Rinky Hijikata shouldn’t be content material with merely becoming a member of Australia’s tennis renaissance after his breakout US Open run ended with a straight-sets fourth-round loss to tenth seed Frances Tiafoe.
A semi-finalist final 12 months, Tiafoe charged to inside one victory of one other last-four exhibiting in New York with a powerful 6-4 6-1 6-4 win over the impressed wildcard.
Hijikata’s service velocity was noticeably down from his earlier three rounds, with Tiafoe having little hassle selecting it off and breaking the 22-year-old six instances within the two-hour encounter.
Utterly dominant, the American conceded simply 13 factors on his personal serve in establishing a quarter-final with unseeded countryman Ben Shelton, who beat Tommy Paul in 4 units.
Hijikata’s first foray to the final 16 at a grand slam earned the Sydneysider $US284,000 ($A440,000) and a world rankings enhance from 110 to a career-high 81.
“It just gives me a lot of belief,” he mentioned.
“It’s my first time making the fourth round of a major. I feel like a lot of people go a long time in their career, their whole career, kind of not making a second week of a slam and to be able to do that, in my head it’s a pretty big deal.
“That’s a pretty big goal of mine and to kind of tick that off so early in my career, I’m pretty happy with that.”
Hijikata is now in line for a direct entry to the Australian Open in January and provides Australia 9 males within the prime 100 even with out the injured Nick Kyrgios.
Only powerhouses the USA (11) and France (11) have extra.
Alex de Minaur, provisionally slated to rise to No.11, Max Purcell (43) and Chris O’Connell may even climb to career-best rankings after the Open, whereas Alexei Popyrin (45) and Aleksandar Vukic (50) each hit their highest place final month.
“It’s been pretty cool to see how all the other Aussie guys and girls have been supporting me and each other,” Hijikata mentioned.
“We’ve got a really good group of guys at the moment. I feel like we are all pushing each other to get better.”
But whereas happy about his shock cost to the final 16, Hijikata craves extra.
“I’m happy with the results I’ve had and take a lot of confidence away from it, but at the same time, I know I have to get a lot better,” he mentioned.
“There’s a lot of things I need to improve if I want to be able to kind of match it with the top guys. That’s my end goal. I’m not satisfied being where I am at the moment.”
Hijikata’s exit leaves de Minaur as Australia’s final remaining singles hope at Flushing Meadows.
The 24-year-old performs third-seeded 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday (AEST) for a spot within the quarter-finals.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
