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

Irwanto Reaches JA Osaka Singles Final, Ganesan Claims Doubles Title; Collegians Reach All Three USTA Pro Circuit Finals; Wolf, Korda Play for ATP Titles Sunday

I'm hard pressed to recall a run in a Grade A tournament like the one Jonathan Irwanto is having this week at the Osaka Mayor's Cup in Japan. The 18-year-old from Florida, currently 310 in the ITF junior rankings, beat the No. 4, No. 13 and No. 6 seeds to reach the semifinals, and today he defeated unseeded Asahi Harazaki of Japan 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final. Irwanto, who had never won more than one match at the Grade 1 level and had never played the main draw of a Grade A, will face No. 1 seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea, who defeated No. 3 Hayata Matsuoka of Japan 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, in Sunday's final.

Asahi Harazaki and Adhithya Ganesan with JA Osaka doubles trophy

Maryland's Adhithya Ganesan won the boys doubles title today with Harazaki as his partner. The No. 7 seeds defeated No. 5 seeds Kevin Edengren of Sweden and Volodymyr Iakubenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3 in today's final.

Japan's Sara Saito will go for the sweep of the Osaka titles tomorrow, after she and Yu-Yun Li of Taiwan took the doubles title today.  Saito and Li, the top seeds and College Park J1 champions, defeated No. 2 seeds Sayaka Ishii and Hayu Kinoshita of Japan 7-6(3), 6-1 in today's final. Saito and Ishii, also the No. 2 seed in singles, will meet in the championship match in singles Sunday.

The USTA Pro Circuit this week includes the ATP Challenger in Fairfield California, the $60,000 women's tournament in Las Vegas and the $25,000 women's tournament in Florence South Carolina. At the conclusion of today's semifinals, four of the six finalists have college ties; three are currently on Division I rosters.

At the $25K in Florence, 2022 NCAA champion Peyton Stearns, who turned pro after her sophomore year at Texas, has made her second consecutive final after winning the $25K in Austin two weeks ago. The 21-year-old from Ohio, seeded No. 4, defeated unseeded Tiphanie Fiquet(Mississippi/TCU) of France 6-3, 6-1 in today's semifinals. As John Parsons (@jtweetstennis) pointed out on twitter, Stearns has lost only 15 games in her last matches from the quarterfinals of Austin through today's match. 

Stearns will face University of Georgia newcomer Alexandra Vecic of Germany, who beat former Duke star Maria Mateas 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. It's the first ITF World Tennis Tour women's final for the 20-year-old Vecic. 

Stearns is looking for a sweep of the Florence titles for University of Texas alums, after today's doubles title for Allura and Maribella Zamarripa. The 20-year-old twins, seeded No. 1, defeated unseeded Samantha Crawford and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3, 6-4 for their sixth ITF World Tennis Tour women's doubles title and their second since turning pro this spring after their freshman year at Texas.

North Carolina State freshman Diana Shnaider of Russia reached her first final since accepting an scholarship offer this summer to play for the Wolfpack. After a semifinal appearance at the $60K in Berkeley and a quarterfinal appearance at the $80K in Rancho Santa Fe last week, Shnaider will play for the title Sunday in Las Vegas. The unseeded 18-year-old defeated last week's Rancho Santa Fe champion Marcela Zacarias of Mexico 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 and will play No. 2 seed Yue Yuan of China. Yuan defeated No. 3 seed Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-3, 7-6(4).

The doubles title in Las Vegas went University of Oklahoma sisters Carmen and Ivana Corley, who defeated Katarina Kozarov(Furman) of Serbia and Veronica Miroshnichenko(Loyola Marymount) of Russia 6-2, 6-0 in a final between two unseeded teams. It's the Corleys second Pro Circuit title, with their first a $15K title this June.

