Top Seeds Claim Osaka JA Titles; Stearns Saves Four Match Points to Earn Another $25K Title; Mmoh Wins Fairfield Challenger; ITA Cup Champions in D-II, D-III, NAIA and JUCO Divisions

The top seeds proved too much for the challengers this week at the ITF Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup, which concluded with singles championships today for Sara Saito of Japan and Gerard Campana Lee of Korea.

Saito defeated No. 2 seed Sayaka Ishii of Japan 6-2, 6-4 in the final; the six games the 16-year-old lost are the most she dropped in any of her six victories this week. She had not played a Grade A until this year, and was 1-4 in the four junior slams.

Campana Lee finally ended the run of unseeded Floridian Jonathan Irwanto, but not without a struggle. The 18-year-old defeated Irwanto 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 for his first JA title in his first JA final. 

Peyton Stearns took a week off after her title at the $25K in Austin, but when she returned to Pro Circuit action this week at the $25,000 women's tournament in Florence South Carolina, she picked up where she left off. The 21-year-old from Ohio, who turned pro after leading the Texas Longhorns to their second consecutive NCAA team championship and winning the NCAA singles title, had been cruising this week until today, when she saved four match points to defeat unseeded University of Georgia freshman Alexandra Vecic of Germany 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5. 

Down 4-1 in the third set, Stearns, seeded No. 4, pulled even, but had to save those four match points serving at 4-5. She then got the break of Vecic and held at love for his tenth straight victory on the USTA Pro Circuit. Stearns now has three $25K titles and has been in three $25K finals since turning pro in June. 

The other two collegians in Pro Circuit finals today did not fare as well as Stearns. Unseeded North Carolina State freshman Diana Shnaider of Russia lost to No. 2 seed Yue Yuan of China 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in this afternoon's final of the $60,000 women's tournament in Las Vegas. Even with the loss, Shnaider has moved her WTA ranking into the Top 200 now, at 183.

At the ATP Challenger 80 in Fairfield California, unseeded University of Kentucky senior Gabriel Diallo lost to No. 3 seed Michael Mmoh 6-3, 6-2. Mmoh, the 2016 Kalamazoo 18s champion, did not drop a set all week, and will be at 110 when in the ATP rankings are published Monday. The 24-year-old from Florida won the Challenger in Cary North Carolina last month and is now just a few spots off his career-high ranking of 96. Diallo will be at 250, which will probably get him into Australian Open qualifying.

No Challengers are scheduled for this week, with the only men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament a $25,000 event in Harlingen Texas.

Both Americans competing in ATP 250 finals lost to the top seeds today, with Sebastian Korda falling to Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in Gijon Spain and JJ Wolf(Ohio State) losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in Florence Italy. 

The ITA Cup wrapped up today in Rome Georgia, with NAIA and Division II champions crowned after the JUCO and Division III champions were determined Saturday. The ITA reserves a place in the main draw for a men's and women's ITA Cup champion; there used to be a playoff for it, but now it is a wild card the ITA and its national tournament committee selects. Below are the results of the singles and doubles finals.

Division III
Women:
Singles
Sylwia Mikos[1], Chicago d. Sarah Persemlidis, MIT 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
Brooke Despriet and Katherine Petty, Sewanee d. Claudia Ng and Perene Wang, Chicago 6-3, 6-1

Men:
Singles
Advik Mareedu, CMS d. Tristan Bradley[4], Bowdoin 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

Doubles

Vishwa Aduru and James Hopper[3], Case Western d. Denin Acarglu and Vuk Vuksanovic, Tufts 5-7, 6-4, 10-3

JUCO
Women:
Singles
Carol Mora Camacho[2] Seward d. Arina Gamretkaia[1], Hillsborough 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
Esmee Andresen and Arina Gamretkaia[2], Hillsborough d. Jou Chen and Nicole Dufour[1], Abraham Baldwin 6-1, 1-6, 10-3

Men:
Singles
Takeshi Taco[1], Cowley d. Diego Dalisay[2], Tyler 5-7, 7-5, ret.

Doubles
Boruch Skierkier and Bruno Nhavene[1], Cowley d. Dan Persson and Naithaolin Golmei[2], Tyler 6-3, 6-3

NAIA
Women:
Singles
Violet Apisah[1], Keiser d. Yvette Schmucker, Keiser 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
Cassidy Mataia and Liza Velykorodna[3], Georgia Gwinnett d. Iryna Lysykh and Stephanie Fernandez[1], Georgia Gwinnett 3-6, 6-2, 10-2

Men:
Singles
Paras Dahiya, Georgia Gwinnett d. Gabriel Oriz[3], Tennnessee Wesleyan 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
Jose Dugo and Leo Sprovieri[2], Georgia Gwinnett d. Paras Dahiya and Dhakshineswar Suresh[1], Georgia Gwinnett 7-6(3), 6-4

Division II
Women:

Singles
Deniz Khazan[1], Barry d. Sofia Smagina, Washburn 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5)

Doubles
Fatima Bizhukova and Natalie Espinal[1], Nova Southeastern d. Madison Kane and Eleonora Liga, Azusa Pacific 6-1, 6-4

Men:
Singles
Santiago Perez, Columbus State d. Luca Mack[1], Valdosta State 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
Edgar Destouet and Tom Zeuch, Indianapolis d. Tomas Descarrega and Facundo Bermejo[2], West Florida 6-4, 2-6, 10-1