7/12 Results.

7/12/18:

"Praport-Doran, Samara-Liu TBC + 3 in DMP, Jordan-Omar, "W" Titles + 10 (1 New) at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Thursday Tennis and the first two were at the same location with the first one coming earlier in the day and the second one later in the evening: the first two were at the Demuro Park Courts in Nutley (some spell it as DeMuro and they may be right…so I've given it the abbreviation DMP as it is just one letter shy of truly being a "DUMP", more on that later) and both featured "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Matches.  The first one was between "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport and "Ravishing" Randy Doran (with both reporting) and the second was "Hollywood" Frank Samara versus "SWAT" Rich Liu (with Frank reporting).  "TNT" Tim Nguyen also reported One-Setters he had against Arunraj "Air" Nair and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque.

The other session was the usual evening affair at The Cedar Grove Courts as it got underway with yet another "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match.  This one was between "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "Stealth" Omar Santos (with Jordan reporting).  The session also featured a GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match as the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay/Laura "The Aura" Gawley put their Titles on the line against "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker/"J-Wow" Janice Wang (with Laura reporting).  Other contributors to this report from that session are Fernanda, "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan, "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard, "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan.

As one can easily see, it was yet another epic day in the history of the GTA!  Let's try to tackle all the above in that chronological order which I believe to be as true as can be based on how it was all reported to me. 

First we go to Nutley in the early afternoon, then the evening before eventually getting up to Cedar Grove.

The Demuro Park Courts Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Randy Doran over Dan Praport, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 21 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Randy: 1 Ace on Dan!

The Randy Recap: It was an afternoon match under the sun at Demuro Park.  I had multiple chances at Match Point in the 2nd Set while up 5-4, but could not close!  Dan won that set and then took full advantage of this and took me to the Tiebreak in the 3^rd Set which was also close because Dan was up a few points in the Breaker.  Great match, but I think the sun took a toll on the both of us as it was very exhausting.  Dan is a great guy and I look forward to hitting with him again in the future. 

The Praport Report: It was a fun one.  I came back from being down 1-4 in the 2^nd Set and down 2-4 in the 3^rd Set, but couldn't close the deal.  We were both so exhausted, but in a good way.  Randy is a tough competitor, which I liked.  I'm looking forward to our next battle.

Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for their very timely and comprehensive reporting.  I congratulate Randy on a very hard-fought victory and offer kudos to Dan for such a spirited effort.  This very well may be a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end. 

Arunraj Nair over Tim Nguyen, 6-2!  No Aces.

Tim Nguyen over Muhammad Haque, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Tim Nguyen tied with Muhammad Haque, 1-1 (as 10pm approached, we decided to call it then and there…Incomplete)!

 

Tim's Up: It was great playing with both Muhammad and Arunraj!

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Rich Liu leading Frank Samara, 7-5, 3-6, 5-2!  No Aces (thus far).

 

Samara's Notes: I'll provide the point-by-point details upon the match's completion.  What I will say at this time is just where the match stands now and it is already 2 hours 11 minutes long!  It has been a seesaw battle that has seen both of us be hot and cold at times.  Rich has raised the level of his game and has also now started to figure out how to deal with my style of play.

 

In games three and four of the 3^rd Set, I had 40-0 leads in each only to squander them and let him back in (but kudos to Rich for battling back as well) to allow him to take a 4-0 lead rather than have me level it at 2-2!  In the last two games, he was dealing with calf cramp issues and I allowed him as much time as he needed.  He was contemplating if he would need to forfeit due to injury, but with him leading the match…I did not want to win it that way.  I give him credit for fighting through the pain in those last two games.

 

Our original plan was to continue the match on Friday night, but as of Friday morning Rich was still feeling the pain somewhat…so we will continue this match on Monday night instead.

 

And now let me say this about Demuro…and this is not an excuse for my poor performance as we both had to deal with the same set of circumstances.  Besides a court that had dead spots that screwed each of us out of a point with ridiculously bad bounces, Adam Pienciak was right when he said the lighting there is horrible.  In fact, that may have been an understatement as all of the four lighting posts had at least one bulb burned out…sometimes more than one. 

 

The post over our court (which I will call Court One as the set-up at Demuro is similar to Cedar Grove with the two and two courts for a total of four) only had one bulb lit of a possible total of four…and the entire light post is obscured by a tall tree!  Bruce Springsteen once sang, "Dancing in the Dark," but we were truly playing in the dark…and that one corner of the court is the darkest section of all!

