Aug. 15, 2005

COMITAN, MEXICO - Former Tiger tennis players Joe Schmulian and Ben Stapp claimed their first Futures doubles crown in the Copa Ciro Farrera 2005 in Comitan, Mexico, on Sunday. The former Tigers entered the tournament as the top-seeded doubles team, and downed the No. 2 team of Marcelo Amador and Daniel Garza of Mexico, 7-5, 6-3 in the final. The duo did not drop a set en route their first career doubles title.

Schmulian also advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles draw. He opened the tournament with a win over No. 6 seed Jason Marshall, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, and followed that with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Italy's Marco de Sanctis in the second round. Schmulian's run came to an end in a 7-5, 6-3 loss to No. 1 seed Daniel Garza of Mexico on Saturday.

Stapp now has 20 points in the ATP Individual Doubles race, while Schmulian has 19 points.

This was the second doubles final appearance for Stapp in 2005., He also advanced to the finals of the New Zealand F2 tournament in Auckland on Feb. 21st on an indoor hard court while teaming with fellow Aussie Clinton Thomson. He and Thomson fell to the No. 4 seed team of Mark Nielsen and Matthew Prentice of New Zealand in that final. Stapp now has $1,291 in prize money for the 2005 season, while Schmulian has $545 in prize money for the season following last weekend's doubles win and singles quarterfinal appearance.

Tiger tennis fans can follow the duo's results by going to www.stevegtennis.com and looking at the Futures Schedule/Results there. The next event in Mexico is the F10 event, another $10,000 tournament.