Rinky Hijikata has completed a stunning upset at the ATP 500 tournament in Queen’s London, overcoming world No.12 and 2025 finalist Jiri Lehecka to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament.
The 104th-ranked Australian required two hours and 49 minutes to complete the 4-6 7-5 7-6(7) victory.
After a challenging start – in which he dropped serve in the opening game and couldn’t recover in the 44-minute first set – Hijikata steadied with solid defence and some impressive shotmaking against the second-seeded Czech.
"He didn't make life easy. It was a tough match all the way through and then at the end, there was only a point or two difference," said Hijikata, who fired nine aces and withstood 10 from Lehecka.
"At the end, I was getting a bit tight, to be honest, I was just trying to stay with it as well as I could, and I'm just happy to get through."
As a qualifier at the prestigious grasscourt event, the 25-year-old has now won four consecutive matches.
"I love playing on grass, so it feels like home being back here in London, and I love playing at this venue. So, yeah, I'm just pumped a bit here," smiled Hijikata, who claimed his first top-10 win over Alexander Bublik at Indian Wells earlier this year.
The impressive progress in Queen's marks Hijikata’s eighth quarterfinal at ATP level and the second time he has done so in London, with the Sydneysider overcoming Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Arnaldi en route to the same stage at Queen’s in 2024 – also from qualifying.
From outside his current position outside the top 100, Hijikata now sits at No.82 in the live rankings.
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Hijikata next faces either Frenchman Ugo Humbert or Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic for the chance to reach a second ATP semifinal – his other having also occurred on grass at s-Hertogenbosch in 2023.
It adds to a positive week on grass for Australian players. Former finalist Alex de Minaur, the top seed at Queen’s, has also booked his place in the quarterfinals, where he'll face world No.32 American Brandon Nakashima.
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Talia Gibson is through to the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 tournament in Nottinghmam after a straight-sets win over former world No.4 Zheng Qinwen yesterday.
Having celebrated her 22nd birthday on Thursday, the West Australian now takes on former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova.
Chris O’Connell defeated Benjamin Bonzi 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger tournament in Nottingham.
He next faces Remy Bertola, a world No.197 from Switzerland.
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