9/22 Results.

9/22/18:

"Anish-Ralph in VP, 4 play in MP, Mixed Dbls Titles, Laurie-Natalia + 4 at C.G.!":

There were three official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis…as long as we can consider the Cedar Grove session as one long extended one from morning until night.  If we do that, we will place it third (to keep things simple) with the first one (also in the morning) being a Singles Challenge Match that took place in Verona Park between buddies "The AM Rush" Anish Mehta and "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard (with Anish reporting).

The second was the new weekly tradition of having a morning session at Mountainside Park in Montclair (with Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton reporting). 

Then at Cedar Grove we had the long-awaited GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match as the GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"The Smackdown" Sally Pillay put their Titles on the line against the 2018 MXD2 Champs: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (with Laura reporting).  This, too, got underway in the morning.

This extended session then moved into the afternoon with a Women's Singles Challenge Match featuring Boughton putting her rank on the line against Natalia "Nitro" Sout (as reported by Nat).  And then in the evening there was further action as reported by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.

So we first go to Verona, then to Montclair and we end up at Cedar Grove (starting in the morning and ending in the evening)! 

The Verona Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Anish Mehta over Ralph Bernard, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend his # 8 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Anish: 1 Ace!

The AM News: Ralph was interested in playing an official Challenge Match. We started at 9:30am.  The conditions were tough as Verona Park, in the morning, is a challenging place to play because of the sun glare and the shade from the trees.  It was also a windy morning.  We also had a lot of stray balls from other courts.  I was leading Ralph 5-1 in the 1^st Set before he started cleaning up his game to reach 5-4 and get back on serve.  I squeezed out a break in the final game.  I was able to break early in the 2nd Set and didn't lose focus despite the challenging conditions.  I'm sure we'll play under better conditions soon.

As mentioned, I wouldn't recommend Verona Park in the fall in the mornings.  It is too difficult if it's a sunny day.  Options are limited, though, because high school tennis and other adult programs are now taking place at a lot of courts.

Samara's Notes: I thank Anish for reporting in a timely manner (as he did for Friday night as well, again, that was my fault) and I also congratulate him on an impressive victory!

We now go to Laurie's report from Montclair (another location no longer recommended as a site for Saturday morning play…oh well!).

The Mountainside Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo over Laurie Boughton/Suzanne Bujara, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 20 Rank in the Women's Doubles Division!  In the process, Boughton/Bujara entered the division as the New # 22 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for her timely reporting…much appreciated!  Now we head to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Match:

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-1, 6-1, to become the New GTA Mixed Doubles Champions!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laura: Chris and I finally were able to play Marijus and Sally this Saturday morning!  After many rainouts, we finally got a beautiful day!  We started playing at approximately 11:10 and played until about 12:45!  Sally held her serve in the 4th game and Marijus held his serve in the 2nd Set!  They were a lot of fun to play against, as always!  Luckily for us, we were a bit more consistent today!  Chris was very steady and was aggressive at the net!

Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-4! Marijus: 1 Ace on Chris!

The Lowdown from Laura: We then played a One-Setter for fun.  Doinks and Kris came over to watch for a little while.  We finished at 1:20.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laura for her very timely reporting and I also congratulate her and Chris for a surprisingly dominant victory!

The Consequences: As Former Champs, Marijus and Sally are entitled to the first rematch.  If Chris and Laura manage to emerge victorious once more, they will then be asked to refrain from defending their Titles until a winning team emerges from the upcoming M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament. 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Challenge Match:

Natalia Sout over Laurie Boughton, 6-1, 6-2, to become the New # 7 Ranked Player in the Women's Division!  Laurie: 2 Aces!

The Stats from Nat: Laurie was very gracious to except my challenge.  It was easy to schedule the match and fun to play.  Laurie came up with a lot of great shots.  I was just lucky today.

Samara's Notes: I thank Natalia for her timely reporting and congratulate her on an impressive victory!  We now turn this report over to Doinks for the rest of what happened at C.G. 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Doinks Srinivasan/Susan Koshy over Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to become the New # 12 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  It was also the official GTA Return of Susan Koshy.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very timely reporting as well.  It turned out to be quite the historic day at Cedar Grove. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

9/21 Results.

9/21/18:

"Mole-Capan at AP, Dino-Carl at MP, 4 play at PAC, 10 play at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: the first one started in the morning at Albion Park in Clifton and featured a full 2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Match between "Holy Moly" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan (as reported by Gen).

The second took place in the early afternoon at Mountainside Park in Montclair as Carl "Buster" Brownson answered the Open Challenge that "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis had issued to the league.  Carl reported the result.

The third one took place at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as it was hosted by "TNT" Tim Nguyen and featured a full Doubles Match.

And the fourth and final session was at The Cedar Grove Courts with both "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan reporting from there. 

So now we start at Clifton with the result from Gen, then we go to Montclair, Nutley and Cedar Grove in that order. 

The Albion Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Match:
Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-2, 6-4!  Mike: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!

Gen's Notes: We started hitting at 10:40 and played the match from 11:20 to 12:30. 

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Gen for her very timely reporting...much appreciated!

We now move south just a bit to Montclair for the report from Carl.

The Mountainside Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Dino Celis over Carl Brownson, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1!  This was not a rank defense for Celis as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Brownson is solely in the Intermediate Division.  No Aces.

The Brief from Brownson: Dino ran away with the 1st Set, 2-0, 2-1 and onto 6-1. He's got heavy ground-strokes, and it took me a solid set to adjust to them.  In the 2nd Set, I took an early break and went up 2-0, and then was serving well enough to hang onto it and take the set.  Dino graciously agreed to play a legit 3rd Set rather than a Super Tiebreak (to make an actual rank defense possible), but it didn't matter as he ran away with the set and match, cruelly but masterfully exploiting my slow, tired feet.  It was fun hitting with Dino.

Samara's Notes: I thank Carl for his very timely and detailed reporting.  And, just to clarify, had Brownson defeated Celis, it would have been for Dino's Advanced Division rank.  But when a player solely ranked in the Intermediate Division fails to succeed in that challenge, it does not benefit the player ranked in the Advanced Division as an actual defense (it especially does not meet the requirements of the Monthly Rank Defense Review as the challenger needs to be within fourteen ranks of the higher-ranked player…unless Brownson had pulled off the upset, because then he would have proven to be worthy challenger).

We now head east to Nutley to get the result from Tim.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Tim Nguyen/Arunraj Nair over Muhammad Haque/Joe Renga, 6-3, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 51 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Haque/Renga entered the division as the New # 63 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, Tim is the man on the scene at Nutley and I thank him for his timely report. 

