11/5/17:
"16 at C.G. as TMT is TBC, 22 play (5 new, 2 return) at The Bubble!":
This year was the first time we held the Tinseltown Memorial Tournament (aka the TMT, which has finally been established to pay respect to the memory of "Hollywood" Frank Samara's late father, "Tinseltown" Frank Samara Jr., as "Hollywood" is actually The Third of the Frank Samara lineage).
To properly pay respect to the elder Samara, the son wanted to come up with a format where the thinking was "out of the box" as that was the way the man that the earlier group of guys in the league affectionately called "Tinseltown" had lived his life.
In the year that Frank's father had passed (2015), Samara came up with a Tinseltown Triples Tournament that was pretty much a failure as it only ended up being one match and was never properly followed up on in the following 2016 Season.
With the ongoing Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament which pays respect to Samara's late step-father, "The Monk" Tom Mueller, continuing as a thriving tradition, Frank felt guilty for not also properly acknowledging his father's passing. After all, if it wasn't for his dad buying that house on Grove Street with the tennis court on the property back in 1989, the GTA would most likely never have formed three years later.
Inspired by the recent "Battle of The Sexes" movie (documenting the classic early-1970's on-court contest between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs), Samara decided to have something similar...except that it would be four Women's Doubles Teams going up against four Men's Doubles Teams.
To sweeten the pot beyond the expected sense of pride and gender rivalry that would be on the line, it was determined that the winning team would get the next shot at the reigning Champions in their respective Doubles Division.
The match-ups were determined by the individual rank of the players involved rather than any team rank as two of the men's teams had yet to be ranked in the Doubles Division (while all the women's teams were already ranked in the Women's Doubles Division). From there, we had the strongest men's team go up against the weakest women's team while we also had the strongest women's team going up against the weakest men's team (with the other two match-ups working their way toward the middle).
While many did not think that was fair, it was the best way to at least give the best women's team (in this case, the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay) a fighting chance of meeting the strongest men's team in the Finals.
To aid in this, instead of the usual split of the draw sides being Top Seed and Fourth Seed on one side with the Second Seed and Third Seed on the other...it was instead scheduled to be Top Seed and Third Seed in one half of the draw with Second and Fourth in the other half.
Also of significant note (and breaking with long-standing tradition), this event would be setting a precedent for new rules from here and beyond where any type of Doubles Team could now qualify for rank in their own division against any other type of Doubles Team regardless of the match-up (i.e. Men's Doubles Team versus Women's Doubles Team, Mixed Doubles Team vs. Women's Doubles Team or Men's Doubles Team vs. Mixed Doubles Team).
Given consistently bigger turnouts and further on-court time constraints, this new ruling will surely help teams get ranked and/or remain active in their respective divisions.
The weather forecasts throughout the week left the scheduling of this event in some doubt as many were calling for a rainy start to the day.
As we woke this morning with an extra hour's sleep thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time, we soon found out that those forecasts were right. The ground outside was wet...but the good news was that the precipitation had pretty much stopped save for an occasional misty drizzle.
Still, as players started arriving at The Cedar Grove Courts, they soon found the court conditions to still be somewhat wet. "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan was the first to reach out to Samara via text to tell him she thought play would still be possible provided they broke out the big squeegee and other brooms.
As more and more players arrived, Samara's poor little flip phone seemed like it would soon overheat with all the text messages coming in as he replied to as many as he can while taking breaks from driving along the way (safety first...LOL!).
It was established that the as-planned 10am start would be bounced to at least 10:30 as "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan had informed Samara as well as her partner Doinks and one of her opponents, "The Riz" John Rizzo, that she was running late. Knowing this, Frank ended up arriving late as well.
By the time Samara pulled into the lot at 10:30, the only ones left to arrive were Rizzo (who had actually been there already and left to get drinks), Capan and the team of "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon/"Strutting" Laurie Boughton.
Meanwhile, many of the players were already out on the courts with brooms, towels and one squeegee trying to mop up the moisture out of the courts as best as possible.
All in attendance agreed that they felt it was safe enough to play, though many said the conditions would likely affect their style of play (i.e. less aggressive and mobile).
Gen rolled in at 11am as the sixteenth registered participant. From there, we split into hitting sessions on all four courts.
Already there to be just be an observer was Natalia "Nitro" Sout. At 11:30, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and Dino "The Dragon" Celis both arrived to do the same.
The as-scheduled format was for us to get thru the Quarterfinals and Semifinals with each round being a full match, but if the sets were split there would be a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in lieu of a full 3rd Set.
As Mother Nature and other circumstances had already delayed the start of this tourney by an hour, those plans were already looking shaky at best. And that Mother (insert expletive here) otherwise called Nature would come back to rear her ugly head once again!
