12/5 Results.

12/5/17:

"Riz hosts 18 at Bubble!":

There was just one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis as the rain made any session at The Cedar Grove Courts impossible.  So it was just the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (it should be noted that "King Crush" Chris Chiaro took the time to report his results directly as well). 

We now turn this report over to John with some additional details from Chris along the way.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Syed Rashid/Ray Spadaro over Tom La/Alex Hohorst, 6-2!  No Aces.

Ryan Sherry/Alex Hohorst over Mike Sindler/Alex Hohorst, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

Dan Praport/Joe Rodrigues over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar/Mike Sindler over Dan Praport/Joe Rodrigues, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.

Tom La/Dan Hwang over Dan Praport/Joe Rodrigues, 6-2!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Tony Shiao/Nick Caputo over Paul Daddio/John Rizzo, 6-4, 6-3, to become the New # 20 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Chris Chiaro/Frank Hohorst over Ryan Pienciak/Anish Mehta, 6-1, 7-5, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 124 and # 125 Ranked Teams respectively!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Frank in the 2^nd Set.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Chris Chiaro/Senthil Kumar over Ryan Pienciak/Anish Mehta, 6-3, 6-1, to become the New # 125 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  Anish: 1 Ace on Senthil in the 1^st Set.

John Rizzo/Nick Caputo tied with Paul Daddio/Tony Shiao, 4-4 (Incomplete when the session ran out of time)!

Samara's Notes: I thank John for collecting all these scores and reporting them in such a timely fashion.  Thanks to Chris as well.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

12/4 Results.

12/4/17:

"Doinks/Nate host 9 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it took place at The Cedar Grove Courts as "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes both acted as impromptu hosts.

Doinks noted that even though both "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "GDP" Guy Dupoux issued quasi Open Challenges to the group, she saw neither one at the courts.  We now get the scores from Doinks and Nate.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Levy Lorenzo/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-2!  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: Jordan said he would have to leave at 8:15 when we started the set at around 7:50, so I suggested we play No-Ad games.  Then when we were at 4-2 Levy arrived as the clock "struck 12" and Jordan had to leave.  So, Levy jumped in and we resumed the set.

Samara's Notes: This result will have to remain unofficial as we do not allow substitutions along the way in the GTA…at least not for the official records.  We now go back to Doinks for a couple more scores before getting a result from Nate.

Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan over Joe Rodrigues/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-3!  No Aces.

Joe Rodrigues/Levy Lorenzo over Rafaelo Kazakov/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Mole/Rob Gawley, 6-3, 6-4!  No Aces.  Under the new TMT Rules, Mole/Gawley qualified to enter the Doubles Division as the New # 122 Ranked Team.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Doinks and Nate for reporting these results in such a timely fashion. 

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

12/3 Results.

12/3/17:

"Samara hosts 12 at AP, Kevin/Riz host 24 at Bubble!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the early morning one at The Albion Park Courts in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara and then the two back-to-back late afternoon/early evening Sunday sessions for the two Night Owl groups up at The Wayne Bubble where the first one was hosted by "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle as usual host, "The Riz" John Rizzo, was unable to attend that one.  Rizzo arrived in time to host the second one.

Let's first detail the comings and goings at Albion before getting the Bubble results from John.

Samara rolled up to the courts a bit earlier than he said he would at 10:15 (as opposed to 10:30, as originally indicated).  Nobody else was there yet, so he remained in his car.  The weather was a bit on the cool side, though slightly warmer than it was a week ago.  The peak temperature was forecast to get to just under 50 degrees and the best part about the day was that there would be absolutely no wind. 

At 10:25, he noticed that both "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto and Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda had also now pulled up to the curb.  Soon enough, all three were heading down the hill toward the courts.  Before they could even get out onto the North Court, "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales was the next to arrive at 10:30.

Next, "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara was entering the other gate at the corner of the South Court at 10:35.  And then we had a surprise as "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli was the next one to come down the hill at 10:40 as his Sunday football game plans went up in smoke!

Samara and Martinelli were willing to sit out and play their usual role as "The Hecklers" and that left the other four to take the North Court for some Mixed Doubles as it would be Gonzales teaming with Bujara to take on De Benedetto and Tokuda.

But before Hollywood and The Doc could settle into their raucous routine, "Automatic" Anna Mazur was now heading down the hill at 10:55.  So the team sometimes known as Spin City, other times billed as The Foundation...soon made their way over to the South Court to hit with Anna.

And even that situation would not last long as both Natalia "Nitro" Sout and "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque then arrived at 11:05 and headed toward the South Court, too.  Natalia said that GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was also on his way and, sure enough, he made his way onto the court at 11:10.

Just as Samara was trying to figure out the situation, "Big George" Jorge Solano arrived at 11:15.  We soon figured it best to have Nate and Nat play against Spin and Anna on the South Court while Frank, Jorge and Muhammad would have a hitting session on Center Court.

But when the first Mixed Doubles One-Setter finished on the North Court at 11:23, Jose wanted to engage in some Men's Doubles on Center Court and he figured he and Vin would slide over and split up to play with Jorge and Muhammad as Gonzales was set to team with Haque against Solano and De Benedetto.  At this time, Samara was off the court at the sidelines of the South Court.

Muhammad, however, said he still did not feel ready to jump into competition...so he asked Frank to take his place.  Samara thought it would be best if he and Gonzales took opposite sides, but Jose felt otherwise.  He cited that Solano and De Benedetto are both highly skilled Doubles players.  Besides, Jorge and Vin seemingly had no issues with the teams the way they were seeming to unfold.  So we went with it...and it turns out Jose was right about it being an even match-up...as you will see later in this report.

And it was during that One-Setter when Frank saw someone not readily familiar heading toward the courts.  The man, upon seeing Samara, called out "Frank" and introduced himself as Phil Federico.  Samara then immediately remembered him as they had met once before at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.  The arrival of "Fed-X" was a welcome one as it gave us an even number of 12 players...perfect for three courts!

Ever since Jose and Vin shifted over from the North Court to Center Court, Sachiko and Suzanne were having a spirited hitting session with one another on the North Court.  Upon Federico's arrival, Samara asked Haque to leave the sidelines of the South Court and join Phil and the ladies for some Mixed Doubles action on the North Court...and so he did.

And that was our total number of official competitors for the entire session: twelve!  It worked out perfectly and the weather ended up being quite favorable.

"The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 1:40 and first went out onto Center Court where Natalia was practicing her serve.  He gave her some pointers.  Then they soon made their way over to the South Court are where Sout would again get involved in official action along the way while Celis would be happy to hang with The Hecklers.

And when the last One-Setter of the day ended exactly at 2:32, all those who had not already left headed for the hills (both literally and figuratively) as a faint drizzle had started around 2pm and the conditions were starting to get quite chilly...no after-tennis bull sessions this Sunday!

As of now, the forecast for next Sunday (the 10th) is set to only peak around 40 degrees!  Yet, many in attendance said they would be willing to give it a go given the fact it will be the last official Sunday of the 2017 Season.  We will have to see where the forecasts trend and maybe gut out a tough one next week.