We now head west to close things out in Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Joe Rodrigues/Janice Wang over Ryan Pienciak/Jorge Solano, 6-4!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Janice Wang over Joe Rodrigues/Guy Dupoux, 6-2!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Kyle Eng over Joe Rodrigues/Don Moya, 6-1!  No Aces.

Kyle Eng/Don Moya over Ryan Pienciak/Joe Rodrigues, 6-1!  No Aces.

Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-2)!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Jorge Solano, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Ryan and Doinks for their very timely reporting…always appreciated! 

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/20 Results.

9/20/18:

"Mole-Doran, Albion Final and more at PAC, Toker-Sout, Scott-Jordan and more at C.G.!":

There were just two sessions of GTA Thursday Night Tennis, but each one featured big matches and multiple sources.  At The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley, it got started with the EWC Singles Match between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Ravishing" Randy Doran (as reported by both) and then there was also the Monk Memorial Semifinal/Albion Final (now being played at Park Ave.) featuring William "Bombs Away" Bobila/"Macho Man" Tom La versus "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque/"Vin Diesel" Vinnie Puglisi (as reported by William and Tom).  "SWAT" Rich Liu reported the balance of what took place at this session.

The other session was at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured two Singles Challenges Matches.  The first was between "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and Natalia "Nitro" Sout (with Fernanda reporting) and the second was between "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff (with Scott reporting).  "The Riz" John Rizzo reported the balance of what occurred at this sesssion.

So now we start at Nutley with the dual report from Mike and Randy, then the dual report from William and Tom and then to Rich for how everything else unfolded there. 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Randy Doran over Mike Mole, 6-4, 6-1, to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: Randy is a very good player, very consistent.  I made too many errors.  It was a fun match.

Feeling Randy: We started playing around 7:00pm and snagged the first court at Park ave courts on a cool night.  Mike has a great serve and a sweet forehand- had a fun match.  Afterwards, we played in 2 sets of competitive doubles matches which left us both exhausted.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his very timely report...much appreciated.  And I congratulate Randy on a highly impressive victory!  Team East now takes a 4-3 lead over Team West!

Monk Memorial Semifinal/Albion Final:
William Bobila/Tom La over Muhammad Haque/Vinnie Puglisi, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 (STB), but Puglisi forfeited while his team was up 8-5 in the STB due to disputed calls, to successfully defend their # 54 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Finals of the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament!  No Aces.

The La Lowdown: In the 1st Set, Vinnie hit a shot to me that I called out and he insisted it was in, but it was not his call to make.  In the 2nd Set, there were a couple of times where the kids on the next court hit balls onto our court.  He wanted to replay them after the point was over, but I told him he has to stop it during the point...not after.  The last straw was in the STB when we had done the first changeover when it totaled six points...but forgot to do the second one after the 12th point.  We remembered after the 13th point and were going to do it then.  He said we must replay the point, but we said we won that point fair and square and should just change sides now.  He walked off and quit the match!

In William's Words: Middle of the 1st Set, they made a shot and Vinnie thought it was IN and Tom called it OUT…Vinnie argued and got pissed off!  We started the 2nd Set and Mr. Puglisi was not seriously playing enough…just like throwing the games.  There were some shots we made and Tom and I taught it was way IN and Vinnie called them OUT!  When we contested the call, he said, "You cheated, too!"

Then, there was a point where I called a timeout because there was a stray ball crossing over our side.  So we replayed the point and he argued about that.  Then another stray ball came in again on their side and they did not call a timeout.  Then he accused us and asked why we did not call a timeout.  I said to him that it was on their side which I can't see because I was hitting the ball.  They should call the timeout.  I then told him it's only a game.  He got more pissed off!

Here was the last thing that happened before he quit.  We were playing the Super Tiebreak and the score was 4-8, and then we were in the 13th point which we won to make the score 5-8.  Then all of us realized that we should switch or change court sides after every six points which would have been at 4-8.  Vinnie was arguing that the score should go back to 4-8.  Tom and I said we won the 13 point, so we continue to play at 5-8 and we can switch court sides now.  Then he just walked away and forfeited the match!

Samara's Notes: I must say that Vinnie disputed one of my calls this past Sunday, but I stood my ground and he didn't give me a hard time about it.  He also wanted to replay a point after it was done and I had told him the same thing...you have to stop and call "Let!" as soon as it happens.  On another point, he expected us to call a "Let" but since the ball was behind us...it didn't bother us and we played the point out (and won it).  People can't wait to see how the point will turn out and then once it goes their opponent's way decided to play it over.  Furthermore, Puglisi did not seem to have genuine interest in being part of the tournament or the league itself...so maybe this is for the best.  He can remain on the ranks just in case he mixes in again with any of the players at The Park Ave. Courts, but his taking this loss is no loss as far as I'm concerned.

The Consequences: The Monk Memorial Final will now feature Bobila/La going up against William's buddy, "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia and Arunraj "Air" Nair.  The winning team becomes the new Top Contenders and # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division.

2 out of 3 Set Doubles Match:
Randy Doran/Rich Liu over Mike Mole/Edgar Inclan, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend their # 29 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Mole/Inclan entered the division as the New # 60 Ranked Team.  It was the official GTA Return of Edgar Inclan.  No Aces.

The Rich Recap: The Ravishing One and I beat Mike and Edwin.  It was a fun match as they won the first two games and then we came back to win the next nine games.  It was a good match for us as we needed the Doubles practice for the EWC.

Rich Liu/Fausto Murg over Randy Doran/Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Rich Recap: Fausto was a monster!   

Samara's Notes: I thank all the above contributors for their very timely and comprehensive reporting…awesome job!

Let's now go to Cedar Grove session starting with the reports from Fernanda and Scott and then John will bat "clean-up."

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Fernanda Toker over Natalia Sout, 6-0, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Toker's Take: We started at 6:55 and ended at 8:05.  It was fun playing with her.  She played her usual consistent game which is very similar to mine, so I had to be more aggressive to not let her play her game and I'm very lucky that it worked out. 

3 out of 5 Sets Challenge Match:
Scott Bergenfeld over Jordan Bachvaroff, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, (Jordan resigned at 3-2 in the 3rd Set after losing serve), to successfully defend his # 10 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Scott: 3 Aces in the 2nd Set! 

The Skinny from Scott: Good match…a lot of running, a lot of unforced errors, like usual.  All in all, a solid match.  The match lasted over two and a half hours as we started at 6:15 and it didn't end until almost 9pm!

We now go to John for the balance of this report.

The vibe was great at Cedar Grove with many matches featuring high quality players.
 
Senthil Kumar/Christian Danku over John Rizzo/Janice Wang, 7-6 (9-7)!  No Aces.
 
