10/5 Results.

10/5/17:

"Mazur-Toker in W.R., Kris/Gen host 14 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Tennis: the first was a morning one at The Wood-Ridge Courts as "Automatic" Anna Mazur and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker got together for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match (with Fernanda reporting) and then the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts as usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan each reported results and provided commentary from that session.

Let's first get that result from Wood-Ridge and then we will head up to Cedar Grove after that!

The Wood-Ridge Courts Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Fernanda Toker over Anna Mazur, 6-2, 6-0, to become the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Toker's Take: We arrived at 10am, started warming up and then began to play the match at 10:20.  It was really hot and nice outside.  The rallies were long and tiring.  I really had to work my craftiness and place the ball either really low to her backhand or play my famous topspin lobs to the baseline.  She played really well, returning everything back and trying to attack me right away as she was waiting for my serves really close to the service line.  But I fought to stay focused because I knew that if I gave her one little opening, she could come back and change things around.  After an hour and fifteen minutes (11:35), I won the match.

The Consequences: Fernanda is now the new Top Contender to the GTA Women's Championship currently held by Laura "The Aura" Gawley.  While Gawley is required to defend her Title at least once in the month of October, she is not mandated to face Toker...but it would be nice if she did take on her new Top Contender before facing any other challengers...provided they can find a mutually convenient time and place to play the match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for her very timely reporting and congratulate her on a very impressive victory as Anna has made great strides this season.

We now turn this report over to Kris and he will hand the ball to Gen along the way.

After the "blockbuster" Wednesday night session, it was indeed a relatively "barebones" session on Thursday night…lacking the intensity and venom that one conjures up with tournament matches and other scheduled ahead of time matches.  Nevertheless, the Cedar Grove Courts were sprinkled with GTA players and only the sprinkles from the sky would serve to put a premature end to the night's session.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Chris Barbieri/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Andrew Kroessler, 7-6 (7-2)!  No Aces.

Excellent play by both Chris and Fadia earned them a solid win.  It was a lethargic outing for me personally, but Drew was great as he was serving well and playing attractive shots.  Chris was absolutely brilliant in many of the gets he made and Fadia mixed up her game well by combining powerful shots with defensive loops effectively.  She also served well to score some easy points.  It was a good match that lasted well over an hour, but we let ourselves down with plenty of careless plats.

Kris Srinivasan/Rob Gawley over Chris Barbieri/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1!  Rob: 1 Ace on Fadia!

It was a "resourceful" Rob who played or rather tricked his opponents with his wily and crafty play.  Rob was well-supported by Drew, who hardly erred this time around.  Fadia was asking what's Rob's nickname was.  I said it was "Rowdy" as anointed by Samara, but Spin chirped in "Evil".  I thought he was more resourceful and roguish.  Maybe more of a rogue than a rowdy one…not a rascal...:-).

Samara's Notes: Kris has been on fire lately when it comes to moniker-making.  First, it was giving Dino Celis the title of "The Dragon".  Then he elevated Tito Castolo to "Titan" status.  And now he has coined another good one…"The Rogue" Rob Gawley.  I like it!  We now go back to Kris. 

Guy Dupoux/Frank Hohorst over Ryan Pienciak/Mike Mole, 6-3!  No Aces.

Looks like Frank is on a roll as he took out the heavyweights with Guy supporting him well.

Levy Lorenzo and Nick Inciong took out Gen and Edgar Valencia in two straight One-Setters.  Levy said he would send the details directly, but Gen may possibly chip in with her say.

Samara's Notes: Yes, both sent in their scores via text in a very timely manner.  But then Gen also followed up with an e-mail which included details…so we go to her recap now.

Levy Lorenzo/Nick Inciong over Edgar Valencia/Genalin Capan, 6-2!  No Aces.  The duration was from 8pm to 8:30. 

Levy Lorenzo/Nick Inciong over Edgar Valencia/Genalin Capan, 6-3!  No Aces.  The duration was from 8:30 to 9:10. 

Both were very competitive One-Setters.  Levy and Nick are a tough team.  There were many good rallies, but most of them ended in their favor.  It was Filipino Central on Court 3!  The bonus was we spoke Tagalog (our native language) during our sets.  We had a lot of fun.

Dan Martinelli/Andrew Kroessler over Rob Gawley/Chris Barbieri, 6-2!  No Aces.

The Spin-Drew combo was a more solid one with fewer errors and that was coupled with a drop in the game of Chris and Rob which sped up the end result.  It started raining almost as soon as the match started, but the players went about playing right through it.  Earlier, it was warm and humid but still a beautiful full moon night.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: It was a Harvest Moon, actually.  I thank both Kris and Gen for hosting and reporting these results in such a comprehensive and timely manner. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/4 Results.

10/4/17:

"Monk Final part of 31 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis and it was an epic one!  It was at The Cedar Grove Courts with the Main Event being the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament Final featuring "Hollywood" Frank Samara and "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto taking on "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst.

With Samara in attendance, he also acted as the host of a session where the growing throng of players set a new attendance record of 31 competitors at Cedar Grove (previous record was 29)!  When Frank told his buddy "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli that the night was like Baskin Robbins with 31 flavors, Spin replied: "I like that.  Put that in the write-up."

Besides great action, it was a night of much hi-jinx and hilarity.  Let's bounce back to the beginning. 

Samara arrived earlier than expected at 6:15, but he was far from being the early bird there as his partner Vin was already out on Court Four hitting with "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay.  Vin was somewhat half-hearted in his effort as he was also talking to "Bravo" Brenda Jordan who was in the area between Courts Three and Four.

Out on Court One were "The Wednesday Ladies" (four of them) who usually occupy one of the courts most Wednesdays from 6 to 7pm.  Court Two was still vacant.

So Frank strolled out onto the courts and offered to hit with Brenda in order to hold two courts rather than just one.  Brenda said that Kathy "Pickler" Sheldon was on the way and was bringing a new player.  Sure enough, Kat pulled into the lot right at that time. 

Samara then bounced back toward Court Four when "J-Bach" Jordan Bachvaroff arrived at 6:20.  As Jordan is already friends with Erdem, Frank suggested the two of them take Court Two so that we could spread out on the three courts that were available.

It was a good thing as the flood gates opened early on this evening.  Four players arrived at 6:25: Kris, "Instant" Moka Pathan, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson and Michele Panzitta (she would be "the new player" that Brenda had referenced, but she already and recently made her official GTA Debut).

While our four ladies soon got a full 2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match underway on Court Three, Kris and Frank got into a hitting session with Moka and Vin while waiting for "the other Frank", Mr. Hohorst, to arrive.  And he did just that at 6:35.  Pathan then shifted over to Court Two at this time.

The two teams then took their proper sides in a hitting session and then the match got underway somewhere around 6:50.  This was just minutes after both "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan entered the parking lot area outside the courts.

Turns out they had planned a full Non-Title Match against the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay.  Obviously, that action would now have to wait for a court to clear.  In the interim, Gen became the fourth player on Court Two while Doinks roamed the outer sideline area of the courts like a tigress ready to pounce.

