6/2/17:
"Weldon-Patton in Roseland, Samara hosts 18 (1 new, 2 return) at C.G.!":
Well before "Hollywood" Frank Samara got to The Cedar Grove Courts for GTA Friday Night Tennis, he had received a text message from "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon about a session (just a match, actually) that had occurred in Roseland.
So before we break down all the comings and goings at Cedar Grove, let's first grab that score from Chazz.
The Roseland Result:
2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of the Sexes":
Chazz Weldon over MaryFrances Patton, 6-1, 6-0! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of MaryFrances Patton.
All That Chazz: We played from noon to 1:45. It was sunny and breezy. She wasn't interested in participating in the upcoming GTA MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament as Doubles is not her thing (she prefers Singles). She may, however, try to get qualified in time to enter the annual Women's Singles Tournament (aka the Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Tournament).
Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for his very timely reporting of that match. If "The General" is really back this time around to eventually compete in the Women's Division, then things just got a lot more interesting.
And now we detail how the Cedar Grove session unfolded.
Samara pulled into the parking lot and saw all four courts full (though that situation would be very brief) as on Court One he saw Miroslav "Mirav" Glavic hitting against both his buddy "The Ambidextrous Machine" Herb Reiner and "The Vin Man" Vinnie De Bendetto.
A young couple was leaving Court Two, so Samara started to make his way over to it to hold it for future GTA attendees while he continued to assess the situation.
On Court Three, there was some Mixed Doubles action as "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan teamed together to get some court time together to prepare for the upcoming MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament as they faced "Big George" Jorge Solano and "C.A.T." Christine Toth.
And on Court Four, it was some Singles action as "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar squared off against "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard (that new moniker is based off the fact that headhunting for the workplace is what he does for a living...though one errant after-shot later in the evening also served to earn that title). Bernard was hoping to make this a full 2 out of 3 Set Challenge Match so that he could return to the Advanced Division ahead of the upcoming Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament, but Kumar warned him early on that he would soon have to leave to pick up his daughter.
"Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived at 7:35 and took a spot on the bench alongside Court One. Soon after, De Benedetto extracted himself from the hitting session on Court One and then sat next to his M2 Men's Doubles partner, Spin.
At 7:45, Kumar had to leave while just halfway through what would have been the 2nd Set of a full match. Instead, we ended up with a complete Singles One-Setter followed by an incomplete one. Senthil called Frank over to that court to replace him and then Samara called out to both Martinelli and De Benedetto to join him and Bernard for some Doubles. Frank went onto suggest that Spin and Vin team together in order to get some practice together prior to the M2 (ah, be careful what you wish for...a theme for the day!).
At 7:55, an unfamiliar face showed up and took a place alongside the action on Court Three rather than take the now unoccupied Court Two. A few minutes later, he was joined by "Richie" Rich Liu and we soon found out it was another prospect from The Liu Crew who has already been on our mailing list - "Ravishing" Randy Doran! Samara then suggested they take Court Two and they soon followed that advice to begin a hitting session with one another.
Five minutes later, we saw two guys we haven't seen in a while...and one of them is named "Guy" (though it is pronounced as "Ghee"). It was Guy Dupoux and his pal Cliff Pierre-Louis. The last time we saw Dupoux, he was just getting over the loss of his father. Now, sadly, he told us that he has recently lost his uncle (his father's brother) as well. Often it is such tragic circumstances that take us away from the tennis courts...until the time comes to return to the courts to take us away from the lingering sense of tragedy.
Guy and Cliff took Court One (which had just become vacant after Herb and Miroslav just left it) for what would start off as a lengthy hitting session and then an eventual Singles One-Setter against one another.
Natalia "Nitro" Sout arrived at 8:05 and soon sat on the bench alongside Court Four. Five minutes later, she was joined by Santosh "Ever" Reddy. Not much later, Natalia would get to have a hitting session with Doinks on Court Two which was then joined by Santosh (by this time, Kris had invited Rich and Randy over to Court Three for some Doubles action while The K Man removed himself from that foursome...Jorge and Santosh would become the other two).
At 8:35, Kumar returned to the courts having already done what he needed to do for his daughter. There would be no chance to continue the Singles with Bernard as court space was now at a premium.
At 8:45, GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "Rowdy" Rob Gawley both arrived together. Ten minutes later, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan also hit the scene...though she first took a spot next to Natalia who was now back on the bench alongside Court Four (Sout never got involved in any official action).
That gave us a total of eighteen official competitors for the evening. And "Coach" Dino Celis arrived at 9:15 to make an extended cameo appearance.
Time to get to the scores!
The Cedar Grove Results:
Senthil Kumar over Ralph Bernard, 6-2! Ralph: 2 Aces; and Senthil: 1 Ace! Not sure when this one began or ended on Court Four as it went right into this next one.