Bouncing back to the Sunday that just happened, it is now time to get to that action!

The Albion Park Results:

Vinnie De Benedetto/Sachiko Tokuda over Jose Gonzales/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one took place on the North Court and lasted from 10:55 to 11:23.  After this one finished, Sachiko and Suzanne had a prolonged hitting session with one another.

Jose Gonzales/Frank Samara over Jorge Solano/Vinnie De Bendetto, 7-6 (7-2)!  Jose: 1 Ace on Vin; and Jorge: 1 Ace on Frank!  It went like this: Frank was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 right after Vin hit a winning volley, then Jose hit a winning volley of his own for 30-All which was where Jorge hit a net-cord-aided winner to set up Break Point and then came the break), Jorge was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 right after Jose hit a winner, but then Jorge hit a winner of his own for 30-All which was where Frank hit a walloping Overhead Smash winner to set up Break Point and then came the break), but Jose was the first to hold serve (Vin hit a winning volley and then hit a winning return to make it Love-30, but that was where an un-returned serve reversed the momentum and soon it would be Game Point where a T-line Ace against Vin secured the hold) for 2-1.  Vinnie was broken (started with a Double Fault and then Jose hit a whipping winner for Love-30 and that was where Vin made a great get that led to him hitting a winning volley in his next stroke of the ball to make it 15-30, then it went to 30-All, Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Deuce, then it was Break Point again where Frank hit what can only be described as a Backhand Volley/drop shot winner combo for the break) and then Samara held at Love after hitting a drop shot winner on Triple Game Point to give his team a 4-1 lead!  And the gap increased after Solano was broken in a struggle (started with a Double Fault, he then hit a truly un-returnable serve for 15-All and then it was point for point to Game Point as Jose hit a winner and then Jorge hit a sick passing shot winner along the way to set up that Game Point only to then have Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to bring it to Deuce and then an un-returned serve set up another Game Point...and from here forward I can no longer remember the winners in this game as it went to 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-5!  Gonzales was then broken (Love-15 where Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley for 15-All, but then he blew an overhead and Vin hit a winning volley on the way to Double Break Point which was where Jose hit a drop shot winner to cut it to Break Point, but then came the break) and De Benedetto (Love-15, 15-All and then straight to Double Break/Match Point, Break/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and then the hold...and I could not remember who hit what winners in that game or the next game as the next game would go even longer and I also had to record the scores of the One-Setters on both the North and South Courts right around this time) to save 3 Match Points and pull to 3-5!  Hollywood was then broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point cut down to Deuce, Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point and then the break) and Big George held (Jose hit a drop shot winner for Love-15 and then an un-returned serve made it 15-All and then another one paved the path to Double Game Point where Frank hit a winning drop shot return to cut that down to Game Point, but then came the hold) to keep hope alive at 5-5!  Hurricane Jose was then broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love where back-to-back winning volleys by Vin made it 15-30 which was where Frank hit a winning volley of his own and that soon shifted the momentum to Game Point, then Deuce and Break Point where Vin hit a winning lob that just caught the back of the baseline to earn the break) to fall to 5-6 only to then have Vintage Vinnie get broken in the longest game of the match...another one where I could not remember who hit what winners...well, except for the very last one as it went from 15-Love and then shifted to 15-30, then 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce and Break Point again where Frank made a lunging stab of a get that then became a lob that just sailed over Vin and out of the reach of Jorge to earn the break and force the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve when he ended the point with a drop shot winner, Jorge was broken on his first serve when Frank hit a winning lob, but he got revenge in his second serve with a sideline Ace on Frank for 1-2!  Jose held the first of his two serves after Frank hit his Windmill Overhead Smash and then a truly un-returnable serve on the second go-round put his team up 4-1!  Vin held the first of his two serves after Jorge hit a winning Backhand Volley for 2-4 at the changeover, but then Vin was broken on his second when Frank hit a winning Backhand Volley of his own to fall to 2-5 with service now going back to Samara who held the first of his two serves when Jose hit the most impressive Backhand Volley winner of the bunch to set up 6-2 and the 6th Match Point overall where Frank held once again as Vin blew a volley to end this marathon One-Setter!  We got this one underway on Center Court at 11:28 and it finished at 12:42...a full hour and 14 minutes!

The Skinny: Gonzales and Samara came out of the gate like thoroughbreds and it soon seemed like Frank might have been accurate in his assessment which suggested that he and Jose should have been split up and placed onto opposing teams.  But then a combination of lackadaisical daze (especially on Samara's part) from the Gonzales/Samara tandem coupled with determination and increased consistency from the Solano/De Benedetto team soon flipped this contest on its ear!  It looked like one of the greatest one-set comebacks was in the offing until Frank regained his focus in the Tiebreak and essentially took much of it over with his partner Jose getting in a near final exclamation point with that late Backhand Volley winner.  While the 7-2 TB score is not all that impressive, when you consider the 6 Match Points and then factor in the fact that this contest took 74 minutes to finish...well, it at least has to be in the conversation as a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Dan Martinelli/Anna Mazur, 6-4!  No Aces.  South Court hosted this one from 11:30 to 12:13.

Phil Federico/Sachiko Tokuda over Muhammad Haque/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  Muhammad: 1 Ace on Sachiko; and Phil: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  They played this one on the North Court from 11:42 to 12:12. 

The Skinny: Federico stepped right into official action without any warm-up.  The much more experienced tandem won out over the team that can rightfully claim true rookie status.  After it ended, Sachiko left and Phil had a hitting session with Suzanne where he gave her some sound advice.  Then, Mr. Federico was the next one to leave the session.

Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque over Anna Mazur/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.  This "Battle of the Sexes" style One-Setter took place on the South Court and lasted from 12:18 to 12:42.

The Skinny: Spin was the one who suggested that they do it "Battle of the Sexes" style.  I was too busy in my own battle to note the way the games went, but I seem to recall The Doc laughing like an evil genius as I believe the ladies won the opening game.  If so, it was all downhill from there as the guys had to fight hard to prove Martinelli wrong.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jorge Solano/Anna Mazur, 6-2!  No Aces.  South Court would be the home of this one and all the others for the balance of the day.  This one lasted from 12:46 to 1:19.  After it ended, both Jose and Vin (he stuck around to hang around with The Hecklers) left for the day.

Natalia then willingly sat out the next one and came over to the benches where Frank and Spin were.  She said, "I'll heck!"  She had meant to say she would also heckle, but it was much cuter the way she said it.  But apparently that idea was not suitable for her as the lack of movement was making her cold quite fast.  She soon decided it better to practice her serve and form alone on Center Court...until Dino arrived and joined her over there for a while.

