10/19 Results.

10/19/17:

"Kuzavas-Mole part of 20 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Thursday Night Tennis and it was at The Cedar Grove Courts and featured a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas and "Del Brotro" Mike Mole (as reported by both and Marijus reported some additional results as well) along with "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan acting as host and a still-recovering "GDP" Guy Dupoux returning to the courts and providing some additional scores and commentary.

We will first get detail the Main Event and then turn the report over to Kris (along with the additional info from Guy along the way).

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Marijus Kuzavas over Mike Mole, 6-1, 6-4, to successfully defend his # 7 Rank in the Advanced Division!  No Aces.

The Super Mario Memo: The 1st Set went 2-0, 2-1 and then to 6-1.  The 2nd Set went to 3-1, then Mike went up 4-3 and then I went up 6-4.  It was a good match.  We played from about 7pm to 8:20.  In the 1st Set, Mike made some unforced errors on short balls.  This gave me an edge.  In the 2nd Set, I was up 3-1 when Mike mounted a three game streak and went up 4-3.  During this streak, he made some fantastic winners and made no unforced errors.  I had to adjust a bit to get back and finish the match.

The Mole Memo: We played from 7pm to 8:20.  We had a little hitting session and then play a full Challenge Match.  We had great rallies.  The 2nd Set was better, a little more intense.  Marijus had great serves and his forehand was on!

The K has his say: Mike was playing really well when I arrived.  That must have been in the 2nd Set as after leading 4-3, he faltered a bit to lose the balance of it.

Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for sending this result in a very timely manner along with their commentary (as well as the thoughts of Kris).  We now grab a few more results from Marijus.

After the match with Mike, I was involved in the following One-Setter and Sally was in a couple of others along the way.

Ryan Pienciak/Mike Mole over Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay, 6-4!  Marijus: 1 Ace on Mike; and Sally: 1 Ace on Mike!

Sally Pillay/Kathy Sheldon over Brenda Jordan/Dawn Peterson, 6-3!  No Aces.

Sally Pillay/Brenda Jordan over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for reporting those additional results.  We now let The Big K take it away!

It was a busy night of GTA action even though I was a late show.  All the courts were occupied with three Doubles One-Setters and the Singles Match going on as I got to the courts.  I hope any missing results are reported by our folks.

Levy Lorenzo/Don Moya over Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-2!  Kris: 1 Ace on Don!

Don Moya/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Levy Lorenzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

Arthur Fontanilla/Frank Hohorst leading Janice Wang/Louise Bysiek, 7-6 (Incomplete as they lost track of the score, didn't play a Tiebreak and so it seemingly ended on a confused note)!  No Aces (apparently).

Samara's Notes: We now cut away from Kris for a bit to grab a couple results from Guy.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Guy Dupoux over Jorge Solano/Chris Lehmann, 6-0!  Guy: 2 Aces (one on each)!

The Gist from Guy: Jordan served very well and hit some really nice shots.  He was a consistent partner.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Guy Dupoux over Mike Mole/Kris Srinivasan, 6-2, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 99 and # 100 Ranked Teams respectively!  Guy: 3 Aces (2 on Kris and 1 on Mike); and Mike: 1 on Guy!

The Gist from Guy: In the 1st Set, we were down 0-2.  Ryan and I looked at each other and thought "oh boy, we are screwed," but rallied to take the next six games.  Ryan served very well and was consistent.  Kris made some nice shots.  I will try to get to the courts at least two times during the week.  I miss you guys.

The K has his say: We dropped our game after starting off well.  Guy was serving great when it was on. Mole served and hit very well to give us a decent chance, but he got absolutely little help from his partner.  Ryan was steadfast and great at the net with some volleys.

Samara's Notes: I thank Guy for reporting directly and we have missed him as well.  It is good to see how quickly he has recovered from such a serious car accident.  We now go back to Kris for the balance of this report.

Jorge Solano/Frank Hohorst over Janice Wang/Louise Bysiek, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Barbieri/Doinks Srinivasan over Frank Hohorst/Louise Bysiek, 6-2!  No Aces.

It was good to see our players in action right through the night even as the temperature did drop a bit by the end of our session.  Cheers!

Samara's Notes: As always, thanks to Kris for being "the host with the most" at Cedar Grove…especially in the midst of him and his family celebrating Diwali.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/18 Results

10/18/17:

"Mole-Shiao at HP, Samara hosts 21 (1 new) at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Tennis: one was in the afternoon at Holster Park in Clifton and it featured the full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and Tony "Sure Shot" Shiao (as reported by both) and the other was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "Hollywood" Frank Samara acting as host.

Before we detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove, let's first get the dual report of the match that occurred at Holster Park.

Holster Park Result:

Tony Shiao over Mike Mole, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 12 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division!  Mike: 1 Ace on a second serve that kicked off the T!

The Sure Shot from Shiao: Mike and I met up at Holster Park around 3:30.  We had a good amount of time to play, so we agreed to play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match.  The match was intense with Mike hitting many forehand winners and we also had to deal with the sun glare that was blinding on one side of the court.  Mike was on point with those forehand winners upon returning my short balls.  We both made a few unforced errors, but we also had many hard hitting rallies.  The momentum shifted in the 2nd Set as Mike was on fire.  Into the 3rd Set, Mike was leading 4-1…but I was able to rally from behind and attack his backhand to level it out to force a Tiebreak.  We plan to play a rematch in the next week or so!

The Mole Memo: We played from 3:20 to 5pm.  We had a little hitting session and decided to play a full Challenge Match.  It was a great rematch with almost the same score as last time.  His forehand was on today as he hit many great winners during many long rallies.

Samara's Notes: I thank both of them for sending this result in a very timely manner along with their commentary.  I congratulate Tony on a hard-fought victory.  This may have a shot at being a Nominee for Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

And now we recap all the comings and goings at Cedar Grove.

Samara had originally announced to the league that he hoped to get up there to host by 7pm.  During the day, "The Riz" John Rizzo informed Frank that he would also get to Cedar Grove around that time.

At 6:45, Samara sent Rizzo a text message to let him know that he was running late and would arrive closer to 7:30.  Upon John's arrival at 7pm, he sent a reply to Frank stating that he did not recognize any of the players out on the courts.

By the time Samara rolled into the parking lot at 7:25, The Riz had found some familiar and friendly faces as he was already in the midst of a Doubles One-Setter out on Court Two where he was teaming with "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas (who he met for the first time) against the all-too-familiar "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and a player that was new to the league (more on him a little later).  Sitting on the sidelines of the court was "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales.

On Court One, a Doubles One-Setter was just getting underway and it featured the GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes teaming with "JB Smooth" Justin Berardo to take on "Swinging" Syed Rashid and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst.

On Court Three, "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay was having a Singles Match against a non-GTA player.  And on Court Four was the Doubles One-Setter that had started before all others as Tito "The Titan" Castolo was paired with "The Sin Man" Mike Sindler as they faced "Instant" Moka Pathan and "Sue B. Newbie" Suzanne Bujara.

