5/12 Results.

5/12/18:

"Rizzo hosts 4 at C.G.!":

Even if "The Riz" John Rizzo does not act as a "host" in the traditional sense (John says he can't be bothered with noting who made what cameo appearances where and when or who got involved in a hitting session...it is hard enough remembering and reporting the actual results), he has been the catalyst for many of the recent sessions at The Cedar Grove Courts.  This Saturday in the afternoon, they managed to squeak in a mini-session before the rains came. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

Adam Pienciak/Kris Srinivasan over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), to become the New # 150 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  No Aces. 

The Riz Report: In the 1st Set, we were down 2-5 and came back to tie it at 5-5 only to lose the next two games.  During the 2nd Set, Ryan and I led 6-1 in the Tiebreak.  I mentioned to him how in the past week I have lost Tiebreak leads of 6-2 and 6-4. That's all I needed to say as we promptly lost the next 7 points in a row!  Adam and Kris played very well and we had errors creep in...still, it was fun to get a few sets in before the rain.

Samara's Notes: Seems like it was more than just getting a few fun sets as this one could be a possible Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  Somehow, John found a way to give himself the "kiss of death" by mentioning the blown Tiebreak leads...LOL!

John Rizzo leading Kris Srinivasan, 3-0 (Incomplete when we stopped due to light rain creeping in and Mike Mole waiting to play)!  No Aces.  We hit with him for 5 minutes before it was too wet to continue.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for reporting in very timely manner and also for providing some commentary as well.  It is greatly appreciated.

5/11 Results

5/11/18:

"Gottlieb-Eng in Nutley, TDK hosts 5 in BP, Samara hosts 20 at C.G.!":

There were three sessions of GTA Friday Tennis: an early afternoon one at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as Jeremy "Got Game" Gottlieb and "Kerosene" Kyle Eng got together around 3pm for their GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match (with Kyle reporting).  From there, there was an evening session at The Brookdale Park Courts in Bloomfield with "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer (aka TDK) acting as host.  Not only did he collect and report the results...but it turns out he is quite the poet and we didn't even know it!  You'll see what I mean later in this report.

And then there was a concurrent session at The Cedar Grove Courts hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara (hey, that's me!) where we ended up having an impressive total of 20 competitors throughout the night.  The weather was perfect as it hovered around 70 degrees and there was no wind at all.  If there was a slight complaint, it was a bit on the humid side if you found yourself playing a lot...but I only got involved in a couple of One-Setters as I spent the majority of my time revisiting my role as one half of The Hecklers along with "Spin Doctor" Dan Martinelli (who was twice neglected a mention by other would-be hosts this past week...Spin may just end up ripping off his gimp right leg and beating them with it for such oversights!  LOL!).  Anyway, it was good times once again...and those times carried on after the tennis had stopped.

We will first go to the result reported by Kyle from Nutley, then the colorful and poetic Brookdale recap from Dan which will then be followed by all the comings and goings (plus scores!) at Cedar Grove as told by yours truly.

The Park Ave. Courts Result:

GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal Match:
Jeremy Gottlieb over Kyle Eng, 7-5, 6-3, to successfully defend his # 3 Rank in the Intermediate Division while advancing to the Semifinals of the GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament!  No Aces.

The Kyle File: It was a good match.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kyle for his very timely reporting and congratulate Jeremy on a hard-fought victory!  I also offer major kudos to Kyle for a spirited effort.  Gottlieb now advances to the Semis where he will face Knitzer...who just happens to be up next in this report.  So we turn it over to him now!

Twas a glorious night in the borderlands separating Bloomfield proper from its prodigal son, Montclair.  The air was fresh, the spirits were high, and the tennis was...some might say splendid, others upended.  Twas a May evening of the highest caliber, and watching the sunset were several neophytes and veterans alike.

On Court 1, Sam Wong, Muhammad Haque and Kyle Eng played Canadian Doubles.

The Brookdale Park Results:

Rich Liu over Dan Knitzer, 7-5!  No Aces.

The TDK Replay: On Court 2, Rich Liu and The Dark Knight struggled to hold serve, producing 11 straight breaks!  Up 6-5, Liu bucked the trend and finally held serve to clinch the set, 7-5! 

Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque over Dan Knitzer/Sam Wong, 7-6 (8-6)!  Sam: 1 Ace on Rich!  Each team blew 3 Match Points along the way!   

Samara's Notes: This sounds like a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  Now back to Dan we go!

