8/24 Results.

8/24/17:

"Gonzales-Pathan in C.G. plus Panda forfeit to Daddio!":

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from both competitors in the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match between "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales and "Instant" Moka Pathan.  And that was it…nothing else!

Usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan was away.  And frequent back-up host, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was not there either.  I also was unable to attend the session.

It is very unfortunate that nothing else was reported as I'm willing to bet we likely had at least another dozen players there.  I have it on good authority that the evening before (GTA Wednesday Night Tennis) where we reported 12 official competitors, we actually had 22 or 23 of our players in attendance.

It is one thing if people just choose to engage in practice hitting sessions rather than play sets or matches.  That is understandable.  But when they are playing matches and then failing to report them, it is the league that suffers.  And it is particularly disappointing and disheartening when you consider the fact that if it wasn't for the league, many of these players would not even know one another.  And now they feel as if it is not worth their time or effort to report their match results to it…very sad.

To be fair, one of the newer players (I won't mention names) who played Wednesday night did try to report the action he was involved in…but he did not know the names of the other players.  At least the attempt was admirable.  The problem is that there were other players there who both know the names and know better as well.

I know I have been less involved in attending sessions this season (with valid reason…multi-faceted, actually, and most already know why…so I won't beat it to death), but I have not been less active in the administration of the league (save the occasional oversight on inactivity eliminations and the like).  So it would be very easy for me to give up and toss my efforts aside as well.

But I won't do that because there are also many others who are diligent in their reporting and offering of help in managing the sessions…which all helps the league run effectively.  It is their efforts that reinvigorate my own…and they already know who they are, but I thank them again here and now.

Speaking of unfortunate incidents, later in the evening on Thursday night, it was also revealed that "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda has been ill.  And as he has yet to recover, he feels that he cannot continue his in-progress Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match against "Daddy O" Paul Daddio (the conclusion of which had been scheduled for Friday night).

Because the match was actually started a couple of weeks ago (the 1^st Set was nearly finished when rain cut the match short), it cannot be handled as a simple withdrawal as some of the other matches in this Grove Cup tournament (and other similar tourneys) were.  Instead, it has to be handled as a forfeit rather than a withdrawal and Panda's rank will be lost to Daddio.

In the GTA when someone has to pull out of an in-progress match, the balance of the remaining games is then awarded to the other player (though we do note the forfeit).  And that is how this match will be listed below after the reporting of the Gonzales-Pathan match.

There was no GTA action at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "Hollywood" Frank Samara not only did a drive-by, but also a walk-up at 8:15 and saw that three of the four courts were in use…but none of our guys were there.

So we now get the lone actual result from Cedar Grove and then report the forfeited result as well.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Moka Pathan over Jose Gonzales, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Jose: 3 Aces; and Moka: 1 Ace!

Moka's Brew: We played from 6:05 to 7:25pm.  In the 1st Set, I went down 0-2 and again at 2-3, but then took three straight games to go up 5-3 and then take the set at 6-4.

In the 2nd Set, I went up 2-0 then it leveled at 2-2.  I then went up 4-2 and it leveled again at 4-4.  Finally, I took the set at 6-4.

Jose played well as he made me hit a lot of extra shots.  I had to adjust and play a slightly more conservative game.  It was a close match with a lot of multiple Deuce games that could've easily gone either way.

Jose has his say: I played as hard as I could, but Moka was the better player.  He was firing on all cylinders.  I hope he goes on to win the tournament.

The Consequences: Pathan advances to the Quarters where he will face the most recent Former GTA Champ: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.

Samara's Notes: I thank Moka and Jose for submitting their result in such a timely and comprehensive manner.     

Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match:

Paul Daddio over Nihar Panda, 7-5 (Panda was up 5-4, but then forfeited the balance of the match), 6-0, to become the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the 20^th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  No Aces.

The Consequences: Daddio advances to the Round of 16 where he will face "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport.  And we hope that Panda can recover in time to challenge GTA Intermediate Champ: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar for his Title by the August 31^st deadline.  Nihar is the Top Contender entitled to the next shot by virtue of his winning the 2017 GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/23 Results.

