10/9 Results.

10/9/18:

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

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

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

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

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

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

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

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

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

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

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

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

The Verona Park Result:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/7 Results.

10/7/18:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Cedar Grove Results:

GTA Doubles Championship Match:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

M-Dub Part One Semifinal:

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

 

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

 

M-Dub Part One Semifinal:

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The NTC Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match:

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

 

2 out of 3 Sets Doubles Match: 

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

 

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

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

10/6 Results.

10/6/18:

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

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

The Cedar Grove Results:

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

10/5 Results.

10/5/18:

"Rich-David part of 9 at PAC, 10 play at C.G.!":

GTA Friday Night Tennis took place at both The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley (as reported by "Hollywood" Frank Samara) and The Cedar Grove Courts (as reported by "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and "The Lumberjack" Ryan Pienciak).  We will first detail how the session unfolded in Nutley and then we'll get the dual report from Cedar Grove.

As "Hollywood" Frank Samara knew he would be in Nutley around 7pm, he figured he would join the gang at the Park Ave. Courts for some tennis action.  He actually arrived there a little earlier than expected at 6:50.  After he parked in the lot, he approached the courts and saw that all four were full (it was a very nice night weather-wise).  Only on Court Four did he recognize the players there (who looked like they just finished their action).  It was "SWAT" Rich Liu and David Wong.  Upon approaching them, Samara found out that they had just finished a full Challenge Match.

 

While Rich went to the restroom (I assume), David was talking to Frank when suddenly another player was approaching them.  Wong exclaimed, "Hi, Santosh!"  Samara said, "that's not Santosh!"  Well, it was not Santosh Reddy (the Santosh that many of us know already).  Instead, it was a new Santosh...Santosh Mangnale.  He had actually made his debut with the league in the Monk Memorial Men's Doubles Tournament back on September 16th!

 

Since nobody reported him as being a new player to Samara, Frank assumed that Santosh Reddy had been reading the e-mails and decided to get involved in the Nutley portion of the Monk Memorial.  Those results that day and all Nutley results including Mangnale would now have to be retroactively corrected!  Anyway, this Mangnale is a very nice guy with a very sound game.  He hits blasting forehands which he couples with great get-making speed...plus, he is lefty as well!  Due to the whole retroactive requirement to bring the Results and Rankings up to speed to reflect that it has been Mangnale all along since Sept. 16th, his moniker now becomes "Radioactive" as his style of tennis is quite explosive as well (still have to come up with a moniker for David Wong...hmm!).

 

From 7:05 to 7:15, three more players arrived - Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton, "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque and Arunraj "Air" Nair.  From there, it was Joe Renga (he needs a nickname, too) coming to the courts at 7:50 and "TNT" Tim Nguyen as the final arrival at 8:15.  All the way until 8:30, the eight of us (as Wong had left earlier) only had the one court (Court Four) as the other three remained occupied (very rare occurrence)!  Then, Courts Two and Three became available at the same time.  We had Courts Three and Four for the balance of the evening.

 

Let's get to the action!

 

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:

Rich Liu over David Wong, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 2 Rank in the Intermediate Division!  In the process, Wong entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 43 Ranked Player.  David: 2 Aces!  This match was played on Court Four from 6pm to 6:45 (approximately).

 

Arunraj Nair/Santosh Mangnale over Muhammad Haque/Laurie Boughton, 6-3!  Santosh: 1 Ace on Laurie; and Muhammad: 1 Ace on Santosh!  Court Four hosted this one from 7:20 to 7:47.

 

Arunraj Nair/Santosh Mangnale over Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque, 6-3!  Arunraj: 1 Ace on Muhammad!  Again, Court Four was "the scene of the crime" as this one lasted from 7:50 to 8:21.

 

Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton over Frank Samara/Joe Renga, 6-2!  No Aces.  It went like this: Frank held serve (Love-15 shifted to 30-15 shifted again to Break Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold), Laurie held (30-Love shifted to 30-All, then Game Point, a Double Fault for Deuce, Break Point, 2nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold), but Joe was the first to be broken and it was at Love after he had hit a Double Fault to set up Love-30.  But Tim was also broken (Love-15, 15-All then onto Double Break Point, Break Point and the break) to level matters at 2-2.  Samara was then shockingly broken at Love and then the opposition was off and running as Boughton held again (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point and the hold), Renga was broken at Love again and Nguyen held (Triple Break Point and then a big rebound to Deuce, Break Point again, 2nd Deuce, Game/Match Point, 3rd Deuce, it finally ended on the 2nd Game/Match Point) to get the win!  We played this on Court Four from 8:25 to 9:03.