Muhammad Haque/Anna Mazur over Nathan Fernandes/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4!  Muhammad: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  Haque/Mazur had a fairly surprising 4-0 lead when Anna was then broken at Love to have her team's lead cut to 4-1.  Nate then held to pull to 2-4, but Muhammad also held to increase his team's lead to 5-2.  Suzanne managed to hold and then Mazur was broken again (Triple Game/Match Point, Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce and the break) to have her team's lead reduced again, this time to 5-4.  But Fernandes was then broken as well (Double Break/Match Point, Break/Match Point, Deuce, 3rd Break/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, it finally ended on the 4th Break/Match Point which was the 7th M.P. overall) to take the loss!  This one started on the South Court at 1:24 and finished at 1:56.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Muhammad Haque/Anna Mazur, 6-1!  No Aces.  Nate and Nat had leads of 2-0, 2-1 and then off to the races of the win!  This one took place on the Couth Court as it got underway at 2pm and ended exactly at 2:32.

From there, it was a land rush as all four players along with the three remaining spectators (Frank, Spin and Dino) all headed for the hills and/or their homes as it had gotten quite damp and chilly at that time.   

We now turn this report over to Kevlar Kevin and The Riz for the results from The Bubble!       

The Wayne Bubble Results:

The 3 to 5pm session (scores submitted by Kevin):

Brenda Jordan/Robin Wilson over Marie Easton/Jeanette Pegg, 6-3!  No Aces.

Brenda Jordan/Marie Easton over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 7-5!  No Aces.

Henry Mendoza/Sean McHugh over Kevin Doyle/Vlad Smolyanskiy, 7-6 (14-12)!  No Aces.

Kevin Doyle/Vlad Smolyanskiy over Henry Mendoza/Sean McHugh, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kevin for sending in those results in a very timely fashion.  It is a shame he did not have time to send in details as that 14-12 TB score is an amazing one.  Even just going off the score alone, it will have to be put up for at least some consideration as another possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year.

We now go to The Riz for the scores from the 6 to 8pm session.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/Frank Hohorst over Jordan Bachvaroff/John Rizzo, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend their #75 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Bachvaroff/Rizzo entered the division as the New #121 Ranked Team.  No Aces.  Twice during the 2nd Set there were close shots that Senthil called out that he later felt sorry about.  

Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler over Joe Rodrigues/Alex Hohorst, 6-2!  No Aces.

Joe Rodrigues/Syed Rashid over Mike Sindler/Alex Hohorst, 6-2!  No Aces.

Syed Rashid over Alex Hohorst, 6-0!  No Aces.

Dennis Cabanatan/Arthur Fontanilla over Joe Rodrigues/Mike Sindler, 6-2!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Dennis Cabanatan over Tom La/Nick Caputo, 7-5!  No Aces.  Ryan and Dennis were down 0-4 before coming back!

Tom La/Nick Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/Rich Liu, 6-2!  No Aces.

Rich Liu/Nick Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/Tom La, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces. This set was notable because of the five minute delay when seemingly nobody could remember the game score.  A lengthy (and loud) debate ensued with no clear resolution.  During the Tiebreak, everyone lost track of the Tiebreak score once again!  Being a spectator for this, my observation is that Tom was deciding to have selective memory issues!

John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Senthil Kumar, 4-3 (Incomplete when the session time ended)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I also thank John for submitting these results in a very timely manner…along with some additional commentary as well.

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

12/2 Results.

12/2/17:

"Mazur-Haque 1-Setters in Rutherford!":

There was just one session of GTA Saturday Tennis and it took place at The Memorial Park Courts in Rutherford as "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque responded to the Open Challenge issued earlier in the day by "Automatic" Anna Mazur.  We now get the scores of three "Battle of the Sexes" One-Setters from Anna.

The Memorial Park Results:

Anna Mazur over Muhammad Haque, 6-1!  No Aces.

Anna Mazur over Muhammad Haque, 6-1!  No Aces.

Anna Mazur over Muhammad Haque, 6-2!  No Aces.

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

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

12/1 Results.

12/1/17:

"Gen-Mole 1-Setters at AP, 3rd Friday Night Bubble Party has 11 players (1 new)!":

There were two sessions of GTA Friday Tennis and there likely would have been three if the lights were on at The Cedar Grove Courts.  "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan informed the league in the early evening that the lights never came on due to repairs.  Most years, it would have been because it was December 1st.  Kris is still under the impression that the Cedar Grove Parks and Recreation Department will keep the lights on past the 1st for us.

Anyway, first there was an afternoon session at Albion Park in Clifton featuring a couple of "Battle of the Sexes" style Singles One-Setters between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan (as reported by Gen).  And then there was the third GTA Friday Night Tennis Party at The Wayne Bubble with both "Hollywood" Frank Samara (in terms of reporting the results for the GTA) and "The Riz" John Rizzo (coordinating the registration efforts, booking the courts, supplying the food and beverages, etc.) hosting it. 

We need at least twelve competitors to make it worthwhile and we ended up just one shy of that amount with just 11 players instead.  Of those eleven official competitors, one of them was new and making his official GTA Debut (more on that later).

So now let's get to the action!  We will first get the recap from Gen and then detail the results from The Bubble.

We had a Friday afternoon session at Albion Park from 2 to 5pm.  Mike Mole and I had a 45 minute hitting session then followed by two "Battle of the Sexes" One-Setters.

The Albion Park Results:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3!  Mike: 1 Ace.  This one was played from 3pm to 3:30.

In the first four games we had back-to-back exchanges of breaks for 2-All.  Then we both held for 3-3.  And then Mike took the next three games.  There was one game that went to at least 8 Deuces!

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 7-5!  Mike: 2 Aces.  We played this one from 3:35 to 4:40 (one hour and five minutes)!

We started with an exchange of breaks for 1-1.  Then we both held for 2-2.  Then I took next three games to go up 5-2.  I was serving for the set and was not able to close it.  Mike got the break back and held to get it closer at 4-5.  The next game was pivotal.  It went to multiple Deuces as we battled back and forth from Break Point (30-40), Deuce, to Game/Match Point # 1, 2nd Deuce, Game/Match Point # 2, 3rd Deuce, Game/Match Point # 3, 4th Deuce, Break Point # 1, 5th Deuce, Game/Match Point # 4, 6th Deuce, Break Point # 2 and then finally the break so finally Mike got to level things at 5-All!  Mike then held for 6-5.  It was yet another hard-fought service game for me.  I fought off three more Match Points, then Mike finally won it on his 4th MP (a total of 8 MP's for the set: 4 each)!

Gen's Notes: This turned out to be a pretty competitive and fun One-Setter.  We had some good rallies, especially in those multi-Deuces games.  It was a repeat from the last week when Mike and I played where he was up 5-2 and then I ended up winning in a Tiebreaker.  Well, it was payback time.  This time around, Mike made a nice comeback from being down 5-2.  He saved 4 MP's and took five straight games for the win!

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for submitting those results in a very timely manner.  Even though that last one did not go to a Tiebreak, it still sounds like a worthy Nominee for One-Set Specialty Match of The Year at season's end.