At 7:30, usual Cedar Grove host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan made his way across the street to survey the situation.  He would end up getting into official action at 7:45.

Five minutes after that, his wife "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan also made her way across the street. 

And then at 7:55, just as Erdem and his friend were leaving Court Three, "The Art Font" Arthur Fontanilla arrived and made his way out onto that very same court to get into a hitting session with Castolo and Pathan.  Soon after, Samara made it a foursome for some Doubles action.

From 8pm to 8:05, the flood gates opened with the arrivals of players looking to get out onto the courts: Dino "The Dragon" Celis, Dennis "The Menace" Cabanatan, Natalia "Nitro" Sout and "The Levitator" Levy Lorenzo.  These four were soon invited into action on Courts One and Two.

We ended up with an impressive total of 21 official competitors throughout the session and that does not include "Lady B" Louise Bysiek who arrived at 9:35 and was only able to make an extended cameo appearance as everyone was still in action and there were no openings for her.

Let's get to the action!

The Cedar Grove Results:

Tito Castolo/Mike Sindler over Moka Pathan/Suzanne Bujara, 6-4!  Tito: 1 Ace on Suzanne.  This was played on Court Four from 7:15 to 7:44.

John Rizzo/Fadia Nicolas over Dan Martinelli/Mostafa Hussaini, 6-1!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Mostafa Hussaini.  This was contested on Court Two from 7:17 to 7:37.

Samara's Notes: I had the chance to meet Mostafa afterwards and he is a nice guy.  He seemed to like the idea of the league.  I will give him the moniker of "Mo" for now (short for Mostafa).

Nathan Fernandes/Justin Berardo over Syed Rashid/Frank Hohorst, 6-3!  No Aces.  They got this one done on Court One as its duration was from 7:27 to 8:05.

Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo over Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  Jose: 1 Ace on Fadia.  This was conducted on Court Two from 7:45 to 8:17.

Mike Sindler/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Martinelli/Suzanne Bujara, 6-0!  No Aces.  This foursome faced off on Court Four from 7:55 to 8:11.

Tito Castolo/Arthur Fontanilla over Moka Pathan/Frank Samara, 6-3!  Moka: 1 Ace on Arthur.  It went like this: Frank was broken (Art hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-15, it shifted to 30-15, then shifted again to Break Point right after Tito hit a drop shot winner and then Art hit a drop shot winner for the break), Tito was broken (15-Love shifted to 15-30 right after Moka made an incredible get/winner combo, but then it shifted to Game Point as Art hit two consecutive and emphatic Backhand Volley winners, but then he blew a volley for Deuce only to have Frank also blow a volley to make it Game Point again which was where Frank redeemed himself with his patented Windmill Overhead Smash which was a winner to bring it to 2^nd Deuce and then it went to Break Point where Frank hit a mishit volley winner for the break), but Moka was the first to hold serve (Frank hit a winner to make it 30-Love, it then shifted to 30-All where Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash to set up Game Point and then came the hold) for 2-1.  Arthur held as well (Love-30 shifted straight thru Game Point and to the hold…no winners in this game) and then Samara was broken again (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break…also no winners in this game) to lose the lead for his team at 2-3.  Castolo then held (Tito hit a passing shot winner for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30 right after Moka hit a blistering return winner, but then it shifted again to Game Point which was where Frank blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold) to increase his team's lead to 4-2, but Pathan held again (15-Love, 15-All where Frank hit another winning Windmill Overhead Smash for 30-15 where a Double Fault then made it 30-All, then came Game Point, Deuce where a truly un-returnable serve set up another Game Point which was where Moka scored with a well-executed sideline Ace against Art for the hold) to pull to 3-4.  But from there, Fontanilla also held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as Tito hit his signature drop shot which was not a winner but sufficiently ended the point and then Art hit a passing shot winner, but then Tito blew an overhead attempt to make it 30-All which was where Frank did the same damn thing to set up Game Point and then came the hold) and then Hollywood was broken for the third straight time (un-returned serve for 15-Love, it shifted to 15-30, then 30-All where Tito hit a winning return to set up Break/Match Point where another un-returned serve brought it to Deuce only to have Tito hit another winning return to set up the 2^nd Break/Match Point where Art artfully executed an awesome Backhand Volley winner that served to be the executioner of the match)!  We played this on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:43.

The Skinny: All four players were hot and cold throughout the contest, but Tito and Art just were armed with more artillery and greater firepower.  Moka was making some amazing gets, but he paid the price along the way as a little beyond midway through the set he felt he pulled a muscle in his groin area.  He valiantly fought until the end, but his mobility was somewhat limited from there forward.  Frank had some impressive moments, but never brought enough on his services and that was why he was broken in a natural hat trick (yes, the NHL is back in action, peeps).  After this one, all but Frank called it a night!

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Syed Rashid/Justin Berardo, 7-5!  Justin: 1 Ace on Frank (I overhead Justin calling it a cheap one, but as Frank so willingly reported it…he also said "an Ace is an Ace" and that is the truth)!  This one took place on Court Four and lasted from 8:15 to 9:10!

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Levy Lorenzo/Dennis Cabanatan over Dan Martinelli/Dino Celis, 6-2, 6-4, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 97 and # 98 Ranked Teams respectively!  Spin: 1 Ace on Levy in the 1^st Set.  Court One hosted this one from 8:20 to 9:22.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3, 6-0, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Srinivasan/Nicolas entered the division as the New # 52 Ranked Team.  No Aces.  These two teams got this one underway on Court Two at exactly 8:26, but I'm not sure when it was finished.  They then shifted over to Court One for a follow-up One-Setter which we will get to later in the report.

Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo over Frank Samara/Mike Sindler, 6-1!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (back-to-back un-returned serves for 30-Love, 30-15 and another un-returned serve for Double Game Point, Game Point where Jose hit a winner to bring it to Deuce, but then Jose blew a volley for Game Point and then blew a drop shot attempt to allow the hold), John held (Frank blew a volley for 15-Love, it then went to 30-Love where Frank hit a winning volley followed by Jose blowing another volley to make it 30-All, then came Game Point where Jose hit a well-placed drop shot volley winner to secure his partner's hold), but Mike was the first to be broken (Frank blew a volley for Love-15, then it was Love-30 where Mike made a great get that led to winning the point for 15-30, a Double Fault to make it Double Break Point where Mike blew a volley to break himself) for 1-3.  Jose held (John hit a drop shot winner for 15-Love, then 30-Love, 30-15 where Jose hit an excellent passing shot winner to set up Double Game Point and then came the hold) and then Samara was broken (Frank hit a winning Overhead Smash and then hit a winning lob for 30-Love, but then it shifted to Break Point as John hit an emphatic Overhead Smash winner and Jose hit a drop shot winner along the way and then came the break) to fall to 1-4.  Rizzo held again (15-Love then point for point to Game Point as John blew a volley and Frank made a great get along the way and then it went to Deuce, Break Point where the best rally of the match ended with a winner from John as he sent his shot deep into the corner where the opposition could not get to it and that set up the 2^nd Deuce, then came Game Point where Jose hit a winner of his own to once again lock down his partner's hold) and then Sindler was broken again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 as an un-returned serve was followed by a winner from Mike along the way, it was then 30-All where Jose made a great get that ended up becoming a net-cord-aided winner just out of a helpless Frank's reach and that set up Break/Match Point where Jose scored again…this time with a well-executed passing shot winner for the break) to suffer a somewhat lopsided loss.  We played this one on Court Three from 8:50 to 9:21.

