May 24, 2005

AGUASCALINTES, MEXICO - Former men's tennis players Joe Schmulian and Ben Stapp advanced to the doubles finals of the Mexico F6 Futures tournament in Aguascalintes, Mexico, on Friday. The duo fell 7-5, 7-6 in the doubles finals to the No. 2 seeded team of Sanjin Sadovich (Canada) and Carl Thorsen (U.S.).

It marked the end of a strong week of play for both former Tigers, as Schmulian advanced to the singles quarterfinals, before falling 6-2, 6-3 to No. 3 seed Santiago Giraldo from Columbia. Stapp got into the main draw, where he fell to top seeded Victor Romero from Mexico, 6-3, 6-4.

Schmulian got into the main draw after defeating three opponents in the qualifying tournament. Schmulian opened with a win over Gustavo Loza from Mexico, 6-2, 6-3, then advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Alex Lane of the U.S. He jumped into the main draw with a three-set, come-from-behind victory 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, over Guatamala's Israel Morales.

The tandem is spending two more weeks in Mexico. Stapp was seeded fifth in the qualifying draw, and after receiving a first-round bye, downed Mexico's Luis Diaz-Barriaga, 7-5, 7-6 (4), to earn a qualifying round match against Schmulian. Schmulian downed Brazil's Ranieri Denadai, 6-0, 6-1, then defeated the U.S.'s Vicnente Casariego, 6-2, 6-2 to earn the match against Stapp. Results from Monday's qualifying round were not yet available Tuesday morning. The futures tour results are available from www.stevegtennis.com and selecting 2005 Calendar/Results, then scrolling down to May 23rd and clicking on the q next to Mexico F7. The main draw will be posted under the Mexico F7 link when it is provided by tournament organizers.