The Fairfield Challenger 80 singles final was going to feature a University of Kentucky Wildcat after both qualifier Alafia Ayeni, a graduate transfer this season after graduating from Cornell, and senior Gabriel Diallo of Canada won their quarterfinal matches yesterday to set up a meeting in the semifinal. Diallo won it, 6-3, 6-1 and will face No. 3 seed Michael Mmoh for the title tomorrow. Mmoh defeated qualifier Sam Riffice(Florida) 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Regardless of the result tomorrow, Diallo will move to around 250 in the ATP rankings, and as he continues to have success this fall, the likelihood he will return to Lexington for the dual match season decreases. The 21-year-old, who beat No. 4 seed Ben Shelton(Florida) in the second round, has won a $25K and a Challenger since June, so his results this week are not exactly surprising. 

Top seeds Julian Cash(Mississippi St/Oklahoma St) and Henry Patten(UNC-Asheville) won the doubles title in Fairfield today, defeating unseeded Anirudh Chandrasekar and N Vijay Sundar Prashanth of India 6-3, 6-1. Cash and Patten have won nine doubles titles this year, including five at the Challenger level and are both now just outside the ATP doubles Top 100.

Two American men will play for ATP 250 titles in Europe tomorrow, with JJ Wolf advancing to his first ATP final after beating qualifier Mikael Ymer of Sweden 6-4, 6-4 today in Florence Italy. Wolf will face top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who took out Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-3. Auger-Aliassime and Wolf met once on the ITF Junior Circuit six years ago, with Auger-Aliassime beating Wolf 6-2, 6-1. Auger-Aliassime went on to reach the final in 2016, losing to Geoffrey Blancaneaux of France. 

Sebastian Korda will play for his second career ATP title Sunday in Gijon Spain after he defeated Arthur Rinderknech(Texas A&M) of France 7-6(2), 6-3. Korda will face top seed Andrey Rublev of Russia in the final. 

My ITF JB1 Pan American Closed Recap, Videos; Irwanto Reaches Singles Semifinal, Ganesan Doubles Final at JA Osaka; Wolf Advances to First ATP Semifinal

If you didn't have an opportunity to read my daily coverage of last week's ITF JB1 Pan American Closed in Nicholasville Kentucky, the Blinkist version is available now at the Tennis Recruiting Network. Although the fields weren't the strongest I've seen at the tournament that I've been covering since 2007, Tatum Evans and Keegan Rice came in with a lot of momentum from recent tournaments and left with the trophies. The Top Seed Tennis Club had a three-year sanction for the event, which was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic, and it's my understanding that they will not be seeking to renew now that they've fulfilled their contractual obligations. I'll be curious to see who might be interested in hosting the event next year, as Grade 1 events, with their hospitality requirements, are expensive undertakings.

Below are the videos of the boys and girls finals, which were played at the same time (as were the doubles finals).

Two of the competitors at the Pan American Closed made the long trip to Japan for the ITF Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup and they are having more success there than they did at Nicholasville. 

Jonathan Irwanto, who lost in the first round in singles last week, has reached the semifinals this week unseeded, beating No. 6 seed Lennon Jones of Japan 6-4, 6-0. He will play unseeded Asahi Harazaki of Japan, who defeated No. 16 seed Quang Duong 6-2, 6-4.  The other semifinal will feature top seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea versus No. 3 seed Hayato Matusoka of Japan.

Adhithya Ganesan, who lost in the second round of doubles last week, is through to finals this week with his partner Harazaki. The No. 7 seeds defeated Irwanto and his partner Reiya Hattori of Japan, the No. 8 seeds, 6-2, 6-1 in today's semifinals. They will face No. 5 seeds Kevin Edengren of Sweden and Volodymyr Iakubenko of Ukraine for the title Saturday. 

Three of the girls remaining are from Japan, with Emerson Jones of Australia the fourth semifinalist. Jones, seeded No. 7, will play No. 2 seed Sayaka Ishii and top seed Sara Saito will face No. 4 seed Hayu Kinoshita.