The Skinny: Samara's serve improved in this one (after his previous One-Setter), but it was still not enough to overcome the fairly consistent onslaught from the opposition.  Sindler had grown somewhat cold having sat on the sidelines for so long and he seemingly never warmed up enough to recapture his previous rhythm.  After this one, both Jose and John left the session.

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Syed Rashid/Suzanne Bujara, 6-1!  No Aces.  These four players faced off on Court Four from 9:15 to 9:50.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout leading Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas, 4-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…not sure when this one had begun on Court One)!  No Aces.

Levy Lorenzo/Mike Sindler leading Frank Samara/Dino Celis, 5-4 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm…we got it underway on Court Three at 9:30)!  Dino: 1 Ace on Levy.  Here is the slightly condensed breakdown as I only noted the winners in the first game due to time constraints: Dino was broken (got up 15-Love only to then go straight thru Double Break Point to the break as Levy hit an excellent lob winner and Frank blew a volley along the way) and Mike held serve (started off with a Double Fault, it then shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) for a 2-0 lead.  Frank held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold) and Levy was broken (Love-30 shifted to 30-All, Break Point and the break) to level matters at 2-2.  Celis held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and then the hold), but Sindler held again (Love-15 then shifted to 30-15, it then went to 30-All, Game Point and the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3.  Samara was broken (15-Love went straight to Double Break Point, then came Break Point and the break) while Lorenzo held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to put his team up 5-3.  The Dragon held again (Love-15, 15-All, a sideline Ace against Levy for 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) to pull to 4-5 and then the lights went out just after we took that game. 

The Skinny: Dino's mobility continues to improve from the knee surgery he had earlier this season.  Still, he is at least a step slower than he had been in the past which forces him to do more with accurate shot-making (which he often does, but one can only do so much).  The level of Mike's play improved in this one while we still got more of the same hot and cold bag from Frank.  The true MVP of this battle was Levy who not only made several great gets, but also often controlled the momentum of the points and likely hit the most winners overall (with Dino being a close second).

All in all, it was a fun and exciting session of GTA Tennis up at Cedar Grove.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/17 Results.

10/17/17:

"M-Dub Final part of 17 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis and it was at The Cedar Grove Courts as "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan hosted along with his wife "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan who also was teaming with "The Hit Man" Tom La to take on "Richie" Rich Liu and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon in the conclusion of the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament Final which had been started this past Sunday. GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and Natalia "Nitro" Sout also submitted results.   

So we first get the Main Event result from Doinks, then we will go to Kris and Nate before going back to Doinks for a couple more scores.

The Cedar Grove Results:

M-Dub Final Match:

Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 6-2, to become the 2017 M-Dub Champs, the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division and the next Top Contenders!  In the process, La/Srinivasan entered the division as the New # 51 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

The Details from Doinks: Kathy was the MVP as she was playing very consistently.

The Consequences: Liu/Sheldon is now the team to get the next shot at the reigning GTA Mixed Doubles Champions: Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay.

Samara's Notes: First, I want to thank Doinks for submitting this result in such a timely manner (Kris sent it in as well).  The match had been stopped on Sunday with Rich and Kathy leading in the 1^st Set, 4-3, when Tom sustained a calf cramp injury.  I again thank Rich and Kathy for agreeing to play the match to its full and proper conclusion.  Now that they have won it, I am sure they find it to be much more satisfying this way…and I congratulate them on an impressive victory.

We will get a couple more scores from Doinks later in this report, but now let's go to Kris. 

Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Chris Barbieri, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Kris Srinivasan over Ryan Pienciak/Chris Barbieri, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Chris Barbieri over Ryan Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan, 6-1!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Chris Barbieri over Ryan Pienciak/Edwin Ortega, 6-3!  Ryan: 1 Ace on Barbieri!

Ryan Pienciak/Chris Chiaro over Kris Srinivasan/Chris Barbieri, 6-1!  No Aces.

The K has his say: It was chilly and I probably would have done much better if I had thawed out completely. 

Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Jordan Bachvaroff/Edwin Ortega, 6-4!  Jordan: 2 Aces on Louise. 

Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Edgar Valencia/Fadia Nicolas, 6-3!  No Aces.

Edgar Valencia/Natalia Sout over Mike Mole/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  No Aces.

Rich Liu/Doinks Srinivasan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  No Aces.

Rich Liu/Doinks Srinivasan tied with Jordan Bachvaroff/Laurie Boughton, 5-5 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank everyone for their contributions to this report.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/16 Results.

10/16/17:

"Only Ortega-Phoenix at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it was at The Cedar Grove Courts, but only one 2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match between "Salsa Picante" Edwin Ortega and Jay "The Rising" Phoenix (as reported by Edwin).  Usual host "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan reported seeing them out on the courts, but did not know if anything else took place there.

"Dominant" Dawn Peterson reported being there around 6:30 and seeing no sign of The Pickle Ballers even though they were supposed to be there.  Perhaps the cold and windy conditions blew them away (I guess they don't want to get their pickles frozen…LOL!).  Dawn, however, had no results to report.

And it also seems that, perhaps, the sudden chill put other GTA competitors on ice as well.

So we now turn this report over to Edwin.

The Cedar Grove Result:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Edwin Ortega over Jay Phoenix, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, to successfully defend both his # 14 Rank in the Advanced Division and his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  Edwin: 1 Ace in the 3rd Set.

The Salsa Scoop: Jay and I played a full match this night.  We started around 4:55 and ended around 6:40.  I took the 1st and 3rd Sets and Jay won the 2nd.  The 1st Set was competitive and ended with me taking it at 6-4.  The 2nd was a little lopsided up to a point where I was up 3-0.  Jay then decided to make it difficult for me where he climbed back to make it 5-5.  He then took the next two games to wind the set and level the match.  Jay continued his streak into the 3rd Set where he held at Love for 4-0!  However, I managed to do what he did and then won the next six games to win the set and the match)!

Samara's Notes: I thank Edwin for reporting this result in such a timely manner.  It sounds like it was quite the match and a possible Nominee for Intermediate Singles Match of The Year at season's end.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/15 Results.

10/15/17:

"7-Team M-Dub part of 22 at C.G., Riz hosts 4 at NTC!":

Last year, the annual M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 9th...but then that date became a rainout and it had to be moved to the 16th.  Well, this season circumstances followed suit as this tourney was originally scheduled for October 8th but another rainout caused it to be bounced to the 15th.