Dan Knitzer/Edgar Valencia over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-4!  Edgar: 1 Ace on Rich on the very first point of the match!

Edgar Valencia over Muhammad Haque, 6-1!  No Aces.

The TDK Replay: Knitzer and Liu, both exhausted, watched Effortless Edgar and Muhammad battle like gladiators in the spring evening, as the air chilled and the overhead lights threatened to shorten the match. Fortunately for Muhammad, no second set was feasible as The Effortless One walloped him!

Samara's Notes: I must say that I am quite impressed with the writing talents of one Mr. Knitzer.  I told Dan we may have to give him yet another moniker - "The Poet Laureate of the GTA!"  When I mentioned this to him (in my initial reply, thanking him for hosting and reporting), his response was: "Thanks!  Mission accomplished!"

And now we shift west from Brookdale Park to Cedar Grove.

When Samara rolled into the parking lot at 7pm (as promised), "Del Brotro" Mike Mole had just done the same.  Mr. Mole wisely made a beeline for Court Four as it was the only available court at this time.

On Court One were two outsiders playing Singles.  On Court Three, it was "EA Sports" Erdem Alpay doing the same with a non-GTA player.  And out on Court Two, there was an already in-progress Doubles One-Setter featuring "The Riz" John Rizzo and Frank "Hydro" Hohorst on one side of the net facing the team of "Sadistic" Syed Rashid and "The Ascendant" Arlene Hyde.  John said he had planned on getting to Cedar Grove around 6:30, so we can safely assume that One-Setter started fairly soon after that.

Speaking of "soon," Samara soon joined Mole out on Court Four for a hitting session.  It took a little while for Frank to shake off the rust after not having played any tennis for two weeks, but then the shots started coming back to him nicely.  Just when he was getting into the flow of things, "Big George" Jorge Solano, "Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas and Natalia "Nitro" Sout all pulled into the lot around 7:15.  So Samara stepped off like George Costanza to allow those three onto the court to hit with Mole.

From there, Tim "Tam" Nguyen and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes arrived at 7:20 and 7:25 respectively.  Just when it seemed we were heading into a logjam situation, the two guys over on Court One left that court to head over to the nearby basketball court to play.  There was some initial uncertainty about our guys taking that court as the other two had left their bags behind.  But you can't just hold a tennis court while opting to play basketball instead, so I told Nate and Tim to head over there...and they did.  Later in the evening when those two guys came back for their bags, I don't know if they were miffed or not as I was too far away to hear what they may have been saying to our guys.  It did seem as if words (perhaps not negative) were exchanged.  All I know is I can't drop my bag and/or gear out onto a tennis court to hold it and then go food shopping and expect to have that court when I return.  It makes no difference that they played basketball.  You either continue to play tennis or you relent the court to others.

Just when it seemed the foursome on Court Four were about to head into a One-Setter, Kazlauskas opted to join Nguyen and Fernandes on Court One instead.  So now Samara's services were once again needed as he would team with Solano against Mole and Sout.

At 7:50, both Doinks and Kris Srinivasan made their way across the street to survey the scene.  Their timing was impeccable as Alpay and his buddy were just leaving Court Three at the time.  Couple that with the fact that Mr. Martinelli was now also pulling into the lot...well, it was a good time for the GTA to finally have all four courts at Cedar Grove.  Mr. and Mrs. Srinivasan were kind enough to hit with Mr. Sy Attica (my nickname for Spin...actually, the sciatica is no longer the issue...it is the resultant muscular atrophy in his right quad that has made that leg...The Doc would say "peg"...quite weak...much like the Ukraine!  LOL!) over on Court Three (I believe this was Martinelli's second...perhaps third...time hitting this week).

"The Icon" Nick Inciong arrived at 8pm and he was joined five minutes later by "Stealth" Omar Santos.  They were able to join Syed out on Court Two who had become a solo act for a lone service session as others felt the need to take a breather and benched themselves.

In the ten minute time period of 8:10 to 8:20, "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis and "The Apex Predator" Adam Pienciak all arrived.  The final arrival of the evening would be "The Webmaster" Senthil Kumar at 8:30.  But the 20th and final competitor of the session ended up being none other than Mr. Martinelli himself as he was eager to avoid a pending Inactivity Elimination (still, a month or so away...but better safe than sorry).

It was not a historic or truly significant session by any means, but it was a fun one...and here now is how the action itself unfolded.

