9/15 Results.

9/15/16:         

"Tony-Nate part of 15 at C.G.!":                                          

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the usual evening session…and it was another big one…at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with scores and commentary contributions also coming in from the two participants in the Grove Cup Semifinal Match, Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, plus "Dominant" Dawn Peterson as well).

So we now go to the report from Kris (with the additional information from Dawn, Nate and Tony along the way).

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup Semifinal Match:

Nathan Fernandes over Tony Shiao, 6-0, 6-1, to become the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Finals of the Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Tony: 1 Ace in the 2^nd Set. 

The Sure Shot from Shiao:  Nate and I decided to meet at Cedar Grove at 6:45 to play our Semifinal Match in the Grove Cup.  It was a beautiful evening for tennis.  The air was crisp with a light breeze to keep us energized and cool throughout the match.  The match, however, was no contest!  Although a number of games went to Deuce, I was unable to convert.  I made many unforced errors at the net and Nate just ran down every shot.  I tried switching up my game and played similar to his style but the 40+ stroke rallies tired me out quickly.  I then reverted back to my usual game and hit some big topspin forehands only to have them easily returned.  He was a wall...The Great Wall of Nate!  He is wicked quick like Chiaro and consistent like Chazz, but with a wing span of a Marijus...nah f-that...more like a 747!  I did manage to sneak in an Ace in the second set!  Yippee!  I wish him luck in the Finals and I apologize for my foul language to the others playing on the adjacent courts.

The Say from The K: From the feedback received, it looked like there were quite a few games that were close and tight…but even in games where Tony was leading 40-15, Nate did well to clinch those games ending in a bagel in the 1st Set for Tony.

The consistency and the amazing gets to some of the tough shots by Nate put a severe dent on the psyche of his opponent as it was clearly visible that Tony couldn't put the ball away or construct the point nicely.  He couldn't cash in on his approach to the net and was too careful with some of the shots that should have been taken to the cleaners.  The result was that Nate was never threatened or put under the sword.  Instead, he ramped up his shots with beautiful placements.  Tony did run Nate side to side on multiple occasions, but that's when he couldn't take advantage of opportunities that were there for the taking as he was afraid to smoke the overheads and crippled with unforced errors.  Full credit goes to Nate for making an indelible mark on Tony's mindset so that the ball is always going to come back no matter how well he played his shots...:-).

Samara's Notes: I thank Tony for the comprehensive write-up.  Nate sent the score directly via text as well and also stated that he thought the match started just after 7pm.  I congratulate Nate on a very impressive victory here as well as a highly dominant run though the Grove Cup Tournament thus far.  He now awaits the winner of the other Semi – "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah vs. "Double R" Rob Ryan!

And now we go to Kris for the rest of the report along with some additional details from Dawn.

Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff over Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently). 

Dawn's Details: We were up 4-2 when they then took the next four straight games.

Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff over Moka Pathan/Lou La Forgia, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

The Say from The K: It as a good One-Setter as there was plenty of good shots, but there were also many unforced errors.

Mike Kazlauskas/Dawn Peterson over Sairaj Srinivasan/Jorge Solano, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff over Moka Pathan/Kris Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

This was another tight one that could have seen a different result if we had cashed out on some of the Break Point opportunities that we had.  We missed out on both of Chris' serves and especially the one that could have tied the match 4-All.  Some of Moka's backhand shots down the line were a delight to watch and so were Chiaro's fiery shots that were hit with jet speed.  Jordan put away some points at the net that were timely for his side.

Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivasan over Tony Shiao/Dennis Cabanatan, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces (apparently).

This was a very closely contested match that went the distance and was a nice win for Doinks and Ryan. We did get to hear plenty of noise coming from Tony and Ryan on the other side!

Samara's Notes: This seems like it could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Specialty Doubles One-Setter of The Year at season's end.  We now go back to Kris.

Tony Shiao/Ryan Pienciak over Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

Tony and Ryan do well playing together and that showed in this match.  It didn't help that there were quite a few unforced errors from Doinks and Dennis.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Lou La Forgia/Mike Kazlauskas over Nathan Fernandes/Dave Zhu, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 49 and # 50 Ranked Teams respectively!  Mike: 1 Ace on Nate in the 1^st Set; and Dave: 1 Ace on Mike in the 2^nd Set!

It looked like an attacking game in this match and all players got to do well on many points.  Mike missed a few at the net, but did well on his serves and rallies.  Lou was expressive in his shots and so was Dave.  Nate played his consistent game with plenty of running to get shots that were hit fiercely taking him off of the court.

Nathan Fernandes/Dave Zhu leading Kris Srinivasan/Jordan Bachvaroff, 3-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.  The last game mattered as it put Nathan and Dave into the leading position...:-).

Overall, it was quite an active night with three of the four courts at out disposal.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting and his colorful and comprehensive reporting.  I again thank all those who made contributions to this report.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

 

9/13 Results.

9/13/16:

"Mole-Santos, W2 Final part of 25 at C.G.!:

There was just one session of GTA Tuesday Tennis: the usual session (but it got an earlier than usual start) up at The Cedar Grove Courts as it began with a 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "Stealth" Omar Santos (details provided by Omar) and then later hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara with some assistance from "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

The Main Event of the evening was the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament Final Match featuring GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley teaming with "Spicy" Sally Pillay to take on "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan.  The winning team would not only win the tourney, but also be crowned the New GTA Women's Doubles Champions.

Before we get to how the evening portion of the session unfolded, let's first report that earlier score of the Mole-Santos match.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Omar Santos over Mike Mole, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), to become both the New # 22 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 10 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  Mike: 5 Aces in the 2nd Set!

The Stealth Report: We played at the old courts down the road.  We started playing around 3:30 pm and finished the match at 5pm.  I took command of the 1st Set which ended at 4pm.

In the 2nd Set, Mike started hitting his big serves and aced me a lot.  I still took a 5-2 lead because of his errors and me winning most of the long rallies.  He made a big comeback to take a 6-5 lead using his big serve and penetrating ground-strokes, but I held serve to force a Tiebreak and luckily won the match.

Samara's Notes: First off, I congratulate Omar on that impressive victory.  And second, I thank him for providing us with such a comprehensive report.  If Mole has constantly been in the conversation of likely Nominees for Most Improved Player of The Year at season's end, then certainly Santos should be in it as well.

Let's now recap all that transpired up at Cedar Grove later in the evening.

Samara pulled into the parking lot at 6:45, just as Capan was doing the same.  On Court One, there were two outsiders (somewhat older gents) playing a full 2 out of 3 Sets Singles Match against one another.

On Court Two, "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff was hitting against both "The Great" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan.  Gen soon joined them to make it a foursome.

The bad news was out on Court Three and Court Four as The Pickle Ballers were back!  There were signs on every gate along the fences that The Ballers would be back every Tuesday night from 6pm to 7:30.

At 6:50, "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto arrived and joined Samara on the bench alongside Court One.  With the weather as beautiful as it was, he was happy to be patient and just wait for another court to open. 

