4/23 Results.

4/23/18:

"Randy-Edgar + 2 in Nutley, Tommy-Tom + 10 at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Monday Night Tennis: the first one was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley hosted by "SWAT" Rich Liu and featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match between "Ravishing" Randy Doran and "The Edge" Edgar Valencia along with other action (with all three parties reporting); and the second was at The Cedar Grove Courts featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match between "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski and Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt (with Reszkowski reporting) along with other action reported by "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The RIz" John Rizzo.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:

Randy Doran over Edgar Valencia, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 36 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  Edgar: 1 Ace!

The Ravishing Report: It was a great match!  Edgar has a big first serve and is a great competitor.

The Edge Editorial: The 1st Set started fairly even reaching 4-All.  I was relying on my power serves and corner ground-strokes which kept Randy running like a marathon man, but his experience and coolheaded demeanor along with his passing shots broke me down, plus my unforced errors killed my game.  Randy was almost steady all throughout the 1st Set.

In the 2nd Set, I started strong again relying on my power serves and ground strokes racing to a 2-0 lead.  But again, steady Randy kept placing those strategic shots beyond the capacity of my weak knees.  Again my unforced errors killed my game.

"Steady Randy" deserves to win...maybe he can win it all, with "the Nutley boys" cheering him all the way!

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Randy on a hard-fought victory and I thank both of them for their comprehensive reporting and commentary.  We now grab one more result from Rich.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Rich Liu/Randy Doran over Muhammad Haque/Edgar Valencia, 6-2, 6-0, to successfully defend their # 36 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Haque/Valencia entered the division as the New # 152 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Rich for reporting that result as well.  And in other news from the Nutley scene, Fausto "Mr. Mystery" Murg has further earned the reputation of that moniker as he went completely AWOL in his tournament match negotiations with "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer (aka TDK).  As a result, Murg has been withdrawn from the tourney and Knitzer will receive a bye into The Round of 16.

We now head up to Cedar Grove for another three-headed report…LOL! 

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:

Tommy Reszkowski over Tom Heidt, 6-0, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 20 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  In the process, Heidt entered the division as the New # 52 Ranked Player.  Tommy: 2 Aces!

The Resz Report: Heidt had some pretty impressive gets throughout the match.  It was a more competitive 2nd Set as there were many Deuces in two of the games.  He is a nice guy and it was a good match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Tommy for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  I also congratulate him on an impressive victory.  We now go to the results from Ryan.

Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Chris Chiaro/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 153 and # 154 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his very timely reporting.  And now we go to The Riz.

Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas over Jordan Bachvaroff/John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Nick Caputo over Jordan Bachvaroff/Tito Castolo, 6-3!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

John Rizzo/Tito Castolo over Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3, 6-3!  Per the TMT Rules, Rizzo/Castolo entered the Doubles Division as the New # 155 Ranked Team while Caputo/Nicolas entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 44 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely reporting.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

4/22 Results.

4/22/18:

"Scott-Erik + 3 in Nutley, 12 (1 return) at Albion, Jorge-Kyle + 18 at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis: the usual early morning one at The Albion Park Courts in Clifton hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara, an early afternoon session (somewhat concurrent with the one at Albion) at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley featuring the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Great Dane" Erik Jensen along with three other players also in action there (all reported by Scott) and then yet another extended session at The Cedar Grove Courts which began with the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match featuring "Big George" Jorge Solano going up against "Kerosene" Kyle Eng (with Kyle reporting) and then both "The Riz" John Rizzo and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan reporting the rest of the results from there.  It was a nice, sunny day with a peak temperature of 65 degrees, but it was often quite breezy (windy, in fact).

Let's first detail the coming and goings plus scores from Albion before getting the Nutley results from Scott, then the Cedar Grove scores from John and Doinks.

Samara pulled up to the curb at 10:50...just a little later than he had told the league he would.  He did this just as Tito "The Titan" Castolo was doing the same.  Already out on the North Court, it was "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis involved in a full Singles Match against an unknown entity as this was for Bergen Tennis.  It was Dino's first full Singles Match since he had sustained the knee injury in early March of 2017.

The South Court was occupied by two other gents (likely in their 30's and they looked to be solid players).  Dino later said that he had started his match at 10am and those two guys were already there at that time.

So that left the GTA players with only the Center Court which was already hosting a hitting session featuring "Sneaky" Suzanne Bujara and "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque on one side of the court and then on the other side it was Stan "The Man" Carroll and Sachiko "Sachi" Tokuda.  We thought that would be the first One-Setter of the day, but Muhammad opted out of the action.  So Tito took his place and they got the official action underway at 11:05.

Just as they started, "King Crush" Chris Chiaro made his way onto the courts.  And then five minutes later, we had the surprise arrival (and it would soon be the official GTA Return) of "Lucky" Leo Victor who has not played with us in over a year.

At 11:15, "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales also arrived and we were starting to have a logjam situation.  Luckily, Dino and the mystery man finished by that time.  So Samara sent the other four (Chris, Jose, Muhammad and Leo) over to the North Court for some Doubles action.

At 11:20, Natalia "Nitro" Sout also made her way down the hill toward the courts.  The good news was that the two guys left the South Court soon after and this enabled Frank and Natalia to have a hitting session with one another.  Dino soon made his way over to the bench to watch them hit before he left at 12:10 to head to the gym where he would meet with one Mr. Dan Martinelli (aka The Spin Doctor).

At 12:40, a family took over the South Court.  Twenty minutes later, "RK Fire" Rafaelo Kazakov arrived as he first sat on the bench next to Natalia watching the fierce Doubles action on the North Court before getting the chance to hit with Sachiko on Center Court ten minutes later.

The last official arrival of the day was "Stealth" Omar Santos at 1:30.  Mere minutes after he arrived, Sout, Tokuda, Castolo and Samara all left the park.  Around this same time, a lone interloper took over Center Court.

Around 2pm, both "The Riz" John Rizzo and "NC-17" Nick Caputo arrived...but upon seeing such a full house, they opted to head to Cedar Grove instead.  And we will get all those results later in this report.  First, let's get to the action at Albion!

The Albion Park Results:

Tito Castolo/Suzanne Bujara over Stan Carroll/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-1!  No Aces.  Center Court hosted this Mixed Doubles action from 11:05 to 11:29.

Chris Chiaro/Muhammad Haque over Jose Gonzales/Leo Victor, 6-2!  It was the official GTA Return of Leo Victor.  No Aces.  They played this on the North Court from 11:26 to 11:50.

Tito Castolo/Suzanne Bujara over Stan Carroll/Sachiko Tokuda, 6-0!  No Aces.  This Rematch One-Setter also took place on Center Court and it lasted from 11:33 to 11:50 (just seventeen minutes)!  After this one, Stan decided to call it a day and head home.

Since the above two One-Setters ended at the same time (and with Stan now making his exit), it allowed Tito to shift over to the North Court for some Men's Doubles action while Leo shifted over to Center Court for a "Leo and the ladies" situation.  It was a better environment for him as he had over a year's worth of rust to shake off before being able to be fully competitive.