2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
John Rizzo/Janice Wang over Senthil Kumar/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-2, to become the New # 8 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.
 
2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Frank Hohorst/R.J. Laxamana over Dan Hwang/Tito Castolo, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 61 and # 62 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Debut of R.J. Laxamana.  No Aces.
 
The Riz Report: Frank and R.J. were down 0-4 in the 3rd Set.
 
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Scott Bergenfeld/Christian Danku, 6-3!  No Aces.
 
Scott Bergenfeld/Fernanda Sout leading Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Just as I said for Nutley earlier, I thank all the above contributors for their very timely and comprehensive reporting…awesome job!  It ended up being yet another epic night of GTA action!

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/19 Results.

9/19/18:

"Mole-Resz at VP-T, Tony-Ralph at VP-V, 2 at BP, 4 at PAC, 13 at C.G.!":

We had five separate sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis.  The first of the five was at Votee Park in Teaneck as "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Tireless" Tommy Reszkowski got together for a full Challenge Match (with Mike reporting). 

The second was yet another Challenge Match, but this one was played in Verona Park as Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao and "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard faced off there (with both reporting).

The third was in Brookdale Park in Bloomfield as The Pienciak Brothers, GTA Champion: Adam "The Apex Predator" and Ryan "The Lumberjack" faced off against one another in a lengthy Singles One-Setter.

The fourth was the frequent weeknight session at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with "TNT" Tim Nguyen and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque both reporting all that took place there.

And the fifth was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with the contributors to this report from that session being "Bravo" Brenda Jordan and Thomas "Not Tommy" Lee.

Let's start things off in Teaneck and get the word from Mike.

The Votee Park Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Mike Mole over Tommy Reszkowski, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, to successfully defend his # 12 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: It was a very hard-fought match that could have gone either way.  Tommy is very fit, gets everything back and is pretty consistent.  It was a fun match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Mike for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a very hard-fought victory.  I also offer up kudos to Tommy for such a spirited effort as his consistent improvement continues to show.  Even though it was a straight-set affair, it may have a chance at being a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end…especially given that score in the 1^st Set!

We now head southwest to Verona to get the dual report from Tony and Ralph.

The Verona Park Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Tony Shiao over Ralph Bernard, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Tony: 3 Aces (2 in the 1^st Set and 1 in the 2^nd Set); and Ralph: 1 Ace in the 2^nd Set!

The Sure Shot from Shiao: Ralph reached out to me in the morning and we decided to play a match at Verona Park at 8pm.  We didn't waste any time practicing and pretty much went straight into the match.  Ralph took an early lead.  I believe he was up 5-2 in the 1st Set before I was able to make a comeback and take the lead at 6-5.  His shots had tremendous pace and if I hit a short ball or a floater, he would easily put it away.  I then focused on moving the ball and went for deep baseline shots, but I couldn't break Ralph and we went into a Tiebreak where I was able to squeeze out the win.  It was a bit after 9pm now and the air was damp and our rackets were slipping and sliding from the high humidity.  In the 2nd Set, we were neck and neck but I was able to hold out for a 6-4 win.  The match was extremely close and filled with hard-hitting shots.  The games could have gone either way.  I'm looking forward to playing Ralph more in the future. 

The Ralph Report: DITTO!  Nothing to add as Tony explained the match very well.  Very good match!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Tony and Ralph for their very timely reporting and I congratulate Tony on a highly impressive victory!  Also, kudos to Ralph for a fine effort as well! 

We now head north a bit to get the score from Ryan in Bloomfield.

The Brookdale Park Result:

Adam Pienciak over Ryan Pienciak, 9-7!  No Aces.

The Ryan Report: Adam and I decided to play a set or two at Brookdale as we got off to a late start.  It was tied at 6-6 at 9:30.  As we didn't have time for another set, we decided to finish it Wimbledon-style.  That's also when I stupidly said, "wow…we've both held serve for 12 games. That's impressive!"  Of course, I broke Adam the next game and he immediately broke me back. Then he held serve and I was broken again.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely reporting.  That looks like it could be a likely Nominee for One-Set Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

We now go one town east to Nutley for the dual report from Tim and Muhammad.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Muhammad Haque/Arunraj Nair over Tim Nguyen/Santosh Reddy, 7-5, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 58 and # 59 Ranked Teams in the Doubles Division respectively!  Muhammad: 1 Ace!

Tim Nguyen/Arunraj Nair leading Muhammad Hague/Santosh Reddy, 3-0 (Incomplete as Santosh had to leave a little early)!  Santosh: 1 Ace!

Samara's Notes: I thank both Tim and Muhammad for sending in those scores in such a timely manner…greatly appreciated!

We now go west to Cedar Grove for the balance of this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Set Women's Doubles Match:

Kathy Sheldon/Michele Panzitta over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-4, 6-4, to become the New # 4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for reporting that result in such a timely manner…always appreciated!  And now we turn over the rest of this report to Thomas…and the man definitely has some serious reporting skills!

It was good to get back to Cedar Grove after what seemed like weeks of rain!

Joe Rodrigues/Vivian Lee over Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon, 7-5!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: It was a One-Setter of Streaks!  We were up 1-0, then down 1-3, up 4-3, down 4-5, even at 5-All and then lost it at 5-7!  Early on, Vivian/Joe tried to play the short game with me at the net, but they were having no success as I seemed to find all the angles and right touch.  After a couple of games like that, Vivian and Joe went to work on Marie.  Joe was serving from the Deuce side and was consistently taking Marie out wide.  Marie was great to get her racquet on the ball and get a return, but rather than play short to me, Vivian and Joe kept feeding deep balls and high lobs to Marie.  That's where they wore us out and eventually prevailed.  It was lots of long games going back and forth between Ad-in and Ad-out.

Dennis Cabanatan/Vivian Lee over Thomas Lee/Marie Salamon, 6-1!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: Dennis is a southpaw with good strokes and a big forehand.  He tends to hit deeper to the baseline with topspin.  It was 1-1 and I was serving the third game when some flying creature decided to nest inside my eye socket!  After a brief interlude with me flushing out my eye with water, we finished the match.  We lost all focus though as the set went quickly.

Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee over Omar Santos/Christian Danku, 6-2!  Rob: 1 Ace on Christian!

There's no doubting Thomas: Omar has an odd serving form. Christian has a harder first serve, but a much softer second serve.  Rob was remarking the lines on the court with his signature slices and cuts, particularly with his backhand on the Deuce side back down the line.  I think he was giving Omar fits as it was Omar's backhand side on the Ad-side of the court.  I continued my strong net play which counteracted strong ground-strokes coming from Christian.

Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee over Dino Celis/Omar Santos, 6-3!  No Aces.

Dino Celis/Omar Santos leading Rob Gawley/Thomas Lee, 2-0 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: Dino has excellent strokes and form.  He likes to take you out wide on the backhand side with the first serve and then goes into the body on the second.  Dino was hitting some ropes that were just clearing the net in the first couple of games which Rob and I needed to adjust to during the match since neither one of us is a heavy-hitter.  But Rob's slices and spinners, all over the court frankly, may have kept Omar and Dino a little bit off balance.  Rob and I started to force net play where we won more points.  There were a couple of longer cross-court rallies between me and Dino on the Deuce side and then me and Omar on the Ad-side where I was fortunate to just outlast them as they eventually hit long or wide.

Samara's Notes: As stated earlier, I am highly impressed with the reporting skills of Thomas.  His report was both timely and thoroughly descriptive…kudos!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/17 Results.

9/17/18:

"4 play at WOTC!":

While rainy weather made outdoor tennis impossible on Monday night, there still was one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it took place at the West Orange Tennis Club as four of the guys got together to play some Doubles (as reported by "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak).  Let's go to those scores now!

The WOTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Non-Title Match:

Nick Caputo/Ryan Pienciak over Adam Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-2, 7-5!  No Aces.  Even though A. Pienciak/Rizzo are already a ranked team in the Doubles Division, the current GTA Doubles Champions (Caputo/R. Pienciak) are still restricted from defending their Titles until they first give the shot to the 2018 M2 Champs: Chris Chiaro/Nathan Fernandes.  This match served to re-up their activity within the division.

Adam Pienciak/Ryan Pienciak over Nick Caputo/John Rizzo, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely reporting.  As always, it is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/16 Results.

9/16/18:

"Chris-Adam in W.P., Monk Memorial in Nutley and Clifton, 4 play at NTC, just 3 at C.G.!":

There were five separate sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis, though the last one in Cedar Grove only had three people and ended up being nothing more than unofficial Canadian Doubles (as reported by "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld).

The day got started with the long-awaited conclusion of the GTA Championship Match between the GTA Champion: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak that was put on hold after only the 1st Set had been completed as a downpour had cut the match short back when it was started.  Add to that the fact that the "Grove Cup 21" Men's Singles Tournament started right after that (which involved Adam) and then Pienciak was not in the best of health after he was eliminated from that tourney by his own brother, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak.  Anyway, the match has now finally been finished (as reported by Adam).  The conclusion of this match took place at Rose Park in Woodland Park.

Also getting underway in the morning was the annual tradition known as the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament.  This tourney features the concept of teams being put together via random blind lottery draw that very day.  For the past four seasons, it simultaneously took place in Clifton and Cedar Grove.  But this season, no interest at all from the usual Cedar Grove competitors.  Thankfully, the crew of Nutley regulars stepped up and took their place.  "TNT" Tim Nguyen was willing to be the host/organizer at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley while "Hollywood" Frank Samara did the same at Albion Park in Clifton. 

Overall, it ended up being a 16-Man/8-Team Event which was divided equally between Clifton and Nutley.  The Park Ave. portion of the tourney got going close to an hour before the Clifton half of it, so we will report that part first.  It was quite stunning this season that, after a four year run, there was absolutely no interest at all for anyone to compete in a Cedar Grove portion of the Monk Memorial...disappointing. 

Not too long after those two sessions closed, "The Riz" John Rizzo hosted four other players (he sat out due to a mild injury he sustained the day before...which also caused him to pull out of the Monk Memorial in Clifton.) at Nutley Tennis Club as those other competitors engaged in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match.

The fifth and final session was the one mentioned right at the outset of this report...the Cedar Grove session.  Even though it is unofficial action, we will still mention (kind of like an Honorable Mention) at the end of this report.

So let's first go to Adam now (Adam first...where have I heard that before?  LOL!), then to Tim's reported portion of the Monk Memorial (along with some additional commentary from Arunraj "Air" Nair) followed by Frank's in-depth detailing of all that transpired at his half of the tourney and then all that will be followed by the results sent in by John and then Scott.

The Rose Park Result:

GTA Championship Match:
Adam Pienciak over Chris Chiaro, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, to become the New GTA Champion!  No Aces.

From the AP: Despite the weather forecasts calling for temps in the 70 degree range, it actually (and eventually) got up to 85 degrees with full sun and no shade.  It was not an enjoyable day to play tennis.  Chris most definitely lost this match as opposed to me winning it.  He made a ton of unexpected unforced errors, so I just played cautiously throughout the match.  I'm sure the match will be a different story, and we hope to play it sometime this coming week.

Samara's Notes: First, I congratulate Adam on a very impressive victory.  Even though there was an almost unprecedented time gap between the two sets, it is an accomplishment to take two back-to-back from Chris no matter when each one was played.  I also thank Adam for his very timely reporting.

The Consequences: As the Former Champ, Chiaro gets the first shot (i.e. the immediate rematch) before the 2018 Grove Cup Champ: "NC-17" Nick Caputo can cash in on his guaranteed shot at the Title.  If Adam defeats Chris again, then Nick get the next shot.  But if Chiaro regains, then Pienciak would be entitled to the next rematch...keeping Caputo at bay a while longer.  We definitely have an interesting triple threat situation forming at the top of the Advanced Division right now. 

We now go from Woodland Park to Nutley to see how that half of the Monk Memorial went as we let Tim take it away!

Thank you, Frank, for having this Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament that honors your late stepfather.  It is such a great tribute.

The Nutley crew had one of its best gatherings this Sunday morning.  All eight of us were prompt in our arrivals as was Laurie Boughton who came to cheer us on (thank you, Laurie, it was so great).

When I arrived, I think one of the four courts was taken...but the rest of them were welcoming us with open arms.  Edgar was one of the first to arrive...then Santosh, Arunraj and the rest of us.  The teams were then drawn at random and here they are now in the match-ups for this location's Semifinals.

Dan Knitzer/Santosh Reddy vs. Tim Nguyen/Carl Brownson

Rich Liu/Keith Lewkowitz vs. Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

PAC Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Dan Knitzer/Santosh Reddy over Tim Nguyen/Carl Brownson, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 46 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division while advancing to the PAC Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals!  No Aces.

Tim's Take: This was one of the best Doubles Matches.  We played for over an hour with so many Deuce games.  It did not seem the games were ever going to end.  It was so much fun.  All the guys played well.

But then we had a problem as Santosh did not expect to be there so long.  He had a doctor's appointment he had to go to.  The group discussed what we should do and Dan suggested that I take the place of Santosh in the Finals.  I thanked Dan for that.