Like clockwork, The Wednesday Ladies curtailed their action on Court One precisely at 7pm.  Just one game into their Monk Memorial Final, Kris opted to switch courts because he and his partner were displeased with the dim lighting over Court Four (the lights came on stronger later in the evening).  This change of venue may have been somewhat strategic as the momentum definitely swayed heavily soon after the move…LOL!

"The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia arrived at 7:05 and soon joined Doinks out on Court Four for a hitting session.  Five minutes later, Sally arrived with hubby "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and Spin also pulled into the lot around this same time.  Five minutes more saw "King Crush" Chris Chiaro make his appearance as well.

Soon after that, Laura was on the scene as well.  Now Doinks was eyeing up Court Two just waiting for Gen to finish her One-Setter so that they could get their full match going over on Court Four.  And sure enough, that ending was timely as the match finished at 7:20 and Ms. Capan was soon on her way to joining the other three ladies.

Court Two then hosted a One-Setter featuring Chiaro/Pathan versus Kuzavas/La Forgia…definitely some heavy-hitting action on that one.

And the players kept coming - GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernades and "The Hit Man" Tom La at 7:30, both of whom took a seat next to Spin on the bench alongside Court Four to view the increasingly lopsided Monk Memorial Final.

At 7:40, it was "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla, "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The Adonis" Don Moya along with "J-Wow" Janice Wang.

There was a little breather for a bit before the next round of players resumed making their arrivals: Natalia "Nitro" Sout at 8:05, "The Titan" Tito Castolo at 8:15, Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan and Edgar "Valentino" Valencia at 8:25 and then "Rowdy" Rob Gawley at 8:30.

Kris and Frank had to convince the latter three to patient and stick around as the logjam was quite intense at that time.  It was a good thing that they did hang in there because they would soon be rewarded with some court time as well.

The final arrival of the evening was made by "The Dragon" Dino Celis at 8:45.  When he decided to play rather than just be an observer, he became the record-breaking 31^st competitor of the session…oh, what a night!

Let's get those results!

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson over Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division!  In the process, Sheldon/Panzitta entered the division as the New # 11 Ranked Team.  No Aces.  Court Three hosted this one from 6:40 to 7:50.

Moka Pathan/Genalin Capan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Erdem Alpay, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one took place on Court Two from 6:50 to 7:20.

Monk Memorial Final Match:

Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-2, 6-1, to become the 2017 Monk Memorial Champs and New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division (the second set of Top Contenders after the # 1 Ranked Team of Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas)!  Kris: 1 Ace on Vin in the 1^st Set; and Frank H.: 1 Ace on Vin in the 2^nd Set!

1^st Set: Frank H. was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30, 30-All where Vin hit a winning volley to set up Break Point and then Frank H. blew a volley to break himself) and then we shifted over from Court Four to Court One.  Frank S. was also broken (Frank H. hit a winning volley for Love-30, it then went to 15-30 where Kris made an incredible get/winner combo to set up Double Break Point, it then went to Break Point where Kris scored with an excellent winning lob for the break), but Kris was the first to hold serve (started with a T-line Ace against Vin and then hit an un-returned serve for 30-Love, it then was 30-15 where another un-returned serve set p Double Game Point only to have yet another un-returned serve secure the hold) to go up 2-1.  Vin was broken (Vin hit a well-placed passing shot winner for 15-Love and then Kris hit a winning volley for 15-All, then there was a Double Fault for 15-30 which was where Kris hit a passing shot winner for Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Hohorst held serve (15-Love, 15-All and then straight thru Double Game Point to the hold) to go up 4-1.  Samara held, too, even after getting off to a rough start as Kris and Frank H. both made incredible gets in a rally where the point ended up in their favor at Love-30, it then went to Triple Break Point where Frank H. blew an overhead to make it Double Break Point, then it went to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point where Frank H. blew a volley to allow the hold for the opposition to pull to 2-4.  But from there, Srinivasan held again (Love-15 promptly shifted to Double Game Point as Frank H. hit a winning volley followed by back-to-back un-returned serves and then Frank H. hit an emphatic Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold) and then De Benedetto was broken again (first Vin blew a volley and then Frank blew a volley even worse in the next point to make it Love-30, but then an un-returned serve served to shift the momentum to 30-All, but then a Double Fault set up Break/Set Point, it went to Deuce, but then the break came on the 2^nd Break/Set Point) to drop the set at 7:25 (it had gotten underway at 6:50).  We took a brief break then returned to the same sides as it was an even-score set.  The next set began just two minutes later.

2^nd Set: Frank H. held at Love as he started with a sideline Ace against Vin and then Kris hit an awesome passing shot winner followed by an un-returned serve to set up Triple Game Point and then yet another un-returned serve to secure the hold, Frank S. was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, then Break Point which was perhaps the best rally of the match where Frank S. made several great gets only to end the point and break himself with a shot pushed way wide…emblematic of much of his poor performance throughout the contest), Kris held (Frank H. blew a volley for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point where Kris scored with another scorching passing shot winner to lock down his own hold), Vin was broken (Triple Break Point, an un-returned serve to cut it to Double Break Point, but then Frank H. hit a winning volley for the break) and then Hohorst held at Love again as Kris started the game off with another passing shot winner, there was an un-returned serve and then Frank H. hit a winning volley to set up Triple Game Point where Kris hit yet another passing shot winner to wrap up his partner's hold for a commanding 5-0 lead!  Samara held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All which came right after an un-returned serve and then there was the small shift to Game Point where Frank H. blew a volley to allow the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard as Vin proudly and jokingly exclaimed: "Nobody feeds us a bagel!"  Well, maybe they did not swallow a bagel (or a donut), but they were about to eat a salty breadstick rammed right down their throat when Srinivasan held again (Frank H. blew a volley for Love-15, but then it shifted to 30-15 after Frank H. scored with a winning Overhead Smash, then it was 30-All where yet another Frank H. Overhead Smash set up Game/Match Point and then came the win) to earn a surprisingly easy victory!  We finished this one exactly at 7:51.

The Skinny: Coming into this contest, most had assumed that the two Franks (Samara and Hohorst) would be the steadier hands for their respective teams.  The two intangibles were Kris and Vin as both can run with the big dogs (for De Benedetto, we're talking about Doubles at this point) when they are on their game, but also either can admittedly run off the rails when having a bad day.  Vintage Vinnie had the magic elixir this past Sunday, but that well ran dry on Wednesday.  He had exhibited the best mobility we had seen from him in quite some time during the Monk Semi only to have that vanish in the Final.  Meanwhile, it was The K Man who more than rose to the occasion with a lethal combination of consistency and aggression.  That was then equaled by the efforts of Hohorst who is a sound Doubles player who makes his presence felt at the net.  Meanwhile, Samara may have been an impressive get-maker throughout the match…but more often than not his runaround rallies were wrapped up by an unforced error to kill all built-up momentum.  He was more often than not his worst enemy as he may have come into the contest a little too amped up as he tried to honor his late stepfather ("The Monk" Tom Mueller) with yet another tournament victory.  This season, it was simply not in the cards.  Major kudos and congratulations to Kris and Frank H. on a very well-deserved victory!