Chris Chiaro/Jose Gonzales over Muhammad Haque/Tito Castolo, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  They played this on the North Court from 11:52 to 12:33.

Natalia Sout/Sachiko Tokuda over Leo Victor/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4!  Leo: 1 Ace on Sachiko (a short and slow one that was likely aided by the wind)!  The basic breakdown: Nat and Sachi jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  From there it went to 3-1 and 4-1.  Leo was now on serve and on Double Game Point, he hit that short and slow Ace against Sachiko for the hold to pull to 2-4.  Natalia was then broken and Suzanne then held to level things at 4-4!  But from there, Sout/Tokuda rebounded to take the match.  This was played on Center Court from 12:06 to 12:46.

Chris Chiaro/Jose Gonzales over Frank Samara/Tito Castolo, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces.  It went like this: Frank held at Love, Chris was broken (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point and the break), Tito held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) and Jose was broken as it went from 15-Love to 15-30, then it went to 30-All, Break Point and the break to fall to 0-4!  But then Samara was broken (in the exact same manner, point for point, that Jose was) and then Chiaro held serve (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 2-4.  Castolo was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, but then there was a mini-shift to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) and Gonzales held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to knot the score at 4-4!  Hollywood rebounded with a hold (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), but then King Crush had a Love hold to keep things alive at 5-5!  The Titan held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but so did Hurricane Jose and it was at Love to force the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Frank held his lone serve and then Chris was broken on the first of his two serves for a 0-2 start in the TB, but then held his second for 1-2.  Tito was broken on the first of his two serves as Frank blew what should have been a surefire Overhead Smash winner (as it was right in his wheelhouse) as he jumped just a bit too soon, but still made contact only to have a wicked backspin type shot descend upon the net!  It never reached the tape as it may have spun its way over it.  Instead, it just trickled down on his side of the net.  Castolo was also broken on his second serve for 2-3.  Jose was broken on the first of his two serves for 3-3 at the changeover.  It was on this point where Chris hit an excellent short-angled shot (cannot remember if it was off his forehand or backhand) only to have Frank make a great get and send back a wicked and well-placed, fast-paced backhand slice that sailed to the sideline and almost out of the reach of Chiaro (I believe he was able to shank it wide with the edge of his racquet).  Having hit a redemptive winner (one of his best in recent memory), Samara no longer felt so bad about the blown overhead just a short while earlier.  This now meant Gonzales was broken on both hi serves and now The Wood was about to serve with a 4-3 lead.  He held the first of his two serves to go up 5-3, but we now would head into a situation of distraction as twice there were errant balls invading our court (coming from the hitting session on Center Court between Rafaelo and Sachiko).  So the point was essentially played three times as a frustrated Frank lost focus and made a silly error to now have the score go to 5-4 after his second service point.  King Crush then held both of his service points to put his team up 6-5 with Match Point (the very first one of the contest) in his team's favor.  Tito Touch was now on service and the rally led to Jose blasting a forehand that he thought had clipped the edge of the sideline for the win, but Castolo called it out wide!  Samara honestly did not see it as Tito's body was in the way of where the ball landed and Chiaro did not protest as he said it was Castolo's call to make.  That now made it 6-6 at the second changeover.  The Titan also held his second serve after hitting a beautiful winner to put his team up 7-6 with their first Match Point opportunity (the 2nd M.P. overall) with service now returning to Hurricane Jose.  He held both of his serves to put his team up 8-7 for their second Match Point chance (the third overall) and now Samara was to go on serve.  That point led to a solid but short rally as Chiaro blasted the best winner of the match...a scorching forehand that seared its way past Castolo as he neared the net as it blazed a path through the Doubles Alley for the very hard-fought victory!  Rafaelo and Natalia both said they were very entertained by this action as they sat on the nearby bench.  This battle on the North Court lasted from 12:48 to 1:30.  It seems like an almost definite Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Muhammad Haque/Sachiko Tokuda over Leo Victor/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1!  No Aces.  Center Court hosted this Mixed Doubles action from 12:48 to 1:08.

And now for the One-Setter that took place after Samara's departure (thanks to Omar for sending it in)...

Muhammad Haque/Rafaelo Kazakov over Jose Gonzales/Omar Santos, 7-6 (7-3)!  Muhammad: 1 Ace on Omar; and Jose: 1 Ace on Muhammad!  We played this on the North Court roughly from 1:35 to 2:35.

The Stealth Report: It was a fun set overall.  Our opponents were just too consistent and they deserved the win.  Afterward, everyone left except for me.  Louise Bysiek arrived with a lefty friend of hers (likely to be Jeff Rozner), so I stayed around to hit with them.  I told them they should go to Cedar Grove for some more action, but they said they had to go play with another group up in Oakland.

Samara's Notes: Again, thanks to Omar for sending in the additional result and the color commentary.      

All in all, it was a very fun session!  We now go to Nutley to get the report from Scott.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Before the tournament match, Umang "Ash" Jain was there, so we challenged Rich Liu and Sam Wong to a full Doubles Match.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Umang Jain/Scott Bergenfeld over Sam Wong/Rich Liu, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New # 121 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  Umang: 2 Aces!

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Erik Jensen, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 40 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  In the process, Jensen entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 51 Ranked Player.  Scott: 3 Aces in the 1st Set (all in the first game)!

The Great Scott Report: The winds at The Park Ave. Courts were a huge issue for both of us.  Erik played strong, but his serve was too erratic.  He had too many Double Faults (perhaps as many as 15 total) and it cost him multiple games.  I couldn't serve well either.  I was just trying to lob the ball in most of the time.  The match would have been a lot closer if it wasn't for all his Double Faults.  It was a hard-fought match, but as I just stated...it would have been much more enjoyable in more ideal conditions.  Kudos to Erik on a match well-played!   

Samara's Notes: Congratulations to Scott for a very impressive victory (also thanks to him for his timely reporting which will continue in just a bit)!  Bergenfeld adds himself to that short list of favorites to go far in this tournament and then make a further impact on the Advanced Division once this event is over.  We now go back to Scott.

Sam Wong/Rich Liu over Scott Bergenfeld/Erik Jensen, 7-6 (7-5)!  Rich: 2 Aces on Erik!

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for acting as the impromptu host of this session and reporting all the above.

We now head up to Cedar Grove to get the results from there, starting with Kyle's report, then going to John (who was there from 2:30 to 6:30) and finishing with Doinks who stayed on even later.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 16 Match:
Kyle Eng over Jorge Solano, 6-3, 6-2, to become the New # 14 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Quarterfinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  Kyle: 1 Ace.

The Kyle File: I'm still shaking off the nerves (of once again playing full competitive Singles Matches), but its getting better.  Jorge is great at the net, but he tended to have a little trouble with my kick serves and drop shots.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kyle for his very timely reporting and also congratulate him on an impressive victory.  He is now the first player to make it to the Quarters of the GTA Intermediate Invitational. 

We now turn this report over to John.