Five minutes later, "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues also made his way to the bench.  We soon learned that the four ladies ("Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "C.A.T." Christine Toth and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson) who all connected via e-mail to play their own Women's Doubles Match at 6:30 had to take their match to the two courts down the road once they got court-blocked by The Ballers.

Also arriving at the same time as Rodrigues was someone we had not seen at The Cedar Grove Courts since last autumn, "The Rain Maker" Richard Reicht.  For the moment, all he could do was become part of the ever-growing logjam.

At 7:05, Kris came across the street right at the same time that Laura arrived.  She approached the Pickle Ballers as she knew one of them (the name escapes me at this time).  Laura then said we were actually fortunate that the Ballers were only occupying two of the courts as their permit gives them the right to all four if they want and need them! 

As we were having this discussion, "The Natural" Natalie Guzman arrived at 7:10.  It turns out that this same lady who had been talking to Laura had been a Cedar Grove High School coach of Natalie's.

Things soon started to look up, however, when The Ballers made their exit at 7:25 which freed up Courts Three and Four.  As our players rapidly headed out there, the next wave of GTA competitors would soon arrive and lead to the second logjam of the night.

As all this was happening, the four ladies who had played Doubles down the road returned...but they were not anxious to step out on the courts as they had just played and wanted to give others the chance to do so.

Reicht and Guzman started hitting with one another on Court Three while Rodrigues and De Benedetto took one side of Court Four to hit against Srinivasan and Gawley on the other side of it.

At 7:35, "Coach" Dino Celis arrived and reported that he had started what was intended to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against "Lean" Dean Delgado at the courts down the road (they had also been court-blocked by The Ballers).  It instead ended up being an incomplete One-Setter as the sun sets early nowadays. 

Arriving at the same time as Celis were all the following players: GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "Rowdy" Rob Gawley, "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia, "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon (he was only there to watch the W2 Final) and Toker.

Fernanda took her time getting out to the courts mainly because she thought her partner Gen had not arrived yet (she could not see Capan playing tennis out on Court Two as her focus was only on Court Four).

Meanwhile, Gen was sensing that her services were now needed over on Four as that would be the court to host the W2 Final.  So Scott proposed a One-Point Tiebreak (as they had just went to 6-All in games).  While this was a good idea for getting Capan off that court in a timely manner, it negated the official status of the contest as a One-Point Tiebreak (even with all parties in agreement with the idea) cannot be allowed to stand as a fully complete result. 

So this one had to be filed under "Incomplete" along with the 5-All Celis-Delgado One-Setter and the 3-All Women's Doubles One-Setter (after a complete One-Setter) from down the road earlier in the evening.

At 7:50, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan headed over to the courts having just finished a run.  All she wanted to do was watch the action as well. 

Two more players only making cameo appearances were "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo (arriving at 8:10) and "T-Rez" Tommy Reszkowski (arriving at 8:15). 

Despite all the players who sat out of the action (including myself), we still ended up with an amazing total of 25 official competitors!  Oh, what a night!

The rest of the results:

Brenda Jordan/Christine Toth over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-3!  No Aces.

Brenda Jordan/Christine Toth tied with Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 3-3 (Incomplete when they ran out of sunlight)!  No Aces.

Dino Celis tied with Dean Delgado, 5-5 (Incomplete when they ran out of sunlight)!  No Aces.

Scott Bergenfeld/Sairaj Srinivasan tied with Jordan Bachvaroff/Genalin Capan, 6-6 (but Scott and Sairaj did win that 1 point Tiebreak...this still goes down as Incomplete)!  They got this one underway on Court Two at exactly 6:59.  At 7:23, it was tied 3-3.  It ended prematurely at 7:42.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalie Guzman over Dino Celis/Richard Reicht, 6-4!  Dino: 1 Ace on Natalie.  It was the official GTA Return of Richard Reicht.  This one got started on Court Three at 7:40.  The Nate/Nat combo were down 2-4 before taking four straight games for a nice comeback win that ended at 8:19.

Chris Chiaro/Rob Gawley over Joe Rodrigues/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-4!  Chris: 1 Ace on Joe; and Joe: 1 Ace on Chris!  This was contested on Court Two from 7:51 to 8:32.

W2 Tournament Final/GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Fernanda Toker/Genalin Capan, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to become the New 2-Time GTA Women's Doubles Champions and win the 2016 W2 Women's Doubles Tournament!  Laura: 1 Ace on Gen in the 1st Set.

1st Set: Fernanda held serve (Sally blew a volley for 15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, un-returned serve for 30-15, Sally blew an overhead for Double Game Point, Sally hit an awesome winning return to cut it to Game Point, but then another un-returned serve earned the hold), Laura held (Gen hit a winner for Love-15 and then Sally hit a winner for 15-All, then 30-15 where a corner Ace on Gen brought it to Double Game Point where another un-returned serve secured the hold), Genalin held (un-returned serve for 15-Love and then Laura blew a volley to make it 30-Love, but then Laura hit a winning volley for 30-15 and the shift was on all the way to Break Point, but then Sally blew a volley to bring it to Deuce and then Gen hit a winning volley to set up Game Point where Laura blew an overhead to allow the hold) and then Sally was the first to be broken (Love-15 where Laura blew a volley for Love-30 and then Gen hit a winning volley to set up Triple Break Point, but then an un-returned serve cut it to Double Break Point and then Laura hit a passing shot winner to bring it down to Break Point, but then a Double Fault dashed any hopes of a hold) to fall behind 1-3.  From there, Toker held again (un-returned serve for 15-Love and then Sally blew an overhead to make it 30-Love where then Laura blew a volley to set up Triple Game point and then Gen hit a winning volley to make it a Love hold for her partner), Gawley was broken (back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-Love, but then Gen hit a winning Backhand Volley to cut it to 30-15 where another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point only to have Laura blow an overhead to bring it to Game Point and then Laura blew a volley to make it Deuce where then Sally blew an overhead to set up Break Point where Sally then blew another overhead for the break) and Capan held again (un-returned serve for 15-Love, then Gen blew an overhead for 15-All where Laura hit a winning net-cord volley to make it 15-30, but then Sally blew a volley for 30-All, it was then Game/Set Point where Sally hit a winning Overhead Smash to bring it to Deuce where Gen then hit an amazing winning volley to set up the 2nd Game/Set Point where Laura then blew an overhead to allow the hold) to take the set!  This set and match got underway on Court Four at 8pm and this one ended at 8:26.  Two minutes later, they would start the next one.