Mother Nature toyed with us a bit as the day started off gray, foggy and misty.  It started getting so misty, in fact, that we almost doubted the ability to conduct the tournament as the courts grew slicker and slicker.  Finally, the sun smiled upon this event around 10:45 and it ended up becoming an absolutely beautiful day as the peak temperature would eventually inch past 80 degrees and it felt more like mid-August than mid-October.  And as you will soon see, the tourney played out in an equally satisfying manner.

The one thing that must be said, however, is it ended up being only a 7-Team/14-Player tourney rather than the 8-Team/16-Player event it has been for most recent seasons.  The good news is that all the competitors who registered for the tournament did in fact show up...and most of them on time.  We are jumping a bit ahead...so let's fall back a little.

The GTA Sunday Tennis session started coming together right around 10am at The Cedar Grove Courts as planned once host and tournament organizer "Hollywood" Frank Samara pulled into the parking lot exactly one minute past that time.  "The Riz" John Rizzo had sent him a text message earlier stating he was already on his way up there.

Sure enough, Rizzo was already there as well as other competitors who were out on the courts hitting and getting ready.  "The Hit Man" Tom La was on the bench next to The Riz and had the nerve to say that Samara was late.  Frank's fast retort was that it was only by a minute...it seemed that his infamous "2:07" moment from 2010 was about to be revived as the "10:01" outburst of 2017, but a cooler head prevailed. 

As already alluded to, the featured event of the day was the M-Dub Mixed Doubles Tournament.  Usually, I like to first examine the timing of the entrances.  But this time around, I am going to skip all that to instead discuss the unusual format when we have seven teams rather than the ideal eight. 

With eight men in attendance, but only seven women...we could not have eight teams.  Samara made things easy by withdrawing from participating in the tournament.  So now we had seven and seven (quite the drink, by the way...LOL!) and that meant no other guys would be left out of the event for not having been picked by a lady.

Samara then wrote the names of the participating men onto ticket stubs as it would be the ladies drawing them from a bag in a manner that would befit a Sadie Hawkins dance (most of you young folk don't remember those) with the highest-ranked woman picking first and then working our way down the ranks from there.  The lowest-ranked lady would then get whichever guy's ticket remained in the bag.

"The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan was the highest ranked woman, so she chose first.  Her raffle ticket read "Tom" which meant she would be teaming with Tom La...a formidable team!

"C.A.T." Christine Toth was next highest, so she picked next and pulled out a ticket with "Abhi" on it and that was short for "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi.

"Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, now the third highest ranked woman, reached in next.  Her raffle ticket read "Rich" which meant she'd be teaming with "Richie" Rich Liu.   

The next highest ranked woman in the draw, "Fabulous" Fadia Nicolas, was next to choose and she pulled the "Mel" ticket out of the bag...which meant she'd be teaming with "The Mel Man" Melvin Hyman.

"The Olympian" Marie Salamon was the next lady to approach the bag and she produced the "Johb" ticket from the bag meaning she got Rizzo.  Both were quite pleased with this situation as they have known each other for quite some time.

"Lady B" Louise Bysiek was next up and she drew the "Kris" ticket, as in Kris Srinivasan.  She would be the last one to pick...but not the last lady left to compete.

That lady would be Tula "Grace" Savickas who would have to team with the man whose ticket was left behind in the bag.  And guess what...it was her husband Horst "Power" Savickas!  Together, they are "Power and Grace" (see what I did there).  But Tula truly does have Grace...and not just a little bit like Elaine Benes (character from "Seinfeld").  Then again, it has been said that you can never have too much grace...nor too little.  You either have it or you don't...LOL!

Anyway, in a 7-Team format, we would have six teams take place in a First Round/One-Set Eliminator situation while a "Lucky 7th" team would sit it out and have a bye into the Second Round (also a One-Set Eliminator round).

So with all the men's tickets back in the bag, Samara walked over to Rizzo and told him to pick a ticket out of the bag...just so everyone could see it was truly at random (i.e. everything was on the up and up).  This was the time when the "Horst" ticket would finally be pulled from the bag!  So that meant Horst and Tula (perhaps already at an advantage as the one team with actual teamwork experience together) would be the fresh team coming into the Second Round (they did take Court Two, aka Leaf Court, to warm up and hit against one another for about fifteen minutes as the First Round unfolded).

As for the match-ups, they were done as they would be in any typical tournament format.  The team that was captained by the # 1 Seed (on the women's side) in the draw would face the one helmed by the # 6 Seed.  And from there, the # 2 Seed's team would face the # 5 Seed's team and then the # 3 Seed's team versus the # 4 Seed's team.

The three winning teams would then advance to the Second Round with Team Savickas coming in to face the team that won by the slimmest margin while the other two teams would face each other.

And after two winning teams would emerge from that round, we would then be able to have our Final Match which would have to be a full 2 out of 3 Sets (no 10-Point Super Tiebreak option in a Tournament Final Match). 

This format led to the following M-Dub First Round Matches:

Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan vs. Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth vs. John Rizzo/Marie Salamon
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon vs. Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas

There was no rhyme or reason as to which match-ups occupied which courts.  It was pretty much a free for all.  Rizzo said he was unwilling to play on Court Four as earlier in the session, Kris had not only brought out a broom and giant squeegee to clear a puddle off of that court...he then also brought out a very tall Chair Umpire's Chair to be aligned with the net on Court Four...the way it is done in the pro leagues.  John did not find favor with the towering monstrosity. 

The idea was for Samara to sit atop that high perch, but he was also not a fan...not because of a fear of heights...but rather he was bothered by bees...bunches and bunches of bees!  The bees were not bee-having on this day as the wacky weather had them going bonkers!  Their favorite target for most of the session was Kathy (maybe we should call her "Honey"...LOL!), second favorite was Doinks and third favorite was Frank.

Even though bees are on the endangered list, Samara was forced to kill two of them that got in his face (one with multiple swings of the tennis racquet as the bee actually went through the spaces in between the strings the first couple of swings and then the other with a knockout punch followed by a deathblow stomp!).

But I digress...back to the tourney.  Two of the three matches (the ones on Courts One and Four) would begin exactly at 10:36, but the battle on Court Three did not get started until 10:38.

And the 14 players involved (not counting Frank) would not be the only GTA stars making the scene.

"The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak arrived at 10:50 and soon entered into a hitting session with Horst on Court Two.  After one of the First Round One-Setters ended (the one on Court One), Ryan shifted over to that court and paired with Marie in hitting against both Mr. and Mrs. Savickas.

GTA Champion: "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes was next to attend the session at 11:15.  Five minutes later, Dino "The Dragon" Celis did the same. 

"The Rogue" Rob Gawley made a brief cameo appearance at 11:25 to see how the tourney was progressing.  He was quite disappointed to see Samara refusing to go sky high in the Chair Umpire's Chair (Kris, Kat and Spin would later take turns climbing to the top of it and only The K Man stayed up there for any length of time).  Soon, Rowdy Rob (aka Squash Boy) drove off on his motorcycle like the natural-born rebel that he is.