Samara's Notes: Just to chime in here before we return to the rest of Tim's report, but we normally never allow substitutions during a tournament.  In this situation, however, I was not aware of what was unfolding in Nutley as I was busy handling things in Clifton.  They made a decision to do what they could to move the tourney forward and I respect their effort and enthusiasm.  As you will all see later in this report, it almost becomes a moot point anyway.  Now we go back to Tim.

PAC Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair over Rich Liu/Keith Lewkowitz, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend the # 45 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the PAC Finals/Monk Memorial Semifinals!   In the process, Liu/Lewkowitz entered the division as the New # 52 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Tim's Take: Rich and Keith led in the beginning, but Edgar and Arun somehow turned things around to take the match and head to our Finals (I think one of them will likely give you more details).

Samara's Notes: Yes, it was Arun who had some additional commentary for us.

The Arun Rundown: Rich and Keith took the first nine games of the match (6-0 and a 3-0 lead in the 2nd Set).  At that point, I thought we were done.  Rich and Keith were too good for us, plus we were both making many unforced errors, too.  But Edgar kept believing we still had a chance and he was cheering me on...motivating me.  He said we just need one game to start a comeback...and he was right as after that, we never looked back.  If it was not for Edgar, the match would have been over fast.  He was flooded with emotions and he let out a big roar after winning the match.  It was priceless to watch his joy.  I think we get to have a few moments in matches like this of which we get to cherish for life.

Samara's Notes: I really like the colorful commentary that Arun has been providing as of late.  And I also congratulate Arun and Edgar on a highly impressive comeback victory!  To be nine games down and turn things around is most unusual.  Not totally unprecedented, but quite rare.  We go back to Tim now.

PAC Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal:
Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair over Dan Knitzer/Tim Nguyen, 6-2, 6-2, to successfully defend the # 45 Rank in the Doubles Division while advancing to the Monk Memorial Final!  In the process, Knitzer/Nguyen entered the division as the New # 53 Ranked Team.  Dan: 2 Aces!

Tim's Take: Already by the start of this match, everyone was so tired...but we decided to play on to finish our portion of the tournament all in one day.  Edgar and Arun got the win to move onto the Finals where they will face the team that emerges from Albion Park/Clifton.

Samara's Notes: I congratulate Edgar and Arun for taking the Nutley portion of the tourney.  And what I alluded to earlier is that since Valencia/Nair defeated Knitzer/Nguyen, it pretty much means that Tim taking the place of Santosh becomes a moot point.  If Knitzer/Nguyen went onto win the whole thing, then maybe there would have been some controversy.  And now we go back to Tim one more time for even more action from Nutley.

Along the way, Sam Wong, Vivian Lee, Frank Ratnasamy and Joe Renga all came by and they ended up playing one on of the other courts.

Sam Wong/Frank Ratnasamy over Joe Renga/Vivian Lee, 6-2!  No Aces.

This session did not end until somewhere between 1:30 and 2pm.  Afterward, we were all so tired.  We then all headed to Nutley Diner to hang out and eat together.

Frank, the Nutley crew thanks you again for organizing this tournament.  We had a good time and it was great tennis spirit!

Samara's Notes: Likewise, I thank Tim for all he did to make things run smoothly on the Nutley end of things.  This was his first time doing it and he handled it all well.  I also thank everyone in "the Nutley scene" right now as they have been keeping things red hot while some other scenes have gone lukewarm (at best).  So kudos to "The Crew" and I hope you continue to do all that you've been doing as of late.

It is now time to detail how things unfolded up in Clifton.  

The first of the two Albion Semifinal Matches officially got underway at 10:25am in Albion Park in Clifton (though the host, "Hollywood" Frank Samara arrived at 9:40) with the other kicking off five minutes later.  But let's backtrack a bit first. 

This tournament has become an annual tradition that serves to kick off the fall portion of each tennis season, but today the weather thought it was July 16th rather than September 16th as it was fully sunny with temps starting out around 75 degrees and hitting a peak temperature of 85 degrees!

When Samara arrived at the courts, he saw that one of the three courts (the North Court) was occupied as "The Z Man" Dave Zapusek was playing someone other than his usual sparring partner, "The Flax Machine" Mike Flax.  Whoever this other guy was, the two of them (Dave and "The Mystery Man") really liked to jaw-jack at one another.  They could never agree what the score was and they continued to taunt one another throughout the contest.  By the time 11am rolled around, they were at 5-5 in what I believe to be the 3rd Set.  Dave told me, along the way, that he had been up 5-1 in the 1st Set only to let his opponent win six straight games to take the set.  The Z Man said he had taken his foot off the pedal.  They seemingly agreed to finish the match on Monday morning.  Usually, Dave reports his matches against Flax to me...I never heard anything more about this one, so I have to assume this is a guy he does not want to bring into the league.

Anyway, it was not an issue having only two courts as that was all we would need for an 8-Man/4-Team Event.  And, thankfully, the other players started to arrive soon after Samara made his presence felt on Center Court (kicking off many acorns along the way).

Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt and "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque both arrived at 9:45.  Frank instructed them to start hitting on the South Court to make sure we held the two other courts before any potential outsiders could show up and set our plans asunder! 

Five minutes later, "Macho Man" Tom La arrived with the friend he promised he would bring (via e-mail to Samara the day before).  To Frank, he was a familiar face from the Park Ave. Courts.  The two actually had a brief conversation in Nutley earlier this season.  His name is Vinnie Puglisi.  Since he is quite jacked, we'll give him the moniker, "Vin Diesel!"  Anyway, Vinnie did not even know he was there for a tourney.  He just thought he would be playing some Doubles. 

At 9:55, "Big George" Jorge Solano made his way down the hill toward the courts...and he was followed by a surprise arrival, "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas!  Mike figured he would show up to see if he was needed.  If not, no big deal as he would have to leave around noon anyway.  For a short time, it seemed his services would be required as we went past the planned 10am starting time while waiting for some latecomers.

One of them was "Kerosene" Kyle Eng, who had registered for this tourney early on, arriving at 10:15.  That meant there was just one more competitor left to give us eight players (not including Kazlauskas).  That player would not be "The Riz" John Rizzo as he informed Samara earlier that morning he would not be participating as he suffered a minor injury the day before.

Thankfully, hot on the heels of that text message was one from William "Bombs Away" Bobila who said he was available if needed.  Samara's reply basically was, "you're needed!"  But now William was nowhere in sight!  Frank urgently sent him some text messages to try to determine his ETA.  And just as Samara was about to tell Kazlauskas that he would be "in" while Bobila would be "out," William pulled up to the curb just in time at 10:20.