 

Rich Liu/Muhammad Haque over Arunraj Nair/Santosh Mangnale, 7-5!  No Aces.  Rich and Muhammad had been down 2-5 before taking five straight games for an impressive comeback victory!  Court Three hosted this action from 8:35 to 9:25.  Liu left soon afterward (as did Nair), but Haque and Mangnale stayed behind to have quite the intense hitting session with one another.

 

Tim Nguyen/Laurie Boughton over Frank Samara/Joe Renga, 6-4!  No Aces.  Here's how this one went down: Frank held (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point and the hold) and Laurie was broken at Love to go down 0-2!  But then Joe was broken (15-Love, 15-All then onto Double Game Point which was then reduced to Deuce, Break Point and the break) and Tim held (Triple Game Point lead cut down to Game Point, but then came the hold) to again level the set at 2-2.  Samara held again (Love-15 then point for point until 30-All, Game Point and the hold), but Boughton also held (Love-30 went straight to Game Point, Deuce, Game Point again and then the hold) to tie things again, this time at 3-3.  Renga then got his first hold of the night (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold), but Nguyen responded with a Love hold to knot the score once more, this time at 4-4!  The Wood was then broken (30-Love lead diminished to Break Point and the break) while L-Boogie got down with her bad self and held for the win (Triple Game/Match Point, the hold came on Double Game/Match Point)!  This one was also played on Court Four as it lasted from 9:05 to 9:40.

 

The Cedar Grove Results:

 

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Genalin Capan/Diane Raum over Doinks Srinivasan/Susan Koshy, 6-3, 6-4, to become the New #14 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  No Aces.

 

Gen's Notes: We played this from 7:38 to 8:55 on Court 3.  It was a fun and competitive match.  Everyone played well.  Thanks to Doinks for setting up this match.

After the ladies match, Susan and Diane were done for the night.  Doinks and I asked the guys if they were still up for playing a set.  Mike said he was divorcing me since I chose to split us up and I opted to team with Jose...LOL!

Mike Mole/Doinks Srinivasan over Jose Gonzales/Genalin Capan, 6-3!  Jose: 1 Ace on Doinks; and Gen: 1 Ace on Doinks!

 

Gen's Notes: We played this from 9:10 to 9:50 on Court 4.  We had a good time.  We got it done just in time before lights out!

 

Samara's Notes: As always, I thank Gen for her timely and comprehensive reporting.  It seems that the "ex-wife" in this scenario was punished for her infidelity!  LMAO!

 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Ryan Pienciak/John Rizzo, 7-5, 6-2!  This match enabled R. Pienciak/Rizzo to return to the Doubles Division as the New # 52 Ranked Team while also maintaining activity in the Mixed Doubles Division for Fernandes/Sout.  No Aces.

 

Samara's Notes: I thank Ryan for his timely reporting as well.  It is interesting to note that there were absolutely no full 2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Gender Doubles Matches in the month of Sept.

 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

10/3 Results.

10/3/18:

"EWC Dbls + 4 at PAC, 14 play at C.G.!":

There were two sessions of GTA Wednesday Night Tennis on an action-packed night where the weather felt more like early September rather than early October.  Both sessions ran at the same time.  The first was at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley and was hosted by "Hollywood" Frank Samara as he was also acting as the Team Captain of Team West in the East-West Challenge series there to support his team of "The Accelerator" Abhilash Gadi and "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon as they took on the representatives for Team East, "Ravishing" Randy Doran and "SWAT" Rich Liu in the EWC Doubles Match featuring each contingent's "A-Teams" (as the battle between the "B-Teams" had already taken place a few weeks ago).  Samara never got involved in any official action (the same holds true for three others there), but there were four more players who did get involved in some official action at the session.

And then there was the usual evening session at The Cedar Grove Courts as we have three contributors to this report from that session – "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon, "Nate the Great" Nathan Fernandes and "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan.

We will first detail what took place at Nutley and then gather all the results from Cedar Grove later in this report.

Even though the EWC Doubles Match was set for an 8pm start, Samara arrived at the Park Ave. Courts at 7pm.  As he pulled into the lot, he saw that three of the four courts were full and he did not recognize any of the players.  So he hurried to make sure to try to grab the one court that remained vacant, Court Two.