2nd Set: Laura was broken (Laura blew a volley for Love-15, it then went to Love-30, 15-30 where Sally blew an overhead to make it Double Break Point and then came the break), Genalin was broken (Sally hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, it was Love-30 where Laura hit a passing shot winner to set up Triple Break Point, then it was Double Break Point where Gen blew an overhead to break herself), but Sally was the first to hold serve in this set (un-returned serve for 15-Love and then Gen blew a volley to make it 30-Love only to have Laura hit a hellacious winning volley to set up Triple Game Point, but a Double Fault then made it Double Game Point which was where Gen blew an overhead to allow the hold) for 2-1.  Fernanda was broken (Sally blew a volley for 15-Love, but then Laura hit another vicious winning volley to make it 15-All and then the first truly awesome rally of the match ended with a winning Backhand Volley by Sally for Double Break Point and then Laura hit a passing shot winner to get the break), Gawley held again (Sally hit a heated volley for 15-Love and then Laura tried to best her with a similarly scorching volley for 30-Love, it was then 30-15 where perhaps the new best rally of the match...featuring several amazing gets by Fernanda, but ultimately all for naught...made it Double Game Point, but then Laura blew an overhead to cut the lead to Game Point and then Sally blew an overhead to make it Deuce, but then an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then Laura secured her own hold with a winning Overhead Smash) and Capan was broken again (Love-15 where Gen hit another winning drop shot volley for 15-All and then it was 15-30 where another excellent and extended rally would end with a venomous volley by Sally to make it Double Break Point and then Laura scored with a winning passing shot return for the break) as now it was her team falling to 1-5.  It seemed the first two sets would be an even trade, but then Pillay was broken (started with a Double Fault and then another amazing rally would end with one of Gen's best winning volleys of the night to make it Love-30 and then it was Triple Break Point where Gen would score with yet another of those winning drop shot volleys to make it a Love break) and Toker then held (Sally blew a volley for 15-Love, but then she redeemed herself with a blazing passing shot return for 15-All and that was where Fernanda would hit one of her famous winning get/lob combos to make it 30-15 where Sally then blew a volley to set up Double Game Point and then Gen hit a winning volley to secure her partner's hold) as her team pulled to 3-5.  Then The Aura rose to the occasion with her second straight hold (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love, 30-Love, then Triple Game/Set Point and another actual un-returnable serve to get the Love hold, take the set and even the match) to level things and increase the drama at 8:56!  Like the last time around, the next set would get underway two minutes later.

3rd Set: Fernanda held (Gen hit another awe-inspiring winning volley for 15-Love, it was then 15-All where Laura blew a volley to make it 30-15 and then a lengthy rally led to Double Game Point where Sally blew a volley to allow the hold), Laura held (a winning Overhead Smash by Laura for 15-Love, it was 15-All where another marathon rally took place and ended with a blown volley by Gen to make it 30-15 and then Sally hit an awesome and reactionary slam-dunk style winner while poised near the net to set up Double Game Point where Laura then came through with her own winner for the hold), Genalin held (Fernanda hit another one of her infamous get/lob combos for 15-Love and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love where Sally then blew a volley to make it Triple Game Point, but then Laura had winning volley to cut it to Double Game Point where another un-returned serve locked down the hold) and Sally held (another wild rally ended with yet another sizzling net-cord volley winner by Laura to make it 15-Love and then Laura hit another winning volley for 30-Love, but then she blew a volley to cut the score to 30-15 where Sally hit a passing shot winner to make it Double Game Point and then came the hold) as all were on serve in this set at 2-2!  Toker was the first to be broken (Love-15 where Sally hit an awesome winning return for Love-30 and then another seesaw rally made it 15-30, then it went to Double Break Point and then Break Point where Laura hit a passing shot winner for the break) to lose the lead at 2-3.  And then came the lengthiest and most pivotal game of the match with Gawley on serve as Sally blew an overhead for Love-15 and then Gen hit a winning lob for Love-30, but then Sally replied with a sizzling winning volley for 15-30, it was then 30-All where Gen hit a winning Backhand Volley for Break Point, but then Laura hit a winning volley of her own to bring it to Deuce only to have Gen hit another winning volley to bring it back to Break Point and it then went to 2nd Deuce only to have Gen hi another winning volley for Break Point again, but then she blew a volley to make it 3rd Deuce and then she blew another volley to set up Game Point for the opposition, but then came Gen's redemption moment with an awesome passing shot return winner for the 4th Deuce where Sally hit a big-time winner of an Overhead Smash to set up Game Point which was where Gen blew a volley to allow the hold as the opposition went up 4-2!  From there, Capan was broken (Sally blew an overhead for 15-Love and then Fernanda hit a winner for 30-Love, but then Gen blew a volley to make it 30-15, it was then 30-All where a great get by Fernanda led to an error from the opponents to allow them to go up Game Point, but then Laura hit a blistering passing shot winner to make it Deuce and then came a Double Fault to bring it to Break Point and then came the break) and then Pillay held again (Laura hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, it as 15-All where Laura hit a winning volley for 30-15 and then the last great rally of the match ended with an excellent winner by Sally to set up Double Game/Match Point which was where Laura blew an overhead to make it Game/Match Point, but then she redeemed herself with a winning volley for the win) for the come-from-behind victory to seal the deal, take the tournament and reclaim the gold!  This match finished at 9:35.

The Skinny: This was an awesome match which was better than the topsy-turvy scoring may indicate.  In the 1st Set, it seemed that both Laura and Sally were too "amped up" as each made several errors...often drilling would-be winners into the net (while also sailing some long as well).  Meanwhile, Fernanda did her "Cool Hand Luke" thing along the baseline making great gets as if they were commonplace while her partner Gen was the steady hand at the net as many shots fired at her by the opposition would simply be blocked back as winning volleys. 

For the 2nd Set, Gawley/Pillay switched up both their service sides of the court and their return of serve sides...and it all seemed to fall into place from there as they also switched up their overall philosophy. Going against their normal style of play and swinging away, they intentionally fell back a bit and started to play the game of their opposition (extended rallies featuring looping lobs, etc.).  The strategy worked!

In the 3rd Set, Toker/Capan decided to switch up their service sides (while maintaining their return of service sides) in an attempt to shake things up a bit.  It almost worked.  In the aftermath of what seemed to be such a solid victory for Laura and Sally, it is easy to forget how close this last set was.  Had Fernanda and Gen got the break back (after Toker was broken) in that marathon game against Gawley's serve, it would have been 3-3 rather than 4-2 and this one may have gone the difference...with a different result.

Samara's Notes: Congratulations to both Laura and Sally on an impressive and hard-fought victory!  Also, kudos need to be offered up to both Fernanda and Gen on such a fine effort as well.

The Consequences: Since there are no Former Champs in this scenario, Gawley/Pillay are now free to defend their newly-won Titles against any team already ranked in the Women's Doubles Division.

Lou La Forgia/Kris Srinivasan over Marijus Kuzavas/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4!  Lou: 1 Ace on Jordan.  This one took place on Court One from 8:03 to 8:56.

Nathan Fernandes/Joe Rodrigues over Chris Chiaro/Rob Gawley, 6-4!  Joe: 1 Ace on Rob; and Rob: 1 Ace on Joe!  This battle was waged on Court Two from 8:36 to 9:26!  Once Joe and Rob both left, this enabled Chris and Nate to face off in a Singles One-Setter...which we will get to later.

Lou La Forgia/Kris Srinivasan over Marijus Kuzavas/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-1!  Lou: 2 Aces (one on each)!  Court One hosted this one from 8:45 to 9:15.

Lou La Forgia/Kris Srinivasan over Dino Celis/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-2!  No Aces.  Again, Court One was the scene of the crime as the action took place from 9:25 to 9:50.  After this, Dino and Kris hit with one another for the remaining time.