The Consequences: Srinivasan/Hohorst will now face Kuzavas/Kazluaskas in a match to determine New GTA Doubles Champions.  It shall be a tall task for the New Monk Memorial Champs, but anything is possible and it should at least be a solid and entertaining match.

Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan over Marijus Kuzavas/Lou La Forgia, 7-6 (7-5)!  Marijus: 1 Ace on Chris.  This down-to-the-wire one-set war was waged on Court Two from 7:30 to 8:18.

Non-Title Match:

Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-0, 6-4!  This was not a defense of the GTA Women's Doubles Championship as Srinivasan/Capan had not yet been ranked in the Women's Doubles Division.  They now enter the division as the New # 12 Ranked Team.  Doinks: 1 Ace on Sally.

Gen's Notes: The 1st Set was all Laura/Sally.  Doinks and I were probably nervous at first facing The Champs.  There were some nice rallies and the pace of the points was quick.  They did a better job of controlling the points and finishing them, especially Laura at the net.  It was about 24 minutes in duration (7:33 to 7:57).

In the 2nd Set, we debated about switching sides.  Laura suggested we should as they also switched things up.  Doinks and I got an early lead at 3-1.  Then Laura/Sally tied it up at 3-3.  They took the next two games.  Then Sally was serving up 5-3.  I think we saved a Match Point and then got the break to pull to 4-5.  I was serving at 30-40 and we saved a 2nd MP to get to Deuce, then Game Point, another Deuce, Ad Out and then they won it on the 3rd MP!  This set lasted 42 minutes (8:01 to 8:43).

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for that commentary which paints a better picture of a match that many others found to be entertaining from the sidelines.  We now run the rest of the results.

Nathan Fernandes/Mike Mole over Jordan Bachvaroff/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-2!  Nathan: 1 Ace on Jordan (a cheap one)!  Court One hosted this one from 8:07 to 8:41.

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Tom La/Dawn Peterson, 6-2!  No Aces.  They faced off on Court Three and it lasted from 8:12 to 8:37.

Dan Martinelli/Frank Hohorst over Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.  This foursome got things done on Court Two from 8:25 to 8:48.

Marijus Kuzavas/Lou La Forgia over Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.  This was contested on Court One from 8:48 to 9:25.

Dennis Cabanatan/Tom La over Edgar Valencia/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-2!  No Aces.  They played this one on Court Three from 8:50 to 9:25.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Sally Pillay over Rob Gawley/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.  They faced off on Court Four from 8:51 to 9:11.

Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout over Frank Hohorst/Dino Celis, 6-3!  No Aces.  Court Two hosted this one from 8:56 to 9:27.

Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli over Jordan Bachvaroff/Rob Gawley, 6-1!  Rob: 1 Ace on Spin (a cheap one)!  In the last game with Rob on serve down 1-5, it went from Triple Break/Match Point to Double Break/Match Point to Break/Match Point where finally Nate and Spin managed to close the door!  This one took place on Court Four from 9:14 to 9:44.

Marijus Kuzavas/Lou La Forgia over Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2!  No Aces.  In this second One-Setter, they decided to forego the changeovers in the hopes of getting it done.  And they did just that on Court One as it had gotten underway at 9:26 and finished at 9:57!

Tito Castolo/Natalia Sout over Frank Hohorst/Dino Celis, 6-1!  Dino: 1 Ace on Natalia.  After the previous One-Setter, Dino requested to "run it back."  Even though this one got started on Court Two, they still did the changeovers and they managed to finish it by 9:51.

Dennis Cabanatan/Tom La leading Edgar Valencia/Arthur Fontanilla, 4-3 (Incomplete when they decided to stop the action on Court Three at 9:59…they decided to forego the changeovers when they got it going at 9:26)!

Nathan Fernandes/Dan Martinelli leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Rob Gawley, 2-0 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…they decided to forego the changeovers when they began this one on Court Four at 9:45)!  Jordan: 1 Ace on Spin; and Spin: 1 Ace on Jordan!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/3 Results.

10/3/17:

"Marijus/Sally-Tito/Fadia part of 18 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis and it took place at The Cedar Grove Courts with the Main Event being the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match with the Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay defending their Titles against Former Champ: "The Titan" Tito Castolo and the new partner of his choice, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas.  Marijus sent in the details and Tito also was an early reporter of the result along with a quick comment.

From there, we also received results from usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli.

We now head up to Cedar Grove for those scores.  We will start with the Main Event and then go to the balance of results after that.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Tito Castolo/Fadia Nicolas, 7-5, 7-5, to complete the first successful GTA Mixed Doubles Championship defense of their first reign!  In the process, Castolo/Nicolas entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 46 Ranked Team.  Marijus: 2 Aces on Fadia!

The Scoop from Super Mario: The 1st Set went 1-0, 4-1, 5-4 and 7-5.  We started strong, but then they had a nice comeback from down 1-4 to tie it at 4-4.  So we had a tough time closing the set.  The 2nd Set went 0-3, 3-4, 5-5 and 7-5.  This time they started strong and we were a bit sloppy.  We dug in and came back to tie it and eventually close the match.  Tito played his usual crafty game, attacking the net and keeping us off balance.  Fadia was steady, especially when in the back.  It was a very good match.

Tito's Touch: We started at 7:40 and it finished at 9:45.  It was a great victory for them.  They were really deserving of it.

The K has his say: The highlight of the night was the match between Marijus and Sally against Tito and Fadia.  It was a good match and a close one.  Tito was brilliant and tried hard, but all in vain at the end. Fadia was not comfortable at the net, but did much better playing from the baseline, playing true to her strength.  Marijus and Sally showed their usual aggression and prevailed at the end.

The Consequences: Now that Tito got his promised shot at the Titles, Marijus and Sally will now be told to wait for the winners of the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament to emerge as their new Top Contenders.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone above for their contributions and we now go to Kris first and then the others for the balance of the results.

It was a busy night of GTA Tennis with plenty of action after the Pickle Ballers left.  Incidentally, Kathy Sheldon was one of the Picklers.

Samara's Notes: E tu, Kathy?  It seems she has gone to the dark side…the green side of The Pickle Ballers…LOL!  Back to Kris we go for the scores.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Louise Bysiek/Leslie Golle, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Leslie Golle. 

Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek leading Doinks Srinivasan/Leslie Golle, 3-2 (Incomplete when action was stopped due to a minor injury)!  No Aces. 

The K has his say: I was flat as a pancake, but Doinks was solid.  Leslie has slices and gets back most balls.

Ryan Pienciak/Guy Dupoux over Rob Gawley/Nick Inciong, 7-6 (7-0)!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Nick Inciong over Paul Daddio/Guy Dupoux, 7-5!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: The last two results were submitted by Kris and Levy, but when Ryan reported them…he had the correct scores.  We now go to Levy for the rest of the report except for one result which was submitted by Spin.

I arrived at 8:05.  GTA Champion: Nathan Fernandes and GTA Women's Champion: Laura Gawley were sitting on the bench watching the match between Marijus/Sally versus Tito/Fadia.  The score was 4-1 in favor of Marijus/Sally at the time and I believe Tito/Fadia was able to catch up to 5-5.

