9/7 Results.

9/7/17:

"Ortega-Santos part of 29 at C.G. as Samara hosts!":

There was one extended session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis that got started early with a 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and "Stealth" Omar Santos (as reported by Edwin) and was then taken over later in the evening by host "Hollywood" Frank Samara (his first appearance there in quite some time).

So we will first get to the results submitted by Ortega and then get all the comings and goings later in the night from Samara.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edwin Ortega over Omar Santos, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, to successfully defend both his # 21 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 6 Aces (2 in each set)!

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting of that match and also congratulate him on a hard-fought victory.

When Samara pulled into the lot of the Cedar Grove Courts, he saw GTA Champion:"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes has just pulled in as well.  All four courts were occupied, but thankfully all were full with GTA players.

On Court One it was "The Pilot" Greg Swierczek teaming with "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard to take on "Instant" Moka Pathan and "The Secret Weapon" Sairaj Srinivasan.

On Court Two it was "The Hit Man" Tom La and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid having a hitting session with one another.

On Court Three it was "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff paired with "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo to face "The Art Font' Arthur Fontanilla and "GDP" Guy Dupoux.

And on Court Four we had Mixed Doubles action between the teams of "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto/"Bravo" Brenda Jordan and "JB Smooth" Justin Berardo/"Dominant" Dawn Peterson.

The weather was beautiful this particular evening...breezy and cool without being cold...almost perfectly seasonable!  Given that fact, we expected our players to come out of the woodwork (or the trees)...and that they did!

At 7:15, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas arrived and she had an unexpected guest following her into the parking lot in a separate car with her very own driver.  That guest was none other than the infamous Louise Bysiek!

Many in attendance that night (and I'm sure many more reading this e-mail) still clearly remember Louise's controversial run here in the GTA about five or so years ago.  They also may recall the "firebomb" e-mail written by yours truly (Samara) that fell just a hair short of telling Ms. Bysiek that she had become "persona non grata!"  No player in the entire history of the league has ever actually been kicked out of it.

Upon her arrival, however, Louise was ladylike and sweet.  She first approached Frank who was sitting on the bench alongside Court Four and said how she remembered him and that he pretty much looked the same (she was even kind enough not to mention the added pounds).  Likewise, Samara stated that he remembered her as well.

This truly seems to be a new Louise.  She was gracious and quite coherent.  She mentioned how she had serious leg surgery about four years ago which has kept her away from the game of tennis.  She is just getting back out on the courts now, but her mobility is severely limited.  Her shot-making is still very much on point.  Bysiek is a Former GTA Mixed Doubles Champion and if she can return to form (or close to it), she can still prove to be dangerous in Doubles situations.

Her behavior was impeccable for the balance of the evening as she continued to greet players that she remembered or whenever she met a new face.  I do believe that almost everyone deserves a second chance.  As long as she continues to conduct herself in this manner, she is more than welcome to attend our sessions in the future.

Let's get back to the arrival times of the players.  At 7:20, Frank "Hydro" Hohorst rolled into the lot.  Around that same time, usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan came across the street and made a beeline for Court Two which only had three players on it (Tom, Syed and Nate).

We started to head into Logjam City as "Latino Heat" Jose Gonzales arrived at 7:35 only to be followed by both "CB" Chris Barbieri and "True Drew" Andrew Kroessler just five minutes later.  There was a growing crowd around Samara's bench and it did not end there.

At 7:55, both "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived.  Five minutes later, Dupoux returned to the scene (he had to leave at 7:40 to go pick up his wife...it had only been an extended hitting session earlier on Court Three as he sided with Fontanilla against Bachvaroff and Lorenzo).

At 8:10, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli cruised into the lot with his top down (but thankfully with his other top on...LOL!) as he would soon join his fellow Heckler (moi) on the bench.

Finally, court space would become available as some of the earlier attendees decided to head home and/or give those waiting a chance to get into the action.  At 8:45, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan crossed the street ready to play.  Five minutes later, "Dynamo" Dino Celis made his presence felt as he would get involved in some hitting sessions along the way.