The Cedar Grove Results:

John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst over Syed Rashid/Arlene Hyde, 6-1!  No Aces.  This likely started soon after 6:30 on Court Two and it ended exactly at 7:07.  From there, they switched up the teams and played this next one.

John Rizzo/Syed Rashid over Frank Hohorst/Arlene Hyde, 7-5!  No Aces.  This one took place on Court Two from 7:10 to 7:45.  Afterward, John and Frank needed a break and took a seat on the bench alongside Court Four...which almost always seems to be the favorite hangout spot for spectators at Cedar Grove.

Mike Mole/Natalia Sout over Frank Samara/Jorge Solano, 6-3!  No Aces.  It went like this: Mike held serve (Triple Game Point, Double Fault for Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) and then Jorge was broken in an epic struggle (Love-15 shifted straight to Double Game Point, but then that was reduced to Deuce, then came Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point, 4th Deuce, Break Point, 5th Deuce, Break Point again and finally the break) to go down 0-2!  Natalia was also broken (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point where she hit a Double Fault to break herself) and then Frank held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to level things at 2-2.  Mole was broken (15-Love then point for point until 30-All, Break Point and the break) to lose the lead for his team, but then Solano was broken again (15-Love went right down to Double Break Point and then came the break) to even it up again, this time at 3-3.  Sout held this time around (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) while Samara was broken on this go-round (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to fall to 3-5.  Del Brotro then rebounded with a hold of his own (30-Love, Double Fault for 30-15, 30-All, Break Point, Deuce, Game/Match Point and then the hold for the win) to seal the deal!  We played this one on Court Four from 7:27 to 8:16.

Mike Kazlauskas/Tim Nguyen over Nathan Fernandes/Arlene Hyde, 6-4!  Mike: 2 Aces on Arlene!  Court One hosted this one from 7:47 to 8:25.

Kris Srinivasan/Frank Hohorst over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5!  No Aces.  This took place on Court Three from 8:05 to 8:45.

Syed Rashid/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Jorge Solano, 6-2!  No Aces.  These two teams faced off on Court Two from 8:23 to 8:59.  Afterward, they switched up the teams and played another one...which we will get to later in this report.

Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Mike Mole/Dino Celis, 6-2!  These four faced off on Court Four from 8:25 to 8:49.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:
Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Mike Kazlauskas/Senthil Kumar, 6-2, 6-4!  Per the TMT Rules, Kazluaskas/Kumar entered the Doubles Division as the New # 160 Ranked Team.  Mike: 2 Aces in the 2nd Set (one on each)!  This match was played on Court One.  The 1st Set lasted from 8:34 to 8:59.  At that time, they decided to make it a full match.  I'm not sure when it finished as I was busy in a One-Setter over on Court Three at the time...and then these four entered into a hitting session for the rest of the night.

Frank Hohorst/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Tim Nguyen, 6-3!  Kris: 1 Ace on Frank!  This took place on Court Three from 8:47 to 9:24.

Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-3!  Adam: 2 Aces on John (back-to-back!); and John: 1 Ace on Mike!  Court Four (pretty much "The Show Court" of the Cedar Grove scene) hosted this one from 8:53 to 9:18.  The Hecklers (from the nearby bench) were in full effect, much to Rizzo's dismay.  Nonetheless, this was quite the solid One-Setter and it entertained all those who had the chance to watch it.

Jorge Solano/Nick Inciong over Omar Santos/Syed Rashid, 6-2!  Nick: 1 Ace on Omar!  They got this one underway on Court Two at 9pm, but I'm not sure when it ended as I was in action on Court Three at that time.  After the action had finished, all four of them had a pow-wow near the net until the lights went out at 10pm.

Adam Pienciak/Mike Mole over Ryan Pienciak/Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.  They got this one underway on Court Four at 9:21 and finished it just in time at 9:58!

Kris Srinivasan/Doinks Srinivasan over Frank Samara/Dan Martinelli, 6-4!  No Aces.  Here's how it went down: Frank held (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), Doinks held (Triple Game Point, Double Game Point and the hold), but Spin was the first to be broken and it was at Love after he had hit a Double Fault to set up Triple Break Point.  Kris then held at Love to go up 3-1, but Samara held again as it went 15-Love then point for point to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2nd Deuce, Break Point, 3rd Deuce, Game Point again and finally the hold to pull to 2-3.  The Marathon Woman was broken as she rebounded all the way from Triple Break Point to Deuce only to go back to Break Point and then the break to level the set at 3-3!  Martinelli was once again broken at Love while The K Man held again (Love-15 went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) for a 5-3 lead.  Hollywood had his third straight hold (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then came the hold) to pull to 4-5, but then Doinks managed to hold (it was Triple Game/Match Point, the hold came on Double Game/Match Point) to close this one out just in time at 9:56 (we had begun this one on Court Three at exactly 9:27)!