8/23/17:

"Toker-Pillay in R.P., 4 play at PAC, 12 play (1 new) at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: an evening one at Votee Park in Ridgefield Park and it featured the GAH7 Semifinal Match between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay (as reported by both Fernanda and "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas); an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Re-Match as reported by "Richie" Rich Liu; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.

The as-scheduled Main Event, the Grove Cup XX Round of 32 Match between "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah and "Teej" T.J. Shah did not happen as Raj was a late arrival.  It will instead be played this coming Saturday in the morning which is their final deadline as "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda and "Daddy O" Paul Daddio will finish their in-progress Round of 32 Match the night before (Friday).

So we will first get the GAH7 Semi score and details from both Marijus and Fernanda, then the result reported by Rich and finally we will head up to Cedar Grove for the rest.

The Votee Park Result:

GAH7 Semifinal Match:

Sally Pillay over Fernanda Toker, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, to become the New # 4 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Finals of the 7^th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Tournament!  No Aces.

The Super Mario Memo: Fernanda was, as always, a human wall returning every ball and digging the balls out from one corner and then the other one.

The 1st Set went 0-1, 1-5, 2-6.  Sally was a bit anxious and impatient, attacking the ball early and making the mistake on her first or second shot.

The 2nd Set went 0-4, 2-5, 5-6 and shifted to the Tiebreak and 7-6.  Fernanda had Match Point at 2-5, then another at 4-5, then 2 more at 5-6 and still 2 more in the Tiebreak at 6-7 and 7-8, but each time Sally dug in and fought back.

At 0-4 Sally, in my opinion, relaxed and made some crucial adjustments.  She accepted the reality of longer rallies and started constructing her points much better.  This, somehow, turned the match around.

The 3rd Set went 0-2, 2-3, 6-3.  This was pretty much a continuation of what we saw at the end of the previous set.  Every game went the distance...some to multiple Deuces.

Overall, this was an impressive performance by both players.

Toker's Take: I had six Match Points and couldn't close out the match!  Sally played well during the big points.  The match was three hours long, so it was very tough with a lot of Deuce games...but it also was a lot of fun.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Marijus and Fernanda for their timely and detailed reporting.  I congratulate Sally on a very impressive victory and also offer kudos to Fernanda for her spirited effort.  This is a very likely Nominee for Women's Singles Match of The Year at season's end.  If we flipped the 2^nd Set and 3^rd Set scores, I would confidently bet that it would be the match to beat.

Sally now awaits the winner of the other Semifinal, "J-Wow" Janice Wang versus "Automatic" Anna Mazur, which is set to be played sometime next week.  And then the winner of the GAH7 Tournament will challenge GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley for her Title.

We now head to Nutley to get the result from Rich.

The PAC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Re-Match:

Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Fausto Murg, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 44 Rank in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.   

The Richie Rich Rundown: Keith and Arun again dominated in another straight-set win.  They were down 0-2 and after that cruised the entire way.  It seems Fausto and I got something in their heads after losing some and couldn't come back.  I did break my strings and had to use a replacement racket.  Maybe that was it…haha!

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for his very timely reporting of that result.  We now head up to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan over Paul Daddio/Laurie Boughton, 7-5, 6-1, to become the New # 48 and # 49 Ranked Teams respectively in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

T.J. Shah/Rajan Shah over Nathan Fernandes/Josh Cromwell, 6-2!  It was the official GTA Debut of Josh Cromwell.  No Aces.

Levy Lorenzo/Janice Wang leading Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

The Spin from Spin: I got there late last night and Kris got there even later.

Samara's Notes: I thank all involved for submitting these results in such a timely manner.     

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

8/22 Results.

8/22/17:

"4 play at PAC, 10 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: an evening one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match as reported by "Richie" Rich Liu; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts where we received reports from "Magic" Mike Mole, "GDP" Guy Dupoux, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

So we will first get the result reported by Rich and then we will head up to Cedar Grove for the rest.

