10/16 Results.

10/16/18:

"6 play (1 New) at PAC, 5 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley with Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton reporting and the other at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon reporting.

So we first go to Laurie in Nutley and then to Kat at Cedar Grove. 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Muhammad Haque/Laurie Boughton over David Soto/Freddie Quito, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Freddie Quito.

David Soto/Freddie Quito over Edgar Valencia/Laurie Boughton, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.

Rich Liu over Edgar Valencia, 6-0!  No Aces.

Rich Liu over Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Laurie for her very timely reporting…much appreciated!  And now let's head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Diane Raum/Kathy Marabondo over Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Chat from Kat: We had a group of ladies play.  It was a chilly night.  It was Brenda, Diane, Kathy and me.  Dawn was there and a part of the mix, but as she was the 5th player…she was rotated in next.  But in this first one, Brenda and I just couldn't get it going.  I was NOT an asset this set!

Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Dawn Peterson/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match: 

Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-1, 6-3, to become the New #4 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Chat from Kat: Diane was awesome especially at the net!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kathy for her very timely reporting…always appreciated!  It seems that perhaps the early presence of the Pickle Ballers may have reduced our turnout somewhat.  Kat said other GTA players were there, but they may have just been hitting…she's not sure. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/14 Results.

10/14/18:

"M-Dub Parts 2 and 3 - Nutley and C.G., 5 at NTC, Nat-Laurie at C.G.!":

There were four sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis and the first two of them largely focused on the ongoing M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament.  The portion that we have been calling, "Cedar Grove, Part 2" actually got underway second as the "Nutley, Part 3" section started almost an hour earlier at The Park Ave. Courts.  Then there was a late afternoon/early evening session at Nutley Tennis Club hosted by "The Riz" John Rizzo (perhaps the last of this season).  And finally there was a late match at Cedar Grove as Natalia "Nitro" Sout put her rank on the line against Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton (who had already competed in the Nutley portion of the M-Dub and played a full Singles Match against "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara).

So we will first go to the dual report from Boughton and "TNT" Tim Nguyen to see how everything went down in Nutley.  We will then go to Cedar Grove as "Hollywood" Frank Samara will fully detail how it all unfolded up there.  We will then end up back in Nutley, but this time at NTC for those scores as supplied by John.  And then we bounce back to Cedar Grove one last time for the last result of the night (as reported by both Laurie and Natalia). 

We have a lot to get to…so let's get to it!

The PAC Results:

The following teams came together via the blind lottery draw process.

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake over Tom La/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Kazumi Otake.

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Patrick Hsu and Juliet Wallace.

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Muhammad Haque/Takako Teto over Sam Wong/Kathy Marabondo, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Return of Takako Teto. 

 

M-Dub "Nutley section" Semifinal:

Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake over Sam Wong/Kathy Marabondo, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the Nutley Finals portion of the M-Dub Tournament as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

M-Dub "Nutley section" Semifinal:

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Muhammad Haque/Takako Teto, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the Nutley Finals portion of the M-Dub Tournament as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

The Lowdown from Laurie: The new players who came into this tourney (Kazumi, Juliet and Patrick) did not realize there would be a further commitment beyond this day.  As such, they wanted to try to play the Final the same day…but we were also running out of time as the day was growing long.  All four (including Rich) were eager to play a One-Setter only as the Final for the day...they did not want to do a full 2 out of 3 as one person felt they simply could not do it.

I clearly indicated that I highly doubted you would agree to that.  I couldn't reach you by phone as you were playing, soooooooooooooo…all four agreed they wanted to play the One-Setter…even  with the warning/disclaimer from me that if you agreed, fine...but all who knew you said we HIGHLY DOUBTED it would fly...and, if not, no cigar! :)  But I said at least they'd get a "practice" set in to see the opponents' "style" before they met again formally.  Now here it is…

Patrick Hsu/Juliet Wallace over Rich Liu/Kazumi Otake, 6-4!  Patrick: 1 Ace on Rich!

Samara's Notes: OK, so here is the situation.  We cannot allow a One-Setter to be the Final for this location.  For one, it just goes against the rules of all past GTA tournaments.  Two, it is unfair to all the other teams in the other sections of this year's tourney.  You simply do not escalate to a full match in the Semifinal Round of this section of the event and then backslide to a One-Set Final.

Having said all that, however, this does not have to be a practice set.  It could be the 1^st Set of a full Final…and since this is only the Final for this location, not the overall tournament, if the 2^nd Set falls in favor of Liu/Otake, they would only need to play a 10-Point Super Tiebreak after that to determine the winner.

I understand that the new players are unsure of their availability going forward (and I will e-mail all four parties separate from this Results report), but it does not have to take place next Sunday at the Park Ave. Courts in Nutley.  The balance of this match can be played anywhere and at a mutually convenient time for all four parties involved.

If Hsu/Wallace simply cannot continue this match, however, then they would be forced to forfeit the balance of it to Liu/Otake.  And in the GTA, that would mean a final score of 6-4, 0-6, 0-6…or flip that to it being 4-6, 6-0, 6-0, in favor of Liu/Otake…and this may be very important in determining the "Lucky Loser" team that becomes the fourth tandem (after the three location Finalist winners) to enter the overall Semifinals of the M-Dub Tournament.

Furthermore, if Otake also deems herself to be unavailable from here forward, then it would be equivalent to both teams bowing out as substitutions are not allowed (it is unfair to the others who had competed from the very beginning).  It would be a most unfortunate situation for Liu.  But, if this were to be the case, then the team that emerges from Cedar Grove, Part One as that section's Finalist would then face the team that emerges from Cedar Grove, Part Two as that section's Finalist in the overall Finals of the M-Dub Tournament with no representative moving forward out of the Nutley portion and also no need for a fourth "Lucky Loser" team in that scenario.

OK.  Let's now go back to Laurie for the balance of the results from The PAC session and then we will get some additional commentary from Tim as well.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:

Tom La/Suzanne Bujara over Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton, 6-2!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Laurie Boughton over Suzanne Bujara, 6-1, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 4 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Tim's Take: It was another great session of GTA Tennis this Sunday at PAC!  Laurie was wonderful!  She got it all under control, got to the courts early, brought in sticky notes and a hat to draw the names, a notebook to keep the scores, and all the tennis matches went on as planned.  I was there more to be merely supportive, but Laurie had it all going good.  All the tennis players had a great time.  Some of us also went to Dunkin Donuts afterwards for coffee, foods and great chat!  Frank, thanks for organizing the entire event.