On his way to the courts, he saw "Vin Diesel" Vinnie Puglisi waiting on the bench and Big Vin asked Frank if he wanted to hit.  Soon after they took Court Two, the two people on Court Three left…and this trend continued as the other two courts would also soon clear…leaving all four courts for GTA action the rest of the evening!

That was a good thing as GTA players started filing in quite quickly.  Randy and Rich were the next two to arrive as Doran took Samara's place in the hitting session against Puglisi (as it turns out, Vinnie has been hitting with both of them quite a bit lately…hence, their recent improvement) while Samara talked to Liu over on Court One as Rich was about to practice his serve.  But the idea of serve practice was soon replaced by the reality of Rich having a hitting session with "The Great Wall" Muhammad Haque instead. 

"The Scorpion Dragon" Dino Celis arrived at 7:30 and soon got into a hitting session with Samara on Court Three.  Fifteen minutes later, "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia and a mystery player (well, only a mystery to Frank and Dino at the time as the rest of the Nutley regulars knew who he was) went onto Court One to hit with Rich and Muhammad (and then somewhere along the way, Liu took the place of Doran in the hitting session with Puglisi).

Valencia would then grab Court Four (the last of the four to become available to us) in order to hold it for the GTA and practice his serve.  It was also around this time that "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan made a cameo appearance as she came up to the fence to talk to Samara as she was on her way home from work.  She said she wanted to see the coming Doubles Match and would perhaps make the effort to come back around 8:30 to watch it, but if she did not show it would be both due to exhaustion and the fact that she would be facing the same hellish work schedule the following day.  Alas, she did not return.

Chazz arrived at 7:50 and soon made his way over to Court Four to hit with Edgar (the two of them had faced on another in a previous EWC Singles Match…Eddie joked that "this is the guy who kicked my ass!").  Abhi also arrived soon after and ended up in a hitting session with Dino for just a bit.

The match got underway on Court Two exactly at 8pm as originally agreed upon while Samara stood by to take notes of it in its entirety.  At the same time, Celis and Puglisi entered into a lengthy and hard-hitting practice session on Court Three.  On Court One, the hitting session that had been going on between Muhammad and "the mystery player)" had now developed into a Singles One-Setter.  And Edgar went back to "flying solo" on Court Four, once again practicing his serve.

As the EWC Doubles Match was drawing close to the conclusion of its 1^st Set, "TNT" Tim Nguyen stepped onto the courts at 8:25 and soon informed Samara that Haque was playing David Soto on Court One.  And when that Singles One-Setter ended on Court One, those three guys (Tim, Muhammad and David) went down to Court Four for some Doubles with Edgar.

When the EWC Doubles Match was in the early stages of its 2^nd Set, Dino and Vinnie soon joined Frank at the sidelines (along the fence, actually) to watch the rest of the match all the way to its finish.  And it was a finish that almost did not get finished in time (more on that later)! 

And the final arrival of the night was Joe Renga who strolled on to Court One at 9:10 and ended up practicing his serve for the balance of the session.

Enough chit chat…time for some action!

The Park Ave. Courts Results:

Muhammad Haque over David Soto, 6-1!  No Aces.  This took place on Court One from 8pm to 8:30.

EWC Doubles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):

Abhilash Gadi/Chazz Weldon over Randy Doran/Rich Liu, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to become the New # 7 Ranked Team in the Doubles Division while also earning a point for Team West in the East-West Challenge Series, tying the series at 6-6!  Abhi: 1 Ace on Randy in the 1^st Set!

1^st Set: Abhi was broken (Triple Break Point, Double Break Point and the break) and then Randy held at Love for a quick 2-0 lead.  Chazz held serve (started with a Double Fault, but then went straight to Double Game Point and the hold) to get his team on the scoreboard, but Rich also held (also started with a Double Fault and then it shifted to 30-15, 30-All, Game Point and the hold) for 3-1.  Gadi held (the third straight game with the server starting with a Double Fault, then Love-30 only to then go right to Game Point and the hold) and this time around Doran was broken at Love to level the set at 3-3!  But then Weldon was also broken (30-Love lead descends to Break Point and the break) while Liu held again (15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All and then onto Double Game Point, Game Point and the hold) for 5-3.  The Accelerator was then broken in a truly pivotal game as at 30-Love, he hit a big Ace up the T against Randy to set up Triple Game Point only to then hit a Double Fault to make it Double Game Point and then came Game Point, Deuce, Break/Set Point and the break to suddenly have the game and the set get away from him as it ended exactly at 8:30 (as stated earlier, they began promptly at 8pm on Court Two).  Two minutes later, the next set was underway.