And now we go to The Wayne Bubble for the rest of this report.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Nick Caputo over Ralph Bernard, 6-0!  Nick: 2 Aces!  This one took place on Court Four and lasted all of fifteen minutes (8:30 to 8:45)!

John Rizzo/Dan Martinelli over Frank Samara/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  Spin: 3 Aces (2 on Laurie and 1 on Frank and the first two were back-to-back in the same game)!  It went like this: John held at Love as he started things off with a winner and Frank blew an overhead to set up Triple Game Point and then Frank was broken at Love as Spin made a great get that led to winning the first point and then John hit a forceful winner to end the second point, Laurie blew a volley to finish the third point and then John hit a precise passing shot winner to get the Love break!  Spin held serve (Spin hit a winner for 15-Love, then he went up 30-Love and that was where Laurie hit an impressive winner to finally end the ten point winning streak of the opposition and she followed that up with a nice get in the next point to make it 30-All, but then a big corner Ace against Laurie set up Game Point where a sizzling sideline Ace on Frank earned an emphatic hold) and Laurie was broken (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All as Frank hit a net-cord-aided winner along the way and then it went to Game Point, a Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point where Frank hit a winner to make it 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) to fall to 0-4!  Rizzo was broken (Love-15 where Laurie blew a volley for 15-All, a Double Fault for 15-30, Double Break Point where John hit a winner to cut it to Break Point, but then that was where Laurie hit a bold winner for the break) and then Samara had a Love hold as Laurie got things going with back-to-back winning Backhand Volleys to make it 30-Love and then an un-returned serve set up Triple Game Point and then came the hold to pull to 2-4!  Martinelli was then broken (Laurie hit a winning volley for Love-30, a corner Ace on Laurie made it 15-30 and then an un-returned serve sent it to 30-All, but then came Break Point and the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3.  But from there, Boughton was broken again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 after John hit a scathing return winner, but then it shifted again to Game Point where the best rally of the match ended with a victorious volley from John for Deuce, then came Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break...and once it went to Deuce, I no longer remembered who hit what winners where and when) and The Riz held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 after Laurie blew a volley and then there was an un-returned serve, then it went to 30-All and Game/Match Point where John hit the winning volley to secure his own hold) to end the match!  We played this on Court Three from 8:30 to 9:06. 

The Skinny: When "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov was the last to arrive at 8:45, Rizzo told him that he could take his place in the next One-Setter on this court (Court Three).  As a result, Rafaelo ended up being a spectator for more than the latter half of it as he waited to be the next one to play.

David Ramirez/Paul Mallick over Jorge Solano/Fausto Murg, 7-6 (7-0)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Paul Mallick.  They played this one on Court Two from 8:35 to 9:45!

The Skinny: Mallick plays in another group at The Bubble.  They play on Wednesday nights and as they are one of the two courts that stay on until 9:30 those nights, he has seen some of the GTA players before.  He called in on Friday to see if courts were available that night and that was when he was informed of the GTA Friday Night Bubble Party.  We were happy he could join us and hope to see more of him in the future as he expressed that he was very impressed by our group.

Nick Caputo over Ralph Bernard, 6-1!  Nick: 1 Ace.  This Rematch One-Setter was played on Court Four from 8:50 to 9:10.

The Skinny: Since they did not go into their Singles action with the intention of it being a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match, it would be unfair to record and report it that way.  But Caputo has clearly demonstrated with his back-to-back dominant set wins against Bernard that he will be making a serious impact on the Advanced Division in the 2018 Season!  After this one, they still had time for one more.

Nick Caputo over Ralph Bernard, 6-1!  Nick: 1 Ace.  A ditto of the last one score-wise, except it must have been much more competitive as it lasted from 9:15 to 9:50 (35 minutes)!

Frank Samara/Rafaelo Kazakov over Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Rafaelo held (15-Love, 15-All and then straight to Double Game Point as an un-returned serve and then a winning volley from Frank led to that point, but then it would soon be reduced to Deuce as Laurie hit a lob return winner along the way, but then another un-returned serve set up another Game Point and then came the hold) and Laurie was broken (Rafaelo hit a winning return for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15 as first Spin hit a winner and then Laurie hit a venomous volley winner, but then it shifted again to Break Point right after Frank hit a winner and then came the break) for 0-2.  Frank was broken (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, then it was 30-Love where Laurie whipped a winning return to the corner for 30-15, it then went to Double Game Point where Rafaelo blew a volley to make it Game Point which was where Spin made a great get that led to him winning the point soon after to bring it to Deuce and then came Break Point where Spin made an even more awesome get/winner combo for the break) to allow the opponents onto the board, but then Spin was also broken (a truly un-returnable serve for 15-Love and then a sudden shift to Double Break Point as Frank hit a deep return winner to set that up, but then back-to-back un-returned serves took it to Deuce which was where Frank scored with a big-time Backhand Volley winner to set up Break Point and then came the break) for 1-3.  Kazakov held again and this time it was at Love as he started off with two consecutive un-returned serves and then Frank hit a winning volley to set up Triple Game Point which was followed by the hold for a 4-1 lead, but then Boughton finally held (Spin hit a winner for 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game Point as Rafaelo blew a volley along the way, then came Deuce which was where Frank blew a volley to set up Game Point and that was where Spin made yet another amazing get/winner combo to secure his partner's hold) for 2-4!  But from there, Samara held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then point for point to Game Point as Rafaelo blew a drop shot attempt and there was another un-returned serve along the way and then on that Game Point came yet another un-returned serve to lock down the hold) and then Martinelli was broken at Love as Frank whipped out his Windmill Overhead Smash to win the first point, Rafaelo hit a winning volley to take the second point and then he scored with a scintillating passing shot return to set up Triple Break/Match Point which is where the break and loss came!  We played this on Court Three from 9:18 to 9:48.

David Ramirez/Paul Mallick leading Jorge Solano/Fausto Murg, 4-1 (Incomplete when they were told to stop at 10:15)!  No Aces.  This one had begun on Court Two at 9:48.

Frank Samara/Rafaelo Kazakov leading Dan Martinelli/Laurie Boughton, 5-1 (Incomplete when they were told to end this one at 10:19)!  Laurie: 1 Ace on Rafaelo!  Here's how it was going: Rafaelo held (a truly un-returnable serve was followed by another un-returned serve for 30-Love, but then a winning volley from Laurie shifted the momentum all the way to Break Point where another un-returned serve brought it back to Deuce where yet another un-returned serve set up Game Point where still another un-returned serve secured the hold), Frank held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then point for point until 30-All as Laurie hit a winner along the way and then Spin hit a powerful return winner that caused the mini-shift for Break Point which was where Frank hit a winning volley for Deuce and then another un-returned serve set up Game Point and then came the hold) and Spin was broken (Spin made another awe-inspiring get/winner combo for 15-Love, but then it was off and running to Double Break Point as Rafaelo went on a roll with a winning volley, a winning return and a booming Backhand Volley winner all along the way and then came the break) to go down 0-4!  Kazakov was finally broken (Spin made another major get/winner combo for Love-15, it then shifted to 30-15, but then shifted again as Laurie hit a winner followed by a passing shot winner from Spin to set up Break Point where Laurie hit another winner to earn the break) for 4-1, but then Boughton was broken yet again and this time it was at Love as Rafaelo hit a winning drop shot return and then Frank did the same exact thing which was then followed by another winning return from Rafaelo to set up Triple Break/Match Point where a Double Fault then ended matters in unceremonious fashion as it was agreed upon at the outset of this game that it would be the last one due to the time constraints of when the session was supposed to end (at 10:15...and we already went four minutes past that...we had begun this one at 9:50)! 