The Skinny: It was a valiant effort on Spin's part as his main goal was to just play a full set to remain active in the ranks.  He fought hard to make a few gets (some of which were successful), but it was like watching a wounded animal trying to fight off would-be predators approaching his feast (or family, for that matter).  The reason for his two Love breaks on service is that the motion requires him to push off of his right leg (even though a right-handed player will ultimately plant their weight on the left leg at the moment of impact) and he generates virtually no strength whatsoever from that side!  Forget two-wheel drive, The Doc is now driving with one-wheel drive!

Afterward, the usual impromptu post-session "roundtable" discussion took place.  Some had already left by that time, but there were still plenty of players hanging around.  If memory serves, it was (besides me) Spin, Rizzo, Dino, Nate, Mole, Ryan, Kris and Doinks.  I feel like I am forgetting someone (as I did not write this down at the time) because I seem to recall one more car pulling out of the lot afterwards.  My apologies, but lately I am suffering from "allergy brain!"

The topics bounced back and forth from personally revealing (and I won't go any further on that one out of respect to the inherent privacy that should be afforded that type of subject) to somewhat disturbing (remember how I mentioned "wounded animal" just a short while ago, well this one concerns what certain lions do to one another out in the wild), but it was always entertaining and quite often hilarious!  I actually forget what suddenly brought it to an end promptly at 10:25 (it actually felt later at the time)...all I know was that, in the words of Shaggy: "It wasn't me!"

All in all, it was good times and it brought back memories of Cedar Grove sessions past...and hopefully of more yet to come!

Best wishes,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com
 

5/10 Results.

5/10/18:

"Just 4 play (1 New) at C.G.!":

The threat of rain scared many players away from going to The Cedar Grove Courts.  Still, there were four brave souls...and one of them was new and making his official GTA Debut.  Reports were submitted by both "Del Brotro" Mike Mole and "King Crush" Chris Chiaro.  And so now we go to them in that order.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Moka Pathan over Mike Mole, 6-3!  No Aces.

The Mole Memo: We had a hitting session and then decided to play a One-Setter.  It was a good set.  Total playing time was 6:30 to 7:30.

Chris Chiaro/Moka Pathan over Mike Mole/Bruce Makino, 6-4!  Bruce: 1 Ace on Moka!  It was the official GTA Debut of Bruce Makino.

Mike Mole/Bruce Makino over Chris Chiaro/Michel Encarnacion, 6-0!  No Aces.

The Chat from Chris: Bruce is Brenda's friend.  He told us his first and last name, but I can't remember how to spell it.  And before I could get his e-mail address, the storm came.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Mike and Chris for very timely reporting.  I followed up with Brenda Jordan and she was able to provide Bruce's last name.  We welcome him to the league!

Sincerely,
Frank Samara

5/9 Results.

5/9/18:

"TMT Final part of 25 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis, but once again it was a big one.  The Main Event was the Tinseltown Memorial Tournament (aka TMT) Final featuring the team of "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak and "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes going up against the reigning GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura "The Aura" Gawley and "The Smackdown" Sally Pillay in a full 2 out of 3 Sets "Battle of The Sexes" Mixed Doubles Match (with both Nate and Laura reporting).  Other contributors to this report (in no particular order) are: "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "Automatic" Anna Mazur, "The Riz" John Rizzo, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

We will start with The Main Event and then do our best to achieve some semblance of order with the results from all the other contributors to this report.

The Cedar Grove Results:

TMT Final "Battle of The Sexes" Mixed Doubles Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Nathan Fernandes over Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay, 6-2, 6-3, to become the first-ever Tinseltown Memorial Tournament Champs!  No Aces.

Nate's Notes: It was a closely contested match.  They play so well together!  Glad we scraped through. 

Laura's Lament: It was a lot of fun, but they were too good!

Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for their very timely reporting.  Second, I congratulate Ryan and Nate on their victory.  The interesting scenario that emanates as a result of this tourney win is that, originally, Pienciak/Fernandes would have become the next Top Contenders to the reigning GTA Doubles Champions…that was, of course, until Ryan went ahead and won the Titles with Nick Caputo as his partner instead!  Alternately, this victory will now boost the Pienciak/Fernandes team to the # 3 Rank in the Doubles Division behind Former Champs: Kuzavas/Kazlauskas (who are still owed a Rematch against the New Champs).  If Ryan and Nick emerge victorious over Marijus and Mike once more, then Nate can pick any player currently ranked in the GTA to challenge Pienciak/Caputo for the Titles.  The Doubles Division has never been more interesting!

Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan over Dawn Peterson/Denise Savino, 6-4!  No Aces.

Kathy Sheldon/Brenda Jordan tied with Dawn Peterson/Denise Savino, 6-6 (Incomplete when the ladies decided to stop there to allow others to use the court)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: While that is very admirable on the part of the ladies, it is a shame they were not just a little bit greedy…greedy enough to at least play a Tiebreak for that second set…which could have either been the 2^nd Set of a full match (had Sheldon/Jordan won) or at least another full One-Setter (had Peterson/Savino won).  Oh well!

It also points out the fact that everyone is crowding the scene at Cedar Grove while some could have opted for Brookdale Park in Bloomfield instead.  I saw many back and forth e-mails about people possibly planning to play at Brookdale, but nobody sent in any results from there…so I have to assume it ended up being a no-go.

We now turn this report over to Doinks who offers up a healthy dose of commentary before providing her result.

Anna arranged a Women's Doubles Match during the day in order for her and her partner to get ranked.  Anna's partner is Teresa Peski.  I remember her playing a Singles Match with Dino Celis last year (for Bergen Tennis).  But I confirmed that after we completed our match.

I had wanted to partner up with Genalin Capan, but she unfortunately couldn't make it due to her work schedule.

We had originally planned to play the match in Brookdale Park to avoid the overcrowding at Cedar Grove.  Anna and Teresa eventually changed the location back to Cedar Grove so we could more easily find a fourth player.  All the courts were occupied when we got there, so we waited for our turn.  Fortunately, Janice Wang, who was playing a set with three men, agreed to partner up with me after that One--Setter.

I don't know what time we started playing.  We gave one of the courts that freed up to the Battle of The Sexes Finalists and then patiently waited for another court to free up.

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Janice Wang/Doinks Srinivasan over Anna Mazur/Teresa Peski, 6-4, 1-6, 10-6 (STB), as both teams entered the Women's Doubles Division as the New # 31 and # 32 Ranked Teams respectively!  It was the official GTA Debut of Teresa Peski.  No Aces.

More Details from Doinks: It was 9:30 when we finished the 2nd Set, so Anna and Teresa suggested doing a Super Tiebreak in lieu of a full 3^rd Set to decide the match.

Anna is always the steady and speedy one between the two.  Teeresa has a good all-around game and it would be great if she could play in the upcoming Singles Tournament. 

After the match, Teresa and Anna treated us to a nice bottle of wine and some fried shrimp (sorry I don't know the dish's title) :-)  I wish we had those treats at the end of every tennis session!

Anna's Annotation: Thank you, Doinks, for the recap.  It was great to see the GTA people, as always. :-) 

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very thorough and timely reporting.  It is also nice to see Anna back with us this season and we welcome Teresa to the league.  For the record, it would be great to have Ms. Peski be part of the GAH8…but she must first play a full 2 out of 3 Sets Singles Match against any other woman in the league.

We now go to some results sent in by The Riz.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Kevin Doyle over John Rizzo/Robin Wilson, 6-0!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar/Michel Encarnacion over Ralph Bernard/John Rizzo, 7-5!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Tito Castolo over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely reporting.  He sent in one more score, but since it is an incomplete one…I am now going to turn this report over to Kris.  He had an incomplete one as well.  I always try to have the incomplete results finish the report as we know them to be the last action of the night as they lead right up to it being a lights-out situation.

Kris starts off with a little commentary as well.

It was a lovely evening for GTA Tennis and our courts were packed...a full house of players overflowing the four courts!  Everyone got a chance to play.  Here is my involvement...

Kris Srinivasan/Tom La over Marijus Kuzavas/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-4)!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Tom La leading Marijus Kuzavas/Natalia Sout, 5-2 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  Marijus: 1 Ace on Kris!