Nick Caputo over John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.  Due to Nick getting lightheaded, we took a break in the middle of the set so that Nick could get a protein shake at Quick Chek.  As a result of his woozy state of mind, Nick inadvertently ended up shoplifting said shake that he put in his pocket without ever buying it!

Samara's Notes: Mr. NC-17 just earned an additional moniker - "Sticky Fingers!"  LMAO!  We now go back to John.

Nick Caputo/Syed Rashid over Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo, 6-2!  No Aces.

The Riz Report: Syed also had a one hour hitting session with his friend, Mike Sindler.

John Rizzo/Nick Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/Senthil Kumar, 6-2!  No Aces.

Nick Caputo/Genalin Capan over Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo, 7-6 (7-3)!  Gen: 1 Ace on John!

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Doinks Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 19 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division!  In the process, Srinivasan/Nicolas entered the division as the New # 30 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Michel Encarnacion, 7-5!  No Aces.  Chris and Doinks had been down 1-5 before taking six straight games for quite the comeback victory!

Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Scott Bergenfeld/Genalin Capan, 6-0!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Scott Bergenfeld over Chris Chiaro/Genalin Capan, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Michele Panzitta over Nick Inciong/Rose Inciong, 6-4!  No Aces.

Scott Bergenfeld/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.  Scott and Doinks had been down 1-4 before staging their comeback!   

Samara's Notes: I thank John and Doinks for assuming the hosting duties and sending in those results in a very timely fashion.

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

4/21 Results.

4/21/18:

"Marathon Saturday - 4 locations including 8 hour session at C.G.!":

With the weather improving from Friday to Saturday and the fact that some tournament matches still needed to be played (the lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal between "Daddy O" Paul Daddio and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and a handful of remaining GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament Round of 32 Matches), there ended up being three sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: the first took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as  Jay "The Rising" Phoenix went up against Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb in their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).

The second was at Mountainside Park in Montclair and featured the aforementioned Daddio-Shiao match with each player reporting. 

The third was an indoor session at the recently renovation Crestmont Country Club in West Orange as "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Riz" John Rizzo got together for a couple of One-Setters (with John reporting).

The fourth was a marathon session at The Cedar Grove Courts as that location's action got underway early around 2pm and it started off with another one of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Matches: "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi versus "The Running Man" Ryan Sherry (with Ryan reporting) and then there was plenty more action from this session as Rizzo arrived there around 3:30, so he had much to report, but then we also had scores submitted by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid (both reporting the same result).

Trying my best to keep everything in relative chronological order, we first go to Nutley.

We now take this report to Nutley.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Jay Phoenix, 6-2, 6-2, to become both the New # 18 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 5 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces. 

The Gist from Jeremy: Great match, good opponent!

Straight from Phoenix: We started that match around 11am.  I played better than I usually play and I still lost.  He has no business being in the Intermediate Division.  He is the real deal.  He has good swing technique, good footwork, he is fast, athletic, very consistent and has a sneaky left-handed serve.  Most of my points came from the very few errors that he made.  He admitted to me afterwards that he has played tennis all through high school and college.  I wish him all the best.   

Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for reporting the result in such a timely fashion.  I also congratulate Jeremy on a very impressive victory.  I also appreciate Jay's candor.  What I told him in an earlier e-mail and then in my reply to his e-mailed result was that we had seen Jeremy play Doubles at The Wayne Bubble and it did not seem like his level was far above the other guys we paired him with that night.  Of course, it is hard to truly assess a player's individual skill level in such an outing. 

Furthermore, this tournament will likely result in a handful of guys making the permanent jump to the Advanced Division (i.e. cracking The Top 10) soon after said tourney ends.  We really do not know the skill level of so many players coming into the league (and this season there are more than ever before) until after they start playing with us.  Traditionally, the GTA Intermediate Invitational has served as a springboard for new players coming into the GTA as some end up going all the way into the Advanced Division while others simply get out of the Non-Competing Men's Division and soon settle in the Intermediate Division.  Later in the summer, the Grove Cup Tournament then crowns the next Top Contender to whomever is the reigning GTA Champion at that time...and it is by that time in the season (the summer months) that we usually have a better handle on the skill level of just about all the guys in the league.

We now head west to Montclair for that lone remaining GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal.

The Mountainside Park Courts Result:

GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal:
Paul Daddio over Tony Shiao, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division while also advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Championship Tournament!  No Aces.

The Dilly-O from Daddy O: It was a blustery but sunny and warm day at the courts.  There were some very long points and games.  Tony has a great forehand that he used effectively.  It was a close match where I was able to scrape by via winning a few more of the long rallies.

The Sure Shot from Shiao: Paul was very consistent and quick.  He was able to run down a lot of my would-be forehand winners.  The long rallies took a toll on my stamina.  I congratulate Paul on the win!  And I wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in the tournament.   

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting...it is much appreciated.  I also congratulate Paul on a very impressive victory.  We now have both Semifinal Matches set as The Top 4 Seeds did, in fact, make it to the Semis.  Daddio advances to face "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas while Pienciak will go up against "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.

We now dip south just a bit to West Orange for The Riz Report from Crestmont.

The Crestmont Country Club Results:

Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

Anish Mehta over John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Riz Report: Anish and I decided to meet up for an hour (we started at 12 noon) at The Crestmont Country Club Bubble where the courts have a "Har-Tru" surface.  I have not been there before, so I wanted to see how it played.  I was mostly not impressed with the place as it is very dusty inside and you breathe in the particles of the surface.  Nobody swept our court prior to us playing on it, so it was already in poor condition.  There is also ongoing construction which makes it very loud on one side.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting and also giving us the inside scoop on the situation at Crestmont.  I guess now we know why they were giving out reasonable rates to entice new business.  It does not sound like a place I would waste my time (and mileage from where I live) trying out knowing what I know now.  But I do realize we have some of our players down that way, so maybe it will still be an option for some of them. 

And now we head back north to Cedar Grove for many matches being reported by multiple sources!  We will start with the Gadi-Sherry match, then go to the results reported by Rizzo (as he was one of the first to arrive after Abhi and Ryan) and then get the balance from the rest of the sources.  I highly doubt the scores will be in chronological order as there is some overlap in the reporting and it was a very lengthy session.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Ryan Sherry over Abhilash Gadi, 6-0, 6-0, to become New # 20 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational!  No Aces. 

The Ryan Report: We started around 2pm.  It was nice playing with you, Abhi!

Samara's Notes: Many of us know how solid a player Gadi is...so for Sherry to win in such dominant fashion...it just shows the tremendous amount of improvement he has undergone in just a year!  And now he puts himself in that select group with Gottlieb and "NC-17" Nick Caputo as being a likely candidate to soon graduate from the ranks of the Intermediate Division altogether.  Besides congratulating Ryan on his highly impressive victory, I also thank him for his very timely reporting.

We now go to the results from The Riz.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry over Nick Caputo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)!  Per the TMT Rules, Rizzo/Sherry entered the Doubles Division as the New # 149 Ranked Team while Caputo/Srinivasan entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 42 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

The Riz Report: Nick and Doinks served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 3rd Set and then they had a 4-2 lead in the Tiebreak before Ryan and I made our comeback.