The Skinny: Laurie told Spin they should switch their return of service sides for this one and she felt confident it should make a difference in the outcome of this Rematch One-Setter.  Instead, this one may have been ever more lopsided than the first one as Rafaelo was steadier than usual and was especially strong on serve throughout both sets (only broken once toward the end) while Frank did more than enough to hold up his end of the bargain.  Meanwhile, Martinelli was a get-making machine while Boughton was the volley queen any chance she had to get established up at the net.  Both One-Setters were competitive yet fun!

After the session ended, Samara and Rizzo went to the nearby Taphouse Grille for food and drinks where they were soon joined by "DC-10" David Caicedo. 

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

11/30 Results.

11/30/17:

"Samara hosts 5 at C.G., then 18 at Bubble!":

There were two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis: the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host and then the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo. 

We will now detail how the Cedar Grove session unfolded and then report the results.  After that, we head up to The Bubble to list those scores as well.

Samara once again arrived at 6:45, but he was not the first one into the parking lot as that honor went to Natalia "Nitro" Sout.  And then pulling in soon after Frank did was the GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes.

The three of them soon took Court Three and had a lengthy hitting session where they varied combinations of which two were hitting to the other one.

Earlier in the evening, usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan had sent a text message to Samara stating that they would be at a high school orientation for their younger son Sairaj and would hope to return not long after 7:30.

At 7:20, however, the fourth player to arrive would be Muhammad "Muha" Haque and he would earn a better moniker later in the evening.  This led to a four-way hitting session of a little over ten minutes long.

Samara then proposed the idea of Fernandes and Sout once again teaming together while Frank would pair with Muhammad.  This would lead to back-to-back One-Setters featuring this match-up.

Just as they were switching up the teams for a third One-Setter, Kris and his wife Doinks (aka The Marathon Woman) did a drive-by at 8:30 to survey the situation (it should also be said that two guys had taken Court Two for some Singles action from 7:55 to 8:45).  Kris asked if he was needed and Frank said that it really didn't matter…he should just come over and eventually take Samara's place.

Kris made it back over to the courts at 8:40 and watched that third One-Setter until it finished at 9:10.  He wanted Samara to stay out on the court, but Frank insisted that he take his place…and so he did.  And that led to a fourth One-Setter and fell short of a fifth one getting fully finished.

As we speak of the word "fifth," it was Kris who was the fifth and final official competitor of the session.   

Let's get to the scores!  

The Cedar Grove Results:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Frank Samara/Muhammad Haque, 6-0!  No Aces.  It went like this: Nathan held at Love as he started off with an un-returned serve and then Frank blew a volley to set up Triple Break Point, Frank was broken (started off with a near ace to which Nate made a great get on returning it only to have Frank rush to a short and sharply angled shot for the get/winner combo for a 15-Love start only to then slide straight to Double Break Point as Nate made an incredible get/drop shot winner combo along the way, but then Natalia blew a volley in the next point to make it Break Point and then came the break), Natalia held (Nate hit a winning volley for 15-Love and then it went point for point to Game Point as Natalia blew a volley and Nate made a superb get/passing shot winner combo along the way, but then it went to Deuce where Frank blew a volley to make it Game Point once again where an un-returned serve secured the hold), Muhammad was broken (Love-15 and then back-to-back Double Faults set up Triple Break Point, it was then Double Break Point where Natalia hit a winning drop shot return for the break), Fernandes held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault to make it 15-All and then the next point was the best rally of the match and it ended with a winning volley from Nate as it was then on the way to Double Game Point, then came Game Point and the hold) and Samara was broken again (the second best rally of the match led to Love-15, then it was Love-30 where Natalia blew a volley to make it 15-30, but then it went to Double Break/Match Point) as it only took twenty minutes for this bagel to be served up on Court Three (7:33 to 7:53).  We then decided to play a Rematch One-Setter.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Frank Samara/Muhammad Haque, 6-0!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Nathan again opened the set with a Love hold as Natalia got things started with an emphatic Backhand Volley winner, then Muhammad blew a volley, Natalia hit another winning volley and then an un-returned serve secured the hold, Frank was broken (back-to-back blown volleys by Muhammad for Love-30, then it was Triple Break Point where Muhammad finally scored with a very effective Drop Shot Volley winner to make it Double Break Point which his where Nate came through with a precise passing shot return winner for the break), Natalia held in an incredible battle (back-to-back un-returned serves for a 30-Love start, then it was Triple Game Point where Frank hit a net-cord-aided winner that seemed to shift the momentum as it then went to Deuce…and from here forward, I had to stop trying to remember the winners…at least until the very last one that closed out the game, as it went back to another Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Double Fault for Break Point, 3^rd Deuce, Break Point, 4^th Deuce, Game Point, 5^th Deuce, Game Point, 6^th Deuce, Break Point, 7^th Deuce, Game Point, 8^th Deuce and Game Point again where Natalia finally put the stamp on it with an inspired winner for the hold), Muhammad was broken at Love as he started off with back-to-back Double Faults and then Nate hit a winner to set up Triple Break Point, Fernandes held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then a shift to 15-30 as Natalia blew a volley and Muhammad scored with an impressive passing shot return winner, but then he badly blew what should have been an easy overhead and then another un-returned serve locked in the next shift to Game Point, then it was Deuce where Frank hit a passing shot winner to make it Break Point where Muhammad blew a volley to bring it back to 2^nd Deuce and then Frank blew a volley to have it go back to Game Point where Muhammad blew a volley to allow the hold) and then Samara was broken again (Natalia blew a volley and then an un-returned serve made it 30-Love which was where Muhammad once again badly blew an overhead attempt and then it went to 30-All before going to Game Point where Frank blew an overhead to make it Deuce and then he repeated that feat to set up Break/Match Point where Muhammad then blew a volley to allow the break and take the loss) to eat his second bagel of the night!  This one was also played on Court Three and was much more competitive despite the same score as it lasted from 7:55 to 8:25.

The Skinny: This second one was a lot of fun.  The 8-Deuce service hold from Natalia was the highlight and it is a shame I could not remember the winners in that game as there were so many.  We joked afterward that Muhammad and I must have been allergic to winning a game because every time we came close, we found a way to make hideous errors to ensure that such a win would go far away…LOL!  It was also in this one where Haque earned a new moniker – "Diver Down!"  On multiple occasions, he willingly tossed his body to the ground a la Boris Becker in his prime in order to try to make the shot.  While it was rarely (if ever) successful, his competitive spirit in taking those dives was admirable.  And his steady improvement after now going up against some steadier competition was truly starting to show in this second One-Setter.

Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque over Frank Samara/Natalia Sout, 6-3!  Muhammad: 1 Ace on Natalia!  The dirty lowdown: Nathan was somewhat shockingly broken at Love as he had a rare misfire and blew a volley to make it Love-30 and then Frank had a winning return on Triple Break Point to lock in the Love break, but Frank was broken yet again (an awesome rally led to Nate finally ending it with an emphatic Backhand Volley winner for Love-15, then an un-returned serve for 15-All only to then have it go to Double Break Point as Muhammad hit a drop shot winner along the way and then Nate scored with an awesome passing shot winner to earn the break) as was Muhammad (started with a Double Fault, it shifted to 30-15 where an excellent rally than reversed the momentum to Break Point, it went to Deuce where Natalia hit a stunning return winner to set up Break Point where Muhammad then blew a drop shot attempt to break himself) and Natalia was also broken and it was at Love as nobody could hold serve at 2-2!  Fernandes held in the second greatest struggle of the night (Nate hit a winning volley to make it 30-Love which was where Frank then scored with a vicious volley winner that served to shift the momentum as Nate then blew a volley and Natalia came thru with an awesome passing shot winner to make it Break Point and now again…once it goes to Deuce, I can no longer remember who hit what winners…and then it went back to Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point, 3^rd Deuce, Game Point, 4^th Deuce, Break Point, 5^th Deuce, Break Point, 6^th Deuce, Game Point again and finally the hold) while Samara was broken once more (Love-30 where Nate hit a winning drop shot return to set up Triple Break Point, an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point only to have Nate hit another winning drop shot return for the break) as his team fell to 2-4.  Haque was also broken again (started with a Double Fault, 15-All only to then have it go straight to Double Break Point and then an out-of-nowhere sideline Ace against Natalia to cut it to Break Point, but then came the break) to have his team's lead cut to 4-3, but Sout was also broken again (Nate hit a winning volley to make it Love-30 and that was where Frank could at least get some measure of satisfaction for the evening after hitting a walloping Windmill Overhead Smash winner for 15-30, but then it went to Double Break Point where Nate scored with a drop shot winner for the break) and then The Champ held again (Nate executed an excellent passing shot winner for 15-Love and was then off and running to Triple Game/Match Point where Frank hit a winning return to survive just a little bit longer as it was now Double Game/Match Point, but then came the hold and the victory) to get the win!  This was played on Court Three from 8:30 to 9:10.

The Skinny: Like the previous One-Setter, this was both competitive and fun.  Having only missed the first ten minutes of it, Kris was still quite entertained in watching the balance of it.  At Samara's insistence, Srinivasan then took the court and had very little warm-up before diving right into the next one.

Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.  The basic breakdown: Natalia was broken, Nate held in another struggle (Double Game Point reduced to Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point, 3^rd Deuce, Game Point, 4^th Deuce, Game Point, 5^th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold), Kris was broken (Double Break Point with a bounce back to Deuce, Break Point again, 2^nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Muhammad held at Love for a 4-0 lead!  Sout held (Double Break Point with a rise to Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to get her team onto the scoreboard at 1-4!  But from there, Fernandes held again (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold) and Srinivasan was broken again (Game Point, Deuce, Break/Match Point, 2^nd Deuce, it ended on the 2^nd Break/Match Point) to get the "L!"  This was played on Court Three from 9:13 to 9:42 and they decided to forego the changeovers in order to get it done in time.

The Skinny: Ably supported by Fernandes, Haque had a burst of confidence and it showed in his play.  Meanwhile, Sout was still impressive while Srinivasan just did not have ample time to warm up properly.  Eager for at least an ounce of redemption, Kris insisted upon launching into another one…and so they did (again without changeovers)!

Nathan Fernandes/Muhammad Haque leading Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 3-2 (Incomplete at 10pm)!  No Aces.  Here's how it was going: Nate held and Kris was broken for 0-2.  Muhammad was broken and Natalia held for 2-2.  Fernandes held again to go up 3-2 and then Srinivasan was on serve and had hit a Double Fault to set up Double Break Point before bouncing back to Deuce when the lights went out at ten (they had begun this one within the same minute of finishing the prior one…at 9:42)!

The Skinny: Right around 9:50, a faint drizzle started…but it was not nearly enough to stop the play of the enthusiastic players.  They were all fighting to get this one done in time but, alas, it was not to be.

After a brief group convo, Samara left the lot at 10:05 to head up to The Wayne Bubble.  During that drive, the faint drizzle increased to a light but steady rain and the roads became slick.  Nonetheless, he pulled into the parking lot at The Bubble at 10:20. 

We now head up to The Wayne Bubble for those scores.  They are a combination of court-by-court reporting with some semblance of chronological order along the way.  Samara never played (although he was invited to do so quite a few times) and they still ended up with an impressive total of 18 players.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Chris Chiaro/Rich Liu over Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst, 6-4!  Chris: 1 Ace on Ryan.  This was played on Court One and went right into this next one.

Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst over Chris Chiaro/Rich Liu, 7-6 (7-2)!  No Aces.  They would then start what would have been the 3^rd Set to make this a full match, but midway thru it…Rich took a bathroom break that ended up becoming quite the extended one!  We'll get back to that situation later in this report.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Dennis Cabanatan/Pranav Sinha over Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler, 6-4, 6-0, to become the New # 28 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.  This one finished on Court Two at 10:33.  They then switched up the teams for a One-Setter which we will report further along in this report.

Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over Arthur Fontanilla/Nick Caputo, 6-2!  Nick: 2 Aces on Senthil!  This was played on Court Three and they then played a Rematch One-Setter.

Arthur Fontanilla/Nick Caputo over Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues, 6-1!  Nick: 1 Ace on Senthil.  This one finished on Court Three at 10:30.  At that time, Art had to leave and John Rizzo would end up taking his place for the next One-Setter…which we will get to later.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Paul Daddio/Ryan Sherry over Tony Shiao/Tom La, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 121 and # 122 Ranked Teams respectively!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Tony; and Tony: 1 Ace on Paul!  This one was finished on Court Four at 10:47.  Afterward, La invited Samara to take his place, but Frank deferred to Don Moya doing so instead.

Senthil Kumar/Joe Rodrigues over John Rizzo/Nick Caputo, 6-3!  Joe: 1 Ace on Nick (an emphatic one in the final game)!  This was contested on Court Three from 10:34 to 10:58.  Rizzo had undergone a medical procedure earlier in the day that involved anesthesia and was still somewhat in a sleepy mode as a result.

Chris Chiaro/Rich Liu leading Ryan Pienciak/Frank Hohorst, 3-1 (at Deuce and Incomplete as Rich took a bathroom break somewhere around 10:50, but did not return to the court until 11:05 as he had gotten sick while he was away…Nick Caputo also felt somewhat under the weather earlier in the session and then seemingly shook it off)!  Chris: 1 Ace on Ryan.