Nathan Fernandes leading Chris Chiaro, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm with Nate on serve having just blown Match Point by dumping what should have been a certain winning volley into the net a la Andy Roddick at that Wimbledon Final against Roger Federer some years back and it had then gone to Deuce when it all went black)!  No Aces.

What a way to end such an eventful night...with a cliffhanger!  Had Nate sealed the deal while he could, it would have been quite the One-Set Upset.  Was this One-Setter a preview of what is to come immediately following this year's Grove Cup Tournament?  Only time will tell.

All in all, it was a memorable session...one for the record books!    

All the best,
Frank Samara

9/12 Results

9/12/16:         

"2 play at RHP, Sally-Anna part of 18 at C.G.!":                                          

There were two sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis: a late afternoon one at Robin Hood Park (featuring "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, with Gen reporting), and the usual evening session…and it was a big one…at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with scores and commentary contributions also coming in from "Steady" Sally Pillay and "Automatic" Anna Mazur, the two participants in the remaining GAH6 Semifinal Match which had been started on a previous date).

Before we go to the report from Kris (with the additional information from Sally and Anna along the way), let's first get the RHP recap from Gen.

The RHP Result:

Genalin Capan over Mike Mole, 7-6 (7-4)!  Mike: 1 Ace. 

Mike Mole and I started hitting at 4:15 at RHP. We then played a One-Setter from 4:45 to 5:45. 

Mike had early leads at 2-0, 3-1 and 3-2.  I got it to 3-3.  Mike took the next 2 games for 4-3 and 5-3. Mike was then serving for the match.  I saved the 1st Match Point and then broke Mike on serve to extend the set to 4-5.  Then I saved 2 more MPs and held my service game to level it at 5-5.  Mike held easily at 40-15 then hit a 2nd serve Ace for 6-5.  On my serve, it went Love-30, 15-30, 30-All, 30-40 (MP#4), Deuce, Ad-In/Game Point for 6-6 to take us into the TB!

In the TB, I took the leads 3-0, 4-1, 5-2.  Mike got it closer at 5-4.  I won both my serves for 7-4 to take the win.  It was a tight set.  Mike was serving well and his 2nd serves were just as good as his 1st serves. Today I was able to do a better job of returning his 1st serves.  We had a couple of multiple Deuce games.  There was one of my service games that went to at least 8 Deuces.  It was a hard-fought battle and I managed to save 4 MPs and then go on to win it in the TB. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her comprehensive reporting.  It sounds like a definite Nominee for One-Set Specialty Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

And now we head up to Cedar Grove to let The K take it away!

The Cedar Grove Results:

GAH6 Semifinal Match:

Sally Pillay over Anna Mazur, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Finals of the 6^th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Women's Singles Tournament! 

Sally's Spicy Dish: Anna and I finally got the match completed this night at CG.  We met at 6pm and warmed up with the help of Sairaj.  About 15 minutes later, the match was underway.  It was difficult to start the match at 4-3, but Anna held her own not feeling the pressure and was able to hold serve to tie it at 4-4.  I felt more of the pressure, since Anna had previously won the 1st Set and I knew I needed to take the 2nd Set to get it to a 3rd Set.  Anna was steady on her serve, and we both continued to hold our serve for the rest of the set until I was up, 6-5.  I was able to play a little more aggressively by attacking Anna's serve and was able to break her to take the 2nd Set, 7-5.

In the 3rd Set, Anna read most of my aggressive forehand shots very well and she played tremendously, defending well and increasing the rally points.  At 4-4, I was serving and Anna broke my serve at 30-40, after I was down Love-40, securing the break for 5-4.  Knowing that Anna was serving for the match, I tried to hold my focus by playing strong forehand shots and I was able to break her back at 15-40 to tie the set at 5-5.  We both held to take the 3rd Set to a Tiebreak.  Anna was up 3-1 in the Tiebreak, but I was able get back the mini-break and started hitting some aggressive shots to close out the Tiebreak at 7-3 and take the match.  Overall, it was a great match that went the distance with many long rallies.  This match could have gone either way.

Samara's Notes: First, I thank Sally for her comprehensive report (Anna reported the score as well) and also congratulate her on a very impressive comeback victory.  I also offer major kudos to Anna who has once again extended another opponent (Evonne Tan was the first, earlier this season) to such a degree that the match has to be considered a definite Nominee for Women's Singles Match of The Year.

Now Pillay advances to The Finals to face "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.  This match will have to wait a little over three weeks as Toker is about to leave for a vacation.  She should not be penalized by having to withdraw from the Final as she had played all her tournament matches heretofore in a very timely fashion and had been patiently waiting for the conclusion of the Pillay-Mazur match.  And it is the Final, so we definitely do not want to have a forfeiture/bye type situation after coming this far.  This sounds like a match that will end up being worth the wait.

We now turn this report over to Kris who will first chime in with his opinion on the match above before he details all the other GTA action that took place up at Cedar Grove.

The women continued from where they left off in their Semifinal Match and it was a marathon battle indeed.  It could have been anyone's match, but Sally managed to win by the skin of her teeth.  Anna was gracious at the end, but she can certainly feel good in giving a great match where she could have locked up the win.  It was a determined Sally that helped her edge it out over Anna.  It was nice of Anna to come to play the match here and this match helped highlight the night's proceedings.

It was a hectic night of GTA Tennis in Cedar Grove with all the courts at the disposal of our players. There was continuous and constant action starting early and going all the way to the mandatory finish time.  We got to see great matches: Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Kevin Doyle/Laura Gawley over Joe Rodrigues/Dawn Peterson, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 30 and # 31 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces (apparently).

It was a good tussle and certainly looked like a close match.

Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Anna Mazur, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff over Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3!  Mike: 1 Ace on Chris!

We were leading 3-2 before an onslaught of fast-paced shots and placements by Chris turned the match around.  Good aggressive play by Chris nicely supported by Jordan put us on the back pedal.

Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Raj Boddu, 6-3!  Mike: 1 Ace on Jose.

Great serving by both Kaz and Jose and with a lot fewer unforced errors, it was a cinch for us.

Jose Gonzales/Raj Boddu over Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3!  Mike: 2 Aces on Jordan; and Jordan:  1 Ace on Mike!

Jose and Boddu both stepped up their serves as Mike's dropped.  There were some great gets by Jose that won them critical points.

Lou La Forgia/Dennis Cabanatan over Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

It was a battle between the "Lefties" against the "Righties" in which the lefties proved to be the more dynamic duo.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Lou La Forgia/Laura Gawley over Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-4, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 32 and # 33 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces (apparently).

From Lou's feedback, it was a great match and it appeared to end on a satisfying note.  It was 5 sets in all for Laura for the night!

Rob Gawley/Natalia Sout over Ryan Pienciak/Kevin Doyle, 6-4!  Rob: 7 Aces (4 on Kevin and 3 on Ryan)!

Rob was apparently scoring Aces with his drop serves.  I believe he requested the opponents to stay back on the baseline...hahaha.!

Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu over Chris Chiaro/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (7-4)!  Raj: 1 Ace on Jordan; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Raj!

We were leading 5-2 when a combination of sloppy shots from us and solid shot-making by both Chris and Jordan took the match to the distance before we sealed the deal without suffering the agony of a painful loss...:-).  Earlier, Raj had some amazing returns of serve that helped break Chiaro on a couple of his services. 

Overall, it was an action-packed night with quite a few full matches happening!  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting and his colorful and comprehensive reporting.  I again thank all those who made contributions to this report.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

 

9/11 Results

9/11/16:

"Samara hosts 7 at AP, Rizzo hosts 4 at NTC, Kris hosts 8 at C.G.!:

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual morning one at Albion Park in Clifton (hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara), a late afternoon/early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club (hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo) and then the usual night session at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan).

And now for how the session at Albion unfolded.

Samara pulled up to the curb at 10:35.  Down on the courts, he saw a hitting session going on between "DC3" David Cardenas and "Big George" Jorge Solano on the North Court.  And on the South Court, "Big Returns" Ralph Bernard was practicing his serve alone. 

So Samara stepped onto South Court to enter into a hitting session with Bernard.  Ralph told Frank he had arrived at the courts at 10:30.

At 10:45, a couple of adult guys and a bunch of young children took over Center Court (and had one of the mommies watching).  Suddenly, balls were being "shanked" in both directions.

When nobody else arrived by 11am, Frank and Ralph decided to shift over to the North Court to face Jorge and David in a Doubles One-Setter.  Thankfully, "The Family Affair" then shifted over to the South Court to put some distance between the two camps.

At 11:20, "The West Wing" Rick Pienciak arrived and took the bench to watch the action in progress on the North Court.  Five minutes later, his son "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak also made his way to that bench.  They both watched for a while before deciding to take Center Court to hit with one another.

When that initial One-Setter ended exactly at 11:47, both Ralph and David had to leave.  Jorge was ready to head home as well, but The Pienciaks pleaded with him to stay as we needed him to at least have a foursome for some more Doubles.  Thankfully, Solano stayed on for one more.

That next one got going at 11:50.  Five minutes later, a young couple that we often see at Albion took Center Court to hit with one another.

"Coach" Dino Celis made his arrival at 12noon and he watched the action on Court One from the sidelines.  He would have to wait a while as the second One-Setter of the day was a long one.  It went to a Tiebreak and did not finish until 12:42.  Solano was now able to leave.

Both Frank and Rick felt like they needed a bit of a breather, so Ryan and Dino started hitting with one another on the North Court.  Then, at 12:52, The Pienciaks had a new set of opponents: Celis/Samara.

A little after 1pm, "MC" Mike Carucci arrived with a bucket of balls to practice his serve.  He was going to set up shop on Center Court (the young couple had already left), but then "The Family Affair" also left (disgusted as they thought someone in our crew stole the soccer ball that they left at the fence near the entrance gate...by the way, there is already a fall session of farm or little league baseball now taking place in Albion Park).  So Mike then shifted to the South Court for his solo practice.

When the third Doubles One-Setter of the day ended exactly at 1:24, everyone was exhausted (although quite windy, the temps were still very hot and the humidity did not quite break the way the weather forecasters had predicted it would).  So Carucci never got the chance to get involved in any official action, but he seemed OK with it as he stated he really just wanted to practice anyway.

And, thus, we only had a total of seven official competitors for the session.

Let's now get to all the Albion action!

The AP Results:

Frank Samara/Ralph Bernard over Jorge Solano/David Cardenas, 6-4!  Jorge: 1 Ace on Ralph.  It went like this: Jorge held serve (Ralph hit a drop shot winner for Love-15, but then Jorge hit two consecutive un-returned serves on the way to Double Game Point and then came the hold), Ralph held (three consecutive un-returned serves to make it Triple Game Point, then a Double Fault for Double Game Point, but then came the hold), but David was the first to be broken (Jorge hit a big-time Overhead Smash for 15-Love, but then there was a Double Fault for 15-All, an un-returned serve for 30-15, but then another Double Fault to make it 30-All, another un-returned serve to set up Game Point, but then an excellent and extended rally that was ended with an impressive drop shot winner from Frank for Deuce, Game Point again where Ralph made a nice get/winner combo for 2nd Deuce, then Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and then another Double Fault to break himself) to go down 1-2.  Frank held (Ralph blew a volley for Love-15 and then it went point for point to Break Point as there was an un-returned serve, a winning volley by David and a blown volley by Jorge along the way and then came Deuce where an un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Solano was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and David had a winning volley along the way, but on that B.P. it was Frank hitting a highly impressive passing shot winner for the break) to fall to 1-4!  But Bernard was also broken (Love-15 where Jorge blew a volley to make it 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Break Point where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Break Point, but then came the break) and Cardenas held (Love-15, un-returned serve for 15-All and then a Double Fault for 15-30, but then David made a nice get/winner combo for 30-All and then on Game Point he hit another un-returned serve to secure his hold) to pull to 3-4.  Samara was then broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point as Jorge made an amazing get/winner combo along the way and Frank blew a volley to set up that B.P. and then came the break) to knot the score at 4-4! But then Big George was broken again (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point as along the way David hit a winning Overhead Smash, Frank hit a very nice winning Overhead Smash and soon followed with another winning Overhead Smash, but then it went to Deuce where Jorge scored an impressive corner Ace against Ralph for Game Point, but then David blew a volley to make it 2nd Deuce, then Game Point again where David blew another volley to make it 3rd Deuce and then Frank hit a passing shot winner to set up Break Point, but then came 4th Deuce, Break Point again where Frank scored with a show-stopping volley for the break) and then Big Returns held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 where Ralph hit a winner on the way to the next shift which was to Game/Match Point where Jorge hit a winning volley to make it Deuce, then came the 2nd Game/Match Point, then 3rd Deuce and an un-returned serve for the 3rd Game/Match Point and then another un-returned serve to secure the hold) to seal the deal!  We played this one on the North Court from 11am to 11:47.