Samara's Notes: This sounds like a definite Nominee for Specialty Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  We now go back to John.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over John Rizzo/Ryan Sherry, 6-4, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 94 Rank in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Nick Caputo over Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid, 7-5!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over John Rizzo/Nick Caputo, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Elias Eid over Fadia Nicolas/Laurie Boughton, 6-1!  No Aces.

Elias Eid/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  Fadia: 1 Ace on Kris.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for sending in all those results.  Doinks had a different score for that last one, so I will go with her recollection of it since she was in it.  We will now go to Doinks for one more score and then Ryan and Mike/Syed in that order.

Doinks Srinivasan over Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-3!  No Aces. 

The Details from Doinks: Rafaelo had been hitting with Fadia, but did not have a chance to get involved in any Doubles action.  So I took her place to play a set of Singles with him which allowed Fadia to play some Mixed Doubles with Ryan and Adam (The Pienciak Brothers) and Natalia Sout.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for that result and the additional details.  We now go to Ryan.

Ryan Pienciak/Ryan Sherry over Muhammad Haque/Adam Pienciak, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: We are happy to report that Ryan's brother Adam has moved back to New Jersey and will now be playing with us on a regular basis.  We now go back to Ryan.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Muhammad Haque over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-4, 7-5!  Per the TMT Rules, Pienciak/Haque entered the Doubles Division as the New # 150 Ranked Team while Pienciak/Sout entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 43 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Fadia Nicolas over Adam Pienciak/Natalia Sout, 6-0!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for sending all those results in a very timely fashion.  And now we go to the dual reporting from Syed and Mike to close out this overall report.

Jorge Solano/Syed Rashid over Mike Sindler/Natalia Sout, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Sin Man says: There were many long rallies.  And the wind was on Syed's side.  :-)

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting.  And I just want to close this report by saying how happy I am to see all this overall reporting take place.  It is very early in the season and we are already reaching unprecedented levels of play from multiple locations.  As long as we maintain this momentum, the 2018 Season will truly be the biggest and best season in the entire history of the league.  Kudos to all who are involved and support the effort!

Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com


 

4/20 Results.

4/20/18:

"2 at Albion, 2 in Wayne, 23 (1 New) at The Bubble!":

There were three sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: the first took place in the afternoon at Albion Park in Clifton as "Del Brotro'" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan got together for an extended hitting session followed by a couple of One-Setters (with Gen reporting).

The second was a little later at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne as "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and "Stealth" Omar Santos ended up playing an epic One-Setter (as reported by Omar).

The third and final session of the evening was the GTA Friday Night Bubble Party at The Wayne Bubble.  Much like the week before, the format was a hybrid of the two formats they have bounced back and forth between (the early two-hour non-stop session and the extended four-hour-plus session) as this one was three and a half hours of action for the players involved (and the breaks between sets were almost always fairly short).  When some of them left early, that allowed the two hosts ("The Riz" John Rizzo and "Hollywood" Frank Samara) to step in and take their places. 

Before we get to all that happened at that epic session (the last of this season until sometime in October), we need to now backtrack to Clifton, then go outside on Nellis Drive in Wayne before heading into The Bubble to close out the night's events.

Take it away, Gen!

We played from 2:15 to 4:30.  First, we hit for an hour and practiced serving.  Then we played a couple of One-Setters.  It was windy and chilly, but at least the sun was out.

The Albion Park Results:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-1!  Mike and Gen: 1 Ace each!  We played this one from 3:20 to 3:40.  Mike was up 4-0 before I won that lone game.

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2!  Mike: 1 Ace.  We played this one from 3:50 to 4:20.  This time, Mike was up 5-0 before I won those two games.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely reporting and additional details.  We now go to Wayne for the report from Omar.

The Nellis Drive Courts Result:

Omar Santos over Edwin Ortega, 7-6 (7-4)!  Edwin: 2 Aces; and Omar: 1 Ace!

The Stealth Report: We played from 5pm to 6:15.  The conditions were quite windy.  I was up 5-1 and then I was broken and that led to him winning five straight games to take a 6-5 lead.  I broke back to force the Tiebreak.  I should have won 6-1.  It felt like playing two sets.

Samara's Notes: I thank Omar for his timely reporting along with his corresponding commentary. 

And now it is up to The Bubble we go!

Per the usual, "Hollywood" Frank Samara promoted the GTA Friday Night Bubble Party while "The Riz" John Rizzo went into his usual organizer mode (for these Bubble events) as he began collecting registrations and making plans for snacks, beverages, etc.

Rizzo's usual focus was primarily collecting the paid registrations and then organizing the above accommodations.  Samara was in charge of collecting the scores and also sometimes helping with the match-ups.

With it being the last Friday Night Wayne Bubble Party until at least October, demand (i.e. turnout) was strong enough to dictate that the session go longer than two or even three hours.  We ended up with a total of 23 players, but it was more like twenty for the course of much of the session as "The Adonis" Don Moya only played a One-Setter as he recently sprained his ankle (thankfully, not too severe of a sprain).

And then, per the usual, Rizzo and Samara both got involved in the action late in the session to come in to replace the players that left before closing time.  Usually, they are happy to do so...and John was this time around, but Frank was suffering from a fall he had earlier in the week at home in the middle of the night.  The fall was the result of a major Charlie Horse cramp of his left hamstring that immediately sent him back down onto his butt (after having just woken up and then getting up) with his upper back and neck crashing into the edge of the couch.  Going into this session, the pain in most areas had subsided.  The only lingering effect was pain and tightness in the area behind his left knee.

Before I go further with the details of how this session unfolded, I just want to once again thank The Riz for offering up his time, services and funds to host this event for the benefit of the GTA.  And I acted as the host of the session in the traditional sense of how we use the term "hosting", i.e. I collected the scores of all the action along the way.

Usually in my results write-ups, I detail the order of entry and/or appearance as the session progresses...but not this time around!  This time around, it is fairly obvious by the way they took the courts as you will see from the opening round of play.  All I will say is was yet another epic session...one that was fitting to close out this part of the indoor season until it resumes in the fall.

We also once again thank Mark Cipollini for his hospitality.  We had asked him to come in and play, but he was too busy running The Bubble and later cleaning up after our group as we left in stages.  The good news for him was that we did not need him to "work overtime" as we only ran a little long this time around as the last of the official action ended exactly at 11:49 (we had planned to finish at 11:45).

So, we would have had a total of 24 players had Mark competed, but 23 is still nothing to sneeze at...especially for an indoor session in late April.  We thank everyone who was a part of it.

Let's get to the action!

The Wayne Bubble Results:

Tom Heidt/Charlie Vreeland over Tim Nguyen/Paul Mallick, 6-1!  Paul: 1 Ace on Charlie!  Action on Court One officially got the session started as this one began at 8:25 and finished at 8:44 (just nineteen minutes total...though they did decide to forego the changeovers in this one)!  This was an impressive win for Gotta Lotta Heidt and Big Charlie V as the combo of Tim Tam and The PM News is a fairly formidable tandem. 

