ITF J500 in Osaka Underway with Five Americans Entered; Secord, Moe and Lee Win ITF J100 Titles; Preda and Kostovic Claim European 18s Championships, 16s Champions to be Crowned This Week in Italy

The Osaka Mayor's Cup, the fifth of the seven ITF J500s this year, has begun, with five Americans making the long trip to Japan basically for this one event. There was no J300 warmup, and nothing in the area after, unless you consider a J200 in Uzbekistan as a geographic option. The three boys playing in Japan are Max Exsted, the No. 9 seed, Jacob Olar and Benjamin Willwerth, Exsted and Olar are scheduled to play their first round matches Tuesday; Willwerth lost his Monday. 

The two US girls competing are Chukwumelije Clarke, who lost her first round match Monday, and Leena Friedman, who won her first round match.

2024 Australian Open finalist Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic, who is likely playing the ITF Junior Finals in China next month, is the top boys seed; Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic is the top girls seed. Both won their opening round matches Monday.

Three Americans claimed ITF J100 titles last week, with Jack Secord and Kaya Moe winning the singles titles in Canada and 14-year-old Jordan Lee capturing his biggest title in Bosnia Herzegovina.

The 16-year-old Secord, the top seed in Quebec City, didn't drop a set in his five victories, defeating No. 2 seed Simon Caldwell 6-4, 6-3 in an all-US final.  It's the third career ITF Junior Circuit title for Secord and his first this year. 

Moe, a 16-year-old blue chip from Connecticut, swept the girls titles, winning her first in singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit as a qualifier. Moe, who has played just four ITF Junior Circuit tournaments, all this year in the US or Canada, beat just one seed en route to the title, defeating No. 1 Ava Rodriguez 6-0, 6-4 in the second round. In the championship match, Moe downed unseeded Lucy Oyebog Atang 6-4, 6-2 for her eighth win of the week.  Moe and Carrie-Ann Hoo won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating the Canadian team of Clemence Mercier and Ned Rahimkhani 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Both teams were unseeded. 

Joseph Oyebog and France's Sasha Colleu won the boys doubles title, beating top seeds Secord and Ford McCollum 7-5, 6-1 in the final. 

No. 8 seed Lee, who had reached two J60 finals this year, got his first singles title in Mostar last week, defeating No. 2 seed Egor Shcherbakov of Russia 7-6(3), 6-4 in the final. Shcherbakov had beaten No. 4 seed Michael Antonius 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(3) in the semifinals. Antonius and Lee lost in the doubles semifinals.

The other titles for Americans last week all came in J30s.  Fourteen-year-old Anay Kulkarni of Arizona won his first two ITF Junior Circuit titles in Managua Nicaragua. Seeded No. 8 in singles, Kulkarni defeated fellow American Juan Carlos Portilla Morales, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, 6-2 in the singles final. Kulkarni partnered with Nick Mertgens of Germany for the doubles title, with the No. 3 seeds beating the unseeded Mexican team of Roger Chile Garcia and Macario Reyna 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.

At the J30 in Punta Cana Dominican Republic, top seed Mason Taube won his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the 16-year-old from Georgia beating unseeded Matias Reyniak of New York 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Top seeds Ciara Harding and Natalie Oliver won the girls doubles title, beating No. 4 seeds Sofia Mills and Gabriella Slovak 6-0, 6-2 in the all-USA final.

In Taiwan, 16-year-old William Zhang won his first ITF Junior Circuit title, with the No. 4 seed defeating No. 5 seed Kuan-Huai Mao of Taiwan 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

The top seeds took the titles at the ITF J300 European Championships last week in Austria, with Luca Preda of Romania sweeping the boys championships and Teodora Kostovic of Serbia continuing her domination of J300 tournaments by taking the girls singles title.

The 18-year-old Preda defeated No. 11 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy 6-3, 6-1 in the singles final, then partnered with Stefan Horia Haita of Romania for the doubles title. The No. 2 seeds defeated top seeds Izan Almazan Valiente and Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain 7-6(6), 6-1 in the final. 

The 17-year-old Kostovic, who has won four J300 singles titles since June, didn't drop a set all week, defeating No. 4 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-0 in the final. No. 6 seeds Joy De Zeeuw and Britt Du Pree of the Netherlands won the girls doubles title, beating No. 8 seeds Elena Ruxandra Bertea and Diana-Ioana Simionescu of Romania 6-2, 5-7, 11-9 in the final.

With the 14s division championships two weeks ago, and the 18s division last week, it's now time for the European Championships for the 16s, with that event being held for a second time in Parma Italy.  Flynn Thomas of Switzerland is the top seed in the boys tournament; Charo Esquiva Bañuls of Spain is the top seed in the girls draw. See the Tennis Europe tournament page for links to draws, live streaming and live scoring.