Spin and Chris Barbieri were already playing with Jordan and Syed (I do not have their score…you'll have to get it from Spin).  

Samara's Notes: And now we get that score from Spin.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Syed Rashid over Dan Martinelli/Chris Barbieri, 6-2!  Syed: 1 Ace on Spin!

The Spin from Spin: Chris played his heart out...making incredible gets and connecting on several net point winners.  Yours truly, on the other hand, just sucked!  Syed and Jordan were steady enough to win easily.  I was more than happy to step off to let others play and I spent the rest of the time getting schooled by The Champs, Laura and Nate.

Samara's Notes: Thanks to Spin for that brief report.  And now we go back to Levy to finish with the rest.

After they finished, Spin was nice enough to allow me to replace him.  

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Jordan Bachvaroff/Syed Rashid over Levy Lorenzo/Chris Barbieri, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 87 and # 88 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

I brought a notebook with me and I will help giving you the scores whenever I play in Cedar Grove.

Samara's Notes: I thank Levy for picking up the slack with the balance of this report and hope to have him host more in the future.  Samara signing off!   

 

10/2 Results.

10/2/17:

"6 play at PAC, but nothing from C.G.!":

Apparently, there was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley where we received results reports from multiple players (four of the six who attended) at that session.  Meanwhile, nothing was reported from The Cedar Grove Courts!

This is particularly disappointing as certain sources (I won't name names…LOL!) mentioned seeing GTA players out on the courts.  Just when I thought we had rebounded from a lack of reporting there, it seems that trend has reared its ugly head once again.

I don't have the time to chase down scores, nor should I be begging people to submit results.  It does seem there is a lack of gratitude as it is this league that has often (not always) enabled many of these players to meet the other players there and then have the opportunity to play tennis with them.

Also, I will then sometimes get inquiries from some of these same people as to why they (or a team they were in) went inactive.  Well, if the results are not reported…you cannot complain down the road about why they were not counted. 

On the upside, there is now great enthusiasm for the GTA at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.  So I will now turn this report over to "Richie" Rich Liu, "MC Quick" Mike Carucci, "The Riz" John Rizzo and "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport (who wrote in just to confirm the scores).

Let's get those results!  We first go to Rich who acted as the predominant host and provided some commentary as well.

So I showed up around 7:45pm or so at Park Ave.  The weather was a perfect, a bit cool but still where you know you would be sweating within a few minutes of playing.  John Rizzo was already there with Fausto Murg as well. 

Fausto had a court already so it was all good to go for us.  And the lights were on! 

Samara's Notes: Rizzo informed me that the lights were not on at the outset.  My retort was to accuse the Township of Nutley to be so cheap that they would try to cut the lights upon the outset of October!  Thankfully, Rich has a connection at Parks and Rec and the lights went on soon after.  We now go back to Rich.

Riz and I hit with Fausto for a while to warm up.  Then Ravishing Randy Doran arrived, anxious to compete!  He was so excited to have an opportunity to compete against some GTA veterans that he could hardly contain his excitement.  Shortly after that, Mike Carucci showed up and then Dan Praport came along, too.  It was a perfect setting for some competitive Doubles in Nutley.

The PAC Results:

Rich Liu/Randy Doran over Mike Carucci/Fausto Murg, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Richie Rich Recap: So we started the night with Randy and me versus Mike and Fausto.  As Dan and The Riz, being the courteous GTA vets that they are, elected to sit out and play the winners.  Randy and Rich started off hot and were up 3-0 before Fausto and Mike were even warm.  Then Randy and Rich started to strategize about their next opponents (Riz and Dan), thinking that the battle with Mike and Fausto would be over soon.  Of course, Mike and Fausto decided to fight back hard.  Soon it was 3-3, then 4-4, and finally 6-4 in our favor.  There were some great rallies back and forth.  Mike is a pretty fast player and it was hard to get the ball by him.  While there were no aces, there were plenty of unreturned serves.

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for that result along with the comprehensive commentary.  We now go to Mike for an additional score.

Fausto Murg over Mike Carucci, 6-2!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Rich Liu/Randy Doran over Dan Praport/John Rizzo, 6-1, 2-6, 10-8 (STB), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 85 and # 86 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces. 

The Riz Report: We only had a few minutes left after the first two sets, so we opted to play a 10-point Super Tiebreaker to finish the match.  Overall, it was a fun match with many competitive points!  They are definitely a tough team to handle. 

Samara's Notes: I thank all involved for reporting in such a timely manner…especially Rich who acted as the overall host along with the assist from The Riz.  The only minor disappointment of this session is the fact that I don't see the involvement of "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla or "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer, both of whom had indicated that they would be in attendance.   

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354 

 

 

10/1 Results.

10/1/17:

"Monk Semi part of 13 at AP, 2 play at NTC, Pienciak-Shah 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, an early evening one at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo and one later in the evening that featured the second Grove Cup XX Semifinal Match of the tourney - this one between "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Sultan of Swing" Raj Shah (with both reporting).  We will detail the sessions in chronological order.

GTA Sunday Tennis officially got underway at 10:40am in Albion Park (though the host, Frank Samara arrived at 10:25 while the other three competitors involved in the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament Semifinal/Albion Final...his partner "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto and the opposing team of "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "The Hit Man" Tom La...were already there before he arrived...along with "The Icon" Nick Inciong).

This Semifinal had originally been scheduled to be part of the first day of Monk Memorial action last Sunday, but when one Quarterfinal went twice as long as the other...and you couple that fact with the situation where both La and De Benedetto needed to leave closer to 1pm rather than the as-scheduled 2pm...well, it created a situation where the Semi got bounced to the following week (i.e. this Sunday).

As the four guys involved got out onto the North Court to warm up for the match, Nick would not be "the fifth wheel" for long as Natalia "Nitro" Sout made her way to the courts at 10:30.  Soon, the two of them would start hitting with one another on Center Court.

The Semi got underway at 10:40.  Five minutes later, the two interlopers that we have referred to in the past as "The Bald Brothers" took the South Court.  I must say that this was the first time where they truly interacted with us as around 11:40 they gave us a heads-up that they would be finishing in five minutes (as they did).  They then hung around until noon to watch us play and then said "goodbye" as they left.  Perhaps they will be recruited in the near future.

But I have gotten ahead of myself (a common occurrence) as we now bounce back a bit to detail the remaining arrivals.  "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara joined Inciong and Sout on Center Court at 10:50 and then Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao made it a foursome for some Mixed Doubles just five minutes later.  He would only require five minutes of hitting as they began their One-Setter at 11am.

At 11:05, GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes strolled onto the courts and took a seat on the bench alongside the North Court to watch the Monk Semi.  Ten minutes later, "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues arrived and he did the same as Nate.  In between these two arrivals, the 1st Set had ended exactly at 11:08 and the 2nd Set got underway at 11:10.

When the One-Setter on Center Court ended at 11:20, Nick and Natalia were nice enough to step off (as they had been the convincing winners) to allow Nate and Joe to take their place.  This time around, Tony would team with Joe while Nate paired with Suzanne.