Frank Samara/Jorge Solano over Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  The dirty lowdown: Rick was broken (Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point, an un-returned serve for Double Break Point, then Break Point where another un-returned serve made it Deuce, then another Break Point where Frank hit a winning drop shot return) and Jorge held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point with three consecutive un-returned serves and then a 4th straight un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 2-0.  Ryan then held (an un-returned serve for 30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, Double Game Point and another un-returned serve for the hold) and Frank was broken (Rick hit a winner for Love-15 and then it went point for point to Break Point as Ryan blew two volleys along the way, but that break came before it could ever get to Deuce) to make it 2-2.  Papa Pienciak was broken again (un-returned serve for 30-Love, but then Frank hit a winner as it soon shifted to 30-All, then came Break Point and the break) and Solano held again (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All, but then onto Double Game Point as Frank hit another winning Overhead Smash along the way and then Frank whipped out his Windmill Overhead Smash to secure his partner's hold) for 4-2.  Son Pienciak held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love where Frank then hit a winning lob return for 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Game Point as Frank blew an overhead along the way, the hold came on Game Point) to pull to 3-4, but then Samara held as well (Love-15 where Jorge hit a winning volley for 15-All, but then it shifted to Double Break Point as Ryan hit a winner along the way, but then Jorge hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Break Point and then it went to Deuce where Jorge hit a spectacular winning volley for Game Point and then Frank hit a drop shot winner to lock down his own hold) to go up 5-3.  The West Wing held (un-returned serve for 30-Love, but then Frank hit a drop shot winner for 30-15 where an un-returnable serve made it Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold) and Big George was finally broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All right after Jorge hit an amazing reflex volley, but then he hit a Double Fault for Break Point where Ryan then hit a monster Overhead Smash for the break) as it was all leveled at 5-5!  The Lumberjack held yet again and this time it was at Love as Jorge blew a volley to make it 30-Love, an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point and then an un-returnable serve secured the hold to go up 6-5!  But Hollywood held again as well (Jorge hit an excellent winning volley for 15-Love, it was then 30-Love where Jorge blew a volley to make it 30-15, but then an un-returned serve set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) to force the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Rick was broken on his lone serve, Jorge was broken on the first of his two serves, but then hit an un-returned serve to go up 2-1.  Ryan held the first of his two serves, but then Rick blew a volley to make it 2-3.  Frank was broken on the first of his two serves as Ryan hit an excellent winner into the corner to make it 3-3 at the changeover.  Frank then held his second serve after hitting a drop shot to draw the error from Rick to make it 4-3 in his team's favor.  Papa Pienciak held his first serve after his son hit an awesome winning Backhand Volley for 4-4 and then an un-returned serve on the second service made it 5-4 as his team took their first lead in the TB!  But Solano held his first serve after hitting a winning Overhead Smash and then he held his second as well to set up 6-5 and Match Point with service going back to Son Pienciak who would then be broken as Frank made a great get that caught the opposition by surprise as all they could muster up was an error to end it!  We played this on the North Court as well and it lasted from 11:50 to 12:42!

Dino Celis/Frank Samara over Ryan Pienciak/Rick Pienciak, 6-1!  Rick: 1 Ace on Dino.  Here's how it went down: Rick was broken (started with a Double Fault and then Frank hit a winner for Love-30, it then shifted to 30-All where a wind-aided curveball of an Ace set up Game Point, but then Frank hit a winner for Deuce only to have Ryan hit a blast of an Overhead Smash for Game Point, 2nd Deuce and another Double Fault made it Break Point, then 3rd Deuce where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it Break Point once again and then came the break) and Frank held (a drop shot winner from Dino and an un-returned serve paved the way to Triple Game Point, then that lead was cut to Game Point, but then came the hold) for 2-0.  Ryan held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point as Rick hit a winning volley and then there was an un-returned serve along the way and then the rally of the match ended with a highly impressive passing shot winner by Ryan to secure his own hold) to get onto the scoreboard, but from there Dino held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All as there was an un-returned serve, a winner by Ryan and another un-returned serve along the way, but then it went to Game Point and the hold), Papa Pienciak was broken again (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, but then it shifted to 30-15 after Frank blew an overhead and there was an un-returned serve, then came a Double Fault for 30-All where Dino then hit a net-cord winner to set up Break Point and then Dino hit a highly impressive passing shot winner for the break), Samara held again (Ryan hit a whopper of an Overhead Smash for Love-15 and then it went point for point until 30-All as it was an un-returned serve, another winning Overhead Smash by Ryan and then another un-returned serve, but then it went to Game Point where Rick hit a winning return to make it Deuce only to have Frank hit a net-cord winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Ryan was finally broken (Frank hit a big-time Overhead Smash to set up Triple Break/Match Point, but then Ryan hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut it to Double Break/Match Point and then Rick hit a major Overhead Smash to reduce it to Break/Match Point only to have Dino hit a nice get/winner combo to end it) to get the "L!"  This one was also done on the North Court as it got underway at 12:52 and finished at 1:24.

We now head to Nutley for the scores from John. 

The NTC Results:

Senthil Kumar/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

John Rizzo/Nick Inciong over Senthil Kumar/Dan Hwang, 6-1!  No Aces (apparently).

Senthil Kumar/Dan Hwang over John Rizzo/Nick Inciong, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results.  And now we head up to Cedar Grove to let The K take it away!

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Michel Encarnacion, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 14 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Bergenfeld's rank in the Intermediate Division was not on the line since he is still active in the ongoing GTA Intermediate Title Tournament.  No Aces (apparently).

It looked even at the beginning when I was watching it before I went to the other side to hit the ball with Herb Reiner and my son Sairaj.

Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo over Scott Bergenfeld/ Felix Castolo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Tito got Scott with his drop shots.  Getting to the ball was no problem for Scott, but putting the ball over the net was.  He did get to play his signature forehand "whippers."  Felix was steady with hardly any unforced errors.

Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo over Dino Celis/Dan Martinelli, 6-1!  No Aces.

Tito did his magic!

Dino Celis/Felix Castolo over Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Dino's aggressive shots got the better of Tito as the pace of the shots overwhelmed his attempts to play soft.  It was a lesson from Dino as to how to play aggressively to "no-pace" shots.  All the drop shots didn't work either as Dino was charging in like an enraged bull!  Felix was pretty good (just like Tito) in getting back all the balls and his sliced overhead shots are a little different from the more fast-paced overheads of Tito's.

Scott Bergenfeld over Edwin Ortega, 6-4!  No Aces (apparently).

It looked like Edwin gave a nice scare to Scott!

Edwin Ortega/Felix Castolo leading Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  Edwin: 1 Ace on Spin!

The never-ending games meant a set that never properly ended as 40 minutes were not enough to complete it before the lights went out.  We missed out on so many opportunities to close a couple of games which could have saved time and also ensured a closure.  Full credit goes to Edwin and Felix for staying strong. Amazing effort from Spin, as always, running coast to coast and also going in for all the drop shots.

It turned to be a night of some decent action even though it was not planned.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, thanks to Kris for all he does for the GTA up at Cedar Grove.

All the best,
Frank Samara

9/9 Results

9/9/16:

"Frank/Kris host 10 at C.G.!:

There was just one session of GTA Friday Night Tennis: the usual later session up at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan. 

Let's now recap all that transpired up at Cedar Grove.

Samara pulled into the parking lot at 7pm.  On Court One, he saw the usual sparring partners "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner and Miroslav "Mirav" Glavic having a hitting session. 

Court Two was vacant.  On Court Three there was a Doubles One-Setter already in progress between the teams of "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan/"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Benedetto/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan.

And on Court Four, a hitting session was going on between "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff and "Magic"  Matt Meillon.  Jordan eagerly invited Frank to come hit with them, but Samara needed to get situated first and caught up with all the action.

At 7:05, Kris came across the street and that brought Samara off the bench as both of them headed onto Court Four to get some Doubles action underway.  It looked like it was going to be Srinivasan and Bachvaroff going up against Samara and Meillon.

But when GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro arrived at 7:10, Samara decided to let him take his place in the coming One-Setter instead.