The PAC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Keith Lewkowitz/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Fausto Murg, 6-0, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 44 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Liu/Murg entered the division as the New # 78 Ranked Team.  Rich: 2 Aces in the 1^st Set.

The Richie Rich Rundown: Keith and Arun were on fire beating me and Fausto.  Maybe it was a bit of luck, but it was a beating for sure.  The match took about one hour to complete.  It was a great summer night under the clouds in Nutley.

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for reporting that result and happy to see some scores start pouring in from Nutley.  We now head up to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Arthur Fontanilla over Mike Mole, 7-5!  No Aces. 

The Mole Memo: We played from 7pm to 8:30.

Tito Castolo/Guy Dupoux over Ryan Pienciak/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Guy Dupoux over Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Edwin Ortega/Dave Zhu over Moka Pathan/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!   No Aces.

Edwin Ortega/Dave Zhu over Moka Pathan/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!  No Aces.

The K has his say: I was a late show with Doinks and was just involved in a hitting session.  There was a decent crowd, but plenty of hitting by players that included Dino Celis, Laura and Rob Gawley.  I thought Spin was sublime playing with Moka.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank all involved for submitting these results in such a timely manner.     

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

8/21 Results.

8/21/17:

"Kevin/Chris host 8 at C.G.! Major Mixed Doubles development!":

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts co-hosted, in an impromptu manner, by "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.

So we will first get the result reported by Kevin and then we will turn this report over to Chris.  And in the middle of all that we will discuss a major development that has now occurred in the Mixed Doubles Division.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Non-Title Match:

Tito Castolo/Dawn Peterson over Kevin Doyle/Brenda Jordan, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, to successfully defend their #1 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division, but not the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.  No Aces.

The Kevlar Commentary: We got underway at about 6:45 and the match lasted around two hours.  It was a pretty tight match most of the way with a lot of tough rallies.  But Brenda and I each made a few mistakes in the 2nd Set while Tito and Dawn remained very consistent (Tito was flawless) and the top ranked mixed doubles team prevailed in the end. 

Samara's Notes: In the aftermath of this match, Dawn informed me that she feels too much pressure teaming with Tito and having to defend the Titles…especially knowing the schedule that lies ahead.  They would have to defend against the winners of the in-progress MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament.  If they won that one, they would then later have to defend the Titles against the winners of the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament (to start sometime in early October).

So the solution is that they will now forfeit the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.  The winners of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament will become the New Champs.  Their first defense will be against Tito and a new partner of his choosing.  She must be an already established player in the GTA.  If she is already ranked in a Mixed Doubles Team that she wants to remain loyal to, she can refuse his request.

In the meantime, Castolo/Peterson will still be the # 1 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division until the 2017 MXD2 Champs take that slot upon winning that tournament and the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship.

We now go to the scores from Chris.

Chris Chiaro over Nathan Fernandes, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley leading Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both Kevin and Chris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and submitting these results in such a timely manner.     

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/20 Results.

8/20/17:

"4 (2 new) at NTC, Gero-Gero part of 12 at AP, 4 at NTC, 6 at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted an early morning session at Nutley Tennis Club; the usual late-morning to early-afternoon session at Albion Park in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, but it actually got off to an earlier than usual start as "Bee Gee" Brad Gero battled his elder son Steve Gero in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match; an early evening session at NTC once again hosted by The Riz; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

So we will first go to NTC for the first Riz Report, then up to Albion for all the comings and goings there, then back to NTC for the second Riz Report and then we will turn this report over to Kris.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Denise Savino over Steve O'Hara/Dolores Krazanowski, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, to successfully defend their # 39 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  The team of O'Hara/Krazanowski enters the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 47 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Steve O'Hara and Dolores Krazanowski.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting that result in a very timely manner.  We now head into the full recap of all that took place at Albion.

When "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at Albion Park at 10:55, he saw "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon hitting with "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto on the North Court, "Sadistic" Syed Rashid practicing his serve on Center Court and "Bee Gee" Brad Gero and his elder son Steve sitting on the bench alongside the South Court.

