Just as the rising Australian tennis star was recording the much-needed victory at the US Open, Rinky Hijikata was heartbroken by a fatal shooting at his girlfriend’s university.
To become the first player outside of Australia to advance to the second round of a grand slam, Hijikata battled for nearly four hours to defeat Russian Pavel Kotov in the opening round of the US Open 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
However, a deadly shooting at the University of North Carolina, where Hijikata studied for two years, quickly covered the wildcard’s record victory. After a faculty member was killed and students were terrorized as police searched for the shooter, a suspect has been taken into custody.
Hijikata shared his feelings after the match and said: “I was pretty happy with the win today but that’s kind of put a dampener on it, to be honest. First and foremost I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone back in Chapel Hill because that’s not something you want to see what’s happened. There is a lot bigger than my tennis match here today.”
He further added: “I was there for two years. I would have graduated this May but my girlfriend is still in school there. I’ve still got a lot of mates on the team or in school.”
Hijikata at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2023
LLLLWLWWWW At the moment ranked no.110 (career-high), Hijikata has achieved a compiled 30-26 match record in 2023. Hijikata is now having a run at the U.S. Open where he defeated the world no.98 Pavel Kotov 7-5 5-7 6-3 7-5.
Rinky Hijikata will fight against the world no.57 Marton Fucsovics in the 2nd round on Wednesday at 4:00 pm on Court 7. In the past, they have never competed against each other till now in top events.
The Australian has won 1 title in 2023 in the Burnie Challenger.
Rinky Hijikata |
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