Ralph Bernard leading Senthil Kumar, 3-2 (Incomplete when Kumar had to leave at 7:45)! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jorge Solano/Christine Toth, 6-3! No Aces. Not sure when this one got underway on Court Three (though it was already officially rolling by 7:30 when Samara arrived), but it finished at 8:15.
Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto over Frank Samara/Ralph Bernard, 6-2! No Aces. It went like this: Ralph held serve (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point as Vin blew an overhead and Frank hit a volley that became a net-cord-aided winner, the hold came on Game Point), Spin held at Love as he started things off with a great get and closed with a truly un-returnable serve, but Frank was the first to be broken in what was an epic battle (back-to-back blown volleys by Ralph made it Love-30, but then it went straight to Game Point as Frank scored with an excellent Backhand Volley winner along the way, but then Spin made another amazing get in the point that led to Deuce and then it was all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, Game Point where Frank blew a drop shot to bring it to 4th Deuce and then it was Break Point where Spin made yet another awesome get that became a lob winner for the break) for 1-2. Like his partner did earlier, Vinnie held at Love as Frank blew an overhead and there was an un-returned serve along the way and then Bernard was broken (Vin hit a winner on the way to Love-30, but that was where Frank scored with another blast of a Backhand Volley winner as it then shifted all the way to Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point and then the break) to fall to 1-4! Martinelli held again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and then the hold with two un-returned serves along the way) to take a commanding 5-1 lead, but Samara managed a hold (Ralph hit a winner for 30-Love, Spin made yet another great get that led to 30-15, then it was Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-5. But then De Benedetto held again (an un-returned serve and a blistering Backhand Volley winner from Vin led to Triple Game/Match Point, it was then Double Game/Match Point and Frank then hit a winner to cut it down to Game/Match Point, but that is where they finally got it done!) for what may have been an upset victory! We played this one on Court Four from 7:50 to 8:25.
The Skinny: Ralph had to adjust to Doubles as he considers himself to be more of a Singles player, but that does not take away from the excellent performance by Spin and Vin as they ready themselves for the M2. If they continue to play the way they did in this One-Setter, then it is their competition in said event that should be getting themselves ready!
Jorge Solano/Rich Liu over Santosh Reddy/Randy Doran, 6-4! Jorge: 1 Ace on Randy; Rich: 1 Ace on Randy; and Randy: 1 Ace on Rich! It was the official GTA Debut of Randy Doran. This one got underway on Court Three at exactly 8:27 and it ended at 8:57.
The Skinny: Like everyone else in The Liu Crew, Randy is a very nice guy and also a solid player. Mr. Liu said that he should not continue to receive full credit for heading up and putting together "The Liu Crew." He said that it was "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz that truly got the ball rolling for their get-together group.
It also must be noted that when retrieving the score from Solano, Samara asked who won and Jorge replied with a resounding "ME!" This got a good laugh from Spin who was next to him on the bench along with the others in the area at that moment. Perhaps "Big George" should now be known as "Big Me" (which was an excellent song by Foo Fighters, by the way).
Frank Samara/Ralph Bernard over Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 6-4! Spin: 1 Ace on Ralph. Here's how it went down: Spin was broken (Ralph hit a net-cord-aided return winner for Love-15 and then Kris blasted a wicked Backhand Volley winner for 15-All, but then it was on the way to Double Break Point as Frank hit both a winning Overhead Smash and then a truly impressive return winner, but then it went to Break Point and then an un-returned serve made it Deuce only to go back to Break Point and an unfortunately timed Double Fault to break himself) and Ralph held serve (15-Love, 15-All and then two un-returned serves led to Double Game Point, then Game Point and the hold) for a 2-0 lead. Kris held (two un-returned serves on the way to Triple Game Point which was then cut down to Game Point where Kris whipped out a whopper of a winner to secure his own hold), but so did Frank (Frank hit a whiplash blast of a winner and then Ralph hit a laser-like passing shot winner on the way to Triple Game Point only to see it get reduced to Deuce after Frank blew what should've been a sure overhead, but then came Game Point where Ralph unleashed another demonic winner to secure his partner's hold) for a 3-1 lead. Martinelli was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 where Kris hit a winning volley for 30-All and then Ralph hit a winner to set up Break Point and there came the break) while Bernard held again (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point as there was an un-returned serve, a winning volley by Frank and an outright excellent rally along the way, but then there was a Double Fault to cut it down to Game Point only to have Ralph score with another lightning strike of a winner to secure his own hold) to take what seemed like a fairly commanding lead. Srinivasan then held in a true struggle (started off with a Double Fault and that led straight to Triple Break/Match Point, it was then Double Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point where yet another un-returned serve made it Deuce, then it was Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and another un-returned serve to secure the hold as three MP's had just been saved!) to pull to 2-5! Samara was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then The Doc held at Love as he started off with a big corner Ace against Ralph and then Kris scored with an excellent Backhand Volley winner for 30-Love where another un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point where yet another un-returned serve secured the hold) to pull to 4-5! The Headhunter responded with a Love hold of his own as Frank hit a vicious volley winner and Ralph had a volley winner of his own on the way to Triple Game/Match Point which ended up becoming the fourth and final MP of the contest! We played this one on Court Four from 8:30 to 9:12.