As it turns out, they had just finished playing a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match against one another.  Both were too exhausted to stick around for Doubles action and left soon after.

As they were leaving, "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara arrived at 11am and waited on Center Court as Syed had already shifted over to the North Court to hit with Chazz and Vin by this time.  So Frank went over to Center Court to hit with Suzanne.

GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 11:15 and was able to make it a foursome for some Doubles on the North Court.

At 11:40, Fadia Nicolas arrived and made her way over to Center Court.  Before she could even start hitting with Frank and Suzanne, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli arrived five minutes later and he was once again still in his football spikes.  But he was willing to take one for the team and go back to his car to grab his racquet for some Mixed Doubles action.

"Richie" Rich Liu arrived at 12:20 and "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales did the same ten minutes later.  They hit with each other on the North Court while waiting for some Doubles action which came their way another ten minutes later (except it was on the South Court).

Dino Celis arrived at 1:10 with a bucket of balls and soon began practicing his serve.  He later said half-jokingly/half-seriously that he is abdicating the "Coach" moniker as there are others who have taken over those unofficial duties.  For now, we will call him "The Dynamo" until we can think of a better nickname.

We ended up with a total of twelve official competitors for the day.  It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday that was breezier than expected and not all that humid.  The temps would climb into the upper 80 degree range.

Let's get to the scores!

The Albion Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Steve Gero over Brad Gero, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to become the New # 36 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  Brad said they got started soon after they arrived at 8:30 and likely finished around 11:50!  Quite obviously, both were exhausted afterwards.  The match was played on the South Court.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Syed Rashid/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-1!  No Aces.  This one took place on the North Court and lasted from 11:27 to 11:55.  Once again, Vin picked the teams.  Lately, he has earned another moniker - "The Masochist!"  Guess it was appropriate that he teamed with "The Sadist" (aka "Sadistic" Syed Rashid).  Together, we can call them S&M...LOL!

Dan Martinelli/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Fadia was broken as she started off with two Double Faults (she decided to forego the "First In" option offered her by Frank), but then Spin hit a winner for 15-30 before it went to Double Break Point where she hit another Double Fault to break herself!  Frank then held serve (30-Love shifted to 30-All as Fadia made a great get/drop shot winner combo along the way, but then an un-returned serve set up Game Point which was ended with a Windmill Overhead Smash by Frank) to take a 2-0 lead for his team.  Spin held as well (Love-30 shifted to Game Point with an un-returned serve and a winner from Spin along the way, but it then went to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce where Frank blew a volley to set up Game Point and then Suzanne also blew a volley to allow the hold) and Suzanne was broken (Love-30, un-returned serve for 15-30, Double Fault for Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to level the score at 2-2.  Nicolas held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All, but then onto Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce as Frank hit a drop shot winner along the way, it then went to Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), but Samara was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4.  Martinelli held (an un-returned serve got it started at 15-Love and then it was point for point to Game Point as Frank hit a winning volley along the way and there was also another un-returned serve and then came the hold) for a somewhat commanding lead at 5-2.  Bujara held as well (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which then shifted to 15-30 as Fadia first hit a winner and then hit a winning return along the way, but then two more un-returned serves shifted it to Game Point where yet another un-returned serve secured the hold) to pull to 3-5!  But Fadia (she said her nickname is not Fani...her e-mail address just makes some people think it is) held once again and this time it was at Love as she hit a winner and then made another amazing get/winner combo to set up Triple Game/Match Point which she ended with her third awesome get/winner combo of the match to end it!  We played this on Center Court from 11:52 to 12:32.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Syed Rashid/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-2!  No Aces.  This rematch One-Setter took place on the North Court and lasted from 11:57 to 12:26.

Nathan Fernandes/Chazz Weldon over Jose Gonzales/Rich Liu, 6-2!  No Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 12:40 to 1:13.  Afterward, Nate and Jose had a hitting session with one another and it eventually led to a Singles One-Setter between them.