 

On top of all this, the trees that totally take one side of the park and border the fence of Courts Two and Three are loaded with birds…so much so that it is constantly raining bird feathers as you play!  You have to avoid breathing them in, literally!  I joked that we were all going to come down with Avian Flu!

 

I will finish this match there as we started it there…but I will not play again at Demuro until they at least repair the courts and replace the light bulbs.

 

And with all that said, we now shift west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Jordan Bachvaroff over Omar Santos 7-5, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 12 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Jordan: 1 Ace on Omar!

The Gist from Jordan: It was a very good match.  I knew ahead of time it would be tough because I've seen how consistent Omar has been in the past.  The rallies were long and we both had a great workout.  The 2nd Set was also very competitive, more so than the score line suggests because the rallies were still long.  We played for two hours!  Omar definitely surprised me.  He hit some great cross-court winners when I hit the ball too short on the Deuce side.

Samara's Notes: I thank Jordan for his very timely and comprehensive reporting.  I also congratulate him on his impressive victory and also offer up kudos to Omar for a fine effort.  

GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match:

Sally Pillay/Laura Gawley over Fernanda Toker/Janice Wang, 6-1, 6-2, to complete their fifth successful GTA Women's Doubles Championship defense of their second reign!  No Aces.

 

The Lowdown from Laura: The match went from 7:30 to 8:30.

 

Kris Srinivasan/Sally Pillay over Fernanda Toker/Laura Gawley, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

 

The Lowdown from Laura: It was a good night of tennis!

 

Mike Kazlauskas/Kris Srinivasan over Ralph Bernard/Bud Heller, 6-3!  Mike: 1 Ace on Ralph!  It was the official GTA Debut of Bud Heller.

 

The K has his say: Bud is a solid player and it is great to have him play with us.  He has a beautiful serve and volley, attacking shots and nice net play.  Few errors on their side as the culmination of some spanking serves by Big Mike was what earned us the win.

 

Kyle Eng/Don Moya over Ralph Bernard/Bud Heller, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Marijus Kuzavas/Dennis Cabanatan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Tito Castolo, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Jordan Bachvaroff/Tito Castolo over Marijus Kuzavas/Dennis Cabanatan, 7-5!  No Aces.

 

Mike Kazlauskas/Fernanda Toker over Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Don Moya/Janice Wang leading Kyle Eng/Genalin Capan, 6-6 (3-2 in the Tiebreak and Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  Janice: 1 Ace on Gen!

 

Gen's Notes: We started play at 9:20.  We had a pretty nice One-Setter.  We were on serve up until 5-5.  We broke Don's service game to go up 6-5.  Then they got the break back after a multi-Deuce battle on my service game to take us into the TB.  We had our chances with 2 Match Points, but could not close the set.  Don and Janice finally converted their 3rd Break Point to level it at 6-All.  It was 9:58 we had 2 minutes left for the TB.  I was next to serve while down 2-3 when the lights went out.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who reported in such a timely fashion from Cedar Grove.

What a monumental day of GTA action it was once again!  As always, I thank all those that were part of it.  And when they send in their results in the timely manner in which they did (along with all the great details), it makes my job that much easier.  Kudos to all involved! 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/11 Results.

7/11/18:

"2 in MP, Jay-Dan K. in RP, Adam-Tim at W.P., Janice-Doinks at VHS, Ryan-Joe and MXD2 plus 2 in BP, M2 plus 10 at C.G.!":

There were six official sessions of GTA Wednesday Tennis with the first one coming early in the morning and the rest of them over the course of the evening: the first one was at the Mountainside Park Courts in Montclair as "Samson of Seasons" Sam Wong and Carl "Buster" Brownson got together for what ended up being a couple of One-Setters (after they split sets, they had no time to play a third to make it a full Challenge Match…with Carl reporting); then in the early evening it was the "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match between Jay "The Rising" Phoenix and "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer played at Riverside Park in Lyndhurst (with Jay reporting); another session in the early evening in Rose Park in Woodland Park as it was another "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match featuring the Top Seed, "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak going up against "TNT" Tim Nguyen (with both reporting); another session that started in the early evening but went pretty late was the GAH8 Semifinal Match between "J-Wow" Janice Wang and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan at the Verona High School Courts (with Doinks reporting); an evening session at the Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield that featured yet another "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match – this one between "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues (with Ryan reporting) and also the MXD2 Semifinal Match between the teams, "Daddy O" Paul Daddio/"The Archetype" Arlene Hyde and "NC-17" Nick Caputo/Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas (with Nick reporting) and other action there as well (via Ryan and "The Riz" John Rizzo); and finally the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts which featured the M2 Quarterfinal Match between the teams, GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/"Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar/Frank "Hydro" Hohorst (with Chris reporting) and other action there as well (via Chris, "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson and "The Icon" Nick Inciong).