Matt Fortunato/Laurie Boughton over Thiyagesh Rei/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2!  Thiyagesh: 1 Ace on Matt!  Court Two hosted this one from 8:26 to 8:52 (they also decided to forego the changeovers).  Matt and Laurie have had a decent amount of success as a Mixed Doubles Team together and that trend picked up right where it left off their last time around.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Astrid Kaiser/Takako Teto over Fadia Nicolas/Denise Savino, 6-2, 6-1, to become the New # 28 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  It was the official GTA Debut of Takako Teto.  No Aces.

The Skinny: First off, we had Takako's name backwards on the Registration List we were including in the News e-mails for much of the week.  Kaiser/Teto is a regular team on the USTA circuit and they came here looking to play together more.  They are friends of Fadia.  The action got underway on Court Four at 8:27.  They also did not do the changeovers.  The 1st Set ended at 9:02.  They switched sides for the 2nd Set (they did not realize, at the time, that they should have left the court after the initial set...it was not a big deal anyway as people were coming on and off the other three courts at a steady clip anyway).  The entire match then finished at 9:17 as that 2nd Set was only 15 minutes long!

We know how strong a player Fadia is and Denise is very solid in Doubles...so that tells you just how good a team Astrid and Takako are together.  I had the chance to team with Takako and then go up against her later in the evening and I can tell you that she is a very solid player...and also a very nice lady as well.  And when I got Takako's e-mail address, it revealed her initials which are an ideal ready-made moniker for her: "TNT!"

Kevin Doyle/Janice Wang over Tito Castolo/Robin Wilson, 6-3!  No Aces.  Court Three (aka The Show Court) hosted this one from 8:30 to 9pm (another set without the changeovers).  The action was very sound as Kevin and Robin (both have improved much...especially Robin) found themselves raising the level of their games to hang with Tito and Janice (even though Doyle and Wilson were on opposite sides).  Castolo is always amazing with his adept Doubles ability, but he also had more than the usual amount of misfires...a trend that would continue for him for much of the evening.

Senthil Kumar/Kyle Eng over Mike Mole/Tim Nguyen, 6-2!  Mike: 3 Aces (2 on Senthil, 1 on Kyle)!  Court One hosted this one from 8:55 to 9:19.  It was the first set of the evening where I saw them doing the changeovers.

Tom Heidt/Charlie Vreeland over Thiyagesh Rei/Paul Mallick, 6-2!  Thiyagesh: 2 Aces (one on each); and Charlie: 1 Ace on Thiyagesh!  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:57 to 9:31 (they did not do changeovers).

Matt Fortunato/Laurie Boughton over Kevin Doyle/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2!  Laurie: 1 Ace on Suzanne!  They put on a show on Court Three from 9:04 to 9:45 (quite lengthy when you consider they did not do the changeovers...we thought they were halfway thru it when they told us the score was only 2-1...they had many multi-Deuce games)!

Don Moya/Janice Wang over Tito Castolo/Robin Wilson, 6-0!  No Aces.  Court Four featured this Mixed Doubles action from 9:24 to 9:41 (again, no changeovers).  The team experience of the duo, Moya/Wang, was just too much for Castolo/Wilson.

Mike Mole/Astrid Kaiser over Kyle Eng/Takako Teto, 7-6 (7-3)!  Kyle: 1 Ace on Astrid; and Mike: 1 Ace on Teto!  The fiercest Mixed Doubles action of the night took place on Court One and lasted from 9:24 to 10:05 (somewhat short considering it was a Tiebreak set and that they did do the changeovers).  Initially, we thought it was going to be played "Battle of The Sexes" style as Astrid and Takako were looking to get more time together as a team...but then the ladies must have thought better of it.

Senthil Kumar/Denise Savino over Tim Nguyen/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3!  No Aces.  This was some solid Mixed Doubles action as well.  It took place on Court Two from 9:34 to 10pm (no changeovers).  Senthil said his team got off to a slow start (down 0-2) before they began to turn the tide and then it was off and running.

Tom Heidt/Charlie Vreeland over Thiyagesh Rei/Paul Mallick, 6-0!  Charlie: 1 Ace on Paul (Charlie said it was one of his best ever)!  This Rematch One-Setter took place on Court Four from 9:44 to 10:07 (again, no changeovers).  The Heidt/Vreeland tandem (quite experienced together) went 3-0 on the night and capped it with this bagel!  Very impressive as they went up against solid teams, indeed.

Tito Castolo/Robin Wilson over Paul Daddio/Janice Wang, 6-2!  No Aces.  Quite the show indeed on Court Three as this one lasted from 9:53 to 10:18 (no changeovers).  Tito finally earned a victory and Robin played some serious defense which enabled his offense.  Janice was solid all night, so perhaps it was Paul who got off to a slow start here as he was the latest arrival of the evening.

Matt Fortunato/Laurie Boughton over Denise Savino/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court Two at 10:04 (not sure when it finished as I was then in action on Court Four when it ended...also, they did not do the changeovers).  Fortunato/Boughton were the second team of the evening to have 3 and "Oh" bragging rights!

Paul Mallick/Fadia Nicolas leading Astrid Kaiser/Takako Teto, 3-2 (Incomplete when Astrid had to leave at 10:31...they had begun this one on Court Four at 10:11...they were not doing the changeovers)!  No Aces.  In need of a fourth, Samara would head out onto the court to take Mallick's place...more on that later in this report.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo over Mike Mole/Kyle Eng, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to successfully defend their # 8 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Mole/Eng entered the division as the New # 147 Ranked Team.  Kyle: 6 Aces on Senthil (three in the same game!); Mike: 2 Aces (one on each); and John: 1 Ace on Kyle!

The Skinny: This developed into a full match once it was obvious they did not need to leave the court as nobody else was waiting to come on to play.  It got underway on Court One at 10:11.  At 10:55, they shifted over to Court Two to allow Court One to be closed.  The match actually closed out the session as it ended at 11:49.  They were doing the changeovers.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/Janice Wang over Thiyagesh Rei/Tito Castolo, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2!  Per the TMT Rules, Daddio/Wang entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 41 Ranked Team while Rei/Castolo entered the Doubles Division as the New # 148 Ranked Team.  No Aces (apparently). 

The Skinny: After the previous One-Setter where Tito was victorious over Paul and Janice with Robin Wilson as his partner, Castolo wanted to then team with Wang against Daddio and Thiyagesh Rei.  But Paul wanted a chance at revenge against Tito and he ultimately got it here.  It got underway on Court Three at 10:20 and it must have ended somewhere around 11:30 (they were not doing the changeovers).  There was some truly excellent action here as many of their lengthy and hard-hitting rallies caught our attention as we were over on Court Four.  Speaking of which...

