University of North Carolina Athletics
Hijikata Cruises Into US Open Third Round
August 30, 2023 | Men's Tennis
With a second-round win in the US Open, a Grand Slam doubles title, the highest singles ranking of his career and growing momentum behind him, Australian native and University of North Carolina product Rinky Hijikata continues to be one of the brightest, rising stars in professional tennis in 2023.
Playing in front of his former Tar Heel assistant coach Tripp Phillips and teammate Mac Kiger on Wednesday evening near New York City, Hijikata breezed past #57 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time as a singles competitor.
In the process, he tied his best-ever win in terms of opponent ATP ranking. He also beat #57 Mikael Ymer at Indian Wells in March. It was Hijikata's seventh top-100 win this season.
Ranked a career-best #110 in the world, Hijikata's previous career-best singles Grand Slam performance was the second round in the 2023 Australian Open. His second-round win came on the heels a grueling, nearly four-hour win in the first round over Russian Pavel Kotov on Monday afternoon.
Hijikata cruised to a quick, 6-1 win with a dominant performance in the first set. He broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, then took a 5-1 lead two games later with by breaking Fucsovics' serve for a second time in a row. Fucsovics committed nine unforced errors in the first set to aid Hijikata's efforts.
In the second set, Fucsovics grabbed a quick, 1-0 lead before Hijikata clawed through a deuce point to hold serve and win the second game to tie things at 1-1. In the fifth game, Hijikata took a 40-15 lead and broke serve with a powerful forehand from the baseline to take a 3-2 lead. Fucsovics took a medical timeout to change shoes, and Hijikata dominated the rest of the way to take the set, 6-2.
He continued his strong play in the third frame, displaying a dominant forehand to break in the third, fifth and seventh games to secure the victory.
Hijikata moves on to Friday's third round, where he will meet the winner of the match between Casper Ruud of Norway and Zhizhen Zhang of China.
Playing in front of his former Tar Heel assistant coach Tripp Phillips and teammate Mac Kiger on Wednesday evening near New York City, Hijikata breezed past #57 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time as a singles competitor.
In the process, he tied his best-ever win in terms of opponent ATP ranking. He also beat #57 Mikael Ymer at Indian Wells in March. It was Hijikata's seventh top-100 win this season.
Ranked a career-best #110 in the world, Hijikata's previous career-best singles Grand Slam performance was the second round in the 2023 Australian Open. His second-round win came on the heels a grueling, nearly four-hour win in the first round over Russian Pavel Kotov on Monday afternoon.
Hijikata cruised to a quick, 6-1 win with a dominant performance in the first set. He broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, then took a 5-1 lead two games later with by breaking Fucsovics' serve for a second time in a row. Fucsovics committed nine unforced errors in the first set to aid Hijikata's efforts.
In the second set, Fucsovics grabbed a quick, 1-0 lead before Hijikata clawed through a deuce point to hold serve and win the second game to tie things at 1-1. In the fifth game, Hijikata took a 40-15 lead and broke serve with a powerful forehand from the baseline to take a 3-2 lead. Fucsovics took a medical timeout to change shoes, and Hijikata dominated the rest of the way to take the set, 6-2.
He continued his strong play in the third frame, displaying a dominant forehand to break in the third, fifth and seventh games to secure the victory.
Hijikata moves on to Friday's third round, where he will meet the winner of the match between Casper Ruud of Norway and Zhizhen Zhang of China.
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