Overview
- Aoki scored 78.83 in the senior women's short program at the Summer Cup and opened in second after debuting her new piece, "Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru," which featured a clean Lutz–loop combination and drew strong applause.
- She said she considered retiring after last season's Four Continents win but chose to continue and has been working on skating quality with input from Javier Fernández and choreography work linked to Kaitlyn Weaver.
- Masami Ooba placed 11th in the short program with 55.45 points and is scheduled to skate her free program later in the event after completing three jumps in the SP.
- Ooba has reduced practice time since starting full-time work in April and skated the short program while coping with a minor right-shoulder issue sustained after the Akurus Cup, with some jumps called under-rotated.
- The Summer Cup served as an early-season tune-up that highlighted Aoki's push to strengthen her skating for major events and underscored how veterans balance jobs, recovery, and competition as the season begins.