Paul Mallick/Fadia Nicolas leading Frank Samara/Takako Teto, 3-2 (Incomplete when Paul had to leave at 10:59...we had begun this one on Court Four at 10:35...and we were doing the changeovers)!  No Aces.  Here's how it was going: Paul was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point and then the break), Frank was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Fadia was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and then a bounce back to Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce and then it was all Game Points until 6th Deuce, then Break Point and the break) and Takako was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, a mini-shift to Break Point, Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) as nobody could hold serve at 2-2!  It was at this moment that we decided we would only play one more game as Paul informed us after the lengthy 6-Deuce game that he would have to leave by 11pm to go pick up his son (by the way, I neglected to mention earlier that Astrid had to leave to go pick up her daughter).  Mallick then managed to go out on a high note with a hold as it went from Love-15 to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold for a moral victory if not an official one.

Luckily for us, Laurie was still around lounging in the lounge area (you like that?) and was willing to take Paul's place for one more One-Setter for the evening.

Fadia Nicolas/Takako Teto over Frank Samara/Laurie Boughton, 6-4!  No Aces.  It went like this: Fadia held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, a mini-shift to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold), Frank held (30-Love fell straight to Break Point, Deuce and then all Game Points to 3rd Deuce and then another Game Point and the hold), Takako held (Love-30 then went right to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Laurie was the first to be broken (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, a mini-shift to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and the break) for 1-3.  Nicolas was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, then it went to Break Point and the break), but Samara held again (Love-30 then went right to Game Point and the hold) to level things at 3-3!  Teto was broken at Love as her team lost the lead for the first time at 3-4, but then Boughton was broken again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point, then Deuce, another Break Point and a Double Fault to break herself) to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  Fadia Finesse then held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then came the hold) to reclaim the lead at 5-4 and then came an epic game with Hollywood on serve.  He got off to a 30-Love lead only to soon see it shift to 30-All.  Then came a great rally where he had a chance to rush the net and that was where Takako hit a high but short-range lob where Frank roared like a grizzly bear to fuel as much air as he could possibly get in leaping upward to intercept the lobbed ball and bring it back down as a thunderous and winning Overhead Smash!  The ladies likely never saw a 245 pound man (Yes, 245!  We will get back to that after the match) get that high off the ground before.  That made it Game Point and it felt like a pivotal moment.  But I guess that feel wasn't real as it then went to Deuce, Game Point again, 2nd Deuce, Break/Match Point and the break to take a tough loss as this one ended on Court Four exactly at 11:45 (we had started it precisely at 11:01 and we were doing the changeovers)!

The Far from Skinny: Yes, I confess here publicly for the very first time that I have reached a new all-time high weight of 245 pounds!  And it was likely higher than that around the holidays as I truly believe I lost somewhere between five and ten pounds since then.  So it is quite possible I was once in the 250 to 255 range!  I had not weighed myself since the fall and then came the bad news at a doctor's appointment last Friday that I have ballooned up to a very lofty level of "fattitude!"  Two years ago, I thought it was bad enough that I had reached 235.  It is obvious that I will need to lose at least 20 to 25 pounds if I am to ever again make an upward move in the Advanced Division. 

As for the One-Setter itself, we all had a lot of fun and there were many fun and fast-paced rallies.  We were also glad to be able to bring it to its full conclusion as it came on the heels of two aborted half-sets.       

It ended up being quite the enjoyable and productive session.  Once again, we thank all those who were a part of it.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

4/18 Results.

4/18/18:

"Ortega-Rei, Aery-Gottlieb in Wayne, Doyle-Wong, Pienciak-Mole in C.G., Nutley action!":

There were three sessions of GTA Wednesday Tennis: the first one was at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (near The Wayne Bubble) and it got underway in the late afternoon and carried on into the evening and featured two matches from the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament.  The first was the Round of 32 Match featuring Top Seed: "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega against "T-Pain" Thiyagesh Rei.  The second was the Play-In Match between "Meta" Matt Aery and Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb.  In between, there was a couple of One-Setters featuring Rei taking on "Stealth" Omar Santos (reports came in from all but Omar).

The second was at The Cedar Grove Courts as "Kevlar" Kevin Doyle and "Samson of Seasons" Sam Wong got together for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).  And then it was "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole facing off in their GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match (with both reporting).  There was some additional Doubles action also reported by Kevin and Ryan.

The third was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley hosted by "SWAT" Rich Liu (as he had sent the word out to the league that there would be a session).  But, once again, the reporting duties were assigned to Laurie "Suge Boogie" Boughton.

Let's first go to the results from Wayne.

The Nellis Drive Courts Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:

Edwin Ortega over Thiyagesh Rei, 6-3, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  Edwin: 2 Aces! 

Edwin's Editorial: The weather was cooperating, so Thiyagesh and I agreed to play at The Nellis Drive Courts.  We met around 4pm and started to play around 4:15.  He has good serves, but had a few more double faults and errors than what he'd wanted.  I managed to drop in a couple of Aces and he had a few drop shots for himself.  We finished around 5pm.

Samara's Notes: I appreciate Edwin's timely reporting and commentary.  And now we turn it over to Thiyagesh who reported his One-Setters against Omar.

Omar Santos over Thiyagesh Rei, 6-1!  Omar: 2 Aces!

Omar Santos over Thiyagesh Rei, 6-4!  No Aces.

T-Time: I broke three of his service games in the 2^nd One-Setter, but again I had a lot of unforced errors and double faults.  Still, a lot to learn!  Omar and Edwin were kind enough to give me some pointers.

Samara's Notes: I appreciate Thiyagesh's timely reporting and commentary as well.  We now go to the dual reporting from Matt and Jeremy.

GTA Intermediate Invitational Play-In Match:

Jeremy Gottlieb over Matt Aery, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the Round of 32 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  In the process, Gottlieb and Aery entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 47 and # 48 Ranked Players respectively.  No Aces.

The Gist from Jeremy:   We played from 6pm to 6:25.  It was great weather!  It is always fun playing.  Thank you…and I'm looking forward to the next round.

Samara's Notes: I thank Jeremy for the very timely reporting (immediately after the match) and I also thank Matt who reported the same score just a short while later.

The Consequences: Gottlieb now advances to the Round of 32 where he will face Jay "The Rising" Phoenix.

We now head over to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:

Sam Wong over Kevin Doyle, 6-2, 6-3, to become the New # 15 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  Sam: 1 Ace!

Sam says: We started at 6pm and finished at 7:05.

The Kevlar Commentary: I really should play more Singles if I am going to play in these tournaments as I am too often out of position, etc.  I kept unconsciously gravitating toward the sidelines which (of course) is fatal in Singles…and Sam took advantage of it every time!  LOL! 

Sam said he plays a lot of Singles (and it showed).  He is also a great guy and I am glad I got to meet him.  He asked me to call him sometimes to play and I will definitely do that.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for reporting and appreciate Kevin's additional commentary.  Kev also had an additional result to report.

Kevin Doyle/Robin Wilson over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was a hard-fought and very even contest.  Brenda's shoulder was bothering her, but she played through it. There was not really much action at Cedar Grove, at least not when I was there.  I noticed Jordan Bachvaroff hitting with someone and Mike Mole was also hitting with someone, but that was about it.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kevin once again for his very comprehensive reporting.  Jordan often hits with non-GTA players, so I won't both trying to track down any results from him.  As for Mike, he was likely hitting against his opponent…Ryan Pienciak.  We now turn this report over to both of them to hear about their match.