Mike was Mr. Casual about it and said he would see if anyone was playing at Cedar Grove.  As it turns out, he ended up getting skunked there.  He had me text "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan prior to his departure to see if anyone was there yet, but there was no immediate response.  It turns out that Doinks, upon never getting any replies to her invitation for a session there which she had sent out to the league the night before, decided to go for a run instead.  By the time she saw my text, it was all too late.

Now knowing the eight players who would be involved, Samara wrote the names of the four lowest ranked players onto raffle tickets and then stuck them in a plastic bag.

Frank, being the highest ranked player at Albion for the second season in a row, drew first.  He had Kazlauskas (who was still there at the time) hold the bag to ensure all was on the up and up.  The raffle ticket he removed had the name "Jorge" on it.  This meant Samara would be teaming with Solano.

William was the next highest ranked player, so he drew next (with Frank now holding the bag).  His raffle ticket said "La" as in Tom La (since we had two Toms present for the same tourney).

Kyle was next up and he pulled the "Heidt" ticket out of the bag (the other Tom).

And then Muhammad would be left with the ticket that was remaining in the bag.  The name on that last ticket was "Vinnie"…so he got Mr. Puglisi. 

The initial match-ups, the Semifinals of Albion (which would be considered as Quarterfinals in the overall Monk Memorial Tournament), were determined by the seeding of the team captains.  With Samara the highest of the four, his team would face the lowest ranked captain Haque's team.  And that left the other two teams to meet in the other Albion Semi/Monk Memorial Quarter - Bobila/La vs. Eng/Heidt.

All four teams seemed somewhat evenly balanced.  The Bobila/La tandem had the most experience as tennis players overall and as Doubles specialists.  On paper, they seemed like the favorites to emerge from Albion as the team to represent Clifton in the Finals.

To save time, the 8-Man/4-Team format was presented to the league right with the provision that if the first two sets were split, a 10-Point Super Tiebreak would be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set to also not make everyone play too many sets of tennis in one day.  This was to hold true for both rounds in each location's Semifinal and Final, but Nutley decided to play one of their matches all the way (which was fine if time allowed it).

Only the overall Final of the Monk Memorial Tournament (i.e. the Albion winners versus the Cedar Grove winners) would need to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets Match where a 3rd Set would have to be played if the first two sets were split.  The 10-Point STB would no longer be an option.

"The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 10:45 and watched the action for a while before he was able to grab the North Court (after Dave and friend had left) at 11:05 to practice his serve for a while...and eventually hit with Bobila and play him in a One-Setter after he was done competing in the tourney.

We would also have another surprise arrival later in the day, but let's first get to the tourney action that took place.

The Albion Park Results:

Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
William Bobila/Tom La over Kyle Eng/Tom Heidt, 6-3, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Bobila/La advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal!  No Aces.  They played this on the South Court from 10:30 to 11:25 (with the 1st Set ending exactly at 11am and the next set starting just a couple minutes later...and even though both foursomes took to the courts and started hitting at the same time, this match officially began five minutes later than the next one, but ended almost half an hour earlier).

Albion Semifinal/Monk Memorial Quarterfinal:
Muhammad Haque/Vinnie Puglisi over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division while Haque/Puglisi advanced to the Albion Final/Monk Memorial Semifinal!  Vinnie: 2 Aces in the 1st Set (one on each)!  It was the official GTA Debut of Vinnie Puglisi. 

1st Set: Vinnie was broken (started off with an Ace up the T against Jorge, then 30-Love shifted to Break Point, then came Deuce and a Double Fault to set up another Break Point and then the break), Frank was broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point and the break), Muhammad was broken in a battle (Love-15, 15-All, Double Fault for 15-30, a shift to Game Point, Deuce and then all Game Points until 3rd Deuce, Break Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point again and then the break) and Jorge was broken at Love after hitting a Double Fault to set up Love-30, so nobody was able to hold serve up until 2-2.  Puglisi broke that trend as he was the first to hold and he did so dramatically as it was a Love hold after hitting a corner Ace against Frank that set up 30-Love, but Samara was broken again (15-Love shifted to 15-30, then came 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then Haque held (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to put his team up 5-2.  Solano also managed a hold of his own (Love-15 then point for point until it was 30-All, then Game Point and the hold) to pull to 3-5, but Vin Diesel held again as Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then it went 30-All, Game/Set Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Game/Set Point and the hold for the game and the set.  We started this match on Center Court at 10:25 and the initial set ended at 11:03.  Two minutes later, we were onto the next one.

2nd Set: Frank was broken in a struggle (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point) and Vinnie held (15-Love, Double Fault for 15-All and then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) for a 2-0 lead in this set.  Jorge held (Love-30 shifted to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Muhammad was broken (Triple Break Point soon rocketed to Deuce, but then came another Break Point and the break) to level things at 2-2.  Samara was broken in yet another lengthy game (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then came 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points to 4th Deuce, another Break Point and finally the break) while Puglisi held again (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point and the hold) for 4-2.  Solano was then broken (15-Love fell right to Double Break Point, but then rebounded to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Break Point) to fall to 2-5, but Haque was also broken (Triple Break Point, the break came on Double Break Point) to have his team's lead cut to 5-3.  But The Wood was broken yet again as he never held the entire match (Triple Break/Match Point, Double Break/Match Point, it finally ended on Break/Match Point)!  The tough loss (for Samara/Solano) came at 11:52.

The Skinny: Puglisi is a powerful player who is also a lefty.  And not only does he have nice follow-through forehands, he also has some very deceptive slice shots in his arsenal as well.  I would estimate him to be a 4.0 player.  Haque held up his end of the deal quite nicely as he continues to improve.  Solano often did his thing with volleys at the net and he also made some surprising gets along the way.  Plus, he was able to at least hold his serve twice.  Samara was the letdown here as he never held once!  In his defense, he was serving from the west side of the court into the very bright sun (the stupid East-West set-up of the courts at Albion...and, yes, Frank volunteered to take that side of the court to serve despite his partner being the only one there wearing sunglasses).  But the sun factor was just enough to take whatever pace and placements Samara had displayed just two nights earlier in the EWC Men's Doubles Match at Park Ave.

Late in the game (so to speak) as both Semis were coming to a close, we found out that Tom and Vinnie (who had arrived together) would both need to leave by 12:30 at the latest.  This was a disappointment as the idea all along was to have both sessions crown a "territory" Finalist.  Now, the Final would be hanging in limbo while the Nutley crew did all they could to make sure a winning team (overall for their location) would emerge by the end of the day.