And at 9:40, "Rowdy" Rob Gawley (aka "Squash Boy") found a way to top Spin's earlier entrance as he rolled in on his vintage motorcycle (Spin mentioned the make...but I forget it at this time).  He stuck around long enough to take off his helmet, shake some hands, survey the scene and then get back on his bike and head up the hill to head home.

We had a very impressive total of 29 actual players throughout the session.  Kris tried to give the credit to Frank for announcing he would be present, but it was more likely due to beautiful weather, rain the night before and the US Open was starting to wind its way down (many were checking in on the progress of the Venus Williams versus Sloane Stephens Semifinal throughout the course of the evening).

After a rough and bumpy run as of late, the night's events (after a bit of a hiccup with those who had to wait) marked a return to smooth sailing as far as these types of sessions go.  I thank all those who were a part of it.

Now let's get to those scores!

Vinnie De Benedetto/Brenda Jordan over Justin Berardo/Dawn Peterson, 7-5!  No Aces.  They estimated they started this one around 6:35 on Court Four and it finished precisely at 7:23.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Greg Swierczek/Ralph Bernard over Moka Pathan/Sairaj Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 93 and # 94 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division!  Sairaj: 1 Ace on Ralph in the 2nd Set!  Court One hosted the 1st Set from 7pm to 7:34.  At that time, they invited others to take over the court but nobody took the bait.  So they entered into the next set at 7:35 and the full match finished at exactly 8:08.

Frank Hohorst/Fadia Nicolas over Justin Berardo/Louise Bysiek, 6-3!  It was the official GTA Return of Louise Bysiek.  No Aces.  Actually, they started hitting at 7:25 and then at 7:36 they kicked things off "Battle of the Sexes" style with the ladies versus the gents.  They played three games that way (I don't know what the score was) before they decided to switch up the teams for a more traditional Mixed Doubles format.  This fully finished One-Setter ran from 7:48 to 8:18 on Court Four. 

Nathan Fernandes/Tom La over Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid, 6-3!  No Aces.  They played this on Court Two from 7:32 to 8:22.

Jose Gonzales/Arthur Fontanilla over Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo, 6-4!  Jose: 2 Aces (one on each)!

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Andrew Kroessler over Lou La Forgia/Chris Barbieri, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 95 and # 96 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.  Court One hosted this full match from 8:15 to 9:21.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo over Guy Dupoux/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1!  Guy: 1 Ace on Levy.  Court Three hosted this one from 8:24 to 8:54.

Frank Hohorst/Justin Berardo over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4!  No Aces.  It went like this: Frank H. was broken (he hit a winner for 15-Love, then hit a Double Fault for 15-All where Spin made a winning lob for 15-30, an excellent rally led to Double Break Point which would soon rebound to Deuce, Break Point again where an un-returned serve made it 2nd Deuce and then Justin blew a volley to set up Break Point only to blow another volley for the break) and Frank S. held serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 with two un-returned serves and then it became Double Game Point where Justin hit a winning volley to cut it to Game Point, but then Frank H. blew a volley to allow the hold) for 2-0.  Justin held (Love-30 shifted to 30-All as Frank H. hit consecutive winning volleys and then Frank S. blew a volley to set up Game Point where Frank H. scored with a winning Backhand Volley for the hold) and then Spin was broken at Love as Justin hit a winning volley to set up Triple Break Point where Frank S. blew what should have been a sure volley winner to cause the break for 2-2!  Hohorst held (Double Fault for Love-30 and then back-to-back un-returned serves for 30-All where Justin blew a volley to make it Break Point, but then Frank S. also blew a volley to bring it to Deuce and then it went to Game Point and the hold) and then Samara was broken (it was Love-30 when Justin blew a volley to make it 15-30, but then Frank S. blew another "sure thing" type volley to set up Double Break Point, it went to Break Point where Frank S. redeemed himself with an excellent winner for Deuce, it went to Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 2-4!  Berardo had a Love hold after Frank blew an overhead attempt and also an un-returned serve along the way to take a commanding 5-2 lead, but Martinelli held (Justin had an awesome Overhead Smash winner for Love-15 and then there was a Double Fault for Love-30, it then went to Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point where an un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point which was where Justin hit an Overhead Smash only to have Spin make what is best described as an amazing and defensive reflex get to hit it back for a forced error and the point to make it Deuce where another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold as the team known as The Foundation had just saved 3 MP's to last a little longer) to pull to 3-5!  Hydro was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, Spin makes another awesome get that leads to 15-All, a Double Fault for 15-30 and then a blown volley set up Double Break Point and then came the break) to have his team's lead cut to 5-4, but Hollywood was broken again (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All which came right after an un-returned serve, but then a net-cord-aided volley winner from Justin set up Break/Match Point, but then another un-returned serve earned a Deuce, it went back to Break/Match Point where yet another un-returned serve set up the 2nd Deuce only to have it go to still another Break/Match Point...the 6th MP overall and that was where what might have been the rally of the match finally leading to the downfall of Spin City...aka The Foundation) to take a tough loss!  We played this one on Court Four from 8:25 to 9:07.

