Australian Davis Cup tennis junior Rinky Hijikata declares he belongs
SYDNEY tennis junior Rinky Hijikata has declared he belongs among the best juniors in the world, after an outstanding Australian Open campaign.
Northern District Times
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SYDNEY tennis junior Rinky Hijikata has declared he belongs among the best juniors in the world, after an outstanding Australian Open campaign.
His stellar run at the Australian Open Junior Championships ended in a quarter-final loss to Great Britain’s Aidan McHugh.
The Scot took just over an hour to bundle the last Aussie out of the competition, overcoming Hijikata in straight sets 6-4 6-2.
McHugh had all the momentum early, racing away to an early break before Hijikata showed a glimpse of the fight that got him into the quarters to level the set at 4-4.
Unfortunately for the 16-year-old from Epping, McHugh rallied late to claim the last two games and the set.
Suddenly, McHugh had turned the tide and he wasn’t about to relinquish his hold on it.
He dominated the second set, breaking in the third and seventh games to earn a maiden grand slam semi-final appearance against Chun Hsin Tseng. The title ultimately went to American Sebastian Korda.
Despite the loss, Hijikata said reaching his first grand slam quarterfinal sets him up for a fantastic 2018.
“Now I’ve got the belief that I belong among the best juniors in the world.
“The level is there and I can match it with these guys, it’s just about doing it week in week out. Hopefully this will land me into all of the other junior slams, that was one of my main goals this year.
“I had a pretty good run here but I’d love to go deep at the other ones. I’d love to have a crack at all of them.”
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