The Skinny: Ralph found his game in this one and he scored with several forehand blasts (very often they were winners...and I may have lost track of some during the multi-Deuce games). What seemed to be an easy victory in the making soon became a very valiant effort on the part of The K Man and Spin Doc. But they fell just a tad short as The Hollywood Headhunters got their act back together just in the nick of time!
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Laura Gawley over Rob Gawley/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1, 6-4 as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 36 and # 37 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces. They played this on Court Two from 9pm to 9:55.
Guy Dupoux over Cliff Pierre-Louis, 6-1! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of both Guy Dupoux and Cliff Pierre-Louis. This was contested on Court One, but not sure of the official start and stop times due to a lengthy hitting session coming first and other action occupying my time along the way.
Santosh Reddy/Randy Doran over Rich Liu/Genalin Capan, 6-1! No Aces. They got this one underway on Court Three at 9:10. Not sure when it finished as they went right into another one where they switched up the teams. More on that one a bit later.
Frank Samara/Ralph Bernard over Kris Srinivasan/Jorge Solano, 6-2! No Aces. In order to save time, I did not note most of the winners...just some that were of note early on...and now for the lowdown: Jorge was broken (started with a Double Fault, 15-All then onto Double Break Point as Ralph hit a winner along the way, the break came on Break Point) and Ralph held (a blast of a winner by Ralph for 30-Love, but then it shifted to 30-All as Kris made a great get/winner combo along the way, but then an un-returned serve set up Game Point which was where Frank hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) for 2-0. Kris held (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold), but so did Frank (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for 3-1. Solano held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-3, but from there Bernard held again (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point, cut down to Deuce, Game Point again where Frank scored with his patented Windmill Overhead Smash to once again secure his partner's hold), Srinivasan was broken (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point, but then reduced to Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Samara held again (Ralph hit another one of those high-octane winners of his for 30-Love, then 30-15, Double Game/Match Point and it was on Game/Match Point where Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley to secure his own hold and seal the deal) for the win! We played this one on Court Four from 9:17 to 9:47.
The Skinny: While it may seem that Samara hit the most pivotal winners at the most opportune moments, it was Bernard who hit the vast majority of the winners in this one as he truly found his game and became stronger and stronger as the evening grew longer. The Headhunter is looking to get back into the Advanced Division prior to the Grove Cup where he may do some major damage!
Randy Doran/Genalin Capan leading Santosh Reddy/Rich Liu, 4-2 (Gen on serve up 40-30 when the lights went out at 10pm, Incomplete)! No Aces.
And that is how the night finished...but it seems that most of those still in attendance were not finished as we had quite a large bull session that ran all the way until 10:30! It was a fun way to end the evening.
One last note - as the day went into the late afternoon and then the evening hours, three more players came forward hoping to register a team for the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament. All three requests had to be denied despite the fact that it would have been great to have met the goal of 16 Teams overall (rather than the 13 we ended up with). Some of the pleas were quite heartfelt.
But once the brackets and the matches are announced and then the pairings of teams are put together to schedule their matches with one another, that cannot be undone. Forget it being unfair to me to have to redo the entire process...it is also not fair to all those involved. And some simply speculated that new teams could just be added in and matched up against the other new teams to not upset what was already done.
In fairness to the rest who had already registered, it does not work that way. When you construct a tournament format that is based on seeding, you cannot then just add in new teams and matches after the fact. And some even questioned the existing seeding system thinking it was still somehow subjective. I assure you that while it may not be a perfect system, it is completely objective and without bias.
So while I feel bad for those that did not make it in to the tourney, I restate that exceptions cannot be made. Because once you start making exceptions, deadlines and firm rules fall by the wayside. The reason being that they will always be challenged in the future as others will want similar exceptions to be made for them once that precedent becomes established.
In just about every e-mail where I provided updates to the registration lists for both tournaments, I almost always reminded everyone of the registration deadline. My advice to those who missed out as we move forward is to register early...even if you do not have a partner in mind yet. You can state that you are still seeking a partner on your own or you can choose to be paired with somebody who is in a similar position.
And, if it doesn't work out at all for you, you can even withdraw just prior to the deadline. I would rather deal with that scenario instead of having to turn away disappointed would-be participants. I'm not reading the riot act here...just providing some helpful advice for future events.
Thanks,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com862-596-3354