"The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli and "Bravo" Brenda Jordan all arrived at or around 12:50.  Ralph was hoping to play some Singles, but the strong turnout and nature of the day's events would not allow it.  Mr. Bernard wondered aloud what he would have to do to move up in the ranks of the GTA.  Twice he has issued an Open Challenge to The Top 10 players in the Advanced Division (Ralph is currently ranked # 11) only to hear the sound of crickets in response.  He openly questioned the manhood of these so-called competitors.

Meanwhile, Spin, initially intending to only make an extended cameo appearance as he had his first Sunday football game in quite some time would later get pulled into the action (even as he wore spikes) as he simpy could not resist.  Brenda also seemed like (at least, initially) she would only be making a cameo...but she, too, eventually, found her way into action on the courts.

The last player to arrive was "Big George" Jorge Solano at 1:30.  And once Samara got involved in the action, we ended up with an impressive total of 22 official competitors on the day.  And now we must finally get to all of the results.  It was truly an epic session.

The Cedar Grove Results:

M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth over John Rizzo/Marie Salamon, 6-2!  No Aces.  Abhi and Christine jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then the score would go 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-2 and then Marie was on serve and broken on Double Break/Match Point!  It took place on Court One and lasted from 10:36 to 11:01.

The Skinny: During those first three games, Rizzo/Salamon had Toth down on her serve at Triple Break Point before Christine fought back and rallied as she got that hold.  It felt crucial (or pivotal), at least for John.  Rizzo's movement on the hard court was good as he made many nice gets...only to squander them with shots where he was trying to be too precise and instead sailed shots long or into the net.  He admits he is traditionally a slow starter and thus this was not the best format for him.  Salamon, too, is a bit of a late bloomer on the court (in terms of how long it takes her to get going).  Meanwhile, Gadi was his usual get-making self while Toth displayed the type of consistency she has become known for in Doubles.

M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek, 6-1!  No Aces.  They played this one on Court Three from 10:38 to 11:06.  Not much noteworthy here other than the fact that this one was not won until the 6th Match Point! 

M-Dub First Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-2!  Rich: 1 Ace on Marie.  This one started at 10:36 on Court Four and ended at 11:15.

Even though we had a situation where two teams won and advanced with a 6-2 score, the difference as to who would face Team Savickas (aka Power and Grace) was then determined by how long it took victors to emerge.  Since it took Liu/Sheldon the longest to advance, they would then play Horst and Tula with the other two winning teams facing each other in the next round   

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  No Aces.  Court One hosted this one from 11:24 to 11:52.

M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-3!  Rich: 1 Ace on Horst.  This foursome faced off on Court Four from 11:25 to 11:59.  Liu/Sheldon were up 4-2 and then, at 4-3, Rich was on serve and he had a Love hold after starting the game with a big Ace on Horst.  That seemed to be the straw that broke the back of both opponents (though camels they are not...LOL!) as Horst was broken next to end it.  Still, this one was more competitive than the score indicates as it had a lot of long rallies.  Samara joked from the sideline that this One-Setter was sponsored by Red Lobster...as the lobs (mostly from Kathy) were lofty and frequent.

M-Dub Second Round One-Setter:
Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan over Abhilash Gadi/Christine Toth, 6-4!  Tom: 1 Ace on Christine on Match Point!  This was contested on Court Three from 11:27 to 12:14.  La/Srinivasan were up 4-3, 5-3 and 5-4 where Tom had a Love hold as he ended matters with the big Ace against Christine.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Louise Bysiek over Melvin Hyman/Fadia Nicolas, 6-4!  Fadia: 2 Aces on Louise (back-to-back when serving to her); and Melvin: 1 Ace on Louise!  This was conducted on Court Two and the duration was from around 11:40/11:45 to exactly 12:38.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-3!  Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino; and Dino: 1 Ace on John!  They got this one underway on Court One somewhere around 11:55/12 noon.  Not sure when the 1st Set finished as they went right into this next one.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo over Nathan Fernandes/Dino Celis, 6-1!  Ryan: 3 Aces on Dino (again?!?!)!  Not sure when this one (also on Court One) had gotten underway or when it ended as I was preoccupied at that time by my time over on Court Three as I had finally started playing in some Mixed Doubles action.

M-Dub Final:
Rich Liu/Kathy Sheldon leading Tom La/Doinks Srinivasan, 4-3 in the 1st Set as La suffered from a calf cramp injury and asked if the match could be continued at a later date!  No Aces.  It got underway exactly at 12:28 on Court One (not sure when it was stopped for the injury).

Samara's Notes: While I was in action on nearby Court Three, Kathy approached me about the situation and asked what the ruling would be.  I explained that these types of situations have long been up to the players and/or teams involved in the situation.  Sheldon thought it should be a forfeit, but once she consulted the other three players in the match...they then agreed to continue it at another time (hopefully one weeknight later this week at Cedar Grove).  I am happy to see that good sportsmanship prevailed here.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Marie Salamon over Horst Savickas/Tula Savickas, 6-2!  Horst: 1 Ace on Marie on his very first serve!  It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15 shifted to Double Game Point with an un-returned serve and a passing shot winner by Marie along the way and then Marie hit a winning volley to secure her partner's hold), Horst was broken (started off with a sideline ace on Marie, but then quickly slid to Double Break Point as both Frank and Marie hit return winners along the way and then Frank hit a winning volley for the break), Marie held (an un-returned serve and another winning volley from Frank made it 30-Love, it then went to 30-15 where another un-returned serve set up Double Game Point where Frank hit a winner to return the favor and secure his partner's hold), Tula was broken (Frank hit a winning return for Love-30, it was 15-30 where Frank hit another winning return to set up Double Break Point and then came the break) and then Samara held again and this time it was at Love as he started the game off with a drop shot winner, Horst blew a volley attempt and then Frank hit another winner on Triple Game Point as his team took a quick and commanding 5-0 lead!  Mr. Savickas held (an un-returned serve for 15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then it went point for point to Game Point as he had another un-returned serve along the way and yet another to lock down his hold) and then Salamon was broken (started with a Double Fault , 15-All and then straight to Double Break Point as Horst hit a winning volley along the way and then she ended the game with another Double Fault to break herself) to have her team's lead cut to 5-2.  But then Mrs. Savickas was broken again (Love-30, an un-returned serve for 15-30, Double Break/Match Point where another un-returned serve cut it down to Break/Match Point, but then came the break) to take the loss.  We played this one on Court Three from 12:30 to 12:55.

The Skinny: Samara only hit for a minute or two before jumping right into official action.  His partner and both of his opponents were amazed at how he could be so on his game coming in "cold" like that.  Perhaps this was his day to make an impact in the M-Dub Tournament, but now we will never know.  Additionally, Salamon played very proficiently as well.