Former Ohio State All-American JJ Wolf has reached his first ATP semifinal at the 250 tournament in Florence Italy. The unseeded 23-year-old defeated No. 4 seed Maxime Cressy(UCLA) in the second round and in today's quarterfinals, Wolf beat No. 7 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Wolf, who is now at a career-high 63 in the ATP live rankings, will face qualifier Mikael Ymer of Sweden in Saturday's semifinal.

At the ATP 250 in Gijon Spain, Sebastian Korda is through to the semifinals after defeating wild card Andy Murray 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Korda will play former Texas A&M All-American Arthur Rinderknech who saved nine match points in his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(16) victory over No. 2 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. It's the fifth ATP Top 20 win for the 27-year-old from France.

Duong, Irwanto Reach Osaka JA Quarterfinals; Shnaider Gets First WTA Top 100 Win at Las Vegas $60K; Lincer, Vecic Advance at Florence $25K; Vanderbilt's Duvenhage Announces Retirement

The six US girls who competed at the ITF JA Osaka Mayor's Cup have been eliminated after the third round losses today by No. 14 seed Anya Murthy, to No. 4 seed Hayu Kinoshito of Japan, and No. 15 seed Maya Iyengar, to top seed Sara Saito of Japan. But two Americans boys have advanced to the quarterfinals with impressive victories today. 

Sixteen-year-old Quang Duong, the No. 16 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan 6-1, 7-6(7). Sakamoto, also 16, has had an impressive summer and fall on both the ITF junior and men's circuit, with his junior ranking now at 34 and a semifinal appearance at the $15K in Champaign Illinois last month. Duong will face unseeded Asahi Harazaki of Japan Friday. The unseeded Irwanto, who has never won more than one match at a tournament Grade 1 or above, took out No. 13 seed Hoyoung Roh of Korea 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 18-year-old will play No. 6 seed Lennon Jones of Japan for a place in the semifinals.

The third American boy in the draw, No. 14 seed Adhithya Ganesan, lost to top seed Gerard Campana Lee 6-3, 6-3. Ganesan is through to the doubles semifinals, partnering with Harazaki; he will play Irwanto and his partner Reiya Hattori of Japan Friday for a spot in the boys doubles final.

NC State freshman Diana Shnaider has yet to compete for the Wolfpack, but she continues to play great tennis this fall in the United States. The 18-year-old from Russia earned her first WTA Top 100 win today at the $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Las Vegas, beating top seed and WTA No. 81 Panna Udvardy of Hungary 6-4, 6-4 in today's second round. Shnaider has made at least the quarterfinals of the three $60-80K tournaments she's played since the US Open Juniors, where she lost in the semifinals in singles and won the doubles. Shnaider will play unseeded Eudice Chong(Wesleyan) of Hong Kong, who beat qualifier Solymar Colling(San Diego) 7-5, 6-0 to advance to her first quarterfinal above the $25K level.

The only American to advance to the quarterfinals in Las Vegas is No. 4 seed Katie Volynets, who defeated Alexa Glatch 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(8). 

At the $25,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Florence South Carolina, University of Georgia freshman Alexandra Vecic of Germany has advanced to the quarterfinals, beating teammate Mel Reasco of Ecuador 6-3, 6-2 a day after taking out top seed Hanna Chang 6-7(2), 6-0, 6-1. Like Shnaider, the 20-year-old has yet to compete for Georgia in the fall season. Vecic will face 17-year-old qualifier Olivia Lincer of Poland, who received a walkover into the quarterfinals from No. 6 seed Allie Kiick. Other Americans to reach the quarterfinals are Grace Min[3], Maria Mateas(Duke), Peyton Stearns[4](Texas) and qualifier Victoria Hu(Princeton). 