Samara's Notes: I thank Laurie for all her hard work this Sunday, but also thank Tim…not only for his kind words, but for getting the Sunday sessions rolling at PAC for a few months now.  This portion of the tournament would not have been possible had it not been for all his prior efforts.

And now you will all be subjected to my long-winded recap from Cedar Grove.

When "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot alongside the Cedar Grove Courts at 9:55, he saw that Courts One and Two were still vacant while Courts Three and Four already had GTA players (participants in the M-Dub Tournament) already out on them hitting and getting warmed up for the event.  On Court Three, it was Horst and Tula Savickas hitting against one another.  And on Court Four, it was "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "Vivid" Vivian Lee on one side of the net hitting against "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon on the other side.  Samara thought it best to go hold Court One as we would need three of the four courts for the tourney.

 

Soon after that, Jeremy Katzeff arrived.  He talked to his buddy Scott for a bit before he joined Samara on Court One for a hitting session.  The timing was good as two teenage girls soon took Court Two (though they did not stay long...and the older of the two already looks to be quite the player).  Not too long into this hitting session, Bergenfeld took Samara's place in hitting against Katzeff as Frank had to get back to organizing everything as best he could. 

 

It was around this time at 10:05 that the "Mel Man" Melvin Hyman arrived.  Five minutes later, "The Roz" Jeff Rozner and "Queen B" Louise Bysiek both pulled into the parking lot together.  That meant the only one not there yet was "The Olympian" Marie Salamon.  Samara soon called her and she told Frank she was on her way and would be there in five more minutes.  Sure enough, she arrived at 10:15 and we now had the twelve players we needed to begin the tourney.

 

As time was ticking away, Frank raced around to all the ladies in attendance so that they could make their blind lottery selections.  Doinks, being the highest ranked woman in the tourney, was the first to put her hand in the bag to pull out her pick.  The raffle ticket said "Jeff" meaning she would be paired with Rozner.

 

Kathy was next up and she was both audibly and visibly pleased once she saw she had the "Frank" ticket as she would be teaming with Samara.  Louise was third in this rotation and her hand came out of the bag with a ticket that read "Horst" meaning she would be borrowing Mr. Savickas away from Mrs. Savickas (without looking back at last season's M-Dub results report, I do believe Horst and Tula were lucky enough to remain a team when Tula ended up getting the ticket that had her hubby's name on it).

 

The fourth picker in this process was doing this for the first time as Vivian, still in her first season with the GTA, extracted her hand from the bag only to find that she had the "Mel" ticket in it...pairing her with Mr. Hyman.  The last one to pick (though still fifth of the six ladies in this portion of the tourney) was Marie who was quite obviously ecstatic to soon have the "Scott" ticket in her possession as she knew she had the youngest yet highest ranked of all the men in attendance, Mr. Bergenfeld, as her partner.  And that left Tula with the player whose ticket was never actually pulled from the bag, the one representing Jeremy Katzeff.

 

The pairings of the match-ups for the Opening Round, a One-Set Eliminator, were then based on the rank of the women and not the men as we worked our way from the highest ranked lady's duo facing that of the lowest ranked woman's and then working our way to the middle.  That put Doinks and Jeff up against Tula and Jeremy on Court One (I believe Court Two had already been vacated by this time, but as it was the most leafy of the four...it remained vacant until the amount of players in attendance necessitated its usage), Sheldon/Samara versus Salamon/Bergenfeld on Court Four (as Kathy was the first to call dibs on it) and then Louise and Horst to battle Mel and Viv on Court Three.

 

To advance to the next round (the "Semifinals" of this particular portion of the tourney, but not the true overall Semis of the entire tournament), you either had to be one of the three teams to win this One-Set Eliminator Round or the team that lost by the tightest margin (aka The Lucky Losers).  If two results shared the same score in terms of which contest was closest, we would then use the amount of time played as the final deciding factor (i.e. if the set took longer, it must have been closer).

 

From the outset, Kathy made it quite clear she did not want things to run long as she had a second tourney demanding her presence later in the day (I believe it was a Women's Doubles event up at the Packanack Lake clay courts in Wayne at 2pm).  Samara ensured Sheldon that she would have enough time to get thru all that was expected of her here (a win in the First Round would lead to the next round where the match would be a full one, albeit one with a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in place of a full 3rd Set).

 

After all the hitting was done, all the First Round One-Setters would get underway within two minutes of all the others.  By this time, "The Riz" John Rizzo had arrived to watch (I believe he got there by 10:30...it could have been a bit earlier, actually) and Samara asked him to keep track of the finishing times as it could serve as a crucial factor in determining advancement to the next round. 

 

Once the action was underway, "Stealth" Omar Santos arrived around 11am and took a seat next to Rizzo on the bench before both would eventually find themselves in some on-court action.  The only other non-tourney competitor to make his appearance along the way was "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales (never noted when he arrived).  And later in the day, it was Nick "The Icon" Inciong (aka Chito) who made an extended cameo appearance upon his arrival at 1:05, but was never able to get involved in any official action.  That meant we had a total of fifteen competitors throughout the session.

 

Speaking of competition, let's get to it now!

 

The Cedar Grove Courts:

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan over Jeremy Katzeff/Tula Savickas, 6-0!  Jeff: 1 Ace on Tula!  I usually lead with the set or match that got underway first in a session, but this one actually started second (by the difference of just a minute) at exactly 10:39.  It was over in the quickest time by 11:03.  In fact, the four found themselves with enough time to play another set (one that would have no impact on the tourney whatsoever).

 

Non-Tourney One-Setter:

Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan over Jeremy Katzeff/Tula Savickas, 6-0!  Jeremy: 1 Ace on Jeff; and Jeff: 1 Ace on Jeremy (Jeff called it an act of revenge...LOL!)!  This one was over by 11:23.