With court space available and everyone else otherwise preoccupied, we decided to play another one where we would switch up the teams.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Frank Samara/Tula Savickas over Horst Savickas/Marie Salamon, 6-2!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held serve (Love-15 then point for point to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce and then all Break Points until 5th Deuce, Game Point and then the hold...I had to forget who hit what winners where and when in this lengthy game), Horst was broken (Horst hit a winning lob for 15-Love, but then it was all downhill from there as it went right to Double Break Point and then the break), Tula held (Love-15 and then point for point until 30-All as Marie hit a net-cord-aided winner along the way and Frank hit a winner as well, then the game took a mild shift to Game Point where Horst blew a volley to allow the hold) and then Marie was broken at Love after Frank started off the game with a winner.  Once again, it was Samara's team enjoying an early lead...this time at 4-0.  But then it was Samara getting broken (Frank hit a winner to make it 30-Love and then the game turned into "The Marie Show" as she it a winning volley followed by a winning return followed by another winning volley to set up Break Point which she then ended with a winning lob!) and then Mr. Savickas held (started off with a Double Fault, then an un-returned serve started the shift to 30-15, it then went to 30-All, Game Point where Horst secured his own hold with a winning volley) to pull to 2-4.  But then Mrs. Savickas also held (15-Love where Horst hit a winning volley to make it 15-All and then Tula hit a net-cord-aided winner to begin the momentum toward Double Game Point, the hold came on Game Point) and Salamon was broken again (Tula hit an awesome passing shot return winner which may have been the shot of the match for Love-15, it then went to Love-30 where Horst hit a drop shot winner that served to shift the momentum to 30-All, but then a Double Fault set up Break/Match Point where Horst came up short with a blown volley to end the game) to drop the match!  Again, we were on Court Three as this one lasted from 12:57 to 1:31.

The Skinny: Samara remained on the money as he was ably supported by a fired up Tula.  But then Marie also had that one truly awesome game where she just completely took over and managed to make sure that Frank was broken.  Horst was hot and cold throughout both One-Setters.  It was very nice to have Mr. and Mrs. Savickas with us on this day and we certainly hope to see more of them in the future.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Brenda Jordan over Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek, 6-1!  Ralph: 1 Ace on Fadia.  They got this one underway on Court Two at 1pm.  At 1:10, once they realized that Court Four was clear and now up for grabs...they shifted this One-Setter over to that court.  Even though earlier in the session John, Kris and Ryan all made an effort to sweep the leaves off of Court Two, it still remained "the redheaded stepchild" for most of the session.  This one ended on Court Four exactly at 1:32.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dan Martinelli over Rich Liu/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.  Like the above foursome, they started this one on Court Two at 1:15.  At 1:35 with Kris and Spin in the lead at 4-1, they then took this One-Setter over to Court Three.  Rich held serve to pull to 2-4, but then Kris held to take a 5-2 lead.  Doinks also held to get her team to 3-5, but then Spin held on Game/Match Point to end this one at exactly 1:54.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon over Jorge Solano/Louise Bysiek, 6-1!  No Aces.  This foursome on Court Four battled from 1:40 to 2:15.

While much of the above was going on, a hitting session between Ryan and Dino on Court One soon turned into a solo session of serve practice for Mr. Celis as Mr. Pienciak decided to call it a day.

Non-Tournament One-Setter:
Kris Srinivasan/Dino Celis over Dan Martinelli/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-6 (7-5)!  No Aces.  The quick lowdown: It was all breaks to 2-2 when Dino became the first to hold serve for 3-2.  Spin held, Kris held (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point, Double Fault for Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) and Doinks held at Love to level the score once more at 4-4!  Celis held again (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point and then the hold), but then Martinelli held at Love to stay alive at 5-5!  Mr. Srinivasan was broken (15-Love and then back-to-back Double Faults to make it 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and the break), but then Mrs. Srinivasan was broken at Love as they were now headed for the Tiebreak!  In the Breaker: Dino held his lone serve after Kris hit a winning volley and then Spin had two un-returned serves to go up 2-1.  Kris was broken on both of his serves to fall to 1-4.  Doinks was broken on both of her serves as well as she blew an overhead attempt in the first point and then blew a volley attempt in the second as her team's lead was now cut to 4-3!  The changeover had occurred in between those two points.  Celis held the first of his two serves as Doinks blew another overhead attempt and then he held his next one as well to reclaim the lead for his team at 5-4.  Martinelli held the first of his two serves after Doinks hit a drop shot winner to make it 5-5, but then he was broken on his second as he handed over Match Point (the very first one of the entire One-Setter) to The K Man who then held his serve to bring victory to his team!  This battle was waged on Court Three from 1:57 to 2:48.

The Skinny: Once Rich left for the day, Kris called Dino over to play.  The K Man initially suggested that Doinks team with Spin as he would take Dino as his partner.  But then Celis must not have heard that as he walked over toward Mrs. Srinivasan at the net.  But then she said she wanted to team with her hubby.  His response (jokingly) was that "she must want a fight."  Upon hearing that, she then decided to team with Spin.  His observation was that she "just went thru three guys in 15 seconds!"  Some statements are best left alone...LOL!  This was a good battle and a lot of fun, but not likely to be a Nominee for One-Set Specialty Double Match of The Year at season's end...though it may very well at least get an Honorable Mention.

Nathan Fernandes/Louise Bysiek over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-2!  Ralph: 2 Aces on Louise!  They played on Court Four from 2:17 to 2:50.

Nathan Fernandes/Jorge Solano over Ralph Bernard/Marie Salamon, 6-3!  No Aces.  This one got underway on Court Four at 2:55 as all of the rest of us decided to call it a day and head home.  While I doubt this one took an hour to finish, I got the text message of the score from Nate at 3:55.

Samara's Notes: I thank all those who participated in the tournament and the session overall.  It was a lot of fun.  It felt like a last blast of summer even though it was October 15th!  All in all, good stuff!

But for John Rizzo, the day of tennis was not yet over as he did double-duty by hosting a session in the late afternoon/early evening hours at Nutley Tennis Club.  We go to those results now.

The NTC Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Paul Daddio/John Rizzo over Alfred Chen/Dan Knitzer, 6-4, 6-1, to successfully defend their # 38 Rank in the Doubles Division!  In the process, Chen/Knitzer entered the division as the New # 96 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

Paul Daddio/Alfred Chen over John Rizzo/Dan Knitzer, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting those results in a very timely manner.

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/14 Results.

10/14/17:

"Mole-Gen 1-Setters at AP!":

There were just one session of GTA Saturday Tennis…an afternoon one at Albion Park in Clifton featuring a hitting session that led to two Singles One-Setters between the "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan (as reported by Gen).

So we now turn this report over to Gen.

Mike Mole and I agreed to meet up at Albion at 2:30.  We started hitting by 2:40 and that lasted for about one hour.  We then decided to play a couple of official One-Setters.  We left Albion by 5:30.

The Albion Park Results:

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-0!  Mike: 1 Ace.  This was a fairly quick and easy set for Mike (it lasted 20 min).  He was serving well and blasting away winners.  It lasted from 3:50 to 4:10.

Mike Mole over Genalin Capan, 6-3!  No Aces.  It started with an exchange of breaks for 1-1.  Mike held and I was broken on serve for Mike to jump to a 3-1 lead.  Mike was then broken on serve.  I held to level things at 3-All!  Then Mike took three straight games for the win!  A few of our games went to multiple Deuces.  This one lasted about 45 minutes, 4:15 to 5pm.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for reporting these scores in such a timely manner. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/13 Results.

