themselves with their exertions in the XL Bermuda Open final at the weekend.

Both players -- Davis Cup team-mates and great friends off the court -- fell at the first hurdle of their latest tournament two days after thrilling the Coral Beach crowd in a compelling three-set battle.

Gumy, seeded three in the $50,000 Edelman/USTA ATP Challenger event in Birmingham, Alabama, went out in three sets to another Argentinian, Sebastian Prieto, a first round victim in Bermuda.

Marcio Carlsson, of Brazil, who was also a competitor in last week's event on the Island, came through against Arnold, again in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

Other first round winners included XL quarter-finalist Todd Larkham, who beat Marcelo Charpentier, semi-finalist Franco Squillari, Germany's Dirk Dier, Mashiska Washington, Andrei Merinov of Russia, Norway's Christian Ruud, and number one seed Johan Van Herck, the Belgian who won the XL tournament in 1997.

HERNAN GUMY -- first round casualty.