 

M-Dub First Round One-Set Eliminator:

Frank Samara/Kathy Sheldon over Scott Bergenfeld/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one was actually the third of the three to get started at 10:40, but it would be the second one to be completed at 11:08.  As time was of the essence, I never noted the games along the way (the way I usually do).  Afterward, I simply remembered who held and who was broken...Frank held serve, so did Scott, but Kathy was the first to be broken for 1-2.  Marie was also broken and then Samara held again for a 3-2 lead.  Bergenfeld also held again to tie things at 3-3, but then Sheldon held while Salamon was broken again (she started with a Double Fault which I believe to be the only DF of the entire set) to have her team fall to 3-5.  Hollywood then pulled off "the hat trick" with a third straight hold when he sealed the deal on Game/Match Point!

 

The Skinny: All four of us played well, but the difference (besides being just one break of serve) was mainly Marie having such a tough time with the Samara slice game (even after encountering for numerous years now).  We all had fun in this one...and then we all turned our attention to Court Three...as the fate of the losers here (Bergenfeld/Salamon) still depended upon what was taking place on that court.

 

Many things were taking place on that court and not all of it was action.  And when it was "action," it was at a slow pace as it had been 4-3 in favor of Mel and Viv when we all began watching the match.  Soon, we knew that the losing team in this one would be the "Lucky Losers" overall once the score got to 4-4...but now it seemed to be a war of attrition coupled with a heaping dose of aggravation as there were numerous arguments over calls, lengthy breaks (to take drinks) and other time-consuming tactics that not only had all the other teams hanging around frustrated, but the on-court competitors themselves quite stymied.  At one point, Frank called out for an update on the score when Viv drew a raucous laugh from the crowd when she said with a healthy dose of venom in her voice, "who the hell knows?!?!"

 

It did eventually conclude in an official result, and it was...

 

Horst Savickas/Louise Bysiek over Melvin Hyman/Vivian Lee, 7-6 (7-0)!  No Aces.  Court Three was occupied with this one from 10:38 (the first of the three to get started) until 11:45 (the last of the three to be finished)!  Despite being an hour and seven minutes long, it is not going to end up being a Nominee for One-Set Mixed Doubles Match of The Year...that's for sure.

 

In this scenario, Hyman/Lee would have been The Lucky Losers advancing to the next round...but Mel suddenly said he had to leave as his wife, Margaret Cheung (going off of memory here as she is a former GTA player who has not competed with us in quite some time) had stepped on the courts somewhere along the way and was now waiting for him to leave.

 

As we do not allow substitutions in such tournaments, it meant that Vivian was now losing that opportunity by a default...and now that slot would be offered to the Bergenfeld/Salamon tandem instead.  Scott had just entered into a Men's Doubles situation on Court One where I believe he was teaming with his buddy Jeremy to take on Rizzo and Santos.  I think Bergenfeld was proud to say they had won the first game when that action had to be called as Scott would now serve a higher calling...a return to the actual tournament.

 

Speaking of substitutions, Kathy was actually hoping Vivian could take her place as she was growing concerned that the next round (a full match) would never finish in time for her to then leave and have time to make it to Wayne for her next on-court obligation.  Samara and Rizzo both assured her there was still plenty of time...plus, such a substitution would not be allowed anyway.

 

All was not lost for Ms. Lee as she had the chance to hit with John for an extended period of time over on Court Two.  When Jose went over there, then Rizzo and Lee shared the same side of the court hitting against Gonzales.  And, finally, when Tula (already eliminated) made her way over to Court Two to make it a foursome...they began what cold have been a One-Setter...except Vivian had to leave early.  We will get to that incomplete action in just a bit.  But first we have...

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Omar Santos over Jeremy Katzeff, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend his # 9 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  No Aces.  Omar estimated that this match lasted from 11:30 to 12:30.  It was played on Court One.

 

John Rizzo/Vivian Lee tied with Jose Gonzales/Tula Savickas, 2-2 (Incomplete when Lee said she had to leave)!  Not sure when this abbreviated One-Setter got underway on Court Two, but it ended almost exactly where our next match finished (both at 12:50).

 

M-Dub "Cedar Grove, Part Two" Semifinal:

Frank Samara/Kathy Sheldon over Horst Savickas/Louise Bysiek, 6-1, 6-0, to advance to the "CG, Part 2" Final (to be played at a later date) while both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.  We got this one underway on Court Four at exactly 11:51.  With time being paramount not to the process, but to the concerns of Kathy...I once again did not take any notes along the way...but I did remember all the holds and breaks in all the games...as they went as follows...

 

1st Set: Horst was broken (despite starting off strong with big serves), Frank held, Louise was broken and Kathy had a Love hold for a quick 4-0 lead.  Savickas replied with a Love hold of his own to get his team onto the scoreboard, but then Samara held again and Bysiek was broken again to end the set at 12:14.  With the clock still ticking, we got the next set started just a minute later.

 

2nd Set: Kathy held, Horst was broken and then Frank held in a marathon game where he started off down Triple Break Point (up until this game, he had never come close to having his serve broken) only to bounce back to Deuce...I cannot remember all the twists of turns of Break Point and Game Points...but it went to the 8th Deuce before it finally went to yet another Game Point and the hold for 3-0!  Louise was then broken, but Sheldon held again for a 5-0 lead.  Savickas was on serve and this game was nearly as lengthy and actually even more dramatic than the prior service from Samara as Horst got out to a Triple Game Point lead only to then have it go to Double Game Point, a Double Fault (perhaps the only one in the entire match) for Game Point and then Deuce and it was all Game Points until 4th Deuce, then it went to Break/Match Point, 5th Deuce and all Game Points until 7th Deuce, then the 2nd Break/Match Point and finally the break for the match!  We finished this at 12:50.

 

The Skinny: This match was precisely one minute shy of being an hour long.  Samara was definitely not shy in telling his partner Sheldon that he had told her he would make sure to get the job done for her with plenty of time to spare (and that he would also remember how early in the process she was willing to bail on him...LOL!).  But it also must be said that she also played some "on fire" tennis along the way with several great gets and powerful returns.  Frank, for his part, was really on his game today...and it never wavered (unlike it has in recent times).  Kudos to the opponents, Horst and Louise, as they did not make it easy (despite what the score says) as those two lengthy multiple Deuce games clearly display otherwise.  We actually had a lot of fun in this one as well.  And then...like a flash...Kat was gone!