10/13/17:

"18 play (5 new) at PAC, 16 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Friday Night Tennis: one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (in terms of reporting the results for the GTA), but the session came together due to the efforts of "Richie" Rich Liu and his meet-up group, "The Hit Man" Tom La again inviting his friends to attend and "The Riz" John Rizzo coordinating things behind the scenes.

The other was the usual one at The Cedar Grove Courts with "C.A.T." Christine Toth, "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan all reporting scores.

First, it is off to Nutley we go!

When Samara pulled into the parking lot off of Park Ave. at 7:20, he first saw that Liu was arriving at the same time.  The next thing he noticed was that all four courts were full...but the good news was that two of the four had our players (or soon-to-be players) on them.

Earlier in the evening at 6:30, Rizzo had sent a text message to Samara to tell him that he had already arrived and was waiting on the bench behind two other guys who seemed to be together.

Well, since that time, John was able to gain control of Court One as he would end up teaming with a new player (whose info I would garner later) to go up against "Hurricane" Jose Gonzales and "Vintage" Vinnie De Benedetto.

Over on Court Three, Edgar "Valentino" Valencia and "Ravishing" Randy Doran were playing Doubles against two guys we did not end up recruiting.  Courts Two and Four were occupied by non-GTA players.

So Samara took the bench and was soon joined by "The Speed Demon" Dan Praport at 7:25.  Meanwhile, Liu headed over to Court Three to assess the situation there.

At 7:35, three more players arrived - La and his buddy, "NC-17" Nick Caputo and then "Fantastic" Fausto Murg.  Fausto headed out to Court Three while Tom and Nick took the bench next to Frank and Dan.  We soon found out that Nick is part of the Secaucus High School Tennis Team Alumni along with "Double R" Rob Ryan and "The Lethal Lefty" Lou La Forgia.  He said he already reached out to Lou and hopes to get together with him for some GTA Tennis at The Cedar Grove Courts in the near future.

The two guys who were on Court Two left at 7:45.  That opened the door for Dan, Fausto, Tom and Nick to take that court and it soon led to a Doubles One-Setter with Praport/Murg facing La/Caputo.  Meanwhile, a new Doubles One-Setter had begun on Court Three as Liu teamed with a new recruit (more on him later) to face Doran and "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer.

At 7:55, "Stevie Styles" Steve Torres arrived, but he was just a little too late to get involved in the second Doubles One-Setter on Court One as Edgar teamed with the same new recruit that had teamed earlier with John to take on Vin and yet another new recruit.  That One-Setter would end at 8:25 and De Benedetto was the first to leave the session ten minutes after that.

Somewhere before that happened, the two guys who had been playing Singles on Court Four approached us to see if those of us who were waiting (Samara was now up against the fence in the Court Three area at this time) were looking to take their court.  It was so nice of them to do this, that we all decided that they should play on further.  But later in the evening, we would bring them into the league as well as they ended up teaming to play a Doubles One-Setter against Rizzo and Knitzer (and these two new guys are quite formidable).

At the same time that One-Setter got underway, Samara finally got involved in the action as he teamed with Torres to take on two of the new guys on Court Three.

We ended up with a very impressive total of 18 official competitors and five of the new, making their official GTA Debut!

For the second straight week...it was quite the session, indeed!  Like the previous Friday night, the weather was absolutely beautiful - perfect for tennis!  And also like last week, we will detail all these new entrants to the league later in this report.

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Jose Gonzales/Vinnie De Benedetto over John Rizzo/Muhammad Haque, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Muhammad Haque.  This one got underway on Court One around 7:10.  Jose and Vin jumped out to a 3-1 lead only to have it get evened up at 3-3.  They then went up 5-3 and then John held serve to get his team to 4-5.  But then Gonzales held yet again (I believe I had heard...perhaps from Vin...that Jose had not been broken) to get the win as this one ended exactly at 7:47.

The Skinny: Muhammad found the session through Rich's Meet-Up Group and said he has played tennis in the past, but he warned John that he would be a bit rusty.  And so he was, but he was starting to find his game along the way.  What he did best was put points away at the net while his biggest weakness was trying to find his serve again (he would later in the evening).  He worked on the Admission Staff at the most recent US Open.  He is a very nice guy.  For now (until I can come up with a better moniker), I will give him the nickname of "Muha" as it is both short for Muhammad and also combines the first syllables of his first and last names.

Randy Doran/Dan Knitzer over Rich Liu/Rachid Baalla, 6-4!  Rich: 1 Ace on Randy on his very first serve!  It was the official GTA Debut of Rachid Baalla.  They played this one on Court Three from 7:39 to 8:13.

The Skinny: To be honest with you, I am not sure if Rachid is part of the Meet-Up Group or a friend of Tom's.  He was at The Park Ave. Courts the previous Friday night, but only got involved in a Singles hitting session with someone yet to enter the league.  This week, he had his young baby daughter there in a stroller.  So the two teams agreed to forego the changeovers just so Daddy Rachid could tend to his daughter's needs whenever they arose (I never got her name...my guess is she is somewhere near two years old).  For now, I will give him the moniker of "R&B" as it is both a play on his initials and also appropriate for his style of play.  Like good R&B, he is smooth yet powerful.

Tom La/Nick Caputo over Dan Praport/Fausto Murg, 6-2!  Nick: 2 Aces on Dan (and the last one was on Match Point); and Tom: 1 Ace on Dan!  Court Two hosted this one from 7:55 to 8:23.

Vinnie De Benedetto/Kyle Eng over Edgar Valencia/Muhammad Haque, 6-1!  Kyle: 2 Aces (one on each); and Edgar: 2 Aces (one on each...though Vin said the one on him was a cheap one...LOL!)!  It was the official GTA Debut of Kyle Eng.  They got this one done on Court One and the duration was from 7:58 to 8:25.

The Skinny: Kyle came via the Meet-Up Group and has played sporadically with them in the past.  Starting to sound like a broken record here, but he is a very nice guy.  Only nickname I can come up with for now is "Kaybee" as it is a play off of his initials (first name, middle name).

Jose Gonzales/John Rizzo over Dan Knitzer/Steve Torres, 6-0!  No Aces.  This was contested on Court Three from 8:15 to 8:39.

Rich Liu/Randy Doran over Tom La/Nick Caputo, 6-3!  Nick: 1 Ace on Randy.  Court Two hosted this one from 8:24 to 8:55.  Richie Rich and Ravishing Randy were quite pleased to win this one (and by a 6-3 margin) as they had much respect for the heavy-hitting style of both Tom and Nick.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Edgar Valencia/Kyle Eng over Dan Praport/Fausto Murg, 6-4, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 92 and # 93 Ranked Teams respectively!  Edgar: 2 Aces (one on each) in the 1st Set; Kyle: 1 Ace on Dan in the 1st Set; and Dan: 1 Ace on Edgar in the 2nd Set!  This got done on Court One in the time span from 8:28 to 9:38.

The Skinny: Since everyone else had settled into action on all the other courts and nobody else was waiting to jump in, they were able to play a full straight-set match.