As one can easily see, it was truly an epic day in the history of the GTA!  Let's try to tackle all the above in that chronological order which I believe to be as true as can be based on how it was all reported to me. 

First we go to Montclair in the morning.

The Mountainside Park Courts Results:

Sam Wong over Carl Brownson, 6-4!  Carl: 1 Ace!

Carl's Commentary: I went up an early break for 2-0, but Sam stormed back to take it.

Carl Brownson over Sam Wong, 6-2!  No Aces.

Carl's Commentary: Some fatigue (on Sam's part) may have played a role here.  We decided not to play a 3rd Set as we were both a little worn out and pressed for time.  So we'll call these two One-Setters instead of it being the start of a Challenge Match.  Sam's got a fun, aggressive style, and it was fun to play him.

Samara's Notes: I thank Carl for his very timely reporting.  Maybe he will get a chance to play a full Challenge Match this Friday before he leaves for his vacation.

We now head east (and into the evening) to Lyndhurst for the first of three "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Matches played on this day.

The Riverside Park Courts Result:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Dan Knitzer over Jay Phoenix, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, to become both the New # 18 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division and the New # 2 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Dan: 3 Aces; and Jay: 1 Ace! 

 

Jay has his say: We played from 6:30 to 8pm.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Jay for his timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.  I also congratulate Dan on a hard-fought and impressive victory.   

 

We now head west to Woodland Park for the second "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match.

 

The Rose Park Courts Result:

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Adam Pienciak over Tim Nguyen, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament! 

 

From the AP: It was a beautiful night despite it being a bit more humid than expected.  We had a few great games with one going to six Deuces and another going to four.

 

Tim's Up: Adam is a strong opponent, has great serves and he played really well.  He won all the games easily.  Thanks, Adam, it was fun!

 

We now head south to Verona for an epic match in the GAH8 Women's Singles Tournament.

 

The VHS Result:

 

GAH8 Semifinal Match:

Janice Wang over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division while advancing to the Finals of the 8th Annual Gail-ann Hamilton Memorial Women's Singles Tournament!  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: The 1st Set was all Janice just hitting cleanly.  I was making too many mistakes trying to hit the ball deep and the balls ended up going out all the time.

In the 2nd Set I tried to hit the ball a bit differently to put more topspin on it so it drops on the baseline.  Janice also started getting more conservative with her strokes and started making more errors than in the previous set.

 

I was down 2-4 in the 3rd Set and managed to hold my serve for 3-4.  I then broke Janice's serve to level the score at 4-All.  I had several chances to break her serve again, but couldn't convert them.  Janice was just more consistent.  She broke my serve to win the match.

 

I think we played from 6:20 to 8:42 (just shy of 2-1/2 hours)!  Congratulations to Janice for a well played match!  She was definitely a level better than me on this night. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very timely and very comprehensive reporting.  Despite the loss, I believe Doinks to be in the lead thus far this season for Most Improved Women's Player of the Year.  And major kudos to Janice on a hard-fought and impressive victory!  This very well may end up being a Nominee for Women's Singles Match of The Year at season's end.  Janice now waits in the Finals for the winner of the other Semi – "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker versus "Automatic" Anna Mazur. 

 

We now go north just a bit to Bloomfield for all the epic action from Brookdale Park, starting with the third and final "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match of the night. 

 

The Brookdale Park Courts Results:

 

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Ryan Pienciak over Joe Rodrigues, 6-1, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 11 Rank in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  No Aces.

 

The Ryan Report: We started at 7:45.  It was really humid and hard to breathe.  Joe really stepped it up in the 2nd Set.  He hit many wicked-angled forehand winners.  I was really struggling for a bit.  Then, at 3-3, I finally held serve to pull ahead.

 

MXD2 Semifinal Match:

Nick Caputo/Fadia Nicolas over Paul Daddio/Arlene Hyde, 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, to become the New # 3 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division while advancing to the Finals of the MXD2 Mixed Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

The NC-17 Screening: We started around 7:30 and finished just before 10pm.  I really enjoyed playing some great tennis with these fine people.  Fadia and I got out of the gate quickly cruising to a 6-2 win in the 1^st Set.  Paul and Arlene then turned it up in the 2^nd Set, winning it in a Tiebreak (7-5)!  We were at 3-3 in the 3rd Set when Fadia held and we were able to break Arlene to go up 5-3.  I was serving for the match, but was broken to make it 5-4.  We were then able to break Paul to secure the 3rd Set. Hot, humid, great points and a lot of fun!

