The Brunch Bunch

'Titan, it's just as you often say...the third set is all about heart." Yes, these were the words of Frank 'Slats' Slattery upon completion of his four sets of doubles as TennisTitan's partner at the Big K this morning. Titan had heard the taunts from 'Rockin' Rick from the other side of the net ("Gimme something I like"; "Respect 'Rockin' Rick" et al.) as 'Slats'/TT seemed to be in the midst of a first class break down in their third set. 'Gimpy Knees' Cruz and 'RRR,' who had been humbled (6-2) in the prior set, saw blood in the water as the 'bloated behemoth' and his leg weary partner dissipated a 5-2 lead to barely send the set to a tie breaker with a 12th game hold that included fending off two match points. The breaker was a reprise of the entire set. TT/'Slats' ran out of gas and relinquished a 5-0 lead to face match point twice more at 7-8 and 8-9! With 'Chemist'/'Spindly Legs' waiting eagerly in the wings 'Slats' had made his only bad play of the day when he said at 7-7: "These guys have waited long enough; first one to 10 wins." 'Frankie, how could you' thought the 'immobile minotaur' as he stepped to the line at 9-9. TT had no pop on his serve this day and had been nailed often on returns when he put his serve in reach of 'GK's' lethal forehand or 'RRR's sliced backhand. With the guile of a democrat senator and the precision of an atomic clock the 'egomaniacal egotist' nailed the 'back corner vertex' on 'Rockin' and followed the defensive backhand return with an unreturnable lob to 'GK's forehand corner! (7-6 [10-9]) was followed incredibly by what would have been unthinkable - the beloved bagel (6-0) of George 'Chemist' Hauss and Carl 'Spindly Legs' Gessman. As the exhausted teams met at net 'Slats' chortled, "Tommy-boy, taking out my cousin, your liege 'King Gene' Slattery, with 'Big Al' Dio Dati (6-3) in the first set, was but the fruit cup before our hearty breakfast." Titan quipped, "Enough of this Breakfast at Wimbledon crap - the Titan serves brunch before the US Open semifinals!"