2^nd Set: Randy was broken (15-Love, 15-All, 30-15 and then a Double Fault for 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point, 3^rd Deuce, Break Point and the break), Chazz was broken in a battle (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point, 3^rd Deuce, Break Point, 4^th Deuce, Break Point and the break) and then Rich was also broken (Love-30, 15-30, Double Break Point, Break Point and then a Double Fault to break himself), but Abhi was the first to hold serve in this set (started with a Double Fault, 15-All, 15-30, Double Break Point but then a rebound to Deuce, Game Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to put his team up 3-1.  Doran was broken again (15-Love and then point for point until 30-All, then Break Point and the break) while Weldon held again (started with a Double Fault and then a shift to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Game Point and the hold) to take a fairly commanding lead at 5-1  Liu battled back with a hold of his own (30-Love, 30-15, Double Game Point and the hold) for 2-5, but Gadi held again (15-Love, a Double Fault for 15-All, 30-15, Double Game/Set Point, the hold came on Game/Set Point) to take the set and level the match at precisely 9:13.  Two minutes later, the deciding set got started.

3^rd Set: Randy was broken (Double Fault for Love-30, 15-30, 30-All, Break Point and the break) and then Chazz held (15-Love shifted to 15-30 shifted again to Game Point and then came the hold) for 2-0.  Rich had a Love hold for 1-2, but Abhi also held (15-Love then point for point to Game Point and the hold) to go up 3-1.  Doran then held in a struggle (Love-15 shifted to 30-15, then 30-All, Game Point, Deuce, Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Break Point, 3^rd Deuce, Game Point, 4^th Deuce, Game Point and finally the hold) to pull to 2-3, but then Weldon had a Love hold for 4-2!  Liu was then broken in the biggest battle of all the games (15-Love, 15-All, Double Fault to make it 15-30, then Double Break Point and bounce back to Deuce, Break Point, 2^nd Deuce, Game Point, 3^rd Deuce, Game Point, 4^th Deuce, Game Point, 5^th Deuce, Break Point and then the break) to fall to 2-5!  And then Gadi held in yet another struggle (Triple Game/Match Point, Double Game/Match Point, Game/Match Point, Deuce, the 4^th Game/Match Point, 2^nd Deuce, Break Point, 3^rd Deuce, the 5^th Game/Match Point and finally the hold) as he got it done for his team just in time at 9:58 (and it was halfway thru that minute as the lights were out just ninety seconds later)!

The Skinny: First things first, the score line of this match truly does not do it justice.  You see the scores of the sets and it does not readily impress…until you actually read how the games went.  But on top of the simple recap of how the points unfolded, you need to understand the intensity of this match and the steely determination of all the competitors involved in it.  This EWC series has, indeed, created a Davis Cup-like feeling as nobody wanted to let their "greater" team down.  There were cries of ecstasy after winners were hit, moments of team-bonding to congratulate such efforts, groans of agony after painful errors were made and even a few contested calls…but nothing of the shady variety.  All line calls seemed to be made in good faith and any protests from the other team soon subsided as all parties agreed to play on…and they did just that in a fierce and fiery manner. 

By the time this match was seemingly heading for its finish line, it truly became a race against the clock to get it concluded before it would be lights out at 10pm…and all the players in attendance were now riveted as they were watching a true tug of war as the leading team (Gadi/Weldon) simply wanted to get it done on time while the trailing team (Doran/Liu) was looking to extend it just to fight for survival.

The 1^st Set was a clear display of the steady improvement of both Randy and Rich (obviously, the hitting sessions with Vinnie are working) as they hit a few winners that caught both Abhi and Chazz flatfooted and seemingly powerless to play the middle area between them.  After that set, it seemed that Team East may be cruising to an overall victory in this series…until a seismic shift took place as a measure of overconfidence for Doran/Liu and a step-up in intensity (with a subtle shift in strategy) from Gadi/Weldon then turned this match on a dime.  For the rest of its entirety, Randy and Rich found themselves playing catch-up…but they just couldn't cut the mustard (that Chazz often has in his tennis bag to relieve cramping…OK, I had to lighten the mood just a bit with that bad pun…please don't PUN-ish me for it!). 

