Winners Bob DiCara & Scott Zenack with Finalists Russell Neale & Matt Gilman
2012 Doubles Recap
Twenty teams competed in 16 matches on a gorgeous Saturday, while soaked courts overnight could not dampen the spirit of the semifinal and final matches Sunday. The perfect weather inspired a high quality of play on all of the courts in each of the rounds. Long rallies and hotly contested games marked nearly every match at both ends of the draw. Saturday afternoon’s Quarterfinals were particularly exciting. Kurt Riess and Mark Brass pressed Russell Neale and Matt Gilman before yielding 6-4, 6-2. The team of Ram Chakropani and Rizwan Shamsi outlasted Andre Aubin and Anthony Lochiatto 6-3, 6-1 in a tight match on Court 1.
Meanwhile Zack and Jordan Arbit gave defending champs Bob DiCara and Scott Zenack a run for their
money but the champs held at 6-2, 6-4, while Mark McGuire and Ed Oakes bested Steve and Allen Davis 6-2, 6-2 in a battle of top-spin. Sunday’s matches were delayed to the afternoon due to flooding on the courts. Unfortunately Ram and Rizwan had to default their semifinal match against Matt and Russ due to illness. The other semi started out with strong defense on the soft, slow, damp court as Oakes/McGuire traded breaks with DiCara/Zenack. Caveman and Rocket closed out the close first set 6-3 by a single break, but Eddie and Mark battled back in the second set, building a 5-2 lead on terrific serving and well-placed volleys. DiCara and Zenack then rallied to win 4 straight before Eddie and Mark tied it up at 6-6. The tie-break was equally back-and-forth before Bob and Scott finished it up 7-5.
In the finals, DiCara and Zenack rode their semi-final win to a nearly flawless 6-0 first set. Matt and 
Russ hit great serves, groundstrokes, volleys and overheads, but couldn’t break through their opponents even better shot-making. Scott and Bob retrieved nearly every overhead and attacked at both net and baseline and repeatedly pushed Matt and Russ back from net with outstanding lobs. Neale/Gilman found their game in the second set but couldn’t hold off the DiCara/Zenack attack. After Neale/Gilman closed the 5-3 lead to 5-4, Caveman and Rocket closed out the match and the tournament for their 4th championship in 4 years.
Congratulations to Bob and Scott for a superb tournament, to Eddie, Mark, Matt and Russell who played terrific tennis Sunday as well, and to all of the players who made this one of the club’s finest doubles events.
Singles Tournament Recap
Bob DiCara took home his third straight STC A division singles title with a 6-3, 6-2win over new 
member David Kroll. David hit some incredible forehands and barely missed a tweener. Despite these highlight reel shots, Bob was too tough – adding to his basic NUF strategy (No UnForced errors) by mixing in some serve and volley, drop shots, and a solid all-court game.
In the B final, Len Travers and Dick Schlesinger split the first two sets, each winning their set by a 6-1
score. Deciding to play out the third set rather than play a super-tiebreak, both gentlemen brought their A games to the third set. The set went back and forth and at 6 games all, a third set tiebreak decided the match. Dick took the early lead in the breaker, dictating with his forehand and drop shot and had two match points at 6-4. But Len played aggressive tennis and was able to come back and tie at 6 points all. Both then held match points as the match went back and forth to 8 points all. Len hit a forehand winner to earn his second match point, and finished off another successful approach to the net with a forehand volley winner to seal the match 10 points to 8.