 

Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo over Ryan Pienciak/Joe Rodrigues, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan, Nick and John for the results.  I wholeheartedly congratulate the winners, but also offer major kudos to their opponents who all mustered a fine effort.  And as we speak of fine effort, this MXD2 Semi looks like a likely Nominee for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  Caputo/Nicolas now wait in the Finals for the winners to emerge from the other Semi – Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley versus "The Adonis" Don Moya/Janice Wang.

 

We now head just slightly west to Cedar Grove for a combo of results from Brenda/Dawn, Chris and Nick Inciong.  

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson over Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 17-15 (STB)!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, the # 4 Team Ranking of Sheldon/Panzitta was no longer on the line.  No Aces.

 

The Bravo Breakdown: It was a very long Super Tiebreaker and it was a lot of fun!

Samara's Notes: The bad news for Brenda and Dawn is that they do not move up in the ranks.  The good news for all involved is that they may have very well have participated in a future Nominee for Women's Doubles Match of The Year with an epic STB score like that!

M2 Quarterfinal Match:

Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes over Senthil Kumar/Frank Hohorst, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend their # 12 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Chris Chiaro/Mike Sindler, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Nick Inciong over Abhilash Gadi/Tito Castolo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Nick Inciong tied with Abhilash Gadi/Tito Castolo, 5-5 (Incomplete when lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is greatly appreciated.  And major congratulations to Chris and Nate on such a dominant win!  Senthil and Frank H. are certainly no pushovers…so a double-bagel is quite the accomplishment, indeed!  Next up for Chiaro/Fernandes in the Semis will be Adam Pienciak and "Teej" T.J. Shah.

What a monumental day of GTA action it was!  Again, I thank all those that were part of it.  And when they send in their results in the timely manner in which they did (along with all the great details), it makes my job that much easier.  Kudos to all involved! 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/10 Results.

7/10/18:

"Senthil-Moka in Wayne, 13 play at C.G.!":

There were two official sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis with the first one coming earlier in the evening and the second later in the evening: the first one was at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne and it featured a "Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match between "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar and "Instant" Moka Pathan (with Moka reporting); and then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts which came together late.  Results contributors from that session were "The Riz" John Rizzo and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan. 

First we go to Wayne and then to Cedar Grove.

The Nellis Drive Courts Result:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 32 Match:

Moka Pathan over Senthil Kumar, 6-1, 7-5, to become the New # 14 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while advancing to the Round of 16 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  No Aces. 

 

Moka's Brew: We played at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne from 5:30 to 6:50 (approximately).  It was a competitive match despite the misleading 1st Set score.  I was fortunate to win most of the big points in the 1st Set.  The 2nd Set was more of a 50-50 battle.  I took a 3-2 lead, then he took a 5-4 lead.  I served to stay in the set and won that game and the next two following that to win the set and match.  I thank Senthil for setting the match in a timely manner.  It was a fun match.  

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Moka for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.  I also congratulate him on a hard-fought yet impressive victory.  Moka is now the first player in the tourney into the Round of 16. 

 

We now head south to Cedar Grove.  We will start with The Riz Report and finish with the results submitted by Doinks.

The Cedar Grove Results:

People came to the session, but most not until 8pm or later.

 

Nick Caputo/Arlene Hyde over Joe Rodrigues/John Rizzo, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Dino Celis/John Rizzo over Nick Caputo/Arlene Hyde, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Nick Caputo/Frank Hohorst over Dino Celis/John Rizzo, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Andrew Kroessler, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Jordan Bachvaroff/Guy Dupoux leading Kris Srinivasan/Tito Castolo, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both John and Doinks for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/9 Results.

7/9/18:

"Z-Flax in F.L., M2 Qtr at Demuro, Gadi-Suba part of 14 at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Monday Tennis with the first one coming early in the morning and the latter two later in the evening: the first one was in Fair Lawn and it featured a full Challenge Match between buddies "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek and "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax (with Dave reporting); there was a session at The Demuro Park Courts in Nutley that featured another one of the M2 Quarterfinal Matches, this one featuring "SWAT" Rich Liu/"Ravishing" Randy Doran going up against "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak/"Teej" T.J. Shah (with both Rich and Adam reporting); and then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts that featured a "Grove Cup 21" Round of 36 Match between "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi and Fred "Supa Dupa" Suba (with Abhi reporting) and plenty of other action with results coming in from "The Riz" John Rizzo, Laura "The Aura" Gawley and GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro. 