At 7:35, a couple that we have seen numerous times at the courts took Court Two for a hitting session with one another.  At the same time, "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar trailed them onto the courts but was able to get involved in the hitting session with Reiner and Glavic.  Within ten minutes, he'd be invited by Kris to take his place in the next Doubles One-Setter on Court Four.

By this time, the opening Mixed Doubles One-Setter on Court Three had concluded and Sairaj had decided to head home.  At this time, Samara was invited to take his place and they got the next one underway at exactly 7:37.

At 8:05, both Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan and "Instant" Moka Pathan arrived.  Five minutes later, so did  "Rowdy" Rob Gawley. 

We also ended up having cameo appearances made by GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley, "Mr. 500" Levy Lorenzo and "Coach" Dino Celis. 

Due to the high humidity, rain occurring in certain nearby areas (while all we had was a brief and light drizzle...until later in the session), we ended up with a somewhat light total of just 10 official competitors!

The Cedar Grove Results:

Vinnie De Benedetto/Genalin Capan over Sairaj Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got started on Court Three somewhere around 6:55 and it ended exactly at 7:32.

Kris Srinivasan/Jordan Bachvaroff over Chris Chiaro/Matt Meillon, 6-2!  Kris: 1 Ace on Matt.  This one got underway on Court Four exactly at 7:14.  Chiaro/Meillon were down 0-3 when Chris held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point) to get his team on the scoreboard, but then it went all the way to 1-5 before they could win one more game before taking the loss at 7:40.

Vinnie De Benedetto/Genalin Capan over Frank Samara/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Genalin was broken (un-returned serve for 15-Love, then it was 30-Love where Frank hit a winning passing shot volley for 30-15, then it was 30-All where Vin hit a winning volley of his own to set up Game Point, but then Frank made a great get in the next point that led to it going to Deuce, then Break Point and another un-returned serve for 2nd Deuce and still another one for Game Point, but then 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce where Doinks made a great get that led to her team getting the point to make it Break Point and then came the break) and then the light misty drizzle started just as the next game with Doinks on serve got underway as she got off to a Love-30 start after Frank blew a volley, it then went to 15-30, then Double Break Point where Vin hit a winning volley for the break), but Vinnie was the first to hold serve (Frank hit a drop shot winner for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Point and then Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to cut the lead to Game Point, but then an un-returned serve secured the hold) to go up 2-1.  Frank was broken (Frank hit a winner for 15-Love, then it went to 15-All and a Double Fault for 15-30, then Frank hit a drop shot winner for 30-All, but then it went to Break Point and the break) and Capan held (Vin hit a winning volley for 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 and Double Game Point where Vin hit an even more amazing winning volley to lock down his partner's hold) to go up 4-1.  Srinivasan was broken again (Vin blew a volley for 15-Love, but then it was straight to Double Break Point as Vin hit a very impressive winning Overhead Smash along the way, but then he blew a volley to make it Break Point, but then Frank blew a drop shot attempt to allow the break) to fall to 1-5!  But then De Benedetto was broken (Frank hit a winning volley for Love-15 and then it was off and running to Triple Break Point right after Gen blew a volley and then Doinks made a great get/winner combo to make it a Love break) and Samara held (Love-15 then point for point to 30-All which was right after Doinks hit a winning lob, but then she blew a volley to set up Break/Match Point, but then she redeemed herself with a winner to bring it to Deuce, but then Gen hit a nice winner of her own to make it the 2nd Break/Match Point, but then it went to 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5.  But then The S Bomber held again (Vin blew a volley for Love-15, but then they went right to Double Game/Match Point where Vin had his own moment of redemption as he hit the winning volley) to get the win!  We played this one on Court Three from 7:37 to 8:15.

Chris Chiaro/Matt Meillon over Senthil Kumar/Jordan Bachvaroff, 7-6 (8-6)!  Chris: 1 Ace on Senthil; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Matt.  Once again, Chiaro/Meillon got off to a 0-3 start.  They eventually fought back and brought this one to a Tiebreak.  In the Breaker, it was Match Point with Chris on serve down 5-6.  He held his first serve to level it at 6-6 at the second changeover.  On his second service, Chris hit a heated winning Overhead Smash to shift Match Point to his team's favor at 7-6.  In that last point (the 2nd M.P.), Senthil blew a volley to end this one in somewhat anti-climatic fashion.  Still, it was a great battle!  It got started on Court Four at 7:45 and ended at 8:30.  After this one, both Chris and Matt left. 

With everyone else either having left or only there to make cameo appearances, Senthil and Jordan then entered into a hitting session on Court Four.

Kris Srinivasan/Dennis Cabanatan over Moka Pathan/Rob Gawley, 6-4!  No Aces.  They got this one started on Court One at exactly 8:19.  Not sure when it ended as…

Frank and Dino both left the session at 8:40 to grab a bite to eat as Kris took over the hosting responsibilities for the balance of the session.  Ultimately, it would not be long as the rains that soaked the towns east of Cedar Grove earlier eventually made their way there as well.

Kris reported that Senthil was teaming with Dennis against Moka and Rob (with Laura watching) when the rain halted play and prematurely ended the session.

All the best,
Frank Samara

9/8 Result

"2 play at RHP, W2 Semi and Kuzavas-Shah part of 24 at C.G.!":

                                          

There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: a late afternoon one at Robin Hood Park (featuring "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, with Gen reporting), and the usual evening session…and it was a big one…at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, but with scores and commentary contributions also coming in from "Coach" Dino Celis and the two participants in the Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match featuring "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas versus "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah).

 

The other big match of the night at Cedar Grove was the last remaining W2 Semifinal Match between the teams of GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "Spicy" Sally Pillay vs. "C.A.T." Christine Toth and "Dominant" Dawn Peterson.

 

Before we go to the report from Kris now (with additional information added from Marijus, Raj and Dino along the way), let's first get the RHP recap from Gen.

 

The RHP Result:

 

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3!  Mike: 2 Aces (both on second serves)!

 

Gen's Notes: We hit from 4:30 to 5pm and then played from 5 to 5:30.  He took a 2-0 lead and then I leveled it at 2-2 and 3-3.  Mike held again and then I was broken.  He held again to close it out.  We had a couple of multiple Deuce games.  Mike was serving well.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely reporting of that action.  We now head up to Cedar Grove for the report from Kris.

 

A couple of tournament matches meant that an active session of GTA Tennis was on the line and indeed the place was swamped with tennis players galore in Cedar Grove.  It was all GTA as all courts were available for our players.

 

The Cedar Grove Results:

 

W2 Semifinal Match:

Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Christine Toth/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division while also advancing to the Finals of the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament!  In the process, Toth/Peterson entered the division as the New # 13 Ranked Team.  No Aces (apparently).

 

One of the earliest matches to start was the W2 Women's Doubles Match between Laura and Sally against Christine and Dawn.  In the very game that Laura served, Christine and Dawn drew blood by breaking her.  But an immediate regrouping by Laura and Sally ensured no further hiccups for the rest of the match.  It must be noted that it was extremely hot and muggy, definitely not suited for Dawn.  It meant that she couldn't serve as fiercely as she normally does or play her fast-paced shots.  Christine was her usual steady self returning balls and lobbing balls deep when Sally and Laura rushed to the net. 

