Rinky Hijikata
_(52191428744).jpg) Hijikata in 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Country (sports) |  Australia | ||||||||||||||
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| Residence | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 February 2001 Sydney, Australia[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
| Prize money | $330,533 | ||||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 2–5 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 159 (31 October 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 169 (16 January 2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | Q3 (2022) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | 1R (2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 1–2 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 254 (1 August 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 277 (16 January 2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | F (2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (2023) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Last updated on: 22 January 2023. | |||||||||||||||
Rinky Hijikata (リンキー・ヒジカタ, born 23 February 2001) is an Australian tennis player. Following a successful career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hijikata went professional and has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 159 achieved on 31 October 2022.
Hijikata made his ATP main draw debut at the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1, after qualifying for the main draw. He also played doubles with Christopher O'Connell.
Early life and education
Hijikata was born in Sydney, Australia to Japanese immigrant parents.[2] He began playing tennis at age three or four. He attended The King's School in Sydney from 2013-2016.[3] His father is a tennis coach. His favourite player growing up was Lleyton Hewitt and later, Kei Nishikori.[4]
Career
2018–2020: Career beginnings
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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.[5]
In January 2019, Hijikata was given a wildcard into the 2019 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying. He lost in the first round to compatriot Cyrus Wong. 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.[6]
In January 2020, Hijikata was given a wildcard into the 2020 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying, where he made the second round.
In February 2021, he was given a wildcard into the 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying and he made the second round.
Hijikata won his second and third ITF titles in July 2021 and claimed a total of four ITF Futures 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 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.[7] He lost in the first round to eventual finalist, Maxime Cressy.
Hijikata lost in the second round of the 2022 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying.[8][9]
In April, Hijikata broke into the ATP top 300 after winning consecutive ITF tournaments in California in March 2022.[10]
In August, he qualified for the 2022 Los Cabos Open and reached the round of 16 recording his first ATP win after the retirement of the Mexican wildcard debutant Rodrigo Pacheco Méndez. He lost to top seed and World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev who recorded his 250th match win.[11] 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.[12]
2023: First Major win in singles, Major doubles final
Hijikata was given a wildcard into the Australian Open, where he recorded his first Grand Slam win by defeating Yannick Hanfmann in a come-from-behind victory.[13]. He lost in the second round to third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Pairing with Jason Kubler in the doubles, they reached the final after stunning 6th seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliövaara in the second round, world no. 1 doubles pair Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the quarterfinals and 8th seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semifinals. They also saved a match point and came back from 0-5 down in the second set in the third round against Tomislav Brkić and Gonzalo Escobar. They will play Hugo Nys and Jan Zieliński in the final.
Awards
In 2018 and 2019, Hijikata won the Newcombe Medal for Male Junior Athlete of the Year.[14]
Grand Slam finals
Men's doubles: 1 (1 pending)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pending | 2023 | Australian Open | Hard | Jason Kubler
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 Hugo Nys Jan Zieliński
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TBD |
ATP career finals
Doubles: 1 (1 pending)
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pending | 0–0 | Jan 2023 | Australian Open, Australia | Grand Slam | Hard | Jason Kubler
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Hugo Nys  Jan Zieliński
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TBD |
Performance timelines
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Singles
Current through the 2023 Adelaide International 1.
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Wimbledon | A | NH | A | Q3 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| US Open | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
| Career statistics | |||||||
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Career | ||
| Tournaments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
| Year-end ranking | 742 | 685 | 375 | 164 | 20% | ||
Doubles
Current through the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1.
| Tournament | 2022 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||
| Australian Open | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| French Open | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| US Open | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| Career statistics | |||
| Tournaments | 2 | 2 | |
| Overall win–loss | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| Year-end ranking | 278 | 33% | |
ATP Challengers and ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals
Singles: 11 (8–3)
Doubles: 3 (2–1)
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