The K has his say: We missed out on closing out the last game with Tom serving up 40-15 (Double Game/Match Point).  Marijus had a winning shot and then on the next chance Tom hit a Double Fault!

Anna had brought her friend, Teresa, who played a real solid game and it is great to have her play among us.

Samara's Notes: I thank Kris for his timely and thorough reporting.  And now we get that one last score from Mr. Rizzo.

Senthil Kumar/Tito Castolo leading John Rizzo/Frank Hohorst, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank John for his timely contribution to this report as well.  I heard from a couple of sources that there may have been a Mixed Doubles One-Setter involving Rafaelo Kazakov, Ted Cedroski, Louise Bysiek and Leslie Golle.  But since none of them ever reported it, it will have to remain unofficial and they will not be included in the total of official competitors.  And that total was 25…very impressive! 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

5/8 Results.

5/8/18:

"Chris-Scott 1-Setters part of 17 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Tuesday Night Tennis, but again it was a big one.  There were three consecutive Singles One-Setters between "King Crush" Chris Chiaro and "Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld that could not be played as a full match as Chiaro is still active (he is in the Finals) in the GTA Championship Tournament.  These sets were reported by Chris along with other scores.  Other contributors to this report are "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The K Man" Kris Srinivasan.

And we will run with the order of contributors above for the scores that now follow below.

The Cedar Grove Results:

Chris Chiaro over Scott Bergenfeld, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Scott Bergenfeld, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Scott Bergenfeld, 6-0!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis over Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak, 6-1!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Chris Chiaro/Dino Celis, 6-3!  Adam: 2 Aces (one on each)!

Ryan Pienciak/Adam Pienciak over Tom La/Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tito Castolo/Rose Inciong over Joe Rodrigues/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3, 7-5, to become the New #16 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Mike Mole/Genalin Capan over Jordan Bachvaroff/Elizabeth Cho, 7-5, 6-3, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 49 and # 50 Ranked Teams respectively!  Jordan: 1 Ace on Genalin in the 1st Set.  We played this match from 7:55 to 9:20.

Kris Srinivasan/Abhilash Gadi over Tom La/Rafaelo Kazakov, 6-3!  No Aces.

Kris Srinivasan/Abhilash Gadi leading Jordan Bachvaroff/Rafaelo Kazakov, 5-0 (Incomplete when time ran out at 10pm)!  Jordan: 1 Ace on Kris!

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

5/7 Results.

5/7/18:

"New Doubles Champs part of 25 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis, but it turned out to be a monumental one at The Cedar Grove Courts featuring the GTA Doubles Championship Match as the reigning GTA Doubles Champions: "Super Mario" Marijus Kuzavas/"Big Kaz" Mike Kazlauskas put their Titles on the line against the fairly new team of "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak/"NC-17" Nick Caputo (with both Ryan and Marijus reporting…and each had some other results as well).  We also received results from (in no particular order): "Bravo" Brenda Jordan, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes, "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "The Riz" John Rizzo.

We will start this report with the big result of the night and then do our best to get the rest of it in some semblance of chronological order…though, honestly, that will be impossible. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Doubles Championship Match:

Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo over Marijus Kuzavas/Mike Kazlauskas, 6-1, 6-4, to become the New GTA Doubles Champions and # 1 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division!  Ryan: 2 Aces on Mike (one in each set); and Mike: 2 Aces on Ryan (one in each set)!

The Ryan Report: We started at 6:45 and finished a little before 8pm. The weather was perfect. 

Nick and I took the first five games before it went to 5-1 and then 6-1 for the 1^st Set. The 2^nd Set saw Marius and Mike dial in their serves a bit more, which made it much tougher for us.  We were on serve until 3-3 when we managed to get the break.  Then it was 5-3, 5-4, and ultimately 6-4 for the set and match.  The first point of the match and the last point of the match were both Aces by me on Mike (my only two of the night!) Mike had two aces on me as well (I think one in each set).

As always these guys were tough and there were lots of great points...we just managed to make fewer mistakes.

The Scoop from Super Mario: They were too good for us today…but we want a rematch.

Samara's Notes: First, I thank both for their very timely reporting.  Second, I offer my congratulations to Ryan and Nick for a very impressive victory over a very tough team (and kudos to Marijus and Mike for a spirited effort).  And as for the request of Marijus, Former Champs (in any division) are always entitled to a rematch…and that match comes before all other challenges.

We will now get the rest of the results submitted by Ryan and Marijus (before moving onto the other contributors).  And we will start with Ryan.