Afterward, Randy put the blame on himself as he said he was growing tired and not getting enough on his overheads as he was starting to push them back rather than snap them back.  He also felt he did not hold his serve enough.  Getting back to overheads…save for one miss of a true gift of an overhead set-up for Abhi, Mr. Gadi was a beast at the net as he often sent his overheads bouncing over the fence (though Rich did the same on a couple of occasions).  Liu has definitely improved his overall consistency, but most in attendance agreed that the steadiest presence on the court was Chazz as he often resorted to strategic lobs that not only kept his team in the rallies, but often shifted the momentum of the points.

Randy and Rich had nothing but praise for their opponents after the match as they felt that they had been beaten by the better team.  But they also said they would like a chance for revenge somewhere down the line (post-EWC series).

While the final score likely keeps this match out of the running as a potential Nominee for Doubles Match of The Year, it definitely ranks high as one of the most entertaining matches I have seen this season.  I congratulate "my guys" Abhi and Chazz for getting a win for the team (Team West), but I truly offer hearty kudos to Randy and Rich for a most spirited effort.  It was definitely good stuff all the way around.

And as I've been typing this report, an exchange of comments came in from three of the four competitors that I share here now.

Rich Remarks: Great match, Chazz and Abhi!  Congrats on your win!  It was an intense competitive match and really was a lot of fun.  Thanks again for coming to Park Ave to play.

Abhi's Answer: Randy and Rich, thank you both for an amazing match last night!  It was definitely the most intense match that I've played since I joined the GTA and that was because you both were really good.  You had us rattled in the 1st Set and we had to come up with something to keep the match alive!  It was great fun and I definitely look forward to playing you both again!

Randy's Reply: Fantastic match!  I'm looking forward to the rematch. 

There were some more results that occurred as the above match was taking place.

Tim Nguyen/Muhammad Haque over Edgar Valencia/David Soto, 6-2!  Edgar: 1 Ace on Muhammad!  These four played on Court Four from 8:40 to 9:05.

Edgar Valencia/Muhammad Haque over Tim Nguyen/David Soto, 6-1!  Edgar: 1 Ace on David!  Court Four hosted this same foursome (they just switched up the teams) from 9:09 to 9:31.

Let's now head west to Cedar Grove to get the word from Kat, Nate and Doinks as we go to their triple report now.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Brenda Jordan/Kathy Marabondo over Kathy Sheldon/Dawn Peterson, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-8 (STB)!  Dawn: 1 Ace on Brenda!  Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, the # 19 Rank in the Doubles Division of Sheldon/Peterson was no longer on the line.     

The Chat from Kat: We started at 6:30 and ended at 8:30pm.  It was an excellent match!  Kathy M. was her usual steady self at net and Brenda held down the baseline.  It was a competitive match and could have gone either way.  We had a blast!

Samara's Notes: I thank Kat for her timely and detailed reporting…always appreciated!  And now we get a combo of results from Nate and Doinks as I leave the last action to take place (the incomplete One-Setter) for the end to try to achieve some semblance of chronological order. 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout over Paul Daddio/Diane Raum, 6-3, 6-2, to successfully defend their # 5 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  In the process, Daddio/Raum entered the Mixed Doubles Division as the New # 26 Ranked Team.  No Aces.

 

Dan Hwang/Janice Wang over Kyle Eng/Doinks Srinivasan, 6-3!  No Aces.

 

Kyle Eng/Doinks Srinivasan over Dan Hwang/Janice Wang, 6-4!  No Aces.

 

Paul Daddio/Nathan Fernandes leading Don Moya/Guy Dupoux, 5-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!  No Aces.

Samara's Notes: I thank both Nate and Doinks for their timely reporting as well.  It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

10/2 Results.

10/2/18:

"12 play at C.G.!":

The weather forecasts calling for heavy storms and possible tornadoes spinning through our area may have deterred some from playing any GTA Tuesday Night Tennis, but not all as there was a fairly sizeable session at The Cedar Grove Courts.  Contributors to this report from that session are "The S Bomber" Genalin Capan, "NC-17" Nick Caputo and "The Argentine Machine" Fernanda Toker.  We first turn this report over to Gen and then grab the results from Nick and Fernanda after that.

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Challenge Match:

Moka Pathan/Doinks Srinivasan over Mike Mole/Genalin Capan, 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 6-3, to become the New # 6 Ranked Team in the Mixed Doubles Division!  Mike: 2 Aces on Doinks in the 1st Set!

In the 1st Set, Moka and Doinks were leading at 4-1.  We started to pick up some momentum as we got it closer to 3-4.  Moka/Doinks were leading at 5-3 and 5-4.  Mike and I battled back to get it to 5-All.  Both sides held to take us into the TB.