Syed Rashid/Fadia Nicolas over Frank Samara/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2!  Syed: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  Here's how it went down: Frank was broken (back-to-back impressive passing shot winners from Fadia to get things started at Love-30, but then Syed blew a volley to make it 15-30, it then went to Double Break Point and the break), Syed was broken (Fadia hit a well-executed drop shot volley winner for 15-Love, 30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, shift to Break Point where Syed hit a winning volley for Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Suzanne was broken at Love as Syed first hit a winner and then a sizzling winning return on the way to Triple Break Point, but then Fadia was the first to hold serve (back-to-back winners by Fadia make it 30-Love and then Frank hit a winner of his own for 30-15, then came Double Game Point and the hold) to take a 3-1 lead for her team.  Samara was broken again (15-Love where Syed hit a winner for 15-All and then Fadia hit a crushing return winner for 15-30, it went to 30-All where Fadia hit a repeat performance return winner for Break Point which was where Frank hit an emphatic winner to bring it back to Deuce and then because he felt Fadia was challenging him on his serve, he then hit a truly un-returnable serve to set up Game Point only to have it then go to 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4!  Rashid held (Fadia hit a winner for 15-Love and then it went point for point until 30-All where he then scored on Suzanne with a slow and short Ace to set up Game Point, but then it went to Deuce and it was all Game Points all the way to 4th Deuce and then there was another Game Point where Frank blew an overhead to allow the hold) to take a commanding 5-1 lead!  Bujara held as well (back-to-back un-returned serves made it 30-Love where first Fadia and then Syed both delivered crushing return winners to level the score at 30-All, but then came another un-returned serve to set up Game Point, it went to Deuce and then Game Point again where Frank hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) to pull to 2-5, but Nicolas held again (Fadia hit a screen-shot winner that almost clipped Syed in the back of the head to go up 15-Love, but then Frank hit a winner to reverse the momentum and then came the shift to 15-30, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point and the hold) to get the win!  We also played this one on Center Court and it lasted from 12:41 to 1:20.

Nathan Fernandes over Jose Gonzales, 6-2!  Jose: 1 Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 1:20 to 1:42.

Syed Rashid/Fadia Nicolas over Rich Liu/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1!  Fadia: 1 Ace on Rich!  This one took place on Center Court and lasted from 1:24 to 1:47.

Jose Gonzales/Rich Liu over Nathan Fernandes/Syed Rashid, 6-3!  Another one played on Center Court as it got underway at 1:55 and ended exactly at 2:28.

During the above One-Setter, Frank, Spin and Dino had a bull session that ended at 2:30.

We now head to NTC for the second Riz Report.

The NTC Results:

3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:

William Bobila/Tom La over Paul Daddio/John Rizzo, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 63 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

William Bobila/Paul Daddio over John Rizzo/Tom La, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Again, I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner.  We now turn this report over to Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Ryan Pienciak/Raj Shah over Kris Srinivasan/Senthil Kumar, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Senthil Kumar over Kris Srinivasan/Laura Gawley, 7-6 (7-2)!  Laura: 1 Ace on Senthil!

Ryan Pienciak/Senthil Kumar leading Moka Pathan/Kris Srinivasan, 5-4 (Incomplete…Moka was serving at Deuce when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

That last One-Setter had the potential to be our third Tiebreaker One-Setter of the night!  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/19 Results.

8/19/17:

"2 play at AP, Kris/Laura host 8 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan hosted an early evening session at Albion Park in Clifton that featured a "Battle of The Sexes" One-Setter where she faced "Magic" Mike Mole; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts co-hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and GTA Women's Champion: Laura "The Aura" Gawley.

So we will first go to Albion for Gen's recap and then we will turn this report over to Kris and Laura.

The Albion Park Result:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-4!  Mike: 2 Aces (in the same service game)!