Let's go to all those scores (in the order listed above) now!

The Fair Lawn Result:  

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:

Dave Zapusek over Mike Flax, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 55 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  Dave said they started somewhere around 9am and they finished at 10:20. 

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Dave for his very timely reporting.  We now head southward to Nutley and into the evening hours for the following match.  

 

The Demuro Park Courts Result:

 

M2 Quarterfinal Match:

Adam Pienciak/T.J. Shah over Rich Liu/Randy Doran, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, to become the New # 15 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the M2 Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

 

From the AP: We were supposed to play at The Park Ave. Courts, but Monsignor Owens Park (the true name of the location) was closed for some strange reason ("TNT" Tim Nguyen also confirmed the same).  So we had to go to Demuro instead.  Didn't start until about 8pm and the lighting there is horrific!

 

T.J. and I were in the zone during the 1st Set, going up 5-0 to start.  Doran and Liu kicked it up a notch in the 2nd Set and refused to go down easily.  The 3^rd Set was 3-3 prior to us finishing it off.

 

The Rich Recap: Randy and I played Adam and T.J. in a competitive 3-Setter.  It was a hard-fought match versus very tough opponents in Adam and T.J.  T.J. was very consistent and got to all the balls, while Adam had a monster first serve and backhand as well.  Randy and I played hard and really enjoyed the challenge vs. such solid opponents. 

Best of luck to T.J. and Adam in the rest of the M2 tournament!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Adam and Rich for their very timely and comprehensive reporting.  It is much appreciated.  I also congratulate Adam and T.J. on their hard-fought victory.  And I hope Rich can find out what the situation is at the Park Ave. Courts as it may not only serve to impact the match I have scheduled with him for this Thursday night, but the entire league as well.

Time to head west now to Cedar Grove!

The Cedar Grove Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 36 Match:

Abhilash Gadi over Fred Suba, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 26 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Round of 32 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  Abhi: 1 Ace!

 

The Gab from Gadi: I played my Grove Cup Round of 36 Match against Fred Suba. Our match started at 7:40pm and finished around 8:15pm.  This is my fourth singles match in the GTA and my first win.  It definitely gives me the confidence to play more Singles.

After this, I teamed up with Kris Srinivasan to play Doubles and we ended up playing a Best of 3 Sets Match against Tito Castolo and Fadia Nicolas until the session ended. 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Tito Castolo/Fadia Nicolas over Kris Srinivasan/Abhilash Gadi, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4!  Abhi: 1 Ace on Fadia!  Per the TMT Rules, Castolo/Nicolas entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 54 Ranked Team while Srinivasan/Gadi entered the Doubles Division as the New # 71 Ranked Team.

Samara's Notes: I thank Abhi for his very timely and comprehensive reporting.  Furthermore, I congratulate him on such a dominant victory as Fred has been known to be a very solid player.  Mr. Gadi must be practicing somewhere…hmm!  Seriously, it was a very impressive way to get his first-ever victory in the GTA - a double-bagel!  

Next up for Abhi in the Round of 32 is Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao!  There should be a lot of good get-making in that one!

Nick Caputo/John Rizzo over Jordan Bachvaroff/Jay Phoenix, 6-1!  No Aces.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Nick Caputo over Kris Srinivasan/John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

John Rizzo/Laura Gawley over Nick Caputo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 7-5, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 55 and # 56 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: We had a lot of really fun points…good tennis! 

Chris Chiaro/Kyle Eng over Adam Pienciak/Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4!  Chris: 1 Ace on Jordan!

Chris Chiaro/Kyle Eng tied with Adam Pienciak/Nick Caputo, 4-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/8 Results.

7/8/18:

"5 play (1 New) at PAC, Z-Flax part of 12 at AP, 4 play at NTC, 5 play at C.G.!":

There were four official sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis with the first two coming early in the morning and the latter two later in the evening: "TNT" Tim Nguyen hosted a session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley and he brought in a new player as well (with Tim reporting); "Hollywood" Frank Samara finally brought his usual Sunday session back to the Albion Park Courts in Clifton and it ended up featuring a full Challenge Match between buddies "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek and "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax;  "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted some solid Doubles action at Nutley Tennis Club; and then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts with "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan reporting the results from that session.