Then Nick and I played a One-Setter against Nate and Tito Castolo.

Nathan Fernandes/Tito Castolo over Ryan Pienciak/Nick Caputo, 6-1!  No Aces.

The Ryan Report: It was tough adjusting to their much different style of play after going up against Marius and Mike.  But...excuses, excuses...they both played really well.

Ryan Pienciak/Fadia Nicolas over Nick Caputo/Louise Bysiek, 6-4!  No Aces.

Ryan Pienciak/Fadia Nicolas over Nick Caputo/Louise Bysiek, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his very timely reporting.  I must say that looking at that One-Setter where Nate and Tito won, 6-1…well, things may soon be getting very interesting in the Doubles Division.  I do realize Pienciak/Caputo had just played a full match and there is almost always a letdown after a victory like that.  But if Pienciak/Fernandes win the Final of the TMT (where they will face the GTA Women's Doubles Champions: Laura Gawley/Sally Pillay), that win will now give Nate the right to choose a new partner to challenge for the GTA Doubles Championship (assuming Pienciak/Caputo win the rematch against Kuzavas/Kazluaskas).  I would have to assume Tito may be getting that call.  

And now we go to the results from Marijus.

Marijus Kuzavas/Natalia Sout over Jorge Solano/Don Moya, 6-4!  No Aces.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Non-Title Match:

Marijus Kuzavas/Sally Pillay over Don Moya/Janice Wang, 6-1, 6-2!  In the process, Moya/Wang re-entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 47 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

The Super Scoop from Mario: It started off as a One-Setter, but then we played a second set and they agreed to make this a full match.  Does this count as our Title Defense for the month of May?

Samara's Notes: I thank Marijus for his very timely reporting, but I must also inform him that this does not count as the Title Defense for the month of May due to the fact that earlier this season, Moya/Wang were eliminated from the Mixed Doubles Division for inactivity.  Teams not ranked in the Mixed Doubles Division are ineligible for a shot at the Champs.  The full match did enable the return of Moya/Wang to the Mixed Doubles Division.  And if this match were to happen again, then the Titles would be on the line.  But Kuzavas/Pillay must still defend their Titles in the month of May.  Sorry!

And now for the rest of the results from our remaining contributors (Brenda, Nate, Doinks and John):

Janice Wang/Louise Bysiek over Sairaj Srinivasan/Brenda Jordan, 6-3!  No Aces.

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Jorge Solano/Tito Castolo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Jordan Bachvaroff/Tito Castolo over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 6-1!  No Aces.

Doinks Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas over Sally Pillay/Brenda Jordan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Sally Pillay/Doinks Srinivasan over Fadia Nicolas/Louise Bysiek, 6-0!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Scott Bergenfeld over Edwin Ortega/Sally Pillay, 6-0!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over John Rizzo/Scott Bergenfeld, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.  Senthil and Kris saved 6 Match Points and came back from being down 2-6 in the Tiebreak.  We played this One-Setter at the courts down the street and were rapidly losing sunlight toward the end of it.

Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over John Rizzo/David Caicedo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Wow!  That One-Setter where Senthil and Kris came back to win over John and Scott sounds like it could be a possible Nominee for One-Set Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.  I am also happy to see that David Caicedo made it over to Cedar Grove.  I thank everyone for their timely contributions to this report.  The fact that the issuance of this report was delayed is not their fault, it is mine.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

5/6 Results.

5/6/18:

"Bergenfeld's WD, Rizzo hosts 15 at C.G.!":

There was just one session of GTA Sunday Tennis as a combination of early morning rain and the fact that usual host "Hollywood" Frank Samara was unavailable to host the usual one at either The Albion Park Courts in Clifton or, as of more recently, at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield.

Instead, the only session was one starting in the late afternoon (3:30) and running into and through the evening at The Cedar Grove Courts as "The Riz" John Rizzo ended up as the impromptu host of the session (though it should be noted that both "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan and "Sadistic" Syed Rashid also directly reported from there as well).  But before we get to all that, we must first address a situation that will have a major impact on the ongoing GTA Intermediate Invitational Tournament...and then perhaps the rest of the league beyond that.

"Ice Berg" Scott Bergenfeld reached out to Samara via e-mail on May 3rd to remind Frank of his upcoming vacation from May 9th to the 21st.  Scott had originally made this known to Samara at the outset of the tourney, but the hope at that time was that the entire event would have been wrapped up by the time this "vay-cay" would roll around.  Of course, a less than ideal April weather-wise made that goal quite hard to accomplish.