Ian Duvenhage, the men's head coach at Vanderbilt since 2005, has announced he will retire and the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. Duvenhage, who had previously coached the Florida men, and before that, the Miami women, currently has 569-376 record in Division I competition. Former Vanderbilt All-American Ryan Lipman, currently the associate head coach, will no doubt be considered for the position, but a national search to replace Duvenhage is likely. 

Five Americans Advance to Round of 16 at ITF JA Osaka Mayor's Cup; Duke's Coleman Receives Midland WTA 125 Wild Card; Gauff Defeats Montgomery in Rain-Delayed First Round Match in San Diego; ITA Cup for Divisions II, III, NAIA and JUCO Begins Thursday

Of the nine Americans who made the trip to Japan for the ITF Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup this week, five have advanced to Thursday's round of 16, including all three US boys who entered.

Unseeded Jonathan Irwanto had an impressive second round win, beating No. 4 seed Hayden Jones of Australia 6-4, 7-5. The 18-year-old from Florida will play No. 14 seed Hoyoung Roh of Korea for a place in the quarterfinals. 

No. 14 seed Adhithya Ganesan defeated Yuto Oki of Japan 6-1, 6-1 to advance to a third round meeting with top seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea. No. 16 seed Quang Duong beat qualifier Shota Shima of Japan 6-1, 6-4 and will play No. 2 seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan.  Irwanto and his partner Reiya Hattori of Japan, the No. 8 seeds, have advanced to the doubles quarterfinals, as has Ganesan, with his partner Asahi Harazaki of Japan, who are the No. 7 seeds. 

While No. 12 seed Sage Loudon and No. 16 seed Martina Marica lost in the opening round of singles, the other two American seeds in the girls draw have advanced to the third round. No. 14 seed Anya Murthy defeated Sein Myoung of Korea 7-5, 7-6(4) and No. 15 seed Maya Iyengar beat Laura Cilekova of Slovakia 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3. Iyengar will face top seed Sara Saito of Japan next, while Murthy's third round opponent is No. 4 seed Hayu Kinoshita of Japan.

The WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan, which runs from October 30 through November 5, announced three main draw wild cards today. Nineteen-year-old Midland resident Ellie Coleman, a sophomore at Duke, will play in the main draw (CORRECTION: Coleman's wild card is for qualifying in singles, but she has been given a main draw wild card in doubles). Joining Coleman as wild cards announced today are Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Sofia Kenin. Shuai Zhang of China, currently No. 27 in the WTA rankings. accepted a wild card last month. Katrina Scott has received a main draw wild card, with one more yet to be announced.

The current list of competitors includes nine WTA Top 100 players. 

As usual, I am planning to attend the tournament to cover qualifying and some first round action.

No. 6 seed Coco Gauff and qualifier Robin Montgomery finished their first round match today at the WTA 500 in San Diego after rain caused a postponement last night with Gauff up a set and a break. Gauff closed out her 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow 18-year-old Montgomery with little drama and will face Bianca Andreescu of Canada in the second round Thursday.

For more on the Gauff-Montgomery match, see this article from the WTA website.

The ITA Cup, formerly known as the ITA Small College Championships, begins Thursday at the Rome Tennis Park in Georgia. 

Players from Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College schools will vie for individual titles in singles and doubles. 

The top seeds in each division:

Division III women: Sylwia Mikos, Chicago

Division III men: Aiden Drover-Mattinen, RPI (brother of ITF JB1 Pan American Closed finalist Liam Drover-Mattinen)

Division II women: Deniz Khazan, Barry

Division II men: Luca Mack, Valdosta State

NAIA women: Violet Apisah, Keiser

NAIA men: Perry Gregg, Holy Cross(Indiana)

Junior College women: Arina Gamretkaia, Hillsborough CC

Junior College men: Takeshi Taco, Cowley County CC

Complete draws can be found here. Live streaming is available through a link on the ITA tournament home page.