Just minutes after they got that one underway, "The Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 11:25.  Five minutes later, Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda also made her way down that hill to the courts.  And then "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales was the thirteenth official (and final) competitor to arrive at 11:45.

Let's get to the scores!

The AP Results:

Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal:
Frank Samara/Vinnie De Benedetto over Dan Martinelli/Tom La, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Doubles Division while also advancing to the Monk Memorial Final!  No Aces. 

1st Set: Tom was broken (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All which was where Spin hit a winning to go up 30-15, then it went to 30-All and another Double Fault to set up Break Point and then came the break) and Vin held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and he was off and running to Triple Game Point only to blow volleys in back-to-back points to cut his lead down to Game Point, but then Frank scored with an effective drop shot that was not a winner...it just effectively ended the point) for 2-0.  Spin held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a winning Overhead Smash by Vin for 15-All and then two more un-returned serves to set up Double Game Point where Frank badly blew what should have been a sure overhead to allow the hold) and then Frank was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which was where Frank blew a volley for 15-All and it was all downhill from there as it went right to Double Break Point and the break) to knot it up at 2-2.  But from there, La was broken again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point where Vin hit a winning drop shot volley for Deuce, then Break Point where Vin scored with another winning volley to get the break), De Benedetto held again (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for 15-Love where Tom answered with a vicious volley winner for 15-All, but then it was straight to Double Game Point where a truly un-returnable serve secured the hold), Martinelli was broken at Love as Frank hit a nice Backhand Volley winner on Triple Break Point and then Samara held in a struggle as he blew a drop shot attempt for Love-15 only to then hit a couple of un-returned serves on the way to Double Game/Set Point where Vin blew a volley to cut the lead to Game/Set Point which was where Spin scored with a winning lob to make it Deuce and then Spin made a great get that was all for naught as the point led to the 3rd Game/Set Point, it then went to 2nd Deuce where Vin hit a victorious volley to set up the 4th Game/Set Point where Vin topped himself with an even more impressive Backhand Volley winner to secure his partner's hold to take the set!  We got this one underway at 10:40 and finished the initial set at exactly 11:08.  After a two minute break for recording of the details, the two teams went back to the same sides of the court as it was an even-number-ending set and neither team made any adjustments in service or return of service sides going into the next set.

2nd Set: Tom was broken (started off with a Double Fault and then Vin hit an impressive Overhead Smash winner for Love-30 where a truly un-returnable serve made it 15-30, then it was Double Break Point where another un-returned serve cut it to Break Point, but then came the break) and Vin held (30-Love was where Frank made a great get and yelled out in what would have been a victory howl only to have Tom respond with an equally great get to then hit a roller over the net for the point to which the Samara howl soon turned into a scowl as it was now 30-15 and a true momentum shifter as it then went to Break Point, but then came Deuce, Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Game Point where the rally of the match up until that point then made it 3rd Deuce where Vin hit a winning volley for Game Point and then Frank hit a winner to secure his partner's hold) for 2-0.  Spin held (Love-15 soon shifted to Double Game Point as Frank blew an overhead and then a volley along the way and then the lead was cut down to Game Point only to have Vin blow a volley as well to allow the hold) to get his team onto the scoreboard, but Frank also held (a winning volley by Vin and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, it then went to 30-15, Double Game Point which was soon reduced to Deuce, Game Point again where Vin hit a victorious volley to lock down his partner's hold) for 3-1.  La held (stated with a Double Fault, but that soon shifted to 30-15 right after Tom hit a villainous volley winner, it then went to 30-All, Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-3.  But from there, De Benedetto held again (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All as Vin hit a winning Overhead Smash along the way and then it was Vin hitting a winning volley to set up Game Point and then hitting yet another winning volley to secure his own hold), Martinelli was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All as Vin hit a winning drop shot volley and Spin hit a winner along the way, but then Frank hit the winner to set up Break Point and then came the break) and Samara held again (Tom hit a winning volley for Love-15 which was where Frank hit a drop shot winner for 15-All and then it was off to the races as it soon became Double Game/Match Point where Spin hit a winner to cut that down to Game/Match Point and then it was Deuce where Vin hit a winning volley to set up the 3rd Game/Match Point which he then put the icing on the cake with an even more impressive volley winner to put the hold and the match in the books) for the win!  The match ended at 11:50.

The Skinny: Last week, it was said that Samara/De Benedetto truly earned their moniker - The Gravediggers, as they came back from being down 2-5 in both sets and also fought off numerous Set Points in the 1st Set of that match.  Well, this week the nickname should be "The Vin Show" as he was simply on fire for most of the contest.  When Nick came to watch the 2nd Set, he kept calling him "Vin The Man" (a variation of his previous moniker, "The Vin Man").  Even De Benedetto had to admit that he was really on the money on this day.  Samara did his part as well while La pretty much self-destructed more often than not while his partner, Martinelli, managed to be the steadier hand. 

In between sets, Tom told Spin that Frank and Vin would likely be hitting all their shots to The Doc.  While the majority of the hits did go his way, it was never nearly that dramatic a difference.  Plus, Martinelli was more than up to the task with many great gets and a few smart winners (including a couple of timely lobs).  La likely came into this contest as somewhat damaged goods as he had played during the GTA Friday Night Tennis session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.  He then followed that outing the next day (Saturday) by attending the 2nd Annual Demuro Tennis Reunion where his team made it to the Finals.  He had played five sets of Doubles and it was in the sixth (the 2nd Set of the Finals) where he cramped up and had to bow out of the tourney.  While his mobility never seemed to be an issue in this Monk Semi, it seemed he may have been trying to overcompensate with heavy shots that were often overcooked...especially on the returns.  This was a case of one team being on (especially Vin) with the other team coming in flat (mostly Tom).

The Consequences: Samara/De Benedetto now must face the team of "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst in the Monk Memorial Final.  This match will likely take place during a weeknight session up at Cedar Grove.  The winning team is not only the 2017 Monk Memorial Champs, but will also become the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division.  They will then face the 2017 M2 Champs, "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas, in a match to determine New GTA Doubles Champions as those Titles are currently vacant.

Nick Inciong/Natalia Sout over Tony Shiao/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  No Aces.  Center Court hosted this one from 11am to 11:20.  This was Shiao's first time at the courts of Albion and he was quite impressed with their look and condition.

Tony Shiao/Joe Rodrigues over Nathan Fernandes/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2!  Tony: 1 Ace on Nate; and Suzanne: 1 Ace on Joe!  This was also played on Center Court and it lasted from 11:22 to 11:40.

Tony Shiao/Nick Inciong over Joe Rodrigues/Dan Martinelli, 6-3!  No Aces.  This took place on the North Court from 11:57 to 12:30.  After this one, everyone involved left except for Martinelli.

Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis over Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout, 7-5!  Jose: 1 Ace on Dino on his very first serve!  This was contested on Center Court from 12:12 to 12:52.