Gen's Notes: We played this one from 5:20 to 6pm.  First, we started hitting around 4pm.  Mike held serve and then broke mine for a 2-0 lead.  I then broke back and held my serve for 2-2.  We had an exchange of breaks for 3-3.  We then both held for 4-4.  Mike then held again and I was broken on serve to end it.  It was a pretty good One-Setter.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for reporting that result in a very timely manner.  We now head up to Cedar Grove where we will first hear from Kris and then Laura.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Jose Gonzales/Laurie Boughton over Kris Srinivasan/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Levy Lorenzo/Laura Gawley over Tito Castolo/Laurie Boughton, 6-3, 7-5, to successfully defend their # 26 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: The 2nd Set was very close.  Levy and I were down 1-4 and came back to win. It was a fun night of tennis!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.  And thanks to Laura for directly reporting her result (with some commentary) as well.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

8/17 Results.

8/17/17:

"2 play at NTC, Marijus-Kris part of 14 at C.G. as Kris hosts!":

There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis and both got started around the same time: "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted a session at The Nutley Tennis Club that featured two and a half One-Setters (not men…LOL!) against "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta; and the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan with the Main Event being the Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match where Kris had to face "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas (who also sent in details and commentary).

So we will first go to NTC for The Riz Report and then we will turn this report over to Kris with a contribution from Marijus along the way.

The NTC Results:

John Rizzo over Anish Mehta, 6-4!  No Aces. 

John Rizzo over Anish Mehta, 6-4!  No Aces.

John Rizzo leading Anish Mehta, 4-1 (Incomplete - stopped due to darkness)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for submitting those scores in a very timely manner.  We now turn this report over to Kris.

It was another beautiful day for GTA Tennis and the evening started with my match against Marijus. There were other matches, but we also saw plenty of hitting sessions…most notably the lengthy one between Mike Mole and Guy Dupoux who didn't get to play any matches.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Grove Cup XX Round of 16 Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Kris Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 20th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Marijus: 3 Aces (1 in the 1^st Set and 2 in the 2^nd Set)!

The Super Mario Memo: It was a good match.  I know that Kris is adjusting some elements of his game, so he was not very confident in his strokes today.  Nevertheless, he was fighting hard and I had to work for this win.

The K has his say: Marijus was solid, relentless and thumped me up good with his booming serves and his attacking shots, especially to the short balls.  He had his share of errors to let me win a few games.  It is probably an understatement to say that I got a good shellacking, but I sure seemed to be in a shell.  Fair to say that I underperformed badly, but congratulations to Marijus on a clinical performance!  Objectively looking, it was a pleasure to see his lovely serves and power-packed shots.  What a contrast it was…his sweetly-timed shots to my mishits and misses!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Marijus and Kris for their very prompt reporting.  I also congratulate Super Mario on his very impressive victory.  He is now the third player to advance to the Quarters of the Cup.

We now go back to Kris for the balance of this report.

Marijus Kuzavas/Kris Srinivasan over Nathan Fernandes/Syed Rashid, 6-0!  Marijus: 2 Aces on Syed!

Levy Lorenzo/Janice Wang over Moka Pathan/Herb Reiner, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Kevin Doyle/Syed Rashid, 6-2!  Spin: 1 Ace on Kevin!

3 out of 5 Sets:

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Edwin Ortega/Levy Lorenzo, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Moka Pathan over Marijus Kuzavas/Dennis Cabanatan, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

Good stuff indeed!  First Nathan and Moka saved 4 Match Points!  They managed to tie the score 5-All.  Marijus and Dennis, after leading 6-5, couldn't close the set.  It was a downward spiral for Marijus and Dennis in the TB as they faced 3 Match Points against them.  Great serves from Marijus and smart net play by Dennis helped them erase the deficit to keep it tight at 6-All at the second changeover.  A casual chat with folks on the sidelines during that changeover saw a loss of focus and the set/match.

Samara's Notes: Despite the somewhat anticlimactic ending, this still may have a shot a being a Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  We now go back to Kris for just a little bit more.

Nathan Fernandes over Dennis Cabanatan, 6-0!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Edwin Ortega over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.

There was an active hitting of the balls…first Kris against Spin and Doinks, then Doinks against Nate and lastly Doinks and Janice against Nate and Don.  Back to work as Dino Celis did get to see some action in the fading night, but would exit with Spin early just as the lights went out.

All in all, it was an evening packed with action.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for hosting up at Cedar Grove and always submitting these results in such a timely manner.    

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354