The Skinny: As has been happening lately, The Wood and The Doc got off to a fast start only to crumble and allow their opponents to go on a hot streak.  At least this time around, they showed that longstanding resiliency for which they are known for to almost fight their way back into this one.  Samara's time away from tennis this past week hurt his game as he made many uncharacteristic errors.  That led to Spin taking his game up a notch to attempt to make up for it.  Hydro held down the fort for his team while JB Smooth got off to a shaky start...but Berardo got his act together just in time to take the win!

Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid, 7-5!  Syed: 3 Aces on Louise!  This was contested on Court Two from 8:27 to 9:07.  Nate reported that the opposition were gentlemen (with emphasis on the "gentle" part) when it came to hitting to Louise (save those serves from Syed...LOL!) and Fernandes/Bysiek saved 3 Match Points along the way!  A hitting session between Kris and Dino soon took over the court.

Guy Dupoux/Fadia Nicolas over Jose Gonzales/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)!  Guy: 4 Aces (two on each)!  They begun this one on Court Three precisely at 9pm and it ended exactly at 9:59 with less than a minute left to play before lights out at 10pm!  Jose and Doinks had been down 1-4 before fighting back to make things interesting (and long)!  They were lucky to get this one done in time.

Nathan Fernandes/Frank Hohorst over Jordan Bachvaroff/Tom La, 7-5!  Tom: 2 Aces on Nate; and Jordan: 1 Ace on Frank!  They started this one on Court Four at 9:11 and it ended exactly at 9:52.  It helped that they decided to forego the changeovers.  Nate and Frank saved one Match Point on their way to rallying back to win this one!  The high quality tennis throughout this contest caused many at court side to view the action quite intently.  Afterward, Nate and Jordan had a hitting session that lasted until it was lights out at ten. 

Once again, this was truly a great session that somewhat set the table for the balance of the season as we transition out of summer and into autumn.  Kudos!

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
862-596-3354

 

 

9/5 Results.

9/5/17:

"Kumar-Ortega in Wayne!":

Quite the opposite of this past Sunday where morning rains cancelled any chance of the usual GTA Sunday Tennis morning session at Albion Park only to clear later in the day and allow an evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts, this Tuesday there was action in the morning hours…but then heavy rain rolled thru the area around 7:30, thus killing any chance of a night session at Cedar Grove.

At the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (where The Bubble will soon be going up once again), GTA Intermediate Champ: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar put his Title on the line against the challenger (just one rung beneath Top Contender: "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda), "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega.  Senthil reported this result later that same afternoon.

The Nellis Drive Courts Result:

GTA Intermediate Title Match:

Senthil Kumar over Edwin Ortega, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to complete his second successful GTA Intermediate Title defense of his first reign and also successfully defend his # 17 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Edwin: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set.