Dennis Cabanatan/Syed Rashid tied with Pranav Sinha/Mike Sindler, 3-3 (Incomplete when they stopped this on at 11pm on Court Two…they had started it at 10:35).  No Aces.

Tony Shiao/Don Moya leading Paul Daddio/Ryan Sherry, 4-3 (Incomplete when they stopped this one at 11:07 on Court Fourt…they had started it at 10:50)!  Tony: 1 Ace on Paul.

From what I had the chance to see, there was solid action on all four courts and everyone seemed to have a really good time.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

11/29 Results.

11/29/17:

"Samara hosts 8 at C.G., then 10 (14?) at Bubble!":

There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis: the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host and featuring a full Mixed Doubles Challenge Match between the teams of "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan/"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski/"The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and then the Night Owls session up at The Wayne Bubble organized by "The Riz" John Rizzo. 

While there were actually 14 competitors at The Bubble session, I only collected the scores that featured ten of the players as I really have no relationship with any of the guys that were on Court One (it was Ted Cedroski/Sam Senowitz versus Vlad Smolyanskiy/Henry Mendoza).  So whatever they did will have to remain unofficial.

We will now detail how the Cedar Grove session unfolded and then report the results.  After that, we head up to The Bubble to list those scores as well.

Samara was the first to arrive at 6:45 as the educational event he had attended at the elementary school of his children had ended earlier than expected.  Upon returning to his residence, he noticed the presence of a pestilent and petulant nuisance and felt it best to remove himself from the premises.  Much like the Jetsons, he jettisoned in jet-like fashion as fast as possible having foregone the chance to change into apparel more appropriate for playing tennis. 

All four courts and the parking lot were all entirely vacant except for his presence, so Frank found himself alone and he decided to remain in his car until any additional arrivals occurred.

At 6:55, he just happened to look to his left and saw that "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales had already pulled into the parking lot.  Then, upon getting out of his car, Samara saw a big pick-up truck (which both he and Jose initially thought was a tow truck given the fact that a Cedar Grove Police SUV was also already in the lot) pull in and it was headed right his way!

It turned out to be the arrival of Tommy and Fernanda.  Toker told Frank that they had already scheduled a full Challenge Match with Kris and Doinks.

So Jose had the chance to hit alongside Fernanda against Tommy out on Court Three to warm them up for the upcoming match.  Court Four continues to have the problem where one half of one of the light posts has a bulb that fails to get lit!

At 7:15, both Doinks and Kris made their way across the street.  Soon, they were hitting against Reszkowski and Toker while Gonzales took a spot alongside Samara in between the net posts of Courts Three and Four.

At 7:25, the match officially got underway.  Jose stayed on to watch the entire 1^st Set, but was frustrated that nobody else had shown up in that time as the conditions were quite favorable for tennis…though it was a bit chillier than expected.  And around 7:45, the winds started to whip up just a bit.

At 8:05, Natalia "Nitro" Sout and GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes both arrived at the same time.  Figuring they would only want to have a hitting practice, Gonzales decided to leave at this time.

Five minutes later, Muhammad "Muha" Haque made his first-ever appearance at Cedar Grove and he was welcomed into the Nate and Nat practice session on Court Four.

The good news was that at 8:15, "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo arrived to make it a second foursome over on Court Four.  While Levy was eager to get some official action going, Fernandes and Sout were content to keep it as just a hitting session.  That would lead to some switch-ups of opposition later in the evening.

Anyway, we ended up with a total of just eight official competitors.  Nonetheless, it was both a fun and productive session.

Let's get to the scores!  

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 8 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

1^st Set: Kris was broken (15-Love, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, then Double Break Point where Kris blew a volley to break himself), Fernanda was broken (Kris hit a winning volley for Love-15 and then Doinks hit a winning volley for Love-30 which was where Kris hit an even more venomous volley winner to set up Triple Break Point, but then he blew a volley to bring it down to Double Break Point, then came Break Point where an un-returned serve led to Deuce which was where Kris hit a wicked winner to bring it back to Break Point where he then scored with a whipping Backhand Volley winner for the break), Doinks was broken (Tommy blew a volley for 15-Love, then it was 15-All where the best rally of the match up until that point ended with a blown volley by Kris for 15-30, then came Double Break Point and the break) and then Tommy was also broken (Tommy blew a volley for Love-15 and then hit a Double Fault for Love-30 where an un-returned serve then made it 15-30, but then Kris hit a winning volley to set up Double Break Point, then came Break Point, Deuce, another Double Fault to bring it back to Break Point, then 2^nd Deuce where another excellent rally occurred but this time ended with a successful volley winner by Kris to again make it Break Point only to have Tommy respond with a big-time Overhead Smash winner to bounce back to 3^rd Deuce only to have another Break Point rear its ugly head and that was when Kris finally finished off the game with another snapping Backhand Volley winner) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2!  Mr. Srinivasan was broken again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then a roller over the net return winner from Tommy for 15-All and then Kris blew a volley to make it 15-30 where Tommy scored with a winning volley to set up Double Break Point, it then was Break Point where Doinks hit a winning Backhand Volley to make it Deuce, but then it went back to Break Point and Kris blew what should have been a surefire volley winner to again break himself), but Toker was the first to hold serve (Tommy blew what should have been a sure overhead for a Love-15 start and then Kris hit a vicious volley winner for Love-30, but then an un-returned serve made it 15-30 and it then went to 30-All, Game Point where Doinks blew a volley to allow the hold) to go up 4-2.  Mrs. Srinivasan was also broken again (started with a Double Fault, then Love-30 where Tommy hit a volley winner to set up Triple Break Point where an un-returned serve made it Double Break Point and then Tommy blew a volley to bring it down to Break Point only to have Tommy redeem himself with a crushing Overhead Smash winner for the break) and then Reszkowski held (started with a Double Fault where Doinks got to a drop shot with plenty of time only to shockingly shank it way wide off the court to make it 15-All and then Kris blew a volley to bring it to 30-15 which was where Tommy hit a winning volley to set Double Game/Set Point which was where Doinks scored with an excellent passing shot winner to then make it Game/Set Point only to have the game end with the first truly un-returnable serve of the entire set) to put the initial set into the pockets of his team!  This set began on Court Three at 7:25 and ended at 7:58.  The next set would get underway four minutes later.

