Christmas Vacation Maneuvers

"Cousin Gene will rub my nose in this for months Titan. The third set is about heart you always say. Okay, you won that set with him. But from now on my partner in the fourth set will be Dr. Heimlich, not the TennisTitan that is for damn sure!" fumed Frank 'Slats' Slattery at the conclusion of play at the Yonkers Tennis Center. TT/'Slats' had just dropped a heart breaker to Gene 'King' Slattery and 'Rockin' Rick Ricci (8-10) to end three hours of doubles play. Up 5-1 in the final set TT/'Slats' just couldn't reel it in and saw their lead turn into a 5-6 deficit before extending play for another 30 minutes. Titan had a strong day on the court using his guile and lobbing ability in all four sets before tiring late in the match. The 'boisterous bloviator'and 'RRR' came back from 2-5 in the opener before dropping set 1 (4-6) to the cousins from Dobbs Ferry. The second set had TT/'Slats' run rough shod over 'King' and an over matched 'Rockin' Rick (6-2). 'Bloated Behemoth' and My Liege held on for a (6-4) victory over 'Slats'/'RRR' in the third set. As an omen of things to come, TT saw a 5-1 lead shrink to 5-4 before icing the set. As the boys met at net the foursome all commented on the high level of today's play when 'Rockin Rick' interjected, 'Titan, this was some fun tennis. The King and I won our $5/man bet against you guys that last set." The 'King' smiled and said "They may make musicals about me Titan, but let's just say, I gave you a Royal Flush to ease the pain you must have in your throat right about now." Cousin 'Slats' quipped "Hey, we all won. TennisTitan had prepaid for two hours of court time when we played a solid three hours on a rainy day in Yonkers. As far as I'm concerned this fat bearded, bespectacled guy is Santa Claus!"