During the above, a hitting session took place on the South Court after the "Bald Brothers" and Suzanne had left.  It was Frank hitting against Vin and Sachiko.  Sachi suggested Canadian Doubles, so it started off with Samara flying solo on serve.  The way we play it is a point is scored if the lone player holds serve of the returning team's members each get a point if they break the server.

After Frank held serve, so did Vin.  Then when it was Sachiko's turn to serve, she seemed somewhat shocked as she looked at both of the guys and asked incredulously, "both?"  Samara said that the Canadian Doubles was her suggestion and now it was her turn...so yes, both!  LOL!

The final score of the unofficial Canadian Doubles was: Frank - 4; Vin -2; Sachiko - 1.  It was at this moment where we had the chance to get Tokuda involved in some official action over on the North Court.

Frank Samara/Sachiko Tokuda over Dan Martinelli/Vinnie De Benedetto, 6-4!  No Aces.  It went like this: Sachiko was broken (15-Love where a great rally ended with an awesome get/winner combo by Spin and then Sachiko blew an overhead in the next point and soon it had become Double Break Point where Vin scored with a winning drop shot return for the break) and Spin held serve (an un-returned serve for 15-Love where Sachiko hit a winning volley for 15-All, but then she blew a volley in the next point for 30-15 and it continued point for point to Game Point as Frank blew a drop shot but also made a winning drop shot along the way, then it went to Deuce where Frank hit a vicious Overhead Smash in Vin's direction only to have his self-preservation instincts kick in as he put up his racquet and then he hit a reflex volley winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold) for 2-0.  Frank held at Love as Sachiko started the game with a winning drop shot volley and then Frank book-ended Triple Game Point with un-returned serves and then Vin was broken (Sachiko hit a winner for Love-30, it then went to 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) for 2-2.  Tokuda held (started with a Double Fault, then it was Love-30 before it shifted to 30-All, then came Break Point where Frank scored with an awesome passing shot winner for Deuce and then Sachiko hit a winner to set up Game Point and then came the hold), but Martinelli held again and this time it was at Love as Vin started the game with a drop shot winner and ended the game with a wining Overhead Smash to tie it up at 3-3!  Samara also held again (Love-30 shifted to Game Point as Sachiko hit a winning volley and then there was an un-returned serve along the way, but then it went to Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and De Benedetto was broken in a game where I gave up on trying to remember who hit what winners as it went from a Love-15 start straight to Double Game Point, then that was reduced to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point and the break to fall to 3-5.  Tokuda was also broken (again...did not note who hit what winners...as it went fro Love-15 straight to Double Game/Match Point, then it was Game/Match Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to have her team's lead cut to 5-4.  But then The Doc was broken as well (Sachiko hit a winner for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15 as Vin hit a winning volley along the way, but it then shifted again to Break/Match point as Sachiko hit the winner to set up the B/M.P. and then Frank hit the winner to get the break) to get a somewhat surprising "L!"  The North Court hosted this one from 12:34 to 1:23.

The Skinny: While the action was good in this one and Sachiko exceeded all expectations, this one was more about having fun.  With Nate, Dino and Natalia watching from the sidelines, the extroverted Spin felt the need to put on a good show.  There practically was a running commentary for the entire contest.  Much fun was had by all as bouts and shouts of laughter rebounded around the park, but solely emanated from our court.  The most hilarious moment was during Vin's first service as a lengthy and spirited rally led to Sachiko hitting a deep shot that sailed just past Vin and as he tried to run it down, he exclaimed "this is amazing!" only to badly muff an attempted swing as the ball continued to whiz past him for the winner!  This led to both Spin and Frank falling to the ground and rolling around the court in a fit of the giggles for quite a bit afterward.

Sachi and Natalia left soon after and then it was "The Boys Club" as the guys decided to shoot the sh..!  Vin then left at 1:35 while Frank, Spin, Dino and Nate continued their little gab fest until 1:50 when all parties decided to head home.

By the way, the weather was beautiful for the entire session as it was sunny, barely hit 70 degrees and there was just the right amount of breeziness throughout the day,

We now go to NTC for The Riz Report.

Since our planned Doubles action fell through, Rich Liu and I decided to play a couple Singles One-Setters instead.

The NTC Results:

John Rizzo over Rich Liu, 7-5!  No Aces.  I led 3-1, then Rich came back to lead 5-4 before I won the last 3 games.

John Rizzo over Rich Liu, 6-2!  No Aces.  This set was closer than the 6-2 score indicates as we had many long rallies.

Both sets were fun and I look forward to playing more Singles.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting and it is good to see that he is handling both the hard courts once again as well as Singles action on the clay courts.

We will now get the details of the Grove Cup Semi that took place up at Cedar Grove. 

The Cedar Grove Result:

Grove Cup XX Semifinal Match:
Ryan Pienciak over Raj Shah, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 4 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Finals of the 20th Annual Grove Cup Tournament!  Ryan: 2 Aces (one ace in each set)!

The Ryan Report: Raj and I played our match at Cedar Grove. It was a brisk night (it actually dropped down to 60 degrees by the time we finished).  We started at 6:50 or so and finished a little before 8pm.  Raj won the racquet flip, but gave me the serve.  I think my usually absent first serve did not like the disrespect, so it decided to show up tonight! Haha!  Anyway, Raj was still having knee issues and I'm sure it would have been a much different match if he was 100 percent.

The Sultan Swings: I wanted to congratulate Ryan on his victory.  I don't think it would have made a huge difference even if I was a 100% healthy.

The Consequences: Pienciak advances to the Finals where he will face "Daddy O" Paul Daddio.  It should be quite the match to cap what has been a truly monumental Grove Cup Tournament…perhaps the best ever!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Ryan and Raj for their timely reporting and I congratulate Ryan on a very impressive victory.  Spin must have went up to Cedar Grove later in the evening because he reported not seeing anyone from the GTA there. 

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

9/30 Results

9/30/17:

"Just 4 play at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Saturday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts as GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes acted as the impromptu host of a session that had begun as just some practice hitting, but ultimately became a full 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match.

Let's get that result!

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Dennis Cabanatan/Minnie Cabanatan, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Nate's Notes: It wasn't initially scheduled to be a match.  Instead, it was a hitting session that morphed into one.  It was a lot of fun.

Samara's Notes: I thank Nate for reporting this match in such a timely manner. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

862-596-3354 

 

 

9/29 Results.

9/29/17:

"Kumar-Panda in Wayne, 10 play (2 new) at PAC, Boughton-Nicolas part of 7 at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: one in the early evening at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne featuring the long-awaited GTA Intermediate Title Match between the reigning GTA Intermediate Champion: "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar and the 2017 GTA Intermediate Invitational Champ: "The Annihilator" Nihar Panda (with both reporting); one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and the other was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts which had the usual host, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, report some scores, but first it was "Laidback" Laurie Boughton reporting from that session as Boughton faced "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match.

So let's first grab that important result that took place in Wayne, then we will go to Nutley to see how things unfolded there and then we will end this report with all that happened in Cedar Grove.