Qualifying Concludes, Main Draw Begins at USTA Women's Pro Circuit Las Vegas $60K and Florence $25K; Riffice Ousts No. 2 Seed Kozlov, Holmgren Defeats Tiburon Champion Zvajda, All Six Qualifiers Reach Second Round at Fairfield Challenger

There are no USTA Pro Circuit men's tournaments this week, with the exception of the ATP Challenger 80 in Fairfield California, but women have two events, with playing beginning today at the $60,000 tournament in Las Vegas and the $25,000 tournament in South Carolina.

Oddly enough, the qualifying draw was full for the $25K, but not for the $60K, which had nine byes in a 32-player draw. Three Americans advanced to the main draw in Las Vegas: Tori Kinard, who had to win just one match to qualify, University of San Diego senior Solymar Colling, and University of Oklahoma senior Carmen Corley. 

The wild cards in Las Vegas were given to three Americans: Raveena Kingsley, who lost to top seed Panna Udvardy of Hungary 6-4, 6-4 in the first round today, Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) and Anna Rogers(NC State). Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer received the fourth wild card.

In other first round matches today, Pepperdine graduate Ashley Lahey defeated Dalayna Hewitt 6-4, 6-4 and four-time NCAA Division III Eudice Chong(Wesleyan) of Hong Kong took out No. 5 seed Asia Muhammad 7-5, 6-2. Chong has played very little above the $25K level (she lost last week in the first round of the Redding $25K to 15-year-old Aspen Schuman), but the 26-year-old has her ranking up to 249, and if she can continue to post results like this, is likely to receive entry into Australian Open qualifying. 

Muhammad has to be disappointed in the loss, as she lives in Las Vegas and has been part of that tennis community since she was a junior.

No. 6 seed Katrina Scott and Marcela Zacarias of Mexico, who met in the $80K final in Rancho Santa Fe last week, have drawn each other in the first round in Las Vegas. Zacarias beat Scott 6-1, 6-2 in the championship match.

North Carolina State freshman Diana Shnaider of Russia, who has yet to play for the Wolfpack this fall, has played the USTA Pro Circuit three of the last four weeks out west, and she is up to 209 in the WTA rankings. She faces former Penn star Connie Hsu of Taiwan, who qualified today.

In South Carolina, two of the qualifiers are Americans: Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Lauren Proctor(Winthrop). Seventeen-year-old Olivia Lincer, who recently switched from representing the United States and is now playing for Poland, also qualified. Fifteen-year-old Akasha Urhobo lost in the final round of qualifying today to 18-year-old Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz received entry as a lucky loser.

Wild cards went to 15-year-old Mia Yamakita, local high school junior Allie Murrell, 16-year-old Clervie Ngounoue and University of Virginia junior Hibah Shaikh. Ngounoue played her first round match today, beating No. 8 seed Hina Inoue 6-1, 6-1; No. 4 seed Peyton Stearns(Texas), coming off her $25K title in Austin two weeks ago, defeated 2022 USTA National 18s champion Eleana Yu 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.

Hanna Chang is the top seed, with Justina Mikulskyte(Kentucky) of Lithuania the No. 2 seed.

At the Challenger in Fairfield, college players were the story of the day, with going former collegians 11-0 in completed first round matches today. 

Those picking up wins: qualifier Alafia Ayeni(Cornell/Kentucky), qualifier August Holmgren(San Diego), qualifier Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee), alternate Giovanni Oradini(Mississippi State), No. 4 seed Ben Shelton(Florida), Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky, qualifier Alfredo Perez(Florida), Valentin Vacherot(Texas A&M), qualifier Alexandr Cozbinov(UNLV), Alexis Galarneau(NC State) and qualifier Sam Riffice(Florida). All six of the qualifiers won their opening round matches. 

Riffice, the 2021 NCAA singles champion, defeated No. 2 seed Stefan Kozlov 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, earning the best win, ranking-wise, of his career, with Kozlov now at 131. 

Holmgren, the 2022 NCAA singles finalist, defeated Tiburon champion Zachary Svajda 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.