Let's go to all those scores (in the order listed above) now!

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Tim Nguyen/Vivian Lee over Sam Wong/Joe Renga, 6-2, 6-1!  It was the official GTA Debut of Vivian Lee.  Per the TMT Rules, Nguyen/Lee entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 53 Ranked Team while Wong/Renga entered the Doubles Division as the New # 69 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

 

Sam Wong/Carl Brownson over Tim Nguyen/Vivian Lee, 6-4!  No Aces.

Tim's Up: We played these matches from around 8:30am to 12 pm.

Samara's Notes: I thank Tim for his very timely and comprehensive reporting (which is always appreciated).  I also welcome Vivian to the league. 

We now head northwest a bit to go to Clifton and the full recap from Albion Park.

When "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled up to the curb at the top of the hill (at 10:30 as promised) and looked down at the three courts of Albion Park, he was very disappointed by what he initially had seen...all three courts were taken!  But as he walked down the hill toward the courts, the scene became more satisfying.  On Center Court, "The Assassin" Alfred Chen and "The Icon" Nick Inciong were hitting with one another.  On the North Court, two GTA alumni were involved in a full Singles Challenge Match against one another.  It was "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek and his buddy, "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax.  Dave, like Alfred and Nick, welcomed Frank to the courts.  And on the South Court, it was two outsiders...both guys likely to be in their late 20's. 

 

So Frank first headed out to Center Court to take Alfred's side in hitting against Nick.  At 10:35, "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara joined the three guys on Center Court.  Five minutes later, the Zapusek-Flax match finished and Dave reported the score to Samara.  This full match enables both Dave and Mike to not only return to the GTA, but to also go directly back into the Intermediate Division.  Once they left, Frank remained on that court in order to hold it for the league.

 

"Hurricane" Jose Gonzales arrived at 10:50 and joined the three players on Center Court for their hitting session.  Frank remained the "fifth wheel" for quite some time as the Doubles One-Setter that took place on Center Court lasted from 11am to 11:32.  Once it was over, Frank was invited to take the place of Suzanne for some Men's Doubles action.  The Shade Shark was not being treated in a shady manner as Fadia "Finesse" Nicolas had just arrived at 11:30...so the two ladies got to hit with one another on the North Court while the four guys did their thing on Center Court.

 

The two guys (they seemed very nice in our interactions with them...both would likely be Intermediate Division guys if they ever do end up playing in the league) left the South Court at 11:50.  As they were leaving, "Lucky" Leo Victor was heading toward the courts.  He ended up chatting with Fadia and Suzanne for a while before the three of them entered into a hitting session.  During all of this, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis had arrived at 11:55 and he soon sat on the bench alongside the South Court.

 

When the Men's Doubles One-Setter on Center Court ended exactly at 12:12, Alfred said he was exhausted and needed a break.  So Dino was now set to take his place and we were all set on Center Court, but that left the other three players over on the North Court still waiting for a fourth.  Chen said he would be willing to go back in, but he just needed a breather first.  Then, all of a sudden, like a flash of silver lightning at 12:20..."Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli pulled up to the curb in his Mitsubishi Spyder Convertible.  He then soon made his way down the hill in his fluorescent yellow tank top blinding all those there to witness such a spectacle!

 

Alfred was relieved to see Spin with racquet in hand.  Mr. Martinelli greeted his tenant, Mr. Victor, and together they became the new version of "TLC" - the "Tenant Landlord Connection!"  They decided to play their Mixed Doubles One-Setter as "Battle of The Sexes" style against Fadia and Suzanne since Spin is still battling to regain any form of mobility whatsoever and he needed Leo's wheels to be on his side.

As these two One-Setters were underway, "Queen B" Louise Bysiek was the final arrival of the day at 12:40.  She had to be the "ninth wheel" for a while, so she sat somewhere in the shady section of the hill and waited for one of the One-Setters to conclude.  The Men's Doubles finished first, but all the guys were already burned out from all the sun (a great day, by the way...no humidity, the temps were just right) and feeling fatigued.  So she had to wait for the Mixed Doubles action on the North Court to reach its proper conclusion before she could finally get involved in some official action.  And it was the One-Setter that finally included Louise (as she teamed with Fadia to take on Leo and Suzanne) that would end our day...the day the GTA finally returned to Albion Park (as a group session)!

Let's get to the action!

