After a year of peaks and troughs in 2025, Hijikata launched the new season determined to make some early gains. The goal is so far going according to plan for the 24-year-old, who after progressing to the second round of last week’s Brisbane International as a qualifier, has now made a successful start in Adelaide.
With a 6-4 6-4 win over fellow Australian Tristan Schoolkate, Hijikata set a meeting with No.1 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. While his current world No.115 ranking is exactly 100 places behind that of the fast-improving Spaniard’s, Hijikata enters their second-round match with a winning record after victory in their first-round clash at the 2024 US Open.
If there was a flipside for Hijikata in Adelaide on Tuesday it was that – just as he’d done with a win over Adam Walton in Brisbane last week – progress came at the expense of a fellow Australian.
“[It’s] definitely not easy. It's two weeks in a row it's happened and obviously Tristan's had one hell of a year [in 2025],” said Hijikata of Schoolkate, who was also his doubles partner in Adelaide. “I’m super pumped to see him start the year in the top 100 and I've got a bit of catching up [to do] this year.”
It follows a year in which Hijikata progressed to the Wimbledon men’s doubles final alongside Germany’s David Pel and experienced a personal high with his Davis Cup debut for Australia. But form also fluctuated for the Sydneysider, who dipped outside the top 100 in August.
Hijikata set about improving on that record alongside long-time coach Mark Draper in the off-season.
“We've been working really hard all of December,” he related. “It wasn't the best year for me, so I really wanted to kind of start strong in 2026 and put my best foot forward. I feel like I've put in a lot of hard work and I'm glad that it's paying off so far this year.”
Birrell builds on early 2026 gains
Kimberly Birrell, meanwhile, has recorded her second upset win in as many weeks with victory over Anastasia Potapova in Adelaide’s first round.
The Queenslander, who at world No.107 is ranked more than 50 places lower than No.54 Potapova, claimed a 6-4 6-4 victory to set up a second-round meeting with Marketa Vondrousova.
It followed her three-set victory over the higher-ranked Rebecca Sramkova in Brisbane’s first round last week.
Last season, the 107th-ranked Birrell targeted her serve as an area for improvement and was rewarded with a second WTA final appearance in Chennai.
“At this level, the margins are so small, and I felt like that was an area that I really needed to improve,” she commented in Brisbane last week. “I think a lot of it is mental for me … hopefully I can continue what I have started today throughout the year.”
Joint ousts Kenin in winning start
Maya Joint, Australia’s No.1 woman, built on her winning record against AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin as she rounded out the centre court session at The Drive.
After edging past the experienced American in a tight first-set tiebreak, Joint recovered from a 1-4 second-set deficit to record a 7-6(3) 6-4 victory.
“I'm just really glad that I was able to stick and fight through it and just find a way to play some really good tennis in the important moments,” said Joint, who also claimed wins over the 28th-ranked American at Hobart and Seoul last year.
After illness impacted her United Cup campaign, the successful start in Adelaide marked her first match win this year.
Joint will next face Ajla Tomljanovic in all-Australian second round.