I am now going to dive right into the action as there really is no way for me to detail the arrivals and outset of the session any further.
The Cedar Grove Results:
TMT Quarterfinal:
Nathan Fernandes/Ryan Pienciak over Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the TMT Semifinals! In the process, Fernandes/Pienciak entered the Doubles Division as the New # 87 Ranked Team. Ryan: 1 Ace on Fadia in the 2nd Set (he described it as a mishit Ace)! They played this on Court Three from 11:08 to 11:50.
TMT Quarterfinal:
Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli over Kathy Sheldon/Laurie Boughton, 6-1, 6-1, to advance to the TMT Semifinals! In the process, Samara/Martinelli entered the Doubles Division as the New # 88 Ranked Team. Spin: 1 Ace on Kathy in the 1st Set (an angry one as she had just insulted his manhood...LOL!)!
1st Set: Kathy was broken (Spin made a great get/drop shot winner combo for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15 as Laurie hit a net-cord-aided winner which was followed by a blown volley from Frank, then it went to 30-All and Game Point where Frank hit a drop shot winner to bring it to Deuce and then it went to Break Point where Frank hit another winner for the break), Frank held at Love as he first hit an un-returned serve and then Spin made a great get in the next point and then Laurie was broken (Kathy first blew an overhead and then blew a volley in the next point to make it Love-30, it then went to 15-30 and Double Break Point where Spin hit a winning lob for the break) to fall to 0-3 as it became a steady misty drizzle during this game (and that was likely around 11:20 when it started and never relented as it would only become worse less than an hour later). Spin then held serve (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault to make it 15-All which was where he then hit the sideline Ace against Kathy for 30-15, it then went to Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) and Sheldon was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love which was where Spin made several great gets along with solid defense at the net to make it 15-All and then Spin hit a net-cord-aided winner on the way to Double Break Point which was where Frank whipped out his patented Windmill Overhead Smash to get the break) as her team was seemingly on its way to the bagel shop with the score being 0-5! But with Kris at the sidelines now egging the ladies on (and Rich on the nearby court had been their fan on Facebook since earlier in the week...LOL!), perhaps Samara was a little rattled as he was broken on serve (Love-15, an un-returned serve for 15-All only to then go straight to Double Break Point where Frank hit a passing shot winner to bring it to Break Point, but then came the break) to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard! But from there, Boughton was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love but then straight to Double Break/Set Point where Spin blew a passing shot attempt as he sailed it wide to now make it Break/Set Point and then it went to Deuce where another un-returned serve ser up Game Point only to have Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to make it 2nd Deuce and then Frank hit another winning Overhead Smash to bring it back to the 3rd Break/Set Point and then came the break) to drop the initial set at precisely 11:39 (we had begun this one on Court One at 11:10). Two minutes later, the next set was underway as the ladies inadvertently switched their service sides.
2nd Set: Spin held (an un-returned serve followed by a blown overhead by Laurie blazed the path to Triple Game Point where a Double Fault made it Double Game Point which was where Laurie blew a volley to allow the hold), Kathy was broken (Laurie blew an overhead to make it Love-30 where an un-returned serve then made it 15-30, but it then went to Double Break Point and the break), Frank held (an un-returned serve made it 30-Love, then it was 30-15 where Frank hit a winner to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) and Laurie was broken (Spin started off with a winner in the first point and followed that in the next point with an awesome get/drop shot winner combo and then it would soon go to Triple Break Point only to then get reduced to Break Point which was where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash for the break) to find her team once again down 0-4! But they struck a little sooner this time around as Martinelli was then broken (an un-returned serve followed by a winning Backhand Volley from Frank made it 30-Love only to have a winning return from Laurie make it 30-All before going to Game Point, Deuce and Break Point where Laurie scored with another winning return much more lethal than the previous one as this one earned the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-1, but then Sheldon was broken again (Spin made several great gets in his finest point of the match and that made it Love-30, it then went to 15-30 and Double Break Point where Spin hit a winner for the break) to fall to 1-5. Samara then held again (30-Love where Kathy hit a winning return for 30-15 and then it went to Double Game/Match Point where Kathy hit an even more wicked return winner to cut that lead to Game/Match Point which was where Spin made a great get/mishit winner combo to somewhat comically end the match) for the win at exactly 12:09 (and just in time as you will soon find out)!
The Skinny: As expected, there was much levity throughout this match...but that never diminished the overall spirit of competition in this contest. The ladies came to play and that they did as they truly gave a fine showing here. Spin played cleaner tennis than he often does as the nature of this event (perhaps coupled with the unfavorable court conditions) seemed to sharpen his focus while his partner Samara was usually a steady hand as well. It was a lot of fun as it culminated a week of trash talk back and forth on Facebook (all of which was good-natured).