 

M-Dub "Cedar Grove, Part Two" Semifinal:

Scott Bergenfeld/Marie Salamon over Jeff Rozner/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 5-7, 10-2 (STB), to advance to the "CG, Part 2 Final" (to be played at a later date) as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division!  Scott: 1 Ace on Doinks in the 1st Set!  This match lasted exactly one hour and a half on Court Three (from 11:56 to 1:26).

 

The Skinny: From the times I was able to watch it, this match featured a lot of hard-fought and lengthy rallies with some impressive get-making on both sides.  What Jeff may lack in mobility (due to prior hip surgery, knee issues and perhaps other ailments), he makes up for with solid, experienced and hard-hitting shot-making.  Speaking of hard-hitting shots, Scott always comes equipped with his mighty forehand.  Doinks was doing her thing with the looping forehands that almost always seem to find the baseline while Marie was clipping shots many thought would pass her with her adept volley game up at the net.  After the match, Salamon said she felt she finally found her stride in this match after getting off to a shaky start in the initial round (the One-Set Eliminator).

 

The Consequences: This sets up a rematch between the two tandems - Samara/Sheldon and Bergenfeld/Salamon, except next time it will be a full match (though a 10-Point Super Tiebreak can still be played in lieu of a full 3rd Set...it will be at the option of the two teams at that time...only the overall Tournament Final will need to play a full 3rd Set, if it becomes necessary).  Frank and Kathy should not be foolish by feeling overly confident going into this next contest as the difference in their initial encounter with the opposition (Scott and Marie) was just one break.  It should be quite the match, indeed!

 

Omar Santos/Louise Bysiek over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 7-5!  Louise: 1 Ace on Tula!  This Mixed Doubles One-Setter took place on Corut Four and lasted from 1pm to 1:41.  It was the last official action of the day at Cedar Grove...at least for the daytime session.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone who came thru and made this tourney possible...both here at Cedar Grove and earlier at the Nutley session.

Now we turn this report over to The Riz.

The NTC Results:

 

Ryan Sherry/John Rizzo over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 7-5!  No Aces.

 

Ryan Pienciak/Ryan Sherry over Dan Hwang/Frank Hohorst, 6-1!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Dan Hwang over Ryan Sherry/Frank Hohorst, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 59 and # 60 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated!

And now we go back to Cedar Grove for one last result for the day and night.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Natalia Sout over Laurie Boughton, 6-0, 6-0, to successfully defend her # 3 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Nat's Note: As always, it is a pleasure to play with Laurie. 

The Lowdown from Laurie: Now, the scores are not necessarily indicative of the quality of play! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their timely reporting.  I congratulate Natalia on a most impressive victory.  And I offer kudos to Laurie for always retaining her refreshing sense of humor!  

All in all, it was a very historic day for the league…and I thank all those who were a part of it.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

10/12 Results.

10/12/18:

"Nguyen-Haque + 1 at PAC, 10 play (1 New) at C.G.!":

GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at both The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (as reported by "TNT" Tim Nguyen) and The Cedar Grove Courts (as reported by "The Bulgarian Bull" Jordan Bachvaroff and "The Riz" John Rizzo).  We will first get the report from Tim in Nutley and then we'll get the dual recap from Jordan and John at Cedar Grove.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match!

Tim Nguyen over Muhammad Haque, 6-4, 0-6, 11-9 (STB)!  No Aces.  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, Nguyen's # 17 Rank in the Intermediate Division was no longer on the line.

Rich Liu over Tim Nguyen, 6-3!  No Aces.

Rich Liu tied with Tim Nguyen, 2-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm).  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Tim for his very timely reporting.  It is much appreciated.  He indicated others were there and he had hoped that they would report their scores, but they never did.

We now head west to Cedar Grove.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Jordan Bachvaroff/Greg Swierczek over Mike Mole/Chris Grimyser, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Chris Grimyser.

 

Jordan Bachvaroff/Greg Swierczek over Guy Dupoux/Chris Grimyser, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

Jordan Bachvaroff/Greg Swierczek over Jorge Solano/Guy Dupoux, 7-6 (7-3)!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Janice Wang over Tito Castolo/Chris Grimyser, 7-5!  No Aces. 

Ryan Pienciak/Janice Wang leading John Rizzo/Chris Grimyser, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

10/10 Results.

10/10/18:

"Wild Wed. – Team East wins, 2 New Champs and much more!":

There were four sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis on an action-packed and history-making night where the weather once again felt more like early September rather than early October.  The temps had gone down somewhat from the daytime, but the humidity was still rather high.  Still, the conditions were favorable enough that everyone seemingly came out of the woodwork to play tennis (many of them not in the GTA). 

"Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot in front of The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley only to find not only the lot quite crowded, but all four courts full (only one of them with our players…not counting "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla who had a second court, but was playing with a non-GTA guy) and a growing throng of potential players waiting outside the fence.

But before Samara could even get much further than his car, he saw "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz standing in the lot together.  They were set to face each other in a full Singles Challenge Match, but were now deciding it would be best to take their chance on the other side of the Passaic River in Lyndhurst to try to find an empty court there (thankfully, their quest was met with success).

"SWAT" Rich Liu and "Vin Diesel" Vinnie Puglisi were also in the lot, but soon made their way toward the courts together.  And "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia pulled into the lot around this time, but after hearing what was going on…I think he decided to go to Brookdale Park in Bloomfield to try his luck there instead. 

When Samara finally walked up the hill toward the bench area, he saw "The Other Edgar" Edgar Inclan and Fred "Supa Dupa" Suba waiting there along with two non-GTA guys who got there ahead of them (eventually, those other two guys invited Edgar and Fred to play some Doubles with them once two girls got off of Court Four).  Meanwhile, Puglisi joined "Ravishing" Randy Doran as he was hitting against both "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque and "Radioactive" Santosh Mangnale for a Doubles hitting session on Court Three (while Art and the other guy were on Court Two and two other guys were playing Singles on Court One).

Edgar and Fred told Frank that William was on his way for the planned EWC Singles Match against Mangnale.  Samara's frustration was building as it seemed that none of what had been planned would be possible.  So Frank decided to just remove himself from the scene entirely around 7:10/7:15.  As it turns out, that would be the wrong decision as the courts would eventually clear for the Bobila-Mangnale match as well as Liu facing Jay "The Rising" Phoenix in a match to determine the next New GTA Intermediate Champ.