 

The Albion Park Results:

 

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:

Dave Zapusek over Mike Flax, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2, as both players returned to the GTA and its Intermediate Division as the New # 55 and # 56 Ranked Players respectively!  Dave: 2 Aces!  Dave said they started somewhere around 9am (on the North Court) and they finished precisely at 10:40.  Both of them left soon after finishing, but hope to play with us more at Albion now that they know we're back.

 

Jose Gonzales/Nick Inciong over Alfred Chen/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1!  Jose: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  This one took place on Center Court and lasted from 11am to 11:32.

 

Jose Gonzales/Nick Inciong over Frank Samara/Alfred Chen, 6-3!  Jose: 1 Ace on Frank!  It went like this: Jose was broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, a nice Ace up the T-line against Frank for Deuce, but then came another Break Point and the break), Frank was broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then came the break), but Nick was the first one to hold serve (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for a 2-1 lead.  Alfred also held and in the same manner that Nick did (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to level the set at 2-2, but then Gonzales also held in somewhat of a struggle (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point lead reduced to Deuce and then it was all Break Points until 3rd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to reclaim the lead for his team at 3-2!  Samara held and did in the same manner as the most recent holds from Inciong and Chen (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3.  But Inciong held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) while Chen was broken (Triple Break Point deficit cut down to Break Point, but then came the break) to fall to 3-5.  And then Hurricane Jose held again (30-Love, 30-15 and then the best rally of the match led to Double Game/Match Point where the second best rally of the match ended in the serving team's favor giving them the win!) for the victory!  We played this one on Center Court from 11:35 to 12:12.

 

Jose Gonzales/Nick Inciong over Dino Celis/Frank Samara, 6-2!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Dino held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, but then came Game Point and the hold), Nick held at Love, but Frank was the first one to be broken (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted to Break Point and then the break) for 1-2.  Jose held (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, then came Deuce, another Game Point and the hold) while Celis was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted to Game Point, then came Deuce and all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point and the break) to fall to 1-4!  Inciong was also broken as a 15-Love lead vanished as it headed right to Double Break Point and the break to have his team's lead reduced to 4-2.  But from there, Samara was broken again and it was at Love and then Gonzales held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game/Match Point and the hold for the win) for yet another victory!  Center Court hosted this one from 12:18 to 12:53.

 

The Skinny: Jose and Nick went 3-0 on the day as Gonzales came thru on serve (he was only broken in his first game) while Inciong was the steadiest presence of the entire session.  Chen, Samara and Celis all had their impressive moments, but then sometimes suffered from some lesser ones as well.  The Assassin (Alfred) was the wildest of the bunch as he either scored with his scathing forehand winners or they found their way into the net (or sometimes long of the baseline) to become unforced errors. 

 

Fadia Nicolas/Suzanne Bujara over Dan Martinelli/Leo Victor, 7-5!  Spin: 1 Ace on Suzanne (and he thought he almost had another one, but was overruled by his buddy Samara who was standing nearby and saw the whole thing!  LOL!)!  Down 5-6, Martinelli was on serve and it went to Break/Match Point, Deuce, a 2nd Break/Match Point and then the Ace up the T-line against Suzanne to make it 2nd Deuce, but then came the 3rd Break/Match Point and the break to take a tough loss to the ladies!  This "Battle of The Sexes" Mixed Doubles One-Setter was played on the North Court from 12:25 to 1:20...just five minutes shy of an hour!

 

The Skinny: Spin's mobility issues are still a major hindrance for the man who once claimed to have "cheetah speed!"  Meanwhile, his pal and tenant Leo has simply not played enough tennis this season to become consistent.  Suzanne, on the other hand, continues to impress with her steady improvement.  And we don't call Ms. Nicolas "Fadia Finesse" for nothing!  She seemed to dictate the flow and tempo of many of the points that I was able to witness.

Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek over Leo Victor/Suzanne Bujara, 6-3!  No Aces.  This was also played on the North Court and it lasted from 1:32 to 2:40!  That is not a typo...the overall length of the match was an hour and eight minutes!  It should be noted, however, that there were many multiple Deuce games...plus, Louise had to take a call during one of the changeovers and that led to a lengthy break from the action.

All in all, it was a fun session and it feels good to be back on the courts of Albion once again!

We now head back ton Nutley, but this time we go to the Nutley Tennis Club.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Alfred Chen/Frank Hohorst over Dan Hwang/John Rizzo, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 3 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Hwang/Rizzo entered the division as the New # 70 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his very timely reporting of that result.  It is much appreciated.  It is now time to head west and turn this report over to Doinks.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Ryan Sherry/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Arlene Hyde, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Kris Srinivasan/Ryan Sherry over Jeremy Gottlieb/Arlene Hyde, 6-0!  No Aces.

