16:

 

“Inspector Spin speaks, Rizzo-Mehta at NTC!”:

               

GTA Thursday Night Tennis only took place at The Nutley Tennis Club as “The Riz” John Rizzo invited “Steppin’ to the AM” Anish Mehta there for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match.

 

I now go to “Spin Doctor” Dan Martinelli, aka Inspector Spin in this circumstance, as he explains what happened (more like what did not happen) elsewhere:

 

You probably will not get any results at all.  I went by Robin Hood Park, then Holster Park and then Cedar Grove. There was no one at all at RHP.  Two people at HP that I did not recognize although I was far away and there was only one person at Cedar Grove and that was at 8:30.

 

Samara’s Notes: I thank Spin for that update as it saved me from following up with a couple of people about any possible results. 

 

We may have to blame Google for the low turnout as the Google group-wide feature on our league e-mail delayed the delivery of my not hosting message.  I sent it around 11:50am and it seems most did not receive it until after 10pm…DOH!

 

Still, given how beautiful the weather was, it is surprising that there was not a greater turnout across the board.  Oh well. 

 

Thankfully, there was at least one significant match to report.  Both competitors sent in the scores in a very timely fashion, but Anish provided some additional commentary.

 

The NTC Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 17 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  Anish: 2 Aces.

 

Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

The AM Report: It was my first time on a clay court, but it suited my game pretty well (besides being a little weird to move on).

First, we played a Best of 3 Sets Match.  I started off strong in each set, but John was able to get back into the set each time to make it competitive.  I believe I had 2 Aces, but also had at least 10-15 Double Faults.  We then played a bonus set afterward.

Thanks to John for inviting me to play as a guest.  I've always been curious about playing on clay.

 

Samara’s Notes: I thank both for reporting in such a timely fashion and I appreciate the additional details from Anish.

 

Samara signing off!