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is an Australian professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. Following a successful career at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, Hijikata went professional and has a career high
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
singles ranking of world No. 70 achieved on 16 October 2023 and in doubles of world No. 31 on the same date.


Early life and education

Hijikata was born in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia to Japanese immigrant parents. He began playing tennis at age three or four. He attended The King's School in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
from 2013 to 2016. His father is a tennis coach. His favourite player growing up was Lleyton Hewitt and later, Kei Nishikori. Hijikata played college tennis for North Carolina Tar Heels men's tennis from 2019 to 2021.


Career


2018–2021: Career beginnings

In March 2018, Hijikata made his ITF debut at the Australia F3 in Mornington, Australia. He won his first match the following week at the Australia F4. In October 2018, Hijikata won silver at the Tennis at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics – Boys' doubles, teaming with Bulgaria's
Adrian Andreev Adrian Andreev ( bg, Адриан Андреев, born 12 May 2001) is a professional Bulgarian tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 189 achieved on 19 December 2022. He is currently the No. 3 Bulgarian player. And ...
. In January 2019, Hijikata was given a wildcard into the
2019 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying This article displays the qualifying draw for men's singles at the 2019 Australian Open. Seeds Qualifiers Draw First qualifier Second qualifier Third qualifier Fourth qualifier Fifth qualifier Sixth qualifier Seventh qua ...
. He lost in the first round to Hiroki Moriya. In March, Hijikata reached the quarter-final and semi-finals in the ITF events in Mornington, Australia. Later that year, in September, Hijikata won his first professional singles title at the M15 Fayetteville, in Arkansas, United States. In January 2020, Hijikata was given a wildcard into the 2020 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying, where he made the second round. Also in February 2021, he was given a wildcard into the
2021 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying This article displays the qualifying draw for men's singles at the 2021 Australian Open. For the first time in Grand Slam history, the qualifying tournament took place at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, due to ...
and he made the second round. Hijikata won his second and third ITF titles in July 2021 and claimed a total of four ITF World Tennis Tour singles titles during 2021. He finished 2021 with a singles ranking of 369 as of 22 November 2021.


2022: ATP & Major debut, Maiden win & Challenger title, top 200

In January 2022, Hijikata made his ATP tour debut at the
2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1 The 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1 was one of two tournaments of the Melbourne Summer Set. The Melbourne Summer Set 1 featured an ATP Tour 250 tournament and a WTA 250 tournament, both played on hardcourts. Rafael Nadal won the men's singles title ...
after qualifying for the main draw. It was also Hijikata's first top 100 win, defeating world number 98 Henri Laaksonen in the final qualifying round. He lost in the first round to eventual finalist,
Maxime Cressy Maxime Cressy (born May 8, 1997) is a French-American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on August 8, 2022. He has been ranked as high as wo ...
. He also played doubles with Christopher O'Connell. Hijikata lost in the second round of the
2022 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying This article displays the qualifying draw for men's singles at the 2022 Australian Open. Seeds Qualifiers Lucky losers Draw First qualifier Second qualifier Third qualifier Fourth qualifier Fifth qualifier S ...
. In April, Hijikata broke into the ATP top 300 after winning consecutive ITF tournaments in California in March 2022. In August, he qualified for the
2022 Los Cabos Open The 2022 Los Cabos Open (also known as the Abierto de Tenis Mifel for sponsorship reasons) was an ATP tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 6th edition of the tournament, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2022 ATP ...
and reached the round of 16 recording his first ATP win after the retirement of the Mexican wildcard debutant
Rodrigo Pacheco Méndez Rodrigo Pacheco Méndez (born 25 April 2005) is a Mexican professional tennis player. He has reached a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 684 achieved on 10 September 2023 and a career high doubles ranking of No. 1062 on 8 August 2022. Care ...
. He lost to top seed and World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev who recorded his 250th match win. As a result he moved one position shy of the top 200 on 8 August 2022. He made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open as a wildcard. He won his maiden Challenger title in Playford, Australia and moved 33 positions up into the top 160 at world No. 159 on 31 October 2022. He became the youngest Australian to win a Challenger title since 2018, when the-then 19-year-old Alexei Popyrin won in Jinan, China.