 

Ryan Sherry/Doinks Srinivasan over Jeremy Gottlieb/Arlene Hyde, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Ryan Sherry/Arlene Hyde leading Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 5-1 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/7 Results.

7/7/18:

"2 play at RP, Tim-Keith at PAC, 4 play at NTC, 10 play at C.G.!":

There were four official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis with the first two coming early in the morning and the latter two later in the evening: "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque and "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman got together at Rand Park in Montclair (aka the North Fullerton Courts) for what they thought was a full match, but had to be split into two One-Setters as Haque is in the active draw of the Grove Cup Tournament (with both reporting); the first "Grove Cup 21" Round of 36 Match was played at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "TNT" Tim Nguyen and "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz faced off against one another (with both reporting); "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted some excellent Doubles action at Nutley Tennis Club; and then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts with both "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan reporting results from that session.

Let's go to all those scores (in the order listed above) now!

The Rand Park Results:

Muhammad Haque over Melvin Hyman, 6-1!  No Aces.

Muhammad Haque over Melvin Hyman, 6-4!  No Aces.

The Mel Man delivers: We played at the North Fullerton Courts in Montclair.  I wish I had been more aggressive like the last time we played, but he kept moving me around.  Good tennis!

Mu-Ha got U all in check: It was a nice morning and we finished just at 10am…giving us the opportunity to watch the World Cup.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting.  As always, it is much appreciated.  Let's head east a bit to head to Nutley for the first Grove Cup match played this season.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

"Grove Cup 21" Round of 36 Match:

Tim Nguyen over Keith Lewkowitz, 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 32 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Round of 32 of the 21^st Annual Grove Cup Men's Singles Tournament!  No Aces.

Commentary from The Kaptain: Just total domination, no two ways about it!  Tim completely outplayed me and even in the set he lost he made just a few unforced errors.  If not, he would've had me straight sets.  All the best to Tim going forward!

Tim's Up: Thanks for the amazing match, Keith!  Keith was a tough competitor. He had good serves and returns.  He led in the 1st and 2nd sets 2-0, but then I came back.  The 1st Set was so close.  We had to go to a Tiebreak and even that was close, too.  I think he made some mistakes. I think he was getting tired, too.  Great games and great play!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Keith and Tim for their very timely and comprehensive reporting (which is always appreciated).  Next up for Tim in the Round of 32 is the Top Seed of the tourney, "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak! 

We now head west ever so slightly, but remain in town as we head to the Nutley Tennis Club.

The NTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak over Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-5, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

The Riz Report: Adam and Ryan led 5-1 in the 1^st Set Tiebreak, but then we came back to take five straight points to go up 6-5 and have Set Point but could not convert!  In the 3rd Set, we led 4-1 and would later serve for the match at 5-4, but the Pienciak Brothers came back once again!

Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak over Senthil Kumar/John Rizzo, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  It is much appreciated.  We now head west to Cedar Grove for the last session of the night.

The Cedar Grove Results:

3 out of 5 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler over Muhammad Haque/Laurie Boughton, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0!  No Aces.  Per the TMT Rules, Rashid/Sindler entered the Doubles Division as the New # 67 Ranked Team while Haque/Boughton entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 50 Ranked Team.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Mike Mole/Kris Srinivasan over Mike Kazlauskas/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 6-0!  No Aces.  Per the TMT Rules, Mole/K. Srinivasan entered the Doubles Division as the New # 68 Ranked Team while Kazlauskas/D. Srinivasan entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 51 Ranked Team.              

Mike Mole/Mike Kazlauskas over Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-0!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Janice Wang over Tito Castolo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Syed and Doinks for their very timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

7/6 Results.

7/6/18:

"10 play at C.G.!":

After the rain earlier in the day, there was an official session of GTA Friday Night Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts as both "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan and "The Riz" John Rizzo reported results from that session.

Let's go to those scores now!

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Jose Gonzales/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 47 and # 48 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Mostafa Hussaini/Janice Wang over John Rizzo/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

John Rizzo/Tito Castolo over Dennis Cabanatan/Janice Wang, 6-3, 7-5!  Per the TMT Rules, Rizzo/Castolo entered the Doubles Division as the New # 66 Ranked Team while Cabanatan/Wang entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 49 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Kris and John for their very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com