Later in the evening, Samara's old flip phone started blowing up (which it may do for real one of these days!) with multiple text messages of results pouring in from all over the place!  Besides the two big matches from Nutley, Mike and Keith managed to play a full match in Lyndhurst.  "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan reported some action from the Cedar Grove Courts.  And then there was the GTA Championship Rematch between New GTA Champion: "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak and Former Champ: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro (as reported by Chris).

There is so much action to get to…that I should shut up now and just get down to it!

The Lyndhurst Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Mike Mole over Keith Lewkowitz, 6-2, 6-0!  No Aces.  This was not a rank defense for Mole as he is solely in the Advanced Division while Lewkowitz is strictly in the Intermediate Division.

The Mole Memo: We played at the courts in Renaissance County Park from 7:30 to 8:30.

The Kaptain's Commentary: Sometimes I look at losses and just walk away angry, but this one I just have to say that the better player obviously won.  And it's a loss I don't mind having at all because as a competitor I've always wanted a fair match against a solid player and Mike is obviously skilled.  I wish I'd have given him somewhat of a workout.  There is clearly a huge talent gap here, with Mike and the rest of the Cedar Grove guys being better than me by leaps and bounds.  But losing to Mike tonight, I have to say was a good experience and I couldn't have picked a nicer guy to play against…a true gentleman.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting and I also appreciate the additional details from Keith.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

EWC Singles Match (to end the series):

Santosh Mangnale over William Bobila, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-4 (STB), to earn a point for Team East and clinch the overall series victory at 7-6!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, Bobila's rank was no longer on the line.  Thus, Mangnale enters the Intermediate Division as the New # 44 Ranked Player.  Santosh: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set (to the Deuce court)!

Words from William: Sorry our team lost.  We played for almost two hours and it was a close match.  He played consistently throughout the match.  In the 1st Set, I was up 3-1 and 5-3.  I had two Set Points and blew both.  In the 2nd Set, I started off strong with a 4-1 lead, then up 5-2 and finished it at 6-3.  In the STB, it was his turn to be aggressive as he took a 4-0 lead.  I made it 2-4 and then he won the next five points to go up 9-2!  I won two more for 4-9 before he finished me off at 10-4.  My congratulations to Santosh!  My mind wants to win, but my body can't do it anymore...LOL!  I lost to a 34 year old guy!

And now it is Tim Time: Here are some more details...just wanted to fill in a little more details from the EWC Match at PAC.  I got there a little after 8pm and expected to see you (Samara) there but did not, so I asked Joe Renga and he said you were not there at the moment.  When I got there a little after 8pm, Santosh and William were nearly an hour into their match and still battling it out in the 1st Set.  The score was 6-6 and they were into their Tiebreak.  Santosh won the 1^st Set with a TB at 7-4.  I think they were both pretty tired already even just finishing the 1^st Set as they were sweating and just from seeing from their expressions, and yet they continued on to the 2^nd Set.  William won that one and, at this point, they were not going to be able to complete a full 3^rd Set…both were super tired…so the STB kicked in.  Santosh got the first point and gradually was leading William 9-3 and eventually took it at 10-4 to bring home the series for Team East.  During the STB, both Rich and I along with the other guys were watching intensely to ensure that it ran smoothly and luckily there were no close calls at all.  They finished around 9:15pm. Congrats to both players for putting in a good match!  I think they both were tired and happy it was over.  They both could then rest and the courts were then occupied with Singles hitting sessions with Alfred Chen and me on Court 3, Vinnie versus his partner on Court 2, and Rich vs. Randy on Court 1 until the lights went out at 10pm.  At certain times, Muhammad, Joe Renga and Mike Mole were also hitting. 

Samara's Notes: I thank William and Tim for their timely and very detailed reporting.  I congratulate Santosh and all of Team East on their 7-6 victory over my Team West.  It came right down to the last match and could not have been scripted any better.  And Mangnale is definitely one to watch as I predict he will soon make the jump to the Advanced Division.

GTA Intermediate Title Match:

Rich Liu over Jay Phoenix, 6-1, 6-4, to become the New GTA Intermediate Champ while also successfully defending his # 16 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Rich Recap: Jay and I played from 7:45 to around 9pm.  In the 1st Set, I was able to win quickly but then Jay got his game together for the 2nd Set.   Jay was kicking my butt for a while and leading 4-2 before I made a comeback to win it at 6-4.  Jay is a strong player who really gets into the match.  It was nice to meet Jay and I had a fun time.  Thanks to Jay for the challenging match.

Jay has his say: I agree with Rich.  He was the better player tonight.

Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely reporting.  Congratulations to Rich, the New GTA Intermediate Champ!  It is another feather in his cap for consideration as the Most Improved Player of The Year this season.

We now head west to Cedar Grove to get the report from Gen. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Kathy Sheldon/Diane Raum over Genalin Capan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 10-5 (STB)!  No Aces.  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.

 

Gen's Notes: I'm not sure about the exact time we started playing (maybe a little after 7pm and we ended the match by 8:44).  In the 1st Set, Doinks and I had the lead at 5-2. Then the momentum shifted as Kathy and Diane took the next four games to take the lead at 6-5!  We then tied it up to take us to a TB!  In the TB, Doinks and I jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  Then it went 5-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and then 7-3 to end 1st Set.

In the 2nd Set, Kat and Diane were leading at 2-0.  The rest was as follows…2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3 and 5-3 then 6-3 to level it at one set each.  Due to time constraints (as Kat needed to leave before 9pm), we decided to play a Super Tiebreaker.

We had a fun and competitive match.  There were many good rallies from the baseline and there was also some awesome net game.  Diane was a wall at the net as she put away many shots.  Kathy is the queen of super lobs and she also put away some nice forehand winners down the alley.  Doinks hit some pretty deep shots that seem to always just catch the line.  She also had some nice net plays.  Everyone played well.  Kat and Diane stepped up their game after the 1st Set.  Diane started attacking more at the net and put the pressure on our side.  Our team started making more errors as we sometimes just went for too much.  Thank you, ladies, for a fun evening of tennis!