 

Next up for Laura and Sally…the Final against Capan and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.

 

Grove Cup Quarterfinal Match:

Raj Shah over Marijus Kuzavas 6-7 (7-0), 6-3, 7-5, to become the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Marijus: 6 Aces (2 in the 1st Set, 1 in the 2^nd Set and 3 in the 3^rd Set)!  Raj: 1 Ace in the 2^nd Set.

 

The Scoop from Super Mario: The 1st Set went 0-1, 1-1, 1-4, 2-4, 2-5, 5-5, 5-6, 6-6, 7-6.  We both were broken only once, although every game was very close.  Raj was playing great defense.  I was making too many mistakes at first, but after cleaning up my game, I was able to break him back.  At the end of this set, the humidity started taking its toll on Raj and his racquet became very slippery, so he changed the over-grip.

 

The 2nd Set went 1-0, 1-1, 3-1 and then to 3-6.  Starting the set, I felt I was in control until 3-1, but then my racquet became so slippery that it flew out of my hand during my serve.  This shook me up a bit.  I became too conscious about this and started making way too many mistakes.  This time it was my turn to change the over-grip.

 

The 3rd Set went 0-3, 3-3, 3-4 to 5-4 and then to 5-7.  It took me eight straight lost games to regain momentum.  I was serving for the match, but then started making too many mistakes again!

 

Overall, Raj played great smart defense.  He was running down every ball and I needed to be more patient than I was.  Congratulations to Raj!

 

The Sultan's Swing: The match was very competitive.  I was literally going to collapse if it went any longer.  Marijus has a blazing forehand and he hit a ton of winners in all the sets. 

 

I also think it was very sporting of Marijus to provide me a dampener and a grip for my racquet to ensure a fair and competitive match.  He truly is a gentleman on and off the court. 

 

The Say from The K: The Match of the Night indeed belonged to Marijus and Raj Shah.  In their match that started at 7:15, it was one of the best-contested I've seen and an absolute thriller as the match went the distance.  It certainly was anyone's match as at 3 minutes to 10pm, Marijus was serving to take the 3rd Set to a Tiebreak.  It certainly looked like the match would remain incomplete as there would not be enough time to complete the Tiebreak should it happen.  Well, Raj did what worked for him as the match progressed.  He sliced the balls effectively for great control and, also more importantly, brought the ball down below the knees of Marijus.

 

Famous for his attacking forehand shots, Marijus went for them time and again.  But without the right height, that meant a lot of shots going into the net.  Raj was able to break the serve of Marijus in the crucial game to win 7-5 in the 3rd Set with just a couple of minutes left before the lights were to go out.

 

It was an incredible win for Raj and a devastating loss for Marijus.  The fact that the two players hugged each other over the net after the match showed the respect they had for each other.  Raj, for playing valiantly to an aggressive Marijus who played some shots for winners, had felt that the match was so close that his calm play helped him to edge out Marijus.  This was one of the classics that will be in the books as a Nominee for what it was worth.

 

Raj did start off well leading 5-2 before Marijus put up a good fight, thanks to the egging from the sidelines from Sally.  It went to a TB that he will take out Raj. A drop in his level and with Sally away to play on the other side, Raj took control of the 2nd Set.  The 3rd Set turned out to be riveting and a nail-biter.  It was a tough loss for the big man, but he was magnanimous as always.  He even helped Raj regroup by offering a new grip for Raj who seemed to be having a slippery racquet.  He went even further to give Raj a dampener and, in the end, the match...:-).  It was a great match and congratulations to both the players for such a noteworthy performance.

 

Samara's Notes: It sounds like a definite Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end.  It may even be the match to beat!  Congratulations to Raj on one his biggest wins ever (perhaps the biggest), but also kudos to Marijus for such a spirited effort.  Next up for Raj in the Semis is someone he is very familiar with from a past Grove Cup – "Double R" Rob Ryan!

 

And now back to Kris we go.

 

There were plenty of matches all around and it is very likely some may get missed out on being included in this report if they were not given to me directly.

 

Jordan Bachvaroff over Scott Bergenfeld, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Scott was taken out by Jordan in the Singles One-Setter they played.  Away on vacation for a week, Scott was not feeling quite fit and it made Jordan's day.  Actually, the match was a lot closer but Scott certainly didn't feel good about his game as he felt sluggish.

 

Rob Gawley/Laura Gawley over Mike Kazlauskas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Raj Boddu/Levy Lorenzo over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Raj Boddu/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Dean Delgado/Natalia Sout over Jordan Bachvaroff/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Poor Dean had to wait a bit and got to play just one set, but he had his say even though there were some amazing shots by the kiddo.

 

Rob Gawley/Levy Lorenzo leading Kris Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 2-1 (Incomplete and on serve when

Levy's elbow acted up and he had to bow out)!  No Aces.

 

Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu over Dave Zhu/Rob Gawley, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Dave Zhu/Rob Gawley over Kris Srinivasan/Raj Boddu, 6-3!  Dave: 2 Aces on Kris; and Rob: 1 Ace on Raj!

 

It was great serving by Dave that saw some incredible serves both on the sidelines and the tee.  Rob played his deft and crafty game to make quite a few winners.  Boddu had great shots and gets, but his energy level dropped in the second One-Setter.  He was all set to go home after the first one, but stayed on to take advantage of the remaining 25 minutes.

 

Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan over Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout over Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

 

Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Mike Kazlauskas/Natalia Sout, 9-9 (STB)!

 

They couldn't finish the Super Tiebreak to decide the winners of what would have been a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match…so it ends up being separate One-Setters.  Well, they all felt like winners at the end.

 

Samara's Notes: That last Super Tiebreak, impressive as it is, has to be considered as Unofficial as we do not recognize stand-alone Super Tiebreakers.  The next score was reported directly by Dino, but Kris had some additional commentary as well.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Lou La Forgia/Dino Celis over Edwin Ortega/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-1, 6-1, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 47 and # 48 Ranked Teams respectively!  Lou: 1 Ace on Dennis in the 2^nd Set.

 

As Edwin put it, their death was swift, nice and easy.  It looked like the teams were not balanced well as Dino and Lou simply overpowered their opponents.

 

All in all, it was amazing tennis and the atmosphere was buzzing with non-stop GTA action in Cedar Grove.  Cheers!

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for hosting and his comprehensive reporting.  I also thank all those who made contributions to this report.

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

9/7 Results

9/7/16:         

"Dino hosts 4 at C.G.!":                                          

There was just one session of GTA Wednesday Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts (hosted by "Coach" Dino Celis as usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan did not play).

Kris reported that, much to his dismay, he saw The Verona Crew out there once again (even though we had been told that they should be gone by now) and he decided to just stay home.

So the lone result was sent in by Dino via text.  And here it is! 

The Cedar Grove Result:

Dino Celis/Ryan Pienciak over Lou La Forgia/Dan Martinelli, 6-4!  Spin: 1 Ace on Ryan.

Samara's Notes: I thank Dino for his timely reporting of this report.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara