Rinky Hijikata and Rio Noguchi will face off in the final of the Playford Challenger for the 1st time in their career. They are scheduled to compete on Sunday at 10:00 am on CENTER COURT. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Rinky Hijikata who should win in 2 sets.
As per the initial odds, Rinky Hijikata is the pick to win this match.
Rinky Hijikata -> 1.33
Rio Noguchi -> 3.2
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Prediction and head to head Rinky Hijikata vs. Rio Noguchi
There is no head to head record between Rinky Hijikata and Rio Noguchi since this will be the first time that they will face off in the main tour.
Rinky Hijikata
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 16-22 | 9-12 | 1-5 | 1-1 | 5-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 46-34 | 37-23 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 9-6 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 53-29 | 37-19 | 2-2 | 10-6 | 4-2 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 41-13 | 31-9 | 9-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 192, Hijikata got to the final after beating Philip Sekulic 6-2 6-2, Ajeet Rai 6-3 6-2, James Duckworth 4-6 6-1 6-2 and Max Purcell 6-1 6-1.
In the semifinal, The Australian had a good straight sets win against Purcell (6-1 6-1). During the match, Hijikata scored 63 points vs Purcell’s 37. The Australian was very aggressive to blast 22 winners.
Talking about the service games, Hijikata blasted 7 aces and he was pretty solid in conceding no double faults. Rinky Hijikata was very effective on serve to win 79% (22/28) of his 1st serve and 64% (7/11) on the second serve. This was the main reason for not conceding a single break during the match. Hijikata broke Purcell 5 times after converting 63% of his break points (5/8).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Hijikata has dropped 1 set in this tournament to conquer 60% of the points he played.
Hijikata has a solid win-loss record in the last 6 years having won 66% of his matches (117-61). 36-17 on hard in 2022. Talking about his performance on the same surface of this event, Hijikata has a composed83-37 win-loss record in the last 6 years on hard.
The Australian’s best result of the season was getting to the final in M25 Santo Domingo,M25 Bakersfield,M25 Calabasas and M25 Columbus.
Hijikata has a compiled 51-26 win-loss record in 2022, 36-17 on hard (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Playford Challenger
Rio Noguchi
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 22-18 | 17-11 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 4-3 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 19-31 | 12-18 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 3-4 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 54-22 | 41-10 | 9-9 | 0-1 | 4-2 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 25-26 | 18-18 | 7-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 14-12 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 3-2 | 6-1 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 246, Rio got to the final after defeating Calum Puttergill 6-0 6-3, Luke Saville 6-77 6-4 7-5, Jordan Thompson 6-1 6-4 and Omar Jasika 7-64 7-5.
In the semifinal, Noguchi had a good straight sets win against Jasika (7-64 7-5). During the match Noguchi scored 95 points vs Jasika’s 85. The Japanese was quite aggressive to blast 40 winners.
About the serving games, Noguchi scored just 1 ace during the entire match and he committed only 1 double fault for the entire match. Rio Noguchi lost the serve 3 times and he saved 8 break points. Furthermore, Noguchi put 72% of his first serves in, winning 60% (40/67) of the points behind his 1st serve and 54% (14/26) on the 2nd serve. The Japanese broke Jasika 4 times after converting 29% of his break points (4/14).
Overall Performance in this tournament
The Japanese has conceded 1 set in the tournament to win 55% of the points he played.
Rio’s best result of the season was reaching the final in M25 Harmon,Nova,M25 Sapporo and M25 Kashiwa.