The Untangled Web: We started at 10:30am.  In the 1st and 3rd Sets, it was 3-3 and then I took the next three games to close those sets.  In the 2nd Set, it was 4-4 and Edwin won the next two to take that set.

Samara's Notes: 2017 GTA Intermediate Invitational Champ and Top Contender, Nihar Panda, was OK with an exemption being granted to allow this match to be a full Title defense while he still tries to schedule his match with Senthil.  But now there are no more exceptions or exemptions...the Kumar-Panda match must happen in the month of Sept. 

I thank Senthil for reporting this result in a very timely fashion.  And I also thank Nihar for his cooperation in all this. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

 

 

9/4 Results

9/4/17:

"Chris/Gen/Kris host 10 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Labor Day Monday Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts and it had three impromptu hosts reporting results: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan (the last of which had not planned on hosting and/or reporting, but then his notes were needed as a matter of clarification). 

We go to that combined report now (as some of the results overlapped between the reporting sources).

The Cedar Grove Results:

Chris Chiaro/Omar Santos over Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole, 6-0!  Mike: 2 Aces on Omar!

Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole over Chris Chiaro/Omar Santos, 7-5!  Mike: 1 Ace on Omar.

Chris Chiaro over Mike Mole, 6-1!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Mike Mole, 6-4!  Mike: 1 Ace on Chris!

The King Crush Commentary: Mike played well…especially in the second One-Setter.  He made a lot of gets and was hitting great shots with his forehand.  It was a fun, yet tough set. 

Genalin Capan over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  Gen: 1 Ace. 

Gen's Notes: We played this one from 8:40 to 9:15pm on Court 3.  It was a pretty competitive One-Setter.  I held and Doinks held after a 5 Deuce battle.  I had an opportunity to break her serve, but was unable to convert.  From thereon, I took the next 4 games for a 5-1 lead.  Doinks went on to break my service game and then she held to get it closer at 3-5.  On my serve, I went up 40-15 (Double Game/Match Point).  Doinks saved 1 MP to make it 40-30, but then I closed out the set on the 2nd MP!  

We both went for our shots.  Since we have not played as much this season, consistency was a factor.  There would be times we hit some solid winners and other times where we missed.  We still had some very nice rallies in the mix.  Doinks was tough and didn't make it easy on me.  It was a lot of fun. 

"Battle of the Sexes" One-Setter:

Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-4!  Kris: 1 Ace on Doinks. 

Gen's Notes: We played the Doubles One-Setter above from 9:21 to 9:59!  We got this one done just in time before the lights went out.  It was Kris who suggested we play it as a Battle of the Sexes set.  It was another good set with impressive play from everyone.  Doinks and I jumped out to a 4-1 lead.  Then the gentlemen picked up some good momentum to turn things around by taking 5 straight games for the W! 

The K has his say: I am glad that other players are chipping in with the results.  It has relieved me a bit as I surely could use a break for a short while.  I just need to give my input on one result that is likely to not be reported by others.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Sairaj Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), to become the New #91 and #92 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division respectively!  No Aces.

The K has his say: This was almost one-sided as both Frank and Sairaj whipped us good for the most part of the match.  Frank was terrific at the net and very consistent.  Sairaj was brutal with some of his attacking shots, returns of serves and with a great touch at the net.  I was pathetic, but Levy was earnest as always in his efforts.  We were down 1-5 in the 2nd Set when Sairaj said we were lucky to get one.  That was just the thing I needed to get into fighting mode.  We went on to win the next five games, but then blew the chance to close the set.  We lost to some good shots in the Tiebreaker at crucial times to end up in a losing cause.  The 2^nd Set turned out to be good one.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for reporting these results in a very timely fashion. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

 

 

9/3 Results.

9/3/17:

"Senthil/Doinks/Ryan host 13 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Sunday Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts and it had three impromptu hosts reporting results: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak. 

We go to that combined report now (as some of the results overlapped between the reporting sources).

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets:

Senthil Kumar/Ray Spadaro over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5, 6-2!  No Aces.  We started playing at 7:30.

