Bemelmans beats Barry for 25K Burlingame title

No. 1 seed Ruben Bemelmans, shown in this
month's Fairfield Challenger, routed No. 2 Sam
Barry to win the $25,000 Burlingame Futures.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium routed second-seeded Sam Barry of Ireland 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday to win the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center Men's Futures in the San Francisco suburb of Burlingame.
   Aside from his 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Sebastian Fanselow of Germany in the quarterfinals, the 28-year-old Bemelmans, ranked No. 216, lost no more than five games in a match in the indoor routnament.
   Last year, Bemelmans reached a career-high No. 84 in the world and helped Belgium advance to the Davis Cup final. He lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the final.
   Bemelmans qualified for Wimbledon for the third time this year and lost 8-6 in the fifth set to fellow left-hander Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round. Bemelmans advanced to the second round at Wimbledon in 2012.
   The top seeds also won the Burlingame doubles title. Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Ruan Roelofse of South Africa beat third-seeded Barry and Peter Kobelt, 6-foot-7 (2.01 meters) from Columbus, Ohio, and Tel Aviv, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.
   Here are the complete Burlingame singles and doubles draws.

Irishman survives again to reach Burlingame final

   Sam Barry has survived a harrowing road to the final of the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center Men's Futures.
   Not only has the second-seeded Irishman needed three sets in all four of his matches, the first three encounters went to 6-4 or 7-5 in the third set, and he came within a tiebreaker of losing in straight sets in the semifinals.
   Barry, ranked No. 291, subdued unseeded American Mico Santiago 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Saturday in Burlingame, near San Francisco International Airport.
   Barry, 24, is scheduled to face top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium for the first time today at noon.
   Bemelmans, ranked No. 216 after reaching a career-high No. 84 last year in September, outclassed fourth-seeded Raymond Sarmiento, a former USC All-American from Los Angeles, 6-2, 6-3.
   Bemelmans has had only one tough match in the tournament, a quarterfinal with virtually the same score as Barry's semifinal. Bemelmans, 28, beat sixth-seeded Sebastian Fanselow of Germany 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1.
   Bemelmans qualified for Wimbledon for the third time this year and lost 8-6 in the fifth set to fellow left-hander Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round. Bemelmans reached the second round at Wimbledon in 2012. He lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the Davis Cup final last November.
   Here are the Burlingame singles and doubles draws.