The upside is that the four players (two teams) into the Final are all Nutley regulars, actually (they are really starting to make their presence felt in the league).  And thus, the Albion Final will be played at The Park Ave. Courts (most likely to be this Thursday night).  From there, whichever team emerges from that match will then advance to the overall Monk Memorial Final to face Valencia/Nair (as it turns out, Bobila and Valencia are also good friends...which I did not know until William told me at this session).

William Bobila over Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.  This one got underway on the North Court somewhere around 11:50 (when they transitioned from hitting to competing, I did not initially notice) and it ended exactly at 12:37.  They were on serve all the way until Dino was broken in the last game to take the loss.

During the above One-Setter, a new face was heading toward the courts.  Jorge told Frank that he just met this guy the day before in the gym parking lot.  When this gentleman saw that Solano had a ball hopper in the back of his SUV, the guy immediately asked him about tennis.  So Solano gave him some info along with the address of Albion Park.

His name is Earnest Phillips (want to call him EPMD though he is not a doctor, he is close...he is a First Assistant in the OR).  He is a very nice guy who has some serious game (at least he brings it in hitting sessions).  On Center Court, he alternately hit with either Kyle alone or Kyle and Muhammad at the same time.  From watching his play, he may be a 4.5...it is hard to tell until we see if he brings that same pace and accuracy into actual matches.  He prefers lengthy hitting sessions over playing matches, especially Doubles.  But he will make for a good sparring partner to anyone looking to hit and hit hard!  He will suffer no lazy fools!

We now head east to go back to Nutley for the result from NTC via The Riz.

The NTC Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Dan Hwang/Janice Wang over Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 35 and # 36 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

The Riz Report: I just watched the action as the four of them played on Court Four.

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

We now will allow Scott to detail the little that took place up at Cedar Grove.  We let The Ice Berg take it away!

We had perfect weather, but an extremely limited turnout.  It was just Natalia Sout, Mike Mole and myself.  So we hit for an hour before deciding to play Canadian Doubles which I won by a score of 6 for me, 2 for Natalia and 0 for Mike!  I wish we had a better turnout.

Samara's Notes: Even though it is unofficial, I thank Scott for the effort he made here to report what took place at Cedar Grove. 

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

9/15 Results.

9/15/18:

"Laurie-Suze, Ralph-Rich in MP, Chazz-Edgar in RP, Omar-Christian in Wayne, Nair-Heidt + 4 at PAC, W2 Final + 4 at C.G.!":

There were five official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: with the first one starting in the morning as two Singles Challenges Matches took place at Mountainside Park in Montclair.  The first was Women's Singles featuring Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton going up against "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara (with Suzanne reporting) and the second was Men's Singles and part of the ongoing East-West Challenge series as "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard took on "SWAT" Rich Liu (with both reporting).  The day before, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson put it out to the league that she would not be able to host the session there as usual.  That turned out to be for the best as some children's tennis group took over all the courts (even though they did not occupy all of them…they have a rule against "outside" adults being present when kids are there…I said "outside" because coaches and parents are allowed to be there).

The second session was in the early afternoon and also in Montclair, but it took place at Rand Park and it featured yet another EWC Singles Match as "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon faced "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia (with Chazz reporting). 

The third was an impromptu session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne as "Stealth" Omar Santos was initially alone there just practicing his serve.  As he was about to walk off the courts, he was called over by someone he had never met before.  It led to them playing a full match (though they ended up playing a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in lieu of a full 3^rd Set) and the official GTA Debut of a new player, Christian Danku.

At the next session (the fourth overall), something similar happened at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer ended up playing with someone who had been part of the Nutley Meet-Up Group, but was not yet aware of the GTA.  They only played a One-Setter, but that was enough for Rutul Patel to also make his official GTA Debut.  And later in the evening at that same location, Arunraj "Air" Nair and Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt got together for the third EWC Singles Match of the day (as reported by Arun). 

The fifth and final session of the day was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament Final Match between the teams of "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and Natalia "Nitro" Sout/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (as reported by Gen).  "Bravo" Brenda Jordan also reported results from that location.

So we first go to the two parks in Montclair, then to Wayne and Nutley before we end up at Cedar Grove in the evening!  Suzanne will start things off in Mountainside Park before we move onto Rich and Ralph's dual report to close out that session. 

The Mountainside Park Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Challenge Match:

Laurie Boughton over Suzanne Bujara, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division!  Laurie: 2 Aces!

The News from Suze: Diane Raum, Laurie Boughton, and I had a rousing session of Canadian Doubles before the East-West Challenge Match between Rich Liu and Ralph Bernard took place (sorry I forgot the score, but it was a close match).

To maintain our competitive rankings, Laurie and I then decided to play.  I congratulate Laurie on her win.  It was a fun time with quite a few Deuce games.  Few can match Laurie's drop shots, which got me every time.

 

Though the courts were busy, there appears to be a working water fountain, benches in the shade, and porta-potties.

 

FYI: It appears that the Chelsea Park Courts near the Allwood Library in Clifton are nearly complete.  I was driving by with passengers, so I didn't inspect them.

Samara's Notes: I thank Suzanne for her very timely and comprehensive report.  I also congratulate Laurie on an impressive victory.

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Rich Liu over Ralph Bernard, 7-5, 6-4, to become the New # 15 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge Series!  Ralph:  1 Ace in the 2^nd Set!

The Rich Recap: Ralph and I met around 10am for our EWC Singles Match.  We played from around 10:15 to 12pm.  The match was grueling with countless Deuce games.  In the 1st Set, Ralph took a 2-0 lead before I came back to win it at 7-5.  There were many close and long Deuce games.  In the 2nd Set, Ralph was up 3-0 before I gathered my mental composure and competed well, winning it at 6-4.  I thoroughly enjoyed the competition as Ralph is a very solid player as advertised.

I also want to thank Laurie, Suzanne and Diane for helping to warm me up as I had just woken up and came straight to the courts.  They were also very kind to offer their court to us.  GTA camaraderie!

The Ralph Report: Rich is a solid player and fights for every point.  I was not on my "A" game as I haven't played much due to tennis elbow (which is improving, but still there and not allowing me to hit at full power), but it was a good time had by all. We had a good amount of long rallies with plenty of running. 

Laurie and the other ladies were nice enough to give up their court for us to play our match!  There is an annoying development at those courts.  They have children's lessons there and nobody is allowed to play on the other courts from like 10am to 4:30 for the rest of the season!  It is some silly rule where adults and kids can't be on the courts at the same time.  I think it is ridiculous because their parents are typically there as well as the people giving them the lessons.  That leaves four courts just not being used all day…just a heads up.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting.  I also congratulate Rich on a very impressive, hard-fought victory…further proof of his improvement this season.