2023: First Major win & ATP semifinal in singles & title in doubles, Masters and top 75 debuts

Hijikata was given a wildcard into the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where he recorded his first Grand Slam win by defeating Yannick Hanfmann in a come-from-behind victory. He lost in the second round to third seed
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
. Pairing with Jason Kubler in the men's doubles event, they won the title after defeating three seeded teams en route; sixth seeds
Lloyd Glasspool Lloyd Glasspool (born 19 November 1993) is a British professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 12 (November 2022) and a career-high singles ranking of No. 282 (July 2016). In his career, Gl ...
and
Harri Heliövaara Harri Heliövaara (born 4 June 1989) is a Finnish tennis player. His highest ranking in singles is World No. 194, which he achieved on 19 December 2011. His highest ranking in doubles is world No. 9, which he achieved on 9 January 2023. In double ...
in the second round, saved a match point in the third round against
Tomislav Brkić Tomislav Brkić (; born 9 March 1990) is a Bosnian professional tennis player. He has won one ATP doubles title with Serbian partner Nikola Ćaćić. Brkić achieved a career-high in doubles of World No. 37 on 23 May 2022. He is currently the cap ...
and Gonzalo Escobar, top seeds and world No. 1 doubles pair Wesley Koolhof and
Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, havi ...
in the quarterfinals, and eighth seeds
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
and Horacio Zeballos in the semifinals. They went on to defeat Hugo Nys and
Jan Zieliński Jan Zieliński (born 16 November 1996) is a Polish professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has an ATP career-high doubles ranking of world No. 15, which he attained on 30 January 2023 following the 2023 Australian Open final. ...
in the final, becoming the second consecutive all-Australian champions at the event. At the 2023 Delray Beach Open he reached the semifinals in doubles partnering American Reese Stalder and defeating second seeded pair of
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
and Michael Venus in the quarterfinals. He reached the final defeating Mexican duo
Hans Hach Verdugo Hans Hach Verdugo (born 11 November 1989) is a Mexican tennis player. Hach Verdugo has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 60 achieved on 11 July 2022. He has a career high singles ranking of World No. 528 achieved on 20 July 2015. ...
and
Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela (; born June 21, 1987) is a Mexican professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each ...
. He made his Masters 1000 debut in Indian Wells as a qualifier, and defeated Mikael Ymer in the first round in straight sets. He lost in the second round to 30th seed Sebastian Baez. At the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships he entered the main draw as a lucky loser for his debut on grass and won his first match defeating wildcard
Gijs Brouwer Gijs Brouwer (born 14 March 1996) is an American-born Dutch tennis player. Brouwer has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 116 achieved on 20 February 2023. He also has a career high doubles ranking of World No. 148 achieved on 22 Aug ...
. He then defeated Marc-Andrea Hüsler from a set down to reach his first ATP tour level quarterfinal. Again from a set down, he beat Mackenzie McDonald to reach his first semifinal at ATP tour level. He reached the fourth round of the 2023 US Open having received a wildcard, defeating
Pavel Kotov Pavel Kotov may refer to: * Pavel Kotov (footballer) * Pavel Kotov (tennis) * Pavel Kotov (canoeist) Pavel Kotov (born 22 March 1998) is a Russian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2015. He won a bronze medal in ...
,
Marton Fucsovics Marton may refer to: Places England * Marton, Blackpool, district of Blackpool, Lancashire * Marton, Bridlington, area of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire * Marton, Cheshire, village and civil parish in Cheshire * Marton, Cumbria, villa ...
and
Zhizhen Zhang Zhang Zhizhen (; ; born 16 October 1996) is a Chinese professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 69 on 8 May 2023, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 211 in September 2017. He has won two ...
. As a result he made his top 100 debut in the rankings at world No. 82 climbing 28 spots on 11 September 2023. He qualified on his debut at the
2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters The 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 12th edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, classified as an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2023 ATP Tour. It took place at Qizhong Forest Sp ...
and defeated Laslo Djere in the first round. At the same tournament he reached the semifinals partnering Cameron Norrie.


Performance timelines


Singles

''Current through the 2023 Shanghai Masters.''


Doubles

''Current through the 2023 Zhuhai Open.''


Grand Slam finals


Men's doubles: 1 (1 title)


ATP career finals


Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


ATP Challengers and ITF World Tennis Tour finals


Singles: 13 (9–4)


Doubles: 3 (2–1)


ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors


Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)


Doubles: 10 (6 title, 4 runners-up)


Record against other players

Hijikata's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches and
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
matches are considered:


Awards

In 2018 and 2019, Hijikata won the
Newcombe Medal The Newcombe Medal celebrates and recognizes the performances, achievements, and contributions made by members of the Australian tennis family each year. The awards are named after Australian tennis legend John Newcombe. The awards are present ...
for Male Junior Athlete of the Year.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hijikata, Rinky 2001 births Living people Australian male tennis players Tennis players from Sydney Tennis players at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Australian people of Japanese descent North Carolina Tar Heels men's tennis players People educated at The King's School, Parramatta Sportsmen from New South Wales