GTA Championship Tournament Quarterfinal:

Ryan Pienciak over Mike Mole, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 1 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Championship Tournament!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We played from 7:40 to 8:30.  It was a really hard match...excellent defense that Ryan had.  I made lots of errors.

The Ryan Report: We were going to play Friday night, but we both wound up at Cedar Grove on this night (randomly), so we decided to just play the match.  Mike was hitting it hard and making me run all over, but I was able to get enough would-be winners back to stay in it. 

Afterward we played one set of Doubles.

Ryan Pienciak/Mike Mole over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 7-5!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Mike and Ryan for their very timely and comprehensive reporting.  We now take this report to Nutley and get the word from Laurie Boughton.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

First, there was some unofficial Canadian Doubles as Fadia Nicolas chose to be alone (to get some exercise) against me (Laurie) and Nick Inciong (we won…don't know the score).  And then…

Rich Boland/Fadia Nicolas over Rich Liu/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu, 6-3!  No Aces.

Rich Liu leading Edgar Valencia, 3-1, (Incomplete when the lights went out)! 

Rich claimed the first One-Setter was won by Edgar with his power serve and his wicked drop shots. :-)

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for once again reporting from the Nutley session.  She also had mentioned seeing Elias Eid and a friend playing Singles there.  I reached out for Elias via e-mail to see if he had any results he wanted to report, but did not hear back from him in time for this report…so it will have to remain unofficial.

Also, Umang "Ash" Jain let me know that he only had a hitting session with Arthur "Art" Fontanilla…they never played anything official.  I thank him for that update as well.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

4/16 Results.

4/16/18:

"TMT Battle of The Sexes Semi at C.G.!":

There was one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts as the teams of "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak/"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan got together for their long-awaited Tinseltown Memorial Tournament Semifinal Match which would be a "Battle of The Sexes!"  Gen did the reporting.

We first get some commentary and then the scores from Gen.

The day started out with gusty winds and torrential rain.  We were fortunate the rain stopped by noon.  The sun peeked out in the early afternoon along with continued gusty winds which contributed to the drying of the tennis courts.  Later in the evening, we just had to deal with the wind which made it feel even cooler than the actual mid 40's temperature.  I think we were just glad that we were able to play the match this evening.  I was the last one to get to Cedar Grove at 8pm.  I was stuck in traffic on Route 3 West prior to merging onto Route 46.  We hit for 15 minutes to warm up and then got the match on its way.

The Cedar Grove Results:

TMT Battle of The Sexes Semifinal Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Nathan Fernandes over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the Finals of the Tinseltown Memorial Tournament!  No Aces.

This match was played from 8:18 to 8:51.  It only took 33 minutes for Ryan and Nate to give us a double bagel!  Doinks and I put forth a valiant effort, but could not get past Nate's quickness and his slices along with some of Ryan's hard-hitting forehand shots.

Samara's Notes: Now Pienciak/Fernandes advance to the Finals where they will face the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay in yet another "Battle of The Sexes!" 

Different prizes are at stake for each team.  For the men, if they win they become the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division and next Top Contenders for a shot at the reigning GTA Doubles Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas (if this is to happen, it will be their May defense…too late to make them wait for it to possibly be in April).

For the ladies, since they are already the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champs, they will earn the right to "double dip!"  What this means is whenever the time comes that they are defeated for their Titles, they will not only get the requisite immediate rematch…they will then have an extra title shot in their back pocket which they can play if they fail to regain the Titles in that first rematch encounter.  Such a situation would truly solidify their standing in the Women's Doubles Division.  Both scenarios are quite interesting. 

We now turn this report back over to Gen.

As that had been a pretty quick match and Ryan did not yet break a sweat, we decided to play Mixed Doubles One-Setter.

Nathan Fernandes/Genalin Capan over Ryan Pienciak/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Gen!  We played this one from 8:54 to 9:25.  This set lasted almost the same amount of time it took to play our entire match just before…haha!  It was a pretty even and competitive set.  Ryan finally broke a sweat.  Thanks to Nate for doing much of the running for our team.

We had fun so we decided to play one more.  This time around we decided to swap partners. Ryan jokingly said, "What are we, swingers?!?!"

Ryan Pienciak/Genalin Capan over Nathan Fernandes/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.  We played this one from 9:28 to 9:53.  Ryan and I were down 0-2.  We leveled it at 2-2 and 3-3 and then took next three games for the win.

Overall, we had a good night of tennis and it was a lot of fun.  Ryan and Nate kept us pretty entertained.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely and comprehensive reporting.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

4/14 Results.

4/14/18:

"Epic Saturday - 7 Title/Tournament Matches in 6 locations!":

With the weather getting even more summer-like on Saturday (peak temperature over 80 degrees!) than it was on Friday, there were six sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: the first took place at the Weehawken Waterfront Sports Complex as "A-Bomb" Alex Gero and "NC-17" Nick Caputo got together for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with Nick reporting).

The second was at Overpeck Park in Ridgefield Park as "Bee Gee" Brad Gero and Tim "Tam" Nguyen met for the very first time (much like Alex and Nick above) to face off against one another in their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).

The third was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "SWAT" Rich Liu met up with his former co-host of the Meet-Up Groups there, "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz, for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with Rich reporting).

The fourth was a very extended session at The Cedar Grove Courts as that location's action got underway early and featured two more of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Matches: "The Tempest" T.J. Shah versus Umang "Ash" Jain (with Ash reporting) and then "Stealth" Omar Santos versus "J-Kat" Jeremy Katzeff (with both reporting)...plus there was plenty more action from this session as reported by Laurie "Suge Boogie" Boughton, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and Former GTA Champion: Timothy Wong, aka "The Legend Killer," who made his surprise return to the league.

The fifth was a late afternoon session at The Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield as "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman and "Diver Down" Muhammad Haque got together for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match (with both reporting).

And the sixth session got underway at the Albion Park Courts in Clifton as "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan had an extended hitting session with one another there (with Gen reporting), but then it became the impromptu location of the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match as the reigning Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and Sally "The Smackdown" Pillay put their Titles on the line against their Top Contenders (the 2017 W-Dub Champs): "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and Louise "Queen B" Bysiek (with Laura reporting).

In terms of meaningful matches that have an impact on the GTA Rankings, this had to be the most monumental day in the entire history of the league!  And it is definitely the greatest amount of locations for GTA play in a single day!  This, I'm sure, is only a sign of things to come as the GTA continues to grow to unprecedented proportions.

Doing our best job to keep everything in relative chronological order, we first head out to Weehawken.

The Weehawken Waterfront Sports Complex Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Nick Caputo over Alex Gero, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New # 24 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational!  No Aces.

Nick's Notes: We met at 9:30am and started the match soon after.  It was a great, hard-fought match with Alex.  He is a great guy and a tough competitor.  Even though he hasn't been playing tennis all that long, he is very quick on his feet and is like a brick wall in the way he gets everything back.  He has also become a true lob expert!