The Nellis Drive Result:

GTA Intermediate Title Match:
Nihar Panda over Senthil Kumar, 6-1, 6-2, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champion plus successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Untangled Web by Senthil: We both reached the courts around 6:45 and likely warmed up until 7:15 as around that time is when we started the match.  The match was completed by 8:30.  Nihar is very consistent with his game and most noteworthy were his passing shots whenever I approached the net.  He had very good control and placement with those passing shots.  He hardly made any unforced errors.  My confidence in Singles is low this year as I did not get the chance to play much of it this summer.  Anyway, I lost to a better player in every aspect.

Panda Expresses Himself: I thank Senthil for a good match.  I enjoyed it.  He made me run around the court by utilizing a lot of drop shots.  He was also very consistent, though a couple of his drop shots did not work.  Overall, it was a good match.

The Consequences: As Former Champ, Senthil is entitled to the first rematch which should take place in October.

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Nihar on a highly impressive victory and I thank both of them for their very timely reporting which included informative commentary. 

Now it is off to Nutley we go!

When Samara pulled into the parking lot off of Park Ave. at 7:25, he saw that all four courts were full.  Well, that was not entirely true as out on Court One he saw a familiar face...and it belonged to "The Hit Man" Tom La.  Frank greeted him as he was still sitting down with his back to the fence. 

Once again, Tom said he had called Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan to see if he wanted to join us.  And again, it seemed that Dennis prefers to play up at Cedar Grove.  La also mentioned the possibility of "The Riz" John Rizzo attending the session.  Samara said the same and then sent John a text message to inform him that both of them were already there.

Rizzo was already on his way and arrived at 7:35...five minutes after "Richie" Rich Liu had done the same.  We now had four for Doubles on Court One.

Meanwhile on Court Three, there were two more familiar faces (as far as Samara was concerned) as Edgar "Valentino" Valencia was teaming with an unfamiliar face to go up against Arunraj "Air" Nair who was also partnered with someone unfamiliar to Frank.

Rich explained that one of those two guys was a regular named David and Liu suggested that Samara retrieve his info later in the evening.  As for the other gentleman, he was making his first appearance as part of their meet-up group.

At 7:40, "Ravishing" Randy Doran arrived.  So now we had five on that court.  Samara was willing to sit out, but La said he would prefer to do that instead as he had originally planned on not playing any tennis on this night as he would be saving his energy and strength for the Second Annual Demuro Tennis Reunion the following day (Saturday).

So we opted to have it be Samara/Rizzo versus Doran/Liu for the initial One-Setter (on that court) of the night.  When the first Doubles One-Setter finished exactly at 8:53, there was some confusion as to who would compete in the next one. 

As he did on Wednesday night, La was looking not to play (again, citing his commitment to the Demuro event the next day).  Meanwhile, Samara suggested to Rizzo that if John wanted to play two One-Setters that he should do them back-to-back to avoid getting cold and stiff sitting out...speaking of which, Rizzo was already battling a head cold and it was quite cold and windy on this particular evening.

During these discussions and negotiations, they had finished the second of two Doubles One-Setters on Court Three.  Two guys just left Court Two and "MC Quick" Mike Carucci made his arrival at 8:40.

So Samara convinced La to take his place in teaming with Rizzo against Doran and Liu to free him up to meet the two new guys and collect their info.  As it turned out, both were happy to give their info and become part of the league.

First, Frank met David Caicedo who is tall, long and lanky.  After seeing him play, he earned the moniker of "DC-10" as he swoops around the court like a jumbo jet with great speed and a wide wingspan.

The other gentleman is Phil Federico who deserves the nickname of "Fed-X" as he delivers on the court.  We hope to see more of both of them in the future.

As these discussions were going on, Carucci and Valencia started hitting with one another on Court Three.  With Phil needing to leave at this time, Frank suggested they have Mike take his place and the other three players were fine with that as they shifted over to Court Two to be closer to the rest of the GTA contingent.

Court Four had a few people linger there for a while longer before they left.  And at 9:40, three younger players took over that court.  Again, after 8pm, it would be fairly easy to take at least three of the four courts at Park Ave.

Getting back to Court One, Rizzo removed himself from the court after that second Doubles One-Setter.  With Doran/Liu on a 2-0 winning streak, they then played the one combo they had not yet faced - Samara/La.  Rizzo then got to see quite a battle as the third One-Setter was quite intense in nature.  Yet, it was also still somewhat lighthearted. 

We ended up having ten official competitors (two of them making their official GTA Debut) on a chilly evening that was warmed up by heated (yet fun) action on the courts.  It was quite the session, indeed!

The Park Ave. Results:

Arunraj Nair/Phil Federico over Edgar Valencia/David Caicedo, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Phil Federico and David Caicedo.  They estimated that they started this on Court Three around 7:15.  Not sure when it ended as it went right into another One-Setter which we will get to a little later in this report.

Randy Doran/Rich Liu over Frank Samara/John Rizzo, 7-5!  Rich: 1 Ace on Frank!  It went like this: Randy held serve (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as John hit a winner along the way to make it 15-All and then there were two un-returned serves prior to the G.P., the last of which set it up and then came a third un-returned serve to secure the hold), Frank held his in an epic battle where winners were no longer remembered once we got to multiple Deuces (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point as John first hit a winning volley and then a drop shot winner along the way, but then that was reduced to Deuce where John hit a winning lob to set up Game Point which was the first of a few up until 3rd Deuce and then it was all Break Points until 6th Deuce, then Game Point, 7th Deuce, Break Point, 8th Deuce, Break Point, 9th Deuce, Game Point, Double Fault to 10th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold!), Rich held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then it was straight to Double Game Point as Rich hit an awesome passing shot winner along the way), but John was the first to be broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 as John made an amazing get only to send it back to Randy who was waiting at the net to hit the easy volley winner and then Frank also made a great get in a point that was a losing effort and then Frank was able to hit a precision winning lob that somehow found its way to the baseline and out of the reach of the opposition to make it 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) for 1-3.  Doran was broken (he started off with a Double Fault and then Frank hit a winner and John hit a scorcher of a winning return to set up Triple Break Point which was reduced to Break Point, but then came the break), but Samara held again (Frank hit a winner for 15-Love and it was off and running to Triple Game Point where Randy scored with a wicked Backhand Volley winner and then Rich followed that with a whipping volley winner to reduce the lead to Game Point only to have an un-returned serve secure the hold) to level things at 3-3.  Liu also held again (John hit a winning lob for Love-15 and then it went point for point until 30-All as John also had hit a winning passing shot return along the way which was followed by an un-returned serve and then came another un-returned serve to set up Game Point which ended with a winning volley from Randy), but Rizzo also held (John hit a passing shot winner and an un-returned serve to get to 30-Love which was where Randy hit a winner of his own for 30-15 only to then blow an overhead to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  Ravishing Randy held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a shift to 15-30 where back-to-back un-returned serves set up Game Point where the hold was locked down by a winning Overhead Smash by Rich), but Hollywood had his third straight hold (Randy hit a winning volley for Love-15, but then it went straight to Double Game Point as John hit a precise passing shot winner and Frank also hit a winner along the way and then an un-returned serve secured the hold) to stay alive at 5-5!  But then Richie Rich also had his third straight hold (an un-returned serve and a winner from Rich made it 30-Love, but then back-to-back blown volleys by Randy brought it to 30-All where Randy redeemed himself with an excellent Backhand Volley winner to set up Game Point, it then went to Deuce and Game Point again where Rich scored with a sideline Ace against Frank for the hold) to go up 6-5 and then The Riz was broken (Frank hit a winning volley for 15-Love only to blow back-to-back volley attempts on the way to Double Break/Match Point where Randy scored with a winning return for the break) to take a tough loss!  We played this one on Court One from 7:45 to 8:33.