In the TB, Moka and Doinks jumped to a commanding lead at 5-0 when we finally got on board at 5-1.  The rest went 5-2, 6-2 and then 7-2 to end the TB and 1st Set.  The set lasted about an hour.

After our 1st Set, it started to drizzle but that only lasted for five minutes and then stopped.

2nd Set, Mike and I stayed focused and found ourselves with a 5-0 lead.  Moka and Doinks got on the board at 1-5 before we closed out the much needed 2nd Set to level it at one set a piece. This one took about 25 minutes.

3rd Set, this time Moka and Doinks had the 5-0 lead.  Mike and I battled back to get it closer and took the next three games for 3-5.  Mike was then broken on his service game to end the match and take a tough loss.  This set took 27 minutes.

We played from 6:50 to 8:45.  Moka and Doinks asked to play us in a Challenge Match to get back on the ranks.  It was a pretty even match-up of teams.  We had some nice rallies and also our fair share of errors.  It was a fun evening.

Samara's Notes: I thank Gen for her very timely and comprehensive reporting…it is much appreciated!  And I congratulate Moka and Doinks on their impressive victory!  We now go to Nick.

Nick Caputo/Marie Salamon over Joe Rodrigues/Tito Castolo, 7-6 (8-6)!  No Aces.

The NC-17 Screening: It was lots of fun!

Samara's Notes: I thank Nick for his timely submission of this result.  We now let Fernanda finish off this report. 

2 out of 3 Sets Mixed Doubles Match:

Tommy Reszkowski/Fernanda Toker over Nathan Fernandes/Natalia Sout, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, to successfully defend their # 4 Rank in the Mixed Doubles Division!  No Aces.

Toker's Take: We were up 5-2 and at Set Point in the 1st Set before they made a comeback to eventually tie it at 5-5 and then force the Tiebreak (where they had the lead).  They were up 4-2 in the 2nd Set.  They were a lot of fun to play...very tough team...good strategy!  Happy we got it finished just before the rain came (there were a few drizzles along the way).

Samara's Notes: I thank Fernanda for her very timely reporting as well…and also congratulate her and Tommy on a hard-fought victory.  Even though this was a straight set affair, this match may have an outside shot at becoming a Nominee for Mixed Doubles Match of The Year at season's end. 

Sincerely,

Frank Samara

Gtasamara5@gmail.com

 

 

 

10/1 Results.

10/1/18:

There was just one session of GTA Monday Night Tennis and it took place at the Cedar Grove Courts.  There are three contributors to this report from that session: "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson and "Killer Kat" Kathy Sheldon.  Let's go to their combined report now.  We will have Doinks start things off with her commentary.

Brenda Jordan sent an e-mail to some of the GTA women asking who would be available to play at 6:30pm. Kathy, Michele Panzitta and I (along with Brenda) happened to be all available at that time. 

The Cedar Grove Results:

2 out of 3 Sets Women's Doubles Match:

Doinks Srinivasan/Kathy Sheldon over Brenda Jordan/Michele Panzitta, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), to become the New # 7 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division!  Michelle: 2 Aces (one on each)!

The Details from Doinks: It was a very close match and it could have been won by either team.  We had long games, multiple Deuces, lengthy rallies and exciting net play!  We played from around 6:40 to 9:39 (three hours!).  Thanks, ladies, for the fun match!

Samara's Notes: I thank Doinks for her very timely reporting.  Based on that super-close score and the fact that this match lasted three hours, it seems like it should be a certain Nominee for Women's Doubles Match of The Year at season's end.

Now let's go to Dawn for some more scores.

Russ Johnson/Dawn Peterson over Chris Chiaro/Ellen Anderson, 6-4!  No Aces.  It was the official GTA Debut of Ellen Anderson.

Chris Chiaro/Ellen Anderson over Russ Johnson/Dawn Peterson, 7-5!  No Aces.

The Details from Dawn: Russ and Ellen are Kathy's friends from work.  They are very nice people and very good players.  Each one is a lefty.

Samara's Notes: Kathy was the one to confirm Ellen's last name and she hopes that Ellen will become one of our regulars.  I am already familiar with Russ (he was already on the ranks) as he is a steady presence at Marie Salamon's Tuesday Night Group sessions at the Fair Lawn Tennis Club (but I actually first met him via The Sheldons).  I thank Dawn for her timely reporting as well...and also thank Kathy for coming through with the confirm...and also for the recruiting.

All the best,

Frank Samara