Senthil Kumar/Natalia Sout leading Mike Mole/Kris Srinivasan, 4-2 (Incomplete...when Natalia retired due to pain in her shin)!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid over Jose Gonzales/Frank Hohorst, 6-3!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Levy Lorenzo over Jose Gonzales/Peter Corso, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 89 and # 90 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak leading Peter Corso, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

The Ryan Report: After the Doubles Match, Peter and I then almost finished a set of Singles. I was had a 5-3 lead, but he was serving at Deuce when the lights went out.  I had a few Break/Match Points in that last game, but Peter saved them and kept the match going.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for reporting these results in a very timely fashion.  And I hope that Natalia's injury is not too serious.    

Also, it should be noted that "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman reported a Doubles One-Setter where he teamed with someone new against "Magic" Mike Mole and another new player.  He said that Mike's team won 7-5 due to Mole's tremendous serving efforts.

But since nobody got the names of the new guys, this result will clearly have to remain unofficial.  I used to get bent out of shape about situations like this in the past, but now I'm more concerned with just trying to get all the results from the people already in the league!  LOL!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

 

 

9/2 Results.

9/2/17:

"Wang-Mazur at C.G., Nate-Mole 1-Setter at RP!":

There were two sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: one at The Cedar Grove Courts featuring the GAH7 Semifinal Match between "J-Wow" Janice Wang and "Automatic" Anna Mazur (as reported by Anna) and one The Rose Park Courts in Woodland Park featuring a One-Setter between GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "Magic" Mike Mole (as reported by Mike). 

We will first get the details of the match in Cedar Grove and then get the score from Woodland Park.

The Cedar Grove Result:

GAH7 Semifinal Match:

Anna Mazur over Janice Wang, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Women's Division while also advancing to the Finals of the 7th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Tournament!  No Aces.

The Mazur Memo: We played from 3:45 to 5:30.  It was a great match and a great workout.

The Consequences: Mazur now will face "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay in the Finals of the GAH7.

The Rose Park Results:

Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 6-1!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 6-0!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We hit for a while and then decided to play a couple of sets.  It was from 5pm to 6:25.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Anna and Mike for reporting these results in a very timely fashion.  I also congratulate Anna on her impressive victory.  Many thought the GAH7 Final would be between Wang and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.  Instead, we now have a Mazur-Pillay Final.  Yet another example of why matches are played on the court and not on paper.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

 

 

9/1 Results.

9/1/17:

"Samara hosts 4 (1 new) at PAC, Doinks/Senthil host 11 at C.G.!":

There were two concurrent sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and also the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by both "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar.

We will first detail the comings and goings in Nutley before we head up to Cedar Grove.

When Samara pulled into the parking lot at Park Ave. at 7:40 and then started heading toward the courts, he saw that once again all four courts were full (as they were on Wednesday night).  Over on Court One (the court closest to the entrance gate), he saw two familiar faces along with a new face.

It was "Fantastic" Fausto Murg flying solo hitting against both "ADP" Austin DePol and a new competitor whose name is Tim Nguyen (I will give him the moniker of "TNT").  Like Austin, Tim is very nice and also quite excited at the prospect of playing in a league that offers additional competitors beyond the meet-up group.

Frank asked Fausto if they needed a fourth or if someone else was on the way and Mr. Murg said that he was actually going to have to leave by 8pm.  He had only come to the courts to practice his serve and was unaware of the fact that there was going to be a session as he had not heard from "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz and "Richie" Rich Liu.

He did, however, still have some time to hit.  So Samara took his side in hitting against DePol and Nguyen.  They even played one game...a lengthy one with Austin serving.  It ended up going to multiple Deuces before DePol was finally able to hold.

Fausto then had to get ready to go.  While chit-chatting with Frank, Samara sent a text message to "MC Quick" Mike Carucci since it was Mike who had sent a message to Frank earlier in the day inquiring about the starting time of the Nutley session.  Mike's rapid reply was that he was already on his way.

So Murg left at 8pm while De Pol and Nguyen had started a couple of Singles games against each other.  When Carucci arrived at 8:10, Austin and Tim finished out that one game and then scrapped what could have been a One-Setter in favor of Doubles.