Afterwards, as if we were not already tired enough and soaked from playing Doubles in this humidity, Doinks and I decided to play a Single One-Setter.

Doinks Srinivasan over Genalin Capan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Gen's Notes: This set lasted about 50 minutes.  We had a few multi-Deuce games.

Samara's Notes: As always, I appreciate all the detail that Gen puts in her reports…awesome job! 

We now head south for the biggest match of the night!

The Caldwell Result:

GTA Championship Rematch:

Chris Chiaro over Adam Pienciak, 6-2, 6-3, to become The New 4-Time GTA Champion!  Chris and Adam: 1 Ace each!

Samara's Notes: I thank Chris for his timely reporting and congratulate him on a fairly dominant victory to once again become the GTA Champion!  Now, with Adam being the Former Champ, Chiaro owes Pienciak the first rematch.  Once one player can muster two consecutive wins over the other one, it then opens the door for the 2018 Grove Cup Champ: "NC-17" Nick Caputo to get the next shot at the GTA Championship.  That is a tremendous triangle of talent atop the Advanced Division right now!   

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/9 Results.

10/9/18:

"Dino-Edwin part of 18 at C.G., Fernanda-Doinks at VP!":

There were two sessions of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis: the first got underway fairly early at The Cedar Grove Courts as "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis and "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega got together for a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match (as reported by Edwin).  Other contributors to this report from that session are "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "No Doubt" Thomas Lee.  And then in Verona Park, "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan got together for a full Challenge Match there as well (as reported by Fernanda).

So we first go to Edwin from Cedar Grove and then all the others from that session before shifting slightly south to Verona for the score from Fernanda. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Dino Celis over Edwin Ortega, 7-5, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 21 Rank in the Advanced Division!  Edwin: 2 Aces (one in each set)!

Edwin's Editorial: We started around 5:30 right after the Cedar Grove High School Tennis Team left the courts.  We played almost all the way through the 1st Set until the Pickle Ballers interrupted us, so we had to move to the other available courts (down the road).  It was a good match with a lot of Deuce games.  We finished around 7pm.

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for his very timely reporting…sounds like it was a very close match.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Dawn Peterson/Diane Raum, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 (STB)!  No Aces.  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line.

The Chat from Kat: On a warm, humid evening in Cedar Grove, Brenda and I played Dawn and Diane.  It felt like summer again!  Though we were dressed appropriately for the weather, we were totaled at the end of our match.  Dawn's serves were on point.  Brenda's baseline defense was superb and Diane was the lob queen of the court.  We had a great time!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kat for her very comprehensive and timely reporting, too.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Lou La Forgia over Tito Castolo/Frank Hohorst, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 57 and # 58 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for reporting that result in a very timely manner.  We now turn this report over to Thomas who always provides many details.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Thomas Lee/Vivian Lee, 6-1!  No Aces.

There's no doubting Thomas: The courts were a little slippery as I now have evidence of a nice raw swath on my right forearm from slipping on the baseline during warm-ups.  We had a lot of long rallies that ended up mostly in N and N's favor.  The moral victory highlight for Lee and Lee (no relation) came when we had a competitive rally for over 20 shots...cross-courts, lobs, volleys and drop shots!  All four players were involved with a lot of court coverage and switching positions.  The final drop shot winner along the net received an ovation from the crowd of Dawn, Brenda, and a clean-shaven Pienciak (is that Adam?).

 

Samara's Notes: I'm not sure which one of the Pienciak Brothers could be clean-shaven at this time as it has been quite a while since I have seen either one, but my guess is that it was Ryan as he shows up in the results here while Adam does not.

Kyle Eng/Thomas Lee over Scott Bergenfeld/Vivian Lee, 7-5!  No Aces. 

There's no doubting Thomas: Scott had already been playing a while before I showed up (Singles and Doubles), but he wanted to really feel the burn of being tired.  Kyle had just arrived and needed a warm-up.  I had never played with Kyle but see why he is a ranked where he is in the Intermediate Division as consistency is key and he is.  He's got game, forehand, backhand, volleys from both sides and deft touch.  The match maybe was closer because it was Kyle's first playing of the night with limited warm-up.  Scott still rips those forehands like he always does, but he seemed to be favoring his back and was a little stiff when picking up balls.

 

Samara's Notes: It is a shame Scott decided to not report his other results as he is usually quite good about that.  I even sent a follow-up message to him, but to no avail…oh, well!  As for Kyle, he is one of those players who should also be ranked in the Advanced Division at this point…but he just has not had a good opportunity to make the jump yet. 

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout leading Kyle Eng/Thomas Lee, 4-3 (Incomplete with the next game at 15-30 as the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

 

There's no doubting Thomas: N and N went up 4-0 to start the set.  K and T had a lot of mishits in those first four games, giving away points.  The next three games were just the opposite.  Kyle got more aggressive at the net to counter Nathan's play and to try to keep him back beyond the service line.  Tom was actively trying to widen the court by going back down the line on both the Deuce and Ad sides to try and pull Nathan away from the service net.  We would have loved to see where the match went with more time and lights!

 

Samara's Notes: Thomas always comes with the details and it is very much appreciated!  And now that wraps up what took place at Cedar Grove as we now go one town south to Verona for one more result for the night.

 

The Verona Park Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Fernanda Toker over Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 2 Rank in the Women's Division!  No Aces.

Toker's Take: I played Doinks at Verona Park.  We met at 7:30 and all the courts were taken.  On one of the courts there were some GTA people, so they let us warm up with them.  As we were getting ready to warm up, I realized that I didn't have my racquet with me as my daughter had used it and didn't put it back inside my bag.  Fortunately, Doinks has two racquets, so she lent me one.  Around 8:15, one court became free…so we started playing the match.  It was a good match with a lot of good points.  We played till 9:20.

Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for her very timely reporting as well…and also congratulate her on a dominant victory.  I'm not sure who those GTA people were, but I am disappointed even further in the lack of reporting.  Not much I can do about it as I do not have the time to chase everything down…especially when I don't even know who it is I should be chasing!  After enjoying a long streak of many players (seemingly all, but who truly knows) reporting, it seems we are back to a lack of care from some again.   

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/7 Results.