Samara's Notes: I thank Nick for his very timely reporting also and congratulate him on an impressive victory. 

We now go to Ridgefield Park for the dual report from Brad and Tim.

The Overpeck Park Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Brad Gero over Tim Nguyen, 6-4, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 26 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  In the process, Nguyen entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 43 Ranked Player.  No Aces.

Brad's Breakdown: We played from about 10am to 12noon.  Tim was good competition, but I managed to hold him off and win in straight sets.

Tim's Take: Yes, it was a good match.

Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for their timely reporting and congratulate Brad on his victory.

We now take this report to Nutley.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Rich Liu over Keith Lewkowitz, 6-0, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 29 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces. 

The Rich Report: The 2nd Set was very competitive as Keith started to get his groove back.  He stepped up his serving and forehand game and the result was a very competitive set with some long, sustained rallies.  We had a great time and got in some good exercise on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon.  Frank, I thank you for all your efforts in setting up this tournament and running the league.

Samara's Notes: Rich, I thank you for those kind words and also for reporting the result in such a timely fashion.  I also congratulate you on a hard-fought victory.  I also offer kudos to Keith for a fine effort.  The 2nd Set shows that he just started shaking off the rust a bit too late.

We now head up to Cedar Grove for many matches being reported by multiple sources!

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Umang Jain over T.J. Shah, 7-5, 7-5 (T.J. retired while up 5-4 in the 2nd Set due to cramping...here in the GTA, you forfeit the balance of the games in that set), to become both the New # 27 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 8 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational!  Umang: 2 Aces (one in each set)!

Annotations from Ash: We hit for 10 minutes.  We started the match at 11:30 and finished at 1:10.  Going into the 1st Set, T.J. won the toss and asked me to serve first.  He broke me straight away and then held his serve for a quick 2-0 lead.  I then held my serve with an Ace along the way and then broke him to get back on serve at 2-2.  From there, it continued on serve until 5-5 where I then held again for 6-5 and then broke T.J. to take the set.

It was very hot, so it took a lot of endurance to then play a second set.  In the 2nd Set, T.J. started off aggressively as he broke me twice and held his serve twice to go up 4-0.  Then, with the help of another Ace, I held my serve to make it 1-4.  He held again for a 5-1 lead.  Then, by holding twice and breaking him once, I reduced his lead to 5-4.  He was then serving for the match, but got off to a Love-30 start.  It was in that second point where picking up a volley, he got really bad cramps in his abdomen and could not continue after that.

Again, it was very hot, so I understand his decision to retire...but I would have loved to finish the match.  T.J., it was great to play against you. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Ash for his timely and very comprehensive reporting...and also congratulate him on his win.  The league is growing so fast, he is another one of several players I've yet to meet in person.  I also offer up kudos to T.J. for a spirited effort and hope the cramping situation is a temporary issue and not a prolonged injury.

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Omar Santos over Jeremy Katzeff, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 6 Rank in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  In the process, Katzeff entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 45 Ranked Player.  Jeremy: 2 Aces in the 2nd Set; and Omar: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

The Stealth Report: We played from 1pm to 2:15.  Jeremy had the proper form and shots.  He just had too many unforced errors and double faults to make it a closer contest.  The lone game that he won was when he broke my serve to start the 2nd Set. 

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting (Jeremy offered no additional commentary, but had the same score and Ace details as Omar had) and I congratulate Omar on a highly impressive victory!

We now go to Laurie, Doinks and Timothy for the additional results from Cedar Grove.

Nick Inciong/Rose Inciong over Kris Srinivasan/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Rose Inciong!

The Latest from Laurie: A good time was had by all.  Short and sweet and to the point!  : -)

Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout over Nick Inciong/Rose Inciong, 7-6 (7-5)!  Kris: 1 Ace on Rose!

Kris Srinivasan/Muhammad Haque over Jeff Rozner/Louise Bysiek, 7-6 (7-3)!  Kris: 1 Ace on Louise; and Jeff: 1 Ace on Muhammad!

Timothy Wong/Vinci Wong over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-2!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of both Timothy Wong and Vinci Wong.

Samara's Notes: Proof positive on how it pays to keep GTA Alumni on the mailing list.  Timothy was in NJ visiting his friend Vinci and they had some time to play tennis.  Timothy knew where we would be and they seized upon the opportunity.  Unfortunately, Timothy was only visiting...so any future appearances from him will remain sporadic.  Vinci, however, still works and resides in Clifton...so we hope he will now feel free to join us for more tennis without Timothy in tow.

And that was a very impressive One-Set victory over our reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions.  The Wongs (not related) did not fare quite as well in the rematch which follows.

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Timothy Wong/Vinci Wong, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone involved for their contributions to this report.  We now go to Bloomfield for the result from Brookdale Park.

GTA Intermediate Invitational Round of 32 Match:
Muhammad Haque over Melvin Hyman, 6-4, 6-3, to become the New # 21 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while also advancing to the Round of 16 of the GTA Intermediate Invitational!  No Aces.

The Mel Man delivers: It was not exactly ideal tennis conditions, but it was a great match.  I gave it my all, but Muhammad was just too fast and too strong.  Hats off to this good guy and solid young player!

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting (Muhammad offered no additional commentary, but had the same score that Mel had).

We now go to Albion Park in Clifton where we will first hear from Gen about her hitting session with Mike Mole and then we will go to Laura for the lone official result from that session.

Take it away, Gen!

It felt like summer...this is crazy weather!  Mike Mole and I hit for a little over an hour (1:45 to 3pm).  There was no official action.  The park was busy with all the Little League teams getting ready for the season.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for that update.  And now we turn this report over to the GTA Women's Champion: Laura Gawley for the official action at Albion!

The Albion Park Result:

GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:
Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay over Fernanda Toker/Louise Bysiek, 6-0, 6-1, to complete their third successful GTA Women's Championship defense of their first reign!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: We were happy to finally get this match scheduled.  Fernanda held her serve when they were down 0-4 in the 2nd Set.  The wind was a little tricky!

Samara's Notes: I thank Laura for her timely reporting and congratulate her along with Sally on a very dominant victory.  I believe that the ladies saw the logjam at Cedar Grove and then changed their plans and moved the match to Albion.  I also think it got underway somewhere in the 4 o'clock hour.

The Women's Doubles Champs have now faced the lone obligation they had (which was carried over from last season) and are now free to defend their Titles against any team ranked in the Women's Doubles Division (but are not obligated to do so until May as they have now met their April Rank and/or Title Defense Requirement...so now it is up to them if they choose to once again put their prize on the line).

Meanwhile, the reigning GTA Doubles Champions: Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas and the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay both have to meet their April requirements. 

Each set of championship teams is free to take on any teams provided the challenging team is ranked in their respective divisions as Kuzavas/Kazlauskas are no longer expected to wait for a potential winner to emerge from the still in-progress 2017 Tinseltown Memorial Tournament this month.  If and when a winner emerges (and provided it is the Men's Team and not one of the two Women's Teams left in the draw), only at that time would we have a new Top Contender situation.

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com