Samara decided that the most even sides would be if he teamed with Nguyen to take on Carucci and DePol.  He also proposed that they play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match unless a fifth wheel arrived somewhere along the way.  Everyone involved agreed to the terms and conditions.  And after a ten minute hitting session, the match was underway.

A fifth wheel never arrived.  Also, for the first half hour of the match, all the other courts had cleared out entirely...we had the whole place to ourselves!  Around 8:45, two guys arrived and took Court Four all the way on the other end.  And that would be it for the entire night!  I guess the Friday night of Labor Day Weekend coupled with the US Open led to a lower than normal turnout not just for the GTA, but tennis in general.

I also neglected to mention that for a short while there on Court Three there was a guy hitting against a tall, blonde Russian girl (hopefully not his girlfriend or there is truly no justice in this world) who would have made "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli's head start spinning like he was in "The Exorcist!"  LOL!

Let's get to the on-court action!

The PAC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Mike Carucci/Austin DePol over Frank Samara/Tim Nguyen, 6-4, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 85 and # 86 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Debut of Tim Nguyen.  No Aces.  It should be noted that for the following sets, it originally was not my priority to note who hit what winners where and when...but the action got so good that I did start at least noting the moments that were either pivotal or simply amazing.

1st Set: Austin held at Love, Frank held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold), Mike held at Love, but Tim was the first to be broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All, Break Point and the break) to go down 1-3.  DePol was broken (started with a Double Fault, 15-All and then two more Double Faults to set up Double Break Point, but then the bounce back to get to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point where Frank hit the first truly amazing winner of the night as he hit a swinging forehand from the far right corner of his half of the court to go completely cross-court to the opposition's far right corner and just clip the baseline before bouncing out of reach) and then Samara held again (15-Love, 15-All and then onto Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to level things at 3-3.  Carucci was broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and then the break) to lose the lead for his team at 3-4, but Nguyen was broken again and this time it was at Love to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  ADP rebounded with an impressive hold (15-Love, 15-All then straight thru Double Game Point for the hold) and Hollywood then picked the wrong time to be broken for the first time (Triple Break/Set Point where Frank hit another wild winner similar to the previous one except this time it just caught the edge of the sideline and then bounced away from the ever-fast Carucci and that brought it down to Double Break/Set Point and then another save for Break/Set Point and yet another save to bring it to Deuce, but then came the 4th Break/Set Point and finally the break) to drop the set at 8:50 (we had begun this one on Court One at 8:20).  One minute later, the next set got underway.