The Skinny: Randy came in saying he was rusty as he has been too busy to play tennis for quite some time.  Well, if Mr. Doran was in fact off his game...it really did not seem that way on the court as he was very much a factor in his team's win.  But so was his partner Rich who played with his usual amount of aggression while his consistency had also improved.  John played well considering the fact that he was feeling under the weather and this was only his second night on the hard courts in quite some time.  Frank was having a fun and fine outing as he was hitting most of his shots at will and was never broken on serve.  He only got a little sloppy while trying to be too precise in that last game and that led to the defeat.

Edgar Valencia/David Caicedo over Arunraj Nair/Phil Federico, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one was done on Court Three at 8:40.
 
Randy Doran/Rich Liu over John Rizzo/Tom La, 7-5!  Tom: 2 Aces (one on each); and Randy: 1 Ace on John on his very first serve!  This was played on Court One from 8:37 to 9:11.

The Skinny: John had held his serve in the first game and then it was time for me to meet the new guys and try to guide the session along.  When the foursome of Carucci, Valencia, Nair and Caicedo decided to move over from Court Three to Court Two, it made it possible for me to take some notes for both Doubles One-Setters.  By this time, Doran/Liu had taken a lead of 5-3 only to have it get leveled to 5-5.  La was then on serve and Randy hit a roller over the net to set up Double Break Point.  It then went to Break Point where Tom hit a Double Fault to break himself and hand a 6-5 lead over to the opposition.  Liu was then on serve and went up 30-Love, it was leveled to 30-All and then it was Game/Match Point where Rich scored with an un-returned serve to get the win! 

Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair over Mike Carucci/David Caicedo, 7-5!  David: 1 Ace on Edgar!  They faced off on Court Two from 8:49 to 9:39.  Mike was broken and Edgar held serve for a 2-0 lead.  David held when he scored with the Ace against Edgar on Game Point and then Arunraj was broken to level it at 2-2.  Carucci was broken again, but so was Valencia for 3-3.  Mike called out to Frank (once Samara was back in action on Court One) that this one got tied up again at 4-4 and 5-5 along the way.

Frank Samara/Tom La over Randy Doran/Rich Liu, 7-5!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Randy was broken (Tom blew a volley for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then Randy blew a volley for 15-30 where Tom hit a whipping winner to set up Double Break Point where Randy responded with a wicked winner of his own to bring it to Break Point which was where Tom scored with an awesome passing shot winner for the break), Frank held serve (Randy scored with a winning drop shot return for Love-15, it then went to Love-30 before shifting to 30-All as Tom hit a winner along the way, but then Frank blew a drop shot attempt to make it Break Point only to hit one un-returned serve for Deuce and then another to set up Game Point and then came the hold), Rich was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, but then it went right to Double Break Point as Frank hit an impressive return winner and Randy blew a volley along the way and then Frank scored with another awesome return winner for the break) and then Tom held (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as Rich hit a winning lob and Tom hit a drop shot winner along the way and then it went to Deuce which was where Frank hit a winning volley to set up Game Point and then an un-returned serve earned the hold) to take what seemed to be a commanding lead at 4-0!  Doran held at Love as all four of his serves went un-returned and then Samara suffered his first service break of the night and it was at Love as Randy hit a winner, Rich hit a sizzler of a return winner and then Randy hit back-to-back winners, the last of which was truly a scorcher as his team had just taken eight straight points off the opposition to pull to 2-4!  But then Liu was broken at Love after a Double Fault set up Triple Break Point only to have Tom hit a vicious volley winner to put his team up 5-2 with a seemingly strong lead once again!  But then La was also broken (the heretofore rally of the match ended with Tom hitting what could only be described as Backhand Volley drop shot winner for 15-Love, then a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as Randy scored with a venomous volley winner along the way and then a Double Fault set up Break Point where yet another Double Fault caused the break), Doran held again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold...I let noting the winners slide as remaining time until lights out was now a prime concern) and The Wood was broken again (Love-30 shifted to 30-All, Break Point and the break) to balance this battle at 5-5!  Richie Rich was broken a third straight time (Double Fault for Love-30 which was where Frank scored with a victorious volley winner to set up Triple Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point where a rally that exceeded the prior "rally of the match" in both length and intensity ended with a desperation volley winner from Tom to get the break) and then The Hit Man held at Love after starting off with two truly un-returnable serves to eek out what turned out to be a hard-fought victory after all!  We played this one on Court One from 9:18 to 9:59...just one minute before lights out at 10pm!

The Skinny: It seemed that in this third One-Setter, the Doran/Liu tandem started to run out of gas while their opposition was always able to switch in a new and fresher man.  Frank's freshness showed early on as he was really having one of his better outings in quite some time.  Meanwhile, Rich was lamenting the fact that he lost his serve in this one.  Randy was still a steady presence albeit a more sedate one this time around.  Speaking of sedate, Tom got off to a hot start and finished strong in the end...but there were a couple of games there in the middle (during the opposition's comeback) where he had seemed to just check out mentally while Samara scurried to try to cover extra court during these few games.  Perhaps La thought they had already gotten to the finish line.  The problem was that they had yet to break the tape!  It was a fine effort on the part of Randy and Rich to rebound and make this one interesting as the rallies certainly intensified in the latter stages once all four parties were fully invested in the outcome.

Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair leading Mike Carucci/David Caicedo, 4-1 (Incomplete when they decided to stop this one after the fifth game had finished at 9:57...they had begun this one at 9:40 on Court Two).  Mike was willing to give Frank the game-by-game breakdown, but Samara said it was not necessary as it ended up being an incomplete set.

We now will detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove.  We will first get the result from Laurie and then the balance of the scores came from Kris.

The Cedar Grove Results: 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Fadia Nicolas over Laurie Boughton, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laurie: Fadia whooped me in straight sets!  That said, we both had a BLAST and I do believe we played some great tennis. :-)  If the degree to which we were both sweating on that chilly night was indicative of a great match, it was truly GREAT! :-)  I can't wait to play singles with her again, cuz THAT was my kind of tennis! :-)  Thank you, Fadia!

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for her timely reporting as well as her colorful commentary.  And I also congratulate Fadia on a very impressive victory.  We now go to Kris for two more scores.

Nathan Fernandes/Mike Sindler over Ryan Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan, 7-5!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Moka Pathan/Kris Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for reporting those results.  The Srinivasans went away for the weekend after the Friday night session, so we did not get the usual full report from The K Man.  Also, keep their absence in mind when viewing the coming Saturday and Sunday Night Results reports as either the turnout was low or much of the would-be reporting never occurred. 

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