Anyway, back to the e-mail from Bergenfeld to Samara, it was Scott's request was to see if Frank could line up his next opponent - "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer, to see if their GTA Intermediate Invitational Quarterfinal could be scheduled prior to the 9th.  Samara said he would see what he could do, but also warned that if the rest of the tourney went quickly...there could still be a chance that Scott would not be returning in time to play the Semis (provided that Bergenfeld was victorious over Knitzer, of course).

As it turns out, this all became a moot point because Knitzer had no availability to play the match prior to the 9th.  Bergenfeld was very disappointed by this turn of events as he felt he had provided Dan with an ample window of opportunity to schedule the match.  Yet, if you go back to the rules that were announced to everyone prior to the start of the tournament, you will see there that we said we could likely work around someone being away for a week (traveling for business, vacation, etc.), but that a trip of ten days or more would likely lead to withdrawal from the event and a bye for the would-be opponent.

Knitzer can still rightfully argue that he would be the more available player over the course of the coming days that Bergenfeld will no longer be around to play the match.  And, if Dan were to advance, he would also be more readily available for the following round (i.e. the Semis).

The only option offered to Scott was that upon having seen the chances of this match happening in time go up in flames, he should just withdraw sooner rather than later as this would free him from the obligations and restrictions of still being in the tourney.  Instead, he could try to challenge someone in the Advanced Division (perhaps someone in The Top 10 because if he were able to beat them, he could then be permanently removed from the Intermediate Division...and at least exact some measure of revenge for the way things played out in this situation) to try to make a move up the ranks prior to his departure.

And while Scott would have preferred to play on and possibly win the entire tourney, an early and self-inflicted withdrawal is what Mr. Bergenfeld has decided to do...get out now and allow Mr. Knitzer to move onto the Semis via a bye.  Besides being known as "The Dark Knight" or "TDK," we now have to bestow another moniker on young Dan - "The Bye Guy," as this is the second time this tourney he has benefited from a bye (the first time around was in the "First Round/Round of 32" against Fausto "Mr. Mystery" Murg) that has allowed him to just walk into the next round of play.

We now go to Cedar Grove for all the action that actually took place on the courts.

The Cedar Grove Results:

T.J. Shah/Tim Nguyen over Rajan Shah/Mike Sindler, 6-3!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro/Tim Nguyen over Jay Phoenix/Mike Sindler, 6-2!  No Aces.

Chris Chiaro over Jay Phoenix, 6-0!  No Aces.

T.J. Shah/Rajan Shah over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-4!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Arlene Hyde over Dino Celis/Doinks Srinivasan, 7-5!  No Aces.  Down 2-5, John and Arlene saved two Match Points to then take five straight games for the comeback victory!

Chris Chiaro/Doinks Srinivasan over John Rizzo/Arlene Hyde, 6-1!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: Doinks had reported this with a 6-2 score, but John is fairly certain it was 6-1.

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:
Syed Rashid/Fadia Nicolas over Nick Inciong/Rose Inciong, 6-2, 6-4, as both teams entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 45 and # 46 Ranked Teams respectively!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Syed for reporting in a very timely fashion.  He had listed them (in his e-mail) as two separate One-Setters, but John combined the two to report it as a full match and I agree with that decision as it enables both teams to get ranked in the Mixed Doubles Division.  Hey...no harm, no foul!

Kris Srinivasan/Fadia Nicolas over Tim Nguyen/Mike Sindler, 6-4!  No Aces.

John Rizzo over Dino Celis, 6-0!  No Aces.

Dino Celis over John Rizzo, 6-2!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: John did not note it to be included in this report, but it should be said that he accepted Dino's challenge to play some Singles after having already played three hours of tennis.  Rizzo held up quite well (fairly obvious) in the first of the two One-Setters, but then he ran out of gas in the second one.

Kris Srinivasan/Dino Celis over John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-1!  No Aces.

John Rizzo/Doinks Srinivasan over Kris Srinivasan/Dino Celis, 6-4!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank Syed and Doinks for directly reporting their results (and in a very timely fashion, as always), but I especially thank John for stepping up and acting as host by collecting, recording and reporting all the other scores from the session (not just the ones he was involved in).  It is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Frank Samara
gtasamara5@gmail.com