{"id":263947,"date":"2023-01-16T13:23:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T14:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=263947"},"modified":"2023-01-16T20:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T20:58:43","slug":"aussie-underdogs-counter-crushing-kyrgios-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=263947","title":{"rendered":"Aussie underdogs counter crushing Kyrgios blow"},"content":{"rendered":"

At one of the Australian Open<\/a> show courts on Monday evening \u2014 away from the limelight that attracts broadcast commentary, considerably more licensed photographs and many more fans \u2014 a loveable local had a gathering of onlookers rocking.<\/p>\n

Young wildcard Rinky Hijikata dropped the first two sets in his match against Germany's Yannick Hanfmann, but he charged back to seize a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3\ufeff victory.<\/p>\n

The\ufeff 21-year-old from Sydney threw his hands above his head and flopped to the ground when Hanfmann hit the ball long to seal the result, before letting out a mighty roar and tossing his cap.<\/p>\n

AS IT HAPPENED:<\/strong> Australian Open 2023 day one\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Kyrgios' gross injury reveal after withdrawal\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> How 'proud' Aussie wildcard overcame 'heartache'\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He then jumped around and\ufeff punched the air, ecstatic at clinching his first singles win in the main draw of a grand slam.<\/p>\n

After greeting his opponent and the chair umpire, he bounced over to embrace his raucous supporters, chants of "Rinky" ringing throughout the humble venue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

His future had appeared bright when he stole a set off Rafael Nadal in the US Open four months ago\ufeff, and under the lights of Court 8 on Monday evening his future grew even brighter.<\/p>\n

"I dunno. I'm lost for words right now. That was mental," Hijikata said on Nine's coverage when asked how he felt.<\/p>\n

"I dunno. I don't really know what to say right now.<\/p>\n

"I couldn't have done it without the support today. I'm so grateful for everyone for coming out. That was the most fun match I've ever played in my life."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and <\/strong><\/em>9NOW<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hijikata entered the top 200 of the ATP rankings in August and now sits in 169th.<\/p>\n

In his triumph over Hanfmann, he \ufeffbeat a man who turned professional in 2015, is ranked 128th and has a career-high ranking of 92.<\/p>\n

Hijikata is now eyeing a second-round clash with \ufeffthird seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.<\/p>\n

Hijikata was among a host of victorious Australian underdogs on the opening day of the Melbourne Park major.<\/p>\n

Fellow wildcards John Millman, Jason Kubler<\/a> and Olivia Gadecki\ufeff<\/a> booked their own tickets to the second round.<\/p>\n

On a day soured by the news that Nick Kyrgios, Australia's top men's seed, wouldn't contest the grand slam because of a gruesome knee injury<\/a>, the country's unheralded crop dazzled.<\/p>\n

\"Aussie<\/p>\n

The reception was electric as the 33-year-old Millman conquered Switzerland's \ufeffMarc-Andrea Huesler in a five-set thriller featuring two tiebreaks.<\/p>\n

Kubler's win, his first in an Australian Open singles main draw, reflected a triumph over hardship; he'd fought back from six knee surgeries and crashed out of the top 1000 in the rankings.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Gadecki also enjoyed her first singles win in the main draw of a grand slam, pocketing a $158,000 pay slip to be left "speechless".\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I actually can't believe it," she told Nine.<\/p>\n

"I mean, wow."\ufeff<\/p>\n

A huge contingent of Australians will hit the courts on day two.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Alex de Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, Aleksandar Vukic,\ufeff Christopher O'Connell, Max Purcell, Kimberly Birrell and Jaimee Fourlis are up next.<\/p>\n

Day one gave them a dose of inspiration.\ufeff<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At one of the Australian Open show courts on Monday evening \u2014 away from the limelight that attracts broadcast commentary, considerably more licensed photographs and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263949,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263947\/revisions\/263949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}