2nd Set: Mike was broken in a crazy battle (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce and then all Break Points until 5th Deuce where Mike hit a net-cord-aided winner for Game Point where Frank hit a highly impressive running volley winner to make it 6th Deuce, Game Point again and then a Double Fault for 7th Deuce and then Break Point where Tim hit a very nice winning volley of his own for the break), but Tim was also broken (the rally of the match up until that moment led to Love-15 and then Frank blew an easy volley to make it Love-30, it went to 15-30, but then Double Break Point and the break).  Austin was broken (back-to-back winning volleys by Frank for Love-30, 15-30, Double Fault for Double Break Point which was then another excellent and extended rally which led to Break Point and then came the break), but so was Frank (Tim blew an easy volley to make it Love-15 and then Mike blew an overhead and Frank followed with his third truly wicked winner of the match to shift things to 30-15 only to have them shift once again to Break Point and then the break) as it was 2-2 as nobody could hold serve in this set.  That trend continued as Carucci was broken again (15-Love where Frank hit another "living on the edge" style winner for 15-All and then it went point for point until 30-All as Austin had hit an awesome Overhead Smash winner along the way as well and then it went to Break Point and the break), but so was Nguyen (Love-15 where Frank whipped out a fully wound Windmill Overhead Smash that had Austin ducking for cover and it was a winner for 15-All as Frank felt guilty for not going for a similar shot on the previous point, it then went to 30-15, 30-All where Frank hit his second Windmill winner to make it Game Point, Deuce where Tim hit an emphatic winner for Game Point again, then it was 2nd Deuce where Austin hit one of the sweetest volley winners one would ever want to see to set up Break Point where Mike got in on the winner action with a walloping Overhead Smash to earn the break) for 3-3!  DePol was broken again (Double Fault for Love-30 where Mike hit an excellent volley winner for 15-30, Double Fault for Double Break Point and then another Double Fault to break himself), but so was Samara (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as both Mike and Tim hit excellent volley winners along the way, but then came Deuce and then Break Point where Frank hit a drop shot that would have been a winner against many only to have Mike hit a mishit volley that confused everyone...including himself...that came back over the net to become his own drop shot winner for the break) to now get to 4-4 without a hold of serve.  MC Quick decided to end that trend as he then held serve (Frank hit a drop shot that truly seemed to be a sure winner only to have the lanky and surprisingly speedy make an awesome get/winner combo which he followed in the next point with a winning Backhand Volley to make it 30-Love only to have back-to-back Double Faults level the game at 30-All, it was Game Point where Austin had a rare blown volley for Deuce and then it was all Game Points through to 3rd Deuce, then Game Point where Tim blew an overhead to allow the hold) and then TNT was broken and blown up as he got off to a 15-Love start only to have Mike hit an excellent passing shot winner to reverse the momentum and shift things to 15-30 where Austin had his second rare blow volley of the evening to make it 30-All only to redeem himself with a truly special passing shot volley winner to set up Break/Match Point where Mike finally and firmly ended matters with a monster of an Overhead Smash for the win exactly at 9:35!

The Skinny: This was truly an excellent straight-set match.  The difference in the 2nd Set was just that one hold of serve by Carucci who continues to show improvement with each outing.  DePol will definitely be a force to reckon with...especially when he has the chance to get up to the net and control the point with volleys and overhead smashes.  His serves, when on, are another effective weapon in his arsenal.  He had many winning volleys and overheads along with un-returned serves that went un-noted above.  Nguyen earns the moniker of TNT for his explosive style and great get-making.  He just needs to find a little more consistency in his game to become truly dangerous.  It was a lot of fun and we found ourselves fortunate to be the only four in attendance on such a lovely night in Nutley.

But it was also a lovely evening in Cedar Grove as well, so now we turn this report over to Doinks and Senthil.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Kris Srinivasan/Syed Rashid over Jose Gonzales/Frank Hohorst, 6-3!  No Aces (apparently).

Levy Lorenzo/Tito Castolo over Mike Mole/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5!  No Aces (apparently).

3 out of 5 Sets Doubles Match:

Mike Mole/Senthil Kumar over Arthur Fontanilla/Justin Berardo, 6-0, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 87 and # 88 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Return of Justin Berardo.  No Aces (apparently).

The Untangled Web: Justin is returning to the GTA after a long layoff due to a leg injury.

Senthil Kumar/Justin Berardo over Mike Mole/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-2!  No Aces (apparently).

Samara's Notes: I thank both Doinks and Senthil for reporting these results in a very timely fashion.  And it is good to see that Justin is back in action.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354

 

 

 

8/31 Results.

8/31/17:

"Just 8 play at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis and it occurred at The Cedar Grove Courts where we had three people report results: "Magic" Mike Mole, "GDP" Guy Dupoux and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, who did not host or play…but managed to see some of what took place and figured that Guy might not know the names of everyone involved in Doubles with him (which proved to be true).

We will first get the result from Mike and then the other scores from Guy which includes the clarification from Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Nathan Fernandes over Mike Mole, 7-5!  No Aces. 

The Mole Memo: We played from 8pm to 9:30.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Edwin Ortega/Guy Dupoux over Jordan Bachvaroff/Tom La, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 81 and 82 Ranked Teams respectively!  Guy: 1 Ace on Tom.

Dave Zhu/Guy Dupoux over Jordan Bachvaroff/Chris Barbieri, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their timely contributions to this report.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354