Rio has a composed 53-17 win-loss record in 2022, 40-6 on hard (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Hijikata | Noguchi |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 4 | 4 |
| Tot Set | 9 | 9 |
| Tot Games | 72 | 92 |
| Pts | 272-185 | 344-279 |
| Total Points | 457 | 623 |
| Winners | 110 | 149 |
| %Winners | 40% | 43% |
Both Hijikata and Noguchi played 4 matches. Both players lost a set in the event. Rinky Hijikata conceded 1 set, while Rio Noguchi surrendered 1 set. Talking about their workload, Hijikata and Noguchi have played the same amount of sets 9. However, Hijikata played 20 games less than Noguchi. Rinky scored 110 winners (40% of the total points). On the other side, The Japanese made 149 winners (43%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Hijikata | Noguchi |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 17 | 4 |
| Avg per match | 4.3 | 1 |
| 1st in | 146/227 | 231/309 |
| %1st in | 64% | 75% |
| 1st pts | 110/146 | 149/231 |
| %1st pts | 75% | 65% |
| 2nd pts | 50/81 | 43/78 |
| %2nd pts | 62% | 55% |
Hijikata made 17 aces (4.3 per match). Noguchi made 4 aces (1 per match). Hijikata won 75% points behind his first serve. He extremely effective on his second serve to win 62% of the points. On the other side, Noguchi won 65% of the points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 55% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Hijikata | Noguchi |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 17 | 21 |
| Converted | 17/32 | 21/41 |
| % Converted | 53% | 51% |
| Conceded | 9 | 29 |
| Saved | 7 | 19 |
| % Saved | 78% | 66% |
| Times Broken | 2 | 10 |
The Australian broke his opponents 17 times with a 53% conversion rate. Hijikata surrendered his serve twice and he saved 78% of the break points that he conceded. Rio broke his opponents 21 times with a 51% conversion rate. Rio conceded his serve 10 times and he saved 66% of the break points that he conceded.
| Hijikata | ||||||
| R1 Sekulic |
R2 Rai |
1/4 Duckworth |
1/2 Purcell |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-2 6-2 | 6-3 6-2 | 4-6 6-1 6-2 | 6-1 6-1 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | |
| Tot Games | 16 | 17 | 25 | 14 | 72 | |
| pts | 57-34 | 66-44 | 86-70 | 63-37 | 272-185 | |
| Total points | 91 | 110 | 156 | 100 | 457 | |
| Winners | 25 | 23 | 40 | 22 | 110 | |
| %Winners | 44% | 35% | 47% | 35% | 40% | |
| SERVE | ||||||
| Aces | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 17 | |
| Double Faults | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| 1st in | 28/46 | 30/52 | 60/90 | 28/39 | 146/227 | |
| % 1st in | 61% | 58% | 67% | 72% | 64% | |
| 1st pts | 25/28 | 23/30 | 40/60 | 22/28 | 110/146 | |
| % 1st pts | 89% | 77% | 67% | 79% | 75% | |
| 2nd pts | 10/18 | 17/22 | 16/30 | 7/11 | 50/81 | |
| % 2nd pts | 56% | 77% | 53% | 64% | 62% | |
| Breaks | ||||||
| Won | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 17 | |
| Converted | 4/5 | 3/10 | 5/9 | 5/8 | 17/32 | |
| Converted % | 80% | 30% | 56% | 63% | 53% | |
| Conceded | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 | |
| Saved | 1/1 | 1/1 | 4/6 | 1/1 | 7 | |
| Saved % | 100% | 100% | 67% | 100% | 92% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Noguchi | ||||||
| R1 Puttergill |
R2 Saville |
1/4 Thompson |
1/2 Jasika |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-0 6-3 | 6-77 6-4 7-5 | 6-1 6-4 | 7-64 7-5 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| Tot Games | 15 | 35 | 17 | 25 | 92 | |
| pts | 67-41 | 121-110 | 61-43 | 95-85 | 344-279 | |
| Total points | 108 | 231 | 104 | 180 | 623 | |
| Winners | 31 | 51 | 27 | 40 | 149 | |
| %Winners | 46% | 42% | 44% | 42% | 43% | |
| SERVE | ||||||
| Aces | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Double Faults | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |
| 1st in | 42/48 | 82/118 | 40/50 | 67/93 | 231/309 | |
| % 1st in | 88% | 69% | 80% | 72% | 75% | |
| 1st pts | 31/42 | 51/82 | 27/40 | 40/67 | 149/231 | |
| % 1st pts | 74% | 62% | 68% | 60% | 65% | |
| 2nd pts | 4/6 | 22/36 | 3/10 | 14/26 | 43/78 | |
| % 2nd pts | 67% | 61% | 30% | 54% | 55% | |
| Breaks | ||||||
| Won | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 21 | |
| Converted | 4/12 | 7/8 | 6/7 | 4/14 | 21/41 | |
| Converted % | 33% | 88% | 86% | 29% | 51% | |
| Conceded | 4 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 29 | |
| Saved | 4/4 | 6/11 | 1/3 | 8/11 | 19 | |
| Saved % | 100% | 55% | 33% | 73% | 65% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | |
Head 2 Head
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Upcoming matches in the draw
- Rio NoguchiNoguchi – Rinky HijikataHijikata (0-0) – H2H and prediction