We now get to the two matches that are currently in "To Be Continued" limbo.
TMT Quarterfinal:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay leading Levy Lorenzo/Nick Inciong, 6-3, 2-4 (To Be Continued)! No Aces yet (as far as I know). They got this one underway on Court Four at 11:12 and the 1st Set ended at 11:47. Somewhere around 12:10 was when they decided to pull the plug as the steady misty drizzle had now increased to a full-on rain as the court conditions were now getting quite slick and dangerous.
TMT Quarterfinal:
Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan leading John Rizzo/Rich Liu, 6-5 (To Be Continued)! No Aces yet (as far as I know). With Gen being the last to arrive and then entering into a lengthy hitting session where they were actually split up Mixed Doubles style with Rizzo and Capan hitting against Liu and Srinivasan, the match did not get going until 11:25. John and Rich were up 5-3 and at 30-All (just two points from taking the set) before dropping three straight games to go down 5-6! At 5-5, both sides agreed that the next game would be the last as this one came to a halt at 12:11.
The Skinny: From here, both the above matches will now have to be played at a mutually convenient time for all the parties involved. Since the situations are somewhat precarious, we will let the participants in each match decide if they want to continue to abide by the original 10-Point Super Tiebreak format or instead opt for a full 3rd Set if the first two sets are split. If all four players in each match cannot reach an agreement, then they will have to stick with the original STB stipulation.
As always, the tournament Final will have to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets if those first two are split.
Meanwhile, the two teams that have already advanced to the Semifinals (Fernandes/Pienciak and Samara/Martinelli) must now wait for winners to emerge from the still in progress Quarterfinal matches. Hopefully, this tourney will be able to be completed within the 2017 Season.
Well, the wet weather certainly curtailed any further outdoor tennis activity. Thankfully, this was the first Sunday of the indoor season at The Wayne Bubble. Rizzo hosted the two separate sessions for each Night Owls group and he collected the results for both. And they are as follows…
The Wayne Bubble Results:
The first session was from 3 to 5pm and featured 10 players.
John Rizzo/Kevin Doyle over Mike Lepak/Marie Easton, 6-1! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Mike Lepak and the official GTA Return of Marie Easton.
Kevin Doyle/Mike Lepak over John Rizzo/Marie Easton, 7-6 (7-1)! No Aces.
Vlad Smolyanskiy over Henry Mendoza, 6-1! No Aces. It was the official GTA Return of Vlad Smolyanskiy and the official GTA Debut of Henry Mendoza.
Pat Kinsler over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-0! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Pat Kinsler.
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Vlad Smolyanskiy/Susan Senowitz over Henry Mendoza/Susan Koshy, 6-0, 6-0, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 46 and # 47 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Susan Senowitz.
Henry Mendoza/Susan Senowitz over Vlad Smolyanskiy/Susan Koshy, 6-1! No Aces.
Rafealo Kazakov/Susan Senowitz leading Pat Kinsler/Susan Koshy, 5-1 (Incomplete when the session ended at 5pm)! No Aces.
The second session was from 6 to 8pm and featured 13 players (one of them, Rizzo, doing double-duty from the 3pm session).
Joe Rodrigues/Dennis Cabanatan over Tony Shiao/John Rizzo, 7-6 (7-0)! No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Ray Spadaro over Senthil Kumar/Alex Hohorst, 6-0! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Alex Hohorst.
Samara's Notes: Alex Hohorst is the son of Frank Hohorst. We now go back to John.
Senthil Kumar/Ray Spadaro over Ryan Pienciak/Alex Hohorst, 6-2! No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Tony Shiao over Dan Hwang/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-3! No Aces.
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Mike Sindler/Frank Hohorst over Rich Liu/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 89 and # 90 Ranked Teams respectively! No Aces.
Senthil Kumar/Ray Spadaro over Joe Rodrigues/Alex Hohorst, 6-3! No Aces.
Joe Rodrigues/Ray Spadaro leading Senthil Kumar/Alex Hohorst, 4-3 (Incomplete when the session ended at 8pm)! No Aces.
Ryan Pienciak/Tony Shiao leading Dan Hwang/Dennis Cabanatan, 6-5 (Incomplete when the session ended at 8pm)! No Aces.
Samara's Notes: I thank John for collecting all these results over the course of the two sessions while he also was active as a competitor in both of them. He actually ended up doing triple-duty when you include his participation in the TMT event earlier in the day at Cedar Grove. Kudos!
All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com