10/7/18:

"Doubles Titles, M-Dub Part 1 and more at C.G., Riz hosts 4 at NTC!":

There were basically two sessions of GTA Sunday Tennis, but that hardly tells the entire story.  In a season filled with rainy Sundays and broken plans, it had seemed that we finally escaped much of that mess as we moved from summer to fall.  The forecast for this Sunday had been a clear one as the week progressed…until a little bit of doubt crept into it the night before.

Saturday (the day before) did not go as predicted either as what was only supposed to be morning drizzle instead became an all-day mist (yet the GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Rematch and a session at Nutley Tennis Club carried on nonetheless).

Getting back to Sunday morning and "Hollywood" Frank Samara (as the groundskeeper of NTC) is able to successfully get all the courts there open as clay courts are better able to absorb light rain than hard courts can (it seems to be the opposite for recovering from flash downpours, however). 

As soon as Frank finished around 8:45am, he sent text messages to both "TNT" Tim Nguyen and Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton to see what the court conditions were like at The Park Ave. Courts (as Samara knew they would be trying to get their portion of the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament off to an earlier start of 9am rather than the planned 10am start for the other two portions of the event at Albion Park in Clifton and The Cedar Grove Courts).

The response from both was basically, "not good…still wet…not sure if and when we can begin."  Between all the back and forth on the text messages, it was not until 9am that Samara instructed both of them to send out an e-mail to the league that the entire M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament should be postponed until the following Sunday (the 14^th). 

Of course, all of this last-minute decision-making did not come soon enough to stop some of the players set to compete at Nutley from arriving there (some coming from far away…two of them recruited by "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and they each would have been making their official GTA Debut).  This was an unfortunate by-product of the iffy weather and the uncertainty in how to adjust to it all.

In the midst of all this, Doinks thought it best to try to soldier on up at Cedar Grove.  The GTA Doubles Championship Match was already underway up there as the GTA Doubles Champions: "NC-17" Nick Caputo and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak were putting their Titles on the line against the 2018 Monk Memorial Champs: "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia and Arunraj "Air" Nair.  The guys had spent over an hour drying and clearing one of the courts so they could still play their match there (originally planned for an 8:30am start as three of the competitors – Nick, Ryan and Arun were all also scheduled to be in the following M-Dub tourney as well).

Plus, "The Riz" John Rizzo was also on his way toward Cedar Grove to assist Doinks in the running of the tourney there.  It is at this time that I should thank the two of them as there was so much behind the scenes calls, texts and e-mails going on all of Saturday and deep into the evening to recruit more players for this tourney.

Initially, we had a problem of having too many men and not enough women.  So Doinks reached out to women that she plays with in other groups/leagues to get some to come on board for this tournament.  John also rustled up another two via Nick (his wife and her friend).  The problem then shifted to having too many women and not enough men (now there's a night club scenario that I would love to see!) which led to Rizzo reaching out to male players in the league.

Meanwhile, I was directing traffic shifting players from location to location to try to even out all the numbers accordingly (two that were the most flexible…pretty much down for anything that came their way were "SWAT" Rich Liu and "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli…so I thank them, too!).  By the end of the night, we finally had all the numbers evened up everywhere (16 players forming eight teams at Cedar Grove, eight players forming four teams at Nutley and another eight players forming four teams in Clifton).

And then Mother Nature decided to rear her ugly head once more to further mess with our season and that is what led to the debacle that unfolded early Sunday morning.  While handing out my "thank you" notes, I would be remiss to not include Tim and Laurie as well as they did what they could to try to handle the situation there.

So, we completely shut down the M-Dub at Nutley and Clifton.  Some players set to compete at Cedar Grove decided not to play due to the fear of wet/slick courts…and I do not blame them.  Thus, what would have been an eight-team section of the tourney there instead turned into a six-team format (more on that later).

Gratitude must also be paid to all the crew up at Cedar Grove who managed to clear and dry two (maybe it was three?) of the courts.  Doinks recognized, in particular, Frank Hohorst who came equipped with a leaf blower to dry the courts quicker.  I have called him "Hydro" all along, but this time he was just the opposite!  I've never been a big fan of that moniker anyway, so now we will call him "The Heater!"

Beyond the tourney, there was further action at Cedar Grove as reported by "The Roz" Jeff Rozner, "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld and "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues.  And then The Riz did double-duty (he did a whole lot of duty this weekend…LOL!) as he later went to NTC to host another session there.

But before we get to the M-Dub, we first must get that GTA Championship Match result from Ryan.

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Doubles Championship Match:

Nick Caputo/Ryan Pienciak over Edgar Valencia/Arunraj Nair, 6-0, 6-0, to complete their fifth successful GTA Doubles Championship defense of their first reign!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Wow!  Such dominance!  When I replied to Ryan that it was "quick and painless," he reminded me of the hour's worth of hard work that took place before the match to clear and dry one of the courts…just to make the match possible!  Again, we thank the guys for that.

The Consequences: Now that Caputo/Pienciak have beaten the 2018 M2 Champs (Chiaro/Fernandes) and the 2018 Monk Memorial Champs (Valencia/Nair), they are now free to defend their Titles against any team ranked in the Doubles Division (if an unranked team were to beat them in a full 2 out of 3 Sets Non-Title Match, that team would become the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division and next Top Contenders). 

It should also be noted, however, that since this was their title defense in the month of October…that they are not obligated to do so again until April of 2019.  But maybe they will succumb to the spirit of competition and good sportsmanship and take a challenge before then.  That is entirely up to them. 

And now let's get to how Part One of the M-Dub unfolded.  It was Mr. Rizzo who detailed the process that took place in Cedar Grove, so we turn this report over to him now (in his words).

I arrived by 9:45 and three courts were wet (one was in use and was semi-dry).  Several of us worked to dry the courts for 45 minutes.  By 10:30 we took a vote on to play or cancel and it was 5-1 to go on with it (the ladies voted). 

The lone dissenter agreed to then play if she could have the driest court.  We wanted to ensure that everyone felt safe and comfortable playing before proceeding.  After another 15 minutes of cleaning the courts, players started warming up and the tournament began around 11am.  The choosing of partners then began blind lottery-style.