Frank Samara/Steve Torres over Muhammad Haque/Rachid Baalla, 7-5!  Muhammad: 2 Aces on Frank!  We decided to forego changeovers to enable Muhammad to stay as close to his daughter as often as possible and I brought my bag and notepad to the net post in order to write down the games every two or three or so.  It went like this: Steve held serve (started with a Double Fault, then Frank hit a winning volley for 15-All and then it went point for point until 30-All as Muhammad hit a mishit volley winner and then Frank hit another winner along the way until an un-returned serve set up Game Point, it went to Deuce, then Game Point again where Steve hit a winner to secure his own hold), Rachid held at Love as he hit three consecutive un-returned serves to set up Triple Game Point, but Frank was the first to be broken (Rachid hit a winning Overhead Smash for Love-30, it was Triple Break Point where Frank hit a winner to bring it to Double Break Point and then Muhammad blew a volley to make it Break Point, but then came the break) to go down 1-2.  Muhammad held (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and then a big and unexpected corner Ace against Frank for the hold) and then Torres was broken at Love as he started off with two Double Faults to make it Love-30 and then on Triple Break Point he hit another Double Fault to break himself as his team went down 1-4!  Baalla was then broken (started with a Double Fault, then it went to Love-30 before it shifted to 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point again and then the break...could no longer remember who hit what winners where and when as I also had to note action taking place on other courts at that time) and Samara held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and then the hold...likely forgot the winners here as well) to pull to 3-4.  Haque held again (15-Love shifted to 15-30 as Steve hit a winning return to get it to that point, but then another impressive Ace against Frank...this time just off the edge of the sideline made it 30-All, it then went to Break Point and then Deuce where Frank blew an attempted drop shot that set up Game Point where an un-returned serve secured the hold) to put his team up 5-3, but then Stevie Styles held (Muhammad hit a winning drop shot volley for a Love-15 start and then a Double Fault made it Love-30, but then it shifted straight to Game Point, another Double Fault to bring it to Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, a 2nd Break/Match Point, 4th Deuce, Game Point and then the hold...and I could no longer remember the winners once we got to Deuce) and R&B was broken again (Muhammad blew an overhead attempt in the opening point to be followed by Frank hitting a winning Overhead Smash to make it Love-30 before it then shifted to 30-All and then it went to Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point and then the break...multiple Deuce games make me lose track of the winners) to level the set at 5-5!  Hollywood held again (30-Love shifted to Break Point, then Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold...again, no longer noting the winners in these lengthy games) and then Muha was finally broken (Love-15 then point for point to Break/Match Point which was set up by a very nice winner from Steve, but then it went to Deuce and then the 2nd Break/Match Point where he hit a Double Fault to break himself) to take a tough loss as the opposition proved to be The Comeback Kids!  We played this one on Court Three from 8:43 to 9:44...one hour and one minute long!  It ended on the 5th Match Point overall.

The Skinny: Having stood by the sidelines so long, Samara started off very rusty in this one (it did not help matters that the last time he had played was the previous Friday Night session at The Park Ave. Courts the week before) while Baalla was both a steady and aggressive player and Haque was finally finding his big serve again (as Frank could testify to having been Aced twice).  Torres was trying hard...perhaps too hard as he made nice gets only to then sail many shots long.  The momentum shift occurred when Rachid became less consistent (he was likely somewhat distracted by his daughter nearby) and then Muhammad followed suit.  Meanwhile, Frank finally started to find his game and that seemingly lifted the spirits of Steve who then did the same.  This was a fun one with a lot of drama, but the quality of play was not always the highest.  It may have been just enough to garner an Honorable Mention for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Gyorgy Papp/Tomas Molinar over John Rizzo/Dan Knitzer, 6-2!  Gyorgy: 3 Aces (2 on John and 1 on Dan); and Tomas: 1 Ace on Dan!  It was the official GTA Debut of both Gyorgy Papp and Tomas Molinar.  This was contested on Court Four from 8:43 to 9:13.

The Skinny: Having seen them hit with one another and play Singles against each other, we already knew that Gyorgy and Tomas both have big game.  They prefer playing Singles over Doubles, but the combination of these heavy-hitters was still just too much for John and Dan to overcome.  As for monikers, I will give Papp the nickname of "G-Pop" while Tomas inspires thoughts of "The Terminator!"

Jose Gonzales/Nick Caputo over Rich Liu/Randy Doran, 7-5!  Jose: 2 Aces (one on each)!  Court Two hosted this one from 9pm to 9:49.  It was likely to feature the highest quality tennis of the entire session.  I think Rich and Randy said that Jose was once again never broken as he really had his first serve locked in for the evening.  Liu and Doran, while disappointed to take a loss, were still feeling good about themselves having done so well against such a formidable team.

In the latter stages of the session, Court Four featured the following hitting sessions - Knitzer hitting against both Rizzo and La, then just against La and then against Baalla.  Court One featured Valencia and Haque going up against Murg and Torres (I think they managed to play a couple of games...I did not bother to ask them for the incomplete score as it was such a short one). 

After the session concluded, seven of us (Samara, Rizzo, Liu, Doran, Valencia, Knitzer and Haque) went out to Franklin Steakhouse for food and drinks.  The week before it was just three of us (Frank, John and Rich).  So we are not only building a great session of GTA Tennis in Nutley, but a nice social gathering afterwards as well. 

The unfortunate thing is that it is highly likely that the Township of Nutley will be unwilling to put the lights on at the courts beyond October.  Thus, weather permitting, we only have two more of these Friday night sessions left to go until next season.

We now will detail all that took place up at Cedar Grove.  And we will try to do it in chronological order as best as possible.

The Cedar Grove Results: 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:
Christine Toth/Fadia Nicolas over Kathy Sheldon/Laurie Boughton, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New # 7 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces. 

The Skinny: This match came together over the course of the day as each of the four ladies replied to one another (and copied to the entire league) that they would all be available to play at Cedar Grove at 6:30.  This is when our mailing list works best.  I assume this was the first match of the evening. 

Samara's Notes: I thank Christine for reporting this result in very timely fashion.  We now go to Doinks.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Moka Pathan/Louise Bysiek over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4, 7-5, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 48 and # 49 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for reporting this result in very timely fashion.  We now go to Spin.

Dennis Cabanatan/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Martinelli/Fadia Nicolas, 6-1!  No Aces.

Dan Martinelli/Fadia Nicolas over Dennis Cabanatan/Louise Bysiek, 7-6 (7-3)!  Spin: 1 Ace on Louise; and Dennis: 1 Ace on Fadia.

Samara's Notes: I thank Spin for submitting those scores in a very timely manner.  Lastly, we go to Kris for the last couple of results of the evening.

2 out of 3 Sets:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Syed Rashid/Mike Sindler, 6-4, 6-1!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:
Ryan Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan over Jorge Solano/Arthur Fontanilla, 6-3, 6-3, as both teams entered the Doubles Division as the New # 94 and # 95 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Kris for all he does for the league up at Cedar Grove.

All the best,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com