Australian younger gun Rinky Hijikata has arrange a possible quarter-final showdown with Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane after a brave three-set win in sizzling circumstances.
The 22-year-old braved temperatures within the mid-30s as he bounced again from a first-set defeat to say a 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory over Czech qualifier Tomas Machac within the spherical of 16 on the Brisbane International.
Hijikata, who burst onto the scene in 2023 with a first-round comeback win within the singles on the Australian Open earlier than a surprising run to the boys’s doubles title with fellow Australian Jason Kubler, continued his robust singles kind after powering previous Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight units within the opening spherical of the match.
It got here after he reached the fourth spherical of the US Open in July and soared to a career-high world rating of No.70 to be amongst seven Australian males to routinely qualify for the primary draw at Melbourne Park.
Hijikata twice fought again from 0-40 down to carry his serve in opposition to Machac and produced a few of his best photographs within the third-set tie-break to run away to a 4-2 lead on the finish change.
After incomes two match factors, he surprisingly stopped play to remonstrate with the chair umpire over the choice to not subject his Czech opponent a time violation on a earlier level however moved on from the distraction to seal the match with an aggressive transfer to the web and volley winner on the following level.
He joked that he didn’t know some other method to play than the rollercoaster model cheered on by a raucous showcourt crowd in Brisbane.
“There were a lot of ups and downs in that match – that’s normally how it goes when I play,” Hijikata mentioned after the match.
“(When he was 0-40 down) I guess (I) just go through my process … a few times there it felt like I was giving away a few too many freebies, so I was god enough to cut them down a bit in those tough moments and try to get through.
“This is unbelievable, this is our favourite time of the year. Nothing beats playing at home in front of a home crowd.”
Hijikata might play in entrance of way more followers on Pat Rafter Arena in his quarter-final conflict, which shall be performed in opposition to the winner of the match between world No.14 Dimitrov and German Daniel Altmaier.
In the ladies’s singles, defending back-to-back champion Karolina Pliskova misplaced the primary set 6-2 to 3rd seed Jelena Ostapenko however snatched an early break within the second set after she beat returning star Naomi Osaka within the second spherical.
In-form Australian Arina Rodionova will take to the court docket in her spherical of 16 conflict in opposition to Russian teenage prodigy Mirra Andreeva after 3.45pm as she mounts a late bid for an Australian Open wildcard berth.
A win might additionally make the 34-year-old the oldest WTA tour participant to interrupt into the highest 100 for the primary time, with the world rankings to be up to date subsequent week.
Source: www.news.com.au