 

The Consequences: With this win, Liu tied up the EWC series at 2-2.  But there were still two more EWC matches on the way later this day…and we go to the first of those two now!   

The Rank Park Result:

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Chazz Weldon over Edgar Valencia, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division while scoring a point for Team West in the East-West Challenge series!  Edgar: 1 Ace!

 

All That Chazz: We played at Rand Park in Montclair and started a little after 1pm.  The match lasted one hour and seven minutes.  Edgar complained that the tennis court was too short and that caused him some errors.  

Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a very impressive victory!

The Consequences: This win put Team West back in the lead, 3-2 in the EWC series!

Now we move from Montclair to Wayne.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Christian Danku over Omar Santos, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 (STB)!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.  Omar: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!  Christian Danku makes his official GTA Debut as the New # 44 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division.

The Stealth Report: I had been practicing my serve at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (the Bubble is up already...had a chance to talk to Bill Bess).  Just as I was getting ready to leave, Christian (I did not know him yet) called me over to see if I would be willing to hit with him.  After hitting for a while, we decided to play a match.  The reason we went to the Super Tiebreak was it was hot out and we were getting exhausted (plus I had to pick up my daughter from a day camp by 4pm).  We played from 1:30 to 3:30.

Christian will be a good player in this league.  I thought he should have my rank, but Frank later explained to me the rules about matches with Super Tiebreakers not being allowed to be for rank.  He is definitely interested in playing more with us as he does not have any steady hitting partners.

Samara's Notes: While it is honorable for Omar to feel that way, the rules are the rules…for any rank (Singles or Doubles) to change hands in this league…a full 3^rd Set must be played if the first two sets are split.  But it does stand as a full match that at least allows Christian to go directly into the Intermediate Division (rather than first entering the Non-Competing Men's Division).  I welcome him to the league.  For the record, Santos was also willing to let "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues take his rank for what occurred the night before in Cedar Grove…but Joe said to report it as two separate One-Setters as it had not been planned as a match…and Omar had just played a full match against "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz for the EWC series. 

We now go from Wayne to Nutley.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Rutul Patel over Dan Knitzer, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Rutul Patel. 

The TDK Replay: Got us another recruit!  Rutul beat me with consistent ground strokes and a very nice serve.  He's in our Nutley "whatsapp" Meet-Up group, but he didn't get your emails so I figured I'd formally introduce you guys!

Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his recruiting and also welcome Rutul to the league.

EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Arunraj Nair over Tom Heidt, 6-2, 6-3, as both players entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 45 and # 46 Ranked Players as Arunraj earned a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series!  Arun: 4 Aces; and Tom: 1 Ace!

The Arun Rundown: The match was scheduled for 7pm.  I reached the courts around 6:30.  When I reached the courts, Tom was already present, practicing with Laurie.  Tom identified me, and welcomed me to the courts.  We started the match soon after a short warm-up.

I was able to get to a lead of 3-0 quickly, but Tom came back strongly resulting in it being 4-2.  I went on to win the set at 6-2.  Tom had the lead in 2nd Set and at one point he was leading 2-1.  Tom was serving well and had better control over his shorts compared to me.  I reduced my unforced errors and I was able to take the lead at 4-2.  Tom fought hard in the seventh game (ending up in 7 Deuces), but ultimately I was able to get over the line.  I ended up winning the set at 6-3.

 

Tom is a great player and, more than that, he is a nice gentleman.  He appreciated my shots and game overall.  I felt like playing a friendly match and, with Laurie around, we had lot of fun and laughs.  The score doesn't justify the effort Tom put in as we had 8 Deuce games and a lot of rallies.  I would like to thank Tom for playing with me.  I would also like to thank Laurie for cheering us on, picking up the balls and her sense of humor.  After that, we had a Doubles One-Setter.

Arunraj Nair/Joe Renga over Tom Heidt/Laurie Boughton, 8-6!  No Aces.

The Arun Rundown: We chose to win by two games rather than do the Tiebreak.  It was a long and tight match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Arun for his timely and very comprehensive reporting.  I also congratulate him on a solid victory.

The Consequences: With this win, Arun tied up the EWC series at 3-3! 

We now move into the evening and head over to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

W2 Final Match:

Natalia Sout/Laura Gawley over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 7-5, 6-3, to win the 2018 W2 Women's Doubles Tournament which makes them the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Gen's Notes: We played this match from 7:20 till 9pm.  It was pretty awesome match with lots of highlight moments.  The 1st Set was tight as it can be.  We stayed on serve with a couple of exchanges of breaks.  Early on in the set, Natalia was on serve in a game that went to multiple Deuces (at least 8 or possibly 10 Deuces!).  We went back and forth and had our chances to break, but did not capitalize on them.  Natalia eventually held in that game for 2-All.  There was another exchange of breaks for 3-3.  It was pretty much on serve from there up until 5-5.  Then Nat/Laura got the break and held to close out the set at 7-5.  The duration was 55 minutes.

In the 2nd Set, Nat/Laura jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  It went to 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3 and 6-3. There were some really great rallies throughout the entire match.  The net was not in our favor tonight as 3 or 4 points had shots that hit the top of net and just dropped on the other side that went in their favor.  Also, our consistency dropped somewhat in the 2nd Set.  The duration was 40 minutes.

Overall, everyone played well.  Unfortunately, for Doinks and me, we just missed out on getting those big points when it counted.  It was a hard-fought match.  Congratulations to Natalia and Laura on their big "W" in the W2!

 

Samara's Notes: First and foremost, I thank Gen for her always timely and comprehensive reporting.  I also applaud her combined effort with Doinks as it is obvious that they fought hard.  I then congratulate the impressive victory…and overall tourney run made by Natalia and Laura.  Normally, this victory would make the Sout/Gawley the new and next Top Contenders.  But since Laura cannot clone herself, instead we have…

 

The Consequences: Since Gawley is currently one half of the GTA Women's Doubles Champions along with Sally Pillay, that obviously means Laura cannot be Natalia's partner in the earned title shot that Sout picked up here with this tournament victory.  Instead, Natalia now has the right to choose any woman currently ranked in the GTA (that can be someone from either the Women's Division or the Non-Competing Women's Division) to be her partner in the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match where they would then challenge Pillay/Gawley for their Titles. 

 

We now go to Brenda for the balance of the scores from that session. 

 

Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Moka Pathan/Brenda Jordan, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-0!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout leading Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan, 4-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)! 

Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for her very timely reporting.  Wow!  What a day and night of GTA action!  The weekend got off to a hot start on Friday night and then Saturday kept the ball rolling all day long…leading to what promised to be an epic Sunday as well! 

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com