A new Australian tennis star is born as unheard of underdog Rinky Hijikata shocks the sport by giving Rafael Nadal a HUGE scare at the US Open
Hijikata won the first set against Rafael Nadal in the first round of the US Open
He then lost the match, but still got a lot of praise from experts
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A new diamond in the rough for Aussie tennis has been discovered, with Rinky Hijikata giving Rafael Nadal an all-powerful scare before finally meeting the tennis legend at the US Open on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old, who attended the prestigious King’s School in Sydney before moving to the US and playing college-level for the University of North Carolina, won his first set against Nadal and shocked the tennis world.
While playing in his first Grand Slam, 198th-ranked Hijikata lit up New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium with some exciting tennis to take the opening set, before Nadal pulled out all the stops in a pulsating 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3 comeback win on Tuesday night.
A star is born! Aussie Rinky Hijikata celebrates after winning the first set against Rafael Nadal at the US Open
Hijikata received high praise from former Aussie tennis starter Jelena Dokic, who said he couldn’t have started the match better.
“It was the forehand that did so much damage, he really took it. The court’s positioning was just razor-sharp, he was ready,” Dokic said in a commentary to Channel 9.
“The breaking point at 3-all set the tone for that set, but also the pressure to serve it out. Just really unloading on a lot of those forehands. Just the perfect set from Hijikata.’
From the outside, it may have seemed like a nightmare for Hijikata, who only played his first ATP event earlier this year before being awarded a US Open wildcard.
But it just meant that the lavish Aussie, whose father is, in fact, a tennis coach, was lifted for the occasion, before the legendary Nadal’s class finally won.
Now undefeated in 19 grand slam matches in 2022, Nadal entered the tournament under a fitness cloud after withdrawing from his scheduled semi-final at Wimbledon against Nick Kyrgios with a belly tear.
The reigning champion of the Australian and French Opens had lost his only match two weeks ago to Borna Coric in Cincinnati in three sets.
The 22-time grand slam champion looked vulnerable again after Hijikata captured the first set with his inspired first-strike, attacking tennis.
New Yorkers are known for loving an underdog, as Aussies often are, and the 21-year-old taunted the downtown crowd with his exciting play.
When Hijikata slammed an airborne forehand winner down the line to raise the set point, the Aussie slammed his fists and waved his arms triumphantly after finishing the set with a huge ace through the middle.
It drove the public wild and had fans scrambling to find out more about him and profess their love for his game on social media.
Hijikata’s first-time win marked the first time in Nadal’s record-breaking career that he lost his opening set at a US Open.
Rafael Nadal celebrates his US Open victory after losing the first set to Hijikata
Unfortunately, the Australian Grand Slam rookie soon learned not to party prematurely against arguably the most ruthless competitor men’s tennis has ever seen.
After hitting back quickly to take the second and third sets, Nadal withstood a fierce blowback from Hijikata in the fourth to finally take the win, much to his relief, on his fifth match point after three hours and eight minutes of gripping action.
The two fighters received a standing ovation after the classic encounter.
If Nadal had lost, statistically it would have been the worst defeat in the mighty Spaniard’s 1277-match career.
Nadal has won the US Open four times, including three years ago.
After that, he did not return in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic or last year due to an injured left foot.