First, Doinks Srinivasan picked Justin DeJoseph.  Next, Brenda Jordan picked Ryan Pienciak.  Then, Dawn Peterson picked Nick Caputo.  Next, Diane Raum picked Frank Hohorst.  Then, Nicole Caputo picked Adam Pienciak.  And finally, Emily Bock got Tom Heidt.

 

Since we had six teams, we decided to do a One-Set Eliminator Round so that everyone would have a chance to play in the First Round.  The closest losing set score would be the 4th team ("The Lucky Losers") advancing to the next round which would then be 2 out of 3 Sets.

 

Sixth Seed versus Top Seed, One-Set Eliminator for the M-Dub:

Tom Heidt/Emily Bock over Justin DeJoseph/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of both Emily Bock and Justin DeJoseph.

 

Fifth Seed versus Second Seed, One-Set Eliminator for the M-Dub:

Adam Pienciak/Nicole Caputo over Ryan Pienciak/Brenda Jordan, 6-4!  No Aces.  This close loss enabled R. Pienciak/Jordan to also advance as the Lucky Losers.

 

Third Seed versus Fourth Seed, One-Set Eliminator for the M-Dub:

Nick Caputo/Dawn Peterson over Frank Hohorst/Diane Raum, 6-2!  No Aces.

 

At this point (and thinking on the fly), we put the highest winning seeded lady's team versus the "Lucky Losers" in one Semi, and the other two winners faced off in the other Semi.  There may have been a better way to do it, but this made the most sense (at least to me at the time).

 

M-Dub Part One Semifinal:

Nick Caputo/Dawn Peterson over Ryan Pienciak/Brenda Jordan, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 10-3 (STB), as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division while Caputo/Peterson advanced to the M-Dub Part One Finals (still TBD as to where this places them in the overall M-Dub Tournament)!  No Aces. 

 

The Riz Report: Nick and Dawn were up 5-3 in the 2nd Set and Nick served for the match at 5-4 only to be broken!  The first Tiebreak was somewhat sloppy for Nick/Dawn' but they were on fire in the STB!

 

M-Dub Part One Semifinal:

Adam Pienciak/Nicole Caputo over Tom Heidt/Emily Bock, 6-2, 6-0, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division while A. Pienciak/Caputo advanced to the M-Dub Part One Finals (still TBD as to where this places them in the overall M-Dub Tournament)!  No Aces.

 

The Riz Report: This match was (cue the much overused phrase) "closer than the score indicates" with many good rallies.  Emily is a friend of Nicole's who, like Nicole, is also coming off a 20 year layoff from tennis and played really well. 

 

I believe the 12 people who played all had a good time.  And for the ladies that did not make today, they can always play again next weekend. 

Samara's Notes: I truly thank John for all his hard work organizing the format and then reporting it all in such a timely and comprehensive manner.  One thing that he left out is the fact that after that One-Set Eliminator Round, he reached me to ask if those players eliminated after just one set of action could somehow return for the resumption of the tournament the following week. 

Under normal circumstances, I would have declined this request…but these were not normal circumstances!  So I agreed…besides we will likely need them to fill out the rest of the tourney if we are to try to even this up in three more locations (hoping for six teams in each place…thus, a total of 18 teams…and that means 18 men and 18 women…no small feat!). 

Let's now get the rest of the action that took place up at Cedar Grove…a combined report courtesy of Jeff, Scott and Joe.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jeff Rozner/Louise Bysiek, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Gist from Jeff: We played again against Nate and Natalia, this time in a One-Setter.  We did much better this time (lost 6-1 instead of 6-0, 6-0!).  We wanted to play ANYONE ELSE who was still at Cedar Grove after the tournament matches ended, but they were all too tired leaving us with the impossible choice of Nate and Natalia. 

Scott Bergenfeld over Dennis Cabanatan, 6-4!  Scott: 1 Ace.

The Skinny from Scott: Then, Joe Rodrigues and Dino Celis rolled up to the courts.  So, we decided to play a Doubles One-Setter.

Dino Celis/Dennis Cabanatan over Scott Bergenfeld/Joe Rodrigues, 7-5!  No Aces.

The Skinny from Scott: By that time, Rafaelo Kazakov had arrived…so we rotated around.

Scott Bergenfeld/Joe Rodrigues over Dennis Cabanatan/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-1!  Scott: 2 Aces on Rafaelo! 

The Skinny from Scott: That was the extent of the action at Cedar Grove.  It was very humid and we were all soaked by 8:30pm!

Samara's Notes: I thank Scott for his timely and comprehensive reporting.  Joe also reported the same. 

We now go to Nutley and turn the rest of this report over to The Riz.

The NTC Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Dan Hwang/Kyle Eng over John Rizzo/Alfred Chen, 6-1, 6-0, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 53 and # 54 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match: 

Kyle Eng/Alfred Chen over Dan Hwang/John Rizzo, 6-2, 6-2, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 55 and # 56 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

 

The Riz Report: Unfortunately, I did not have much left to offer during this session (having played much tennis the night before and much involvement in structuring the tourney earlier in the day).

Samara's Notes: Again, I thank John for all his hard work as well as his timely reporting.  It is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

10/6 Results.

10/6/18:

"GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Rematch at C.G.!":

Due to the unexpectedly wet weather that carried on (on and off, to be accurate...but mostly on) throughout the day on Saturday, there was only one session (one match, actually) at Cedar Grove in the afternoon as the New GTA Doubles Champions: "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and Laura "The Aura" Gawley put their Titles on the line against the Former Champs: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay.  A little rain cannot scare away true tennis warriors, Champs and Former Champs alike!  So let's go to the brief report from Laura now!

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Mixed Doubles Championship Rematch:
Chris Chiaro/Laura Gawley over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-2, 6-2, to complete their first successful GTA Mixed Doubles Championship defense of their first reign!  Chris: 3 Aces (2 on Marijus and 1 on Sally)!

The Lowdown from Laura: We played from 2:30-3:35.  We were lucky to get the match in as there was a steady mist throughout the match!  They are always a lot of fun to play.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Laura for her very timely reporting.  I also congratulate her along with Chris on a very dominant victory (and Marijus is the usual "Ace machine," not Chris!).  The Chiaro/Gawley tandem is going to be mighty difficult to knock off the top of the mountain of the Mixed Doubles Division, that's for sure!

Sincerely,

Frank Samara