2^nd Set: Kris finally held serve (Love-15 where Doinks hit a whipping winner for 15-All, then it was 30-15 where he scored with a truly un-returnable serve of his own to set up Double Game Point, it was then Game Point where Tommy hit a victorious volley winner to make it Deuce only to then blow a volley to set up another Game Point and then Tommy blew yet another volley to allow the hold) and Fernanda was broken (Tommy blew another volley for Love-15, but then Kris blew a volley for 15-All only to have Tommy again blow a volley for 15-30 which was where Kris scored with a scathing volley winner to set up Double Break Point where an un-returned serve brought it down to Break Point only to have Kris whip out another winsome volley winner for the break) to start off down 0-2.  But Doinks was broken yet again (Love-30 where Kris cranked another volley winner that was also aided by the net-cord along the way and that made it 15-30 where an un-returned serve then brought it to 30-All and that was where Doinks made a great get/winner combo to set up Game Point only to then go to Deuce where Fernanda scored with a smart drop shot winner to set up Break Point and then came the break) and then Tommy had a Love hold as he started off with a walloping winner which was followed by an un-returned serve and then Fernanda had a winner of her own to set up Triple Game Point which ended with another un-returned serve to level the set at 2-2!  Mr. Srinivasan held again (30-Love where Tommy had a volley winner for 30-15 and then Kris blew a volley to make it 30-All only to then score with a nice drop shot winner to set up Game Point where Kris blew another certain volley winner to make it Deuce where Tommy had an excellent volley winner to make it Break Point only to then blow a volley to bounce it back to 2^nd Deuce and then Kris hit a winner to set up Game Point where he ended matters with an un-returned serve), but Toker held again as well and it was at Love as Kris first blew a volley, then came an un-returned serve followed by a vengeful volley winner by Tommy to set up Triple Game Point where Doinks blew a volley to allow the hold to tie things up again, this time at 3-3!  And from there, Mrs. Srinivasan was broken one last time (started with a Double Fault, an un-returned serve then made it 15-All where Kris blew a volley for 15-30 and then another un-returned serve brought it to 30-All where Kris scored with an awesome Overhead Smash winner to set up Game Point, but then came Deuce where Kris hit a sizzling volley winner to set up another Game Point only to have Tommy made a nice get/winner combo to bounce it back to 2^nd Deuce where Kris blew a volley to bring it down to Break Point and then it was 3^rd Deuce where Tommy hit a brilliant volley winner to set up Break Point and then he equaled the task with another one for the break), Reszkowski held again (an un-returned serve for 15-Love and then off and running to Triple Game Point, a Double Fault for Double Game Point, but then came the hold) and The K Man was then broken at Love as things started off with a blown volley by Doinks and ended with the most victorious volley winner of them all from Tommy on Triple Break/Match Point as this battle ended exactly at 8:37!

The Skinny: Though Kris and Doinks were both quite down on themselves after the match, it was actually a hard-fought match that felt closer (at least to this observer from the sidelines) than the final score indicates.  Nobody was holding serve in the 1^st Set until Fernanda was the first to do so and that put her team up 4-2.  That was like going up a break and then when Tommy also held, it quickly closed out the set that had otherwise been fairly even.  The 2^nd Set was actually closer as Kris also got into the act of holding serve.  The problem was that Doinks never held serve the entire match and The Srinivasans committed more unforced errors as the match grew older while Reszkowski and Toker were guilty of less the longer this contest progressed.  In the end, it was an impressive victory for Tireless Tommy and The Argentine Machine!

Kris Srinivasan/Tommy Reszkowski over Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  No Aces.  This was also played on Court Three as Fernanda had to take care of business and reply to some text messages while Levy was eager for some official action.  It got underway at 8:42 and ended at 9:07.  Even though there was still plenty of time until lights out, they decided to forego the changeovers.  Kris and Tommy jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then cut to 3-1, increased to 5-1 and then they had a Match Point which was saved by Levy and Doinks as they extended the set to 5-2 where Kris was now on service and he took the lead to another Match Point where it went to Deuce, then Break Point, then 2^nd Deuce and then this battle finally finished on the 3^rd M.P. overall!

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Muhammad Haque/Fernanda Toker, 6-0!  No Aces.  These four faced off on Court Four from 8:44 to 9pm.  They also decided to forego the changeovers.  Afterward, Fernanda was eager to team with Tommy once again…so while she waited for the action to finish on Court Three, Muhammad found himself hitting against both Nate and Natalia as he did earlier in the evening.

Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Muhammad Haque, 6-2!  No Aces.  Court Three hosted this one from 9:08 to 9:34.  Levy and Doinks jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then cut to 3-1 and soon increased to 5-1 where Levy was broken after having been up Match Point, then Deuce and Break Point leading to the break to bring it down to 5-2.  But then they broke the opposition in the next game for the win.  This was another one with no changeovers.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker, 6-2!  No Aces.  This foursome fought on Court Four from 9:08 to 9:36.  Nate and Nat quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead and looked like they were about to serve up a late night bagel only to have Natalia be broken to allow the opposition onto the scoreboard and then Tommy had a Love hold to pull to 2-5.  But then Nate held serve in a bit of a struggle as he started off down Love-30, shifted to 30-All, then it was Break Point, Deuce, Match Point, 2^nd Deuce and then they finally finished their foes off on the 2^nd Match Point!  For the record, they did abide by the standard changeovers in this one as Reszkowski found the lack of light from the one post someone frustrating.

The Skinny: Fernanda called Nate "the Octopus" as he seemingly gets to (and gets back) every shot that is sent his way.  Despite the loss, Tommy said he looks forward to the opportunity to face the Nate/Nat combo in a full Challenge Match in the near future.

At this time, Tommy and Fernanda had to leave.  That left Nate and Natalia alone to have another hitting session.  Meanwhile on Court Three, the same four competitors tried to squeeze in another one before lights out at 10pm.  Again, they decided to forego the changeovers.

Levy Lorenzo/Doinks Srinivasan leading Kris Srinivasan/Muhammad Haque, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm with Levy on serve and at 15-All)!  No Aces.  They got this one going at 9:35.  Levy and Doinks went from being up 2-1 to 4-1, then that lead was cut to 4-3 before going up 5-3.  Kris was just happy not to take another full loss.

We now head up to The Wayne Bubble for those scores.

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Don Moya over John Rizzo, 6-4!  Don: 1 Ace.  This was played on Court Four.  John and Don stopped hitting shortly after Samara arrived there at 10:15.

Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson over Fadia Nicolas/Jeanette Pegg, 6-3!  No Aces.  This was played on Court Three prior to Frank's arrival and then they split up the sides and went into this next one.

Kathy Sheldon/Jeanette Pegg over Fadia Nicolas/Dawn Peterson, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one finished at 10:30.

Rafaelo Kazakov/Sean McHugh over Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 6-2!  No Aces.  This was the first of three match-ups to be played on Court Two.  They switched sides for the next one.

Kevin Doyle/Rafaelo Kazakov over Sean McHugh/Robin Wilson, 6-3!  Robin: 1 Ace on Rafaelo!  This one finished a little after 10:30.  They switched back to the original match-up for the next one.

Rafaelo Kazakov/Sean McHugh tied with Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson, 3-3 (Incomplete when they stopped it at 11:04)!  No Aces.

Don Moya leading Fadia Nicolas, 5-1 (Incomplete when they stopped playing at 11pm…they had begun this one on Court Three at 10:40).  No Aces.

I believe all the above One-Setters were played without changeovers. 

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com