{"id":327928,"date":"2023-09-02T03:26:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T03:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327928"},"modified":"2023-09-02T11:02:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T11:02:11","slug":"aussie-wildcard-continues-career-best-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327928","title":{"rendered":"Aussie wildcard continues career best run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata<\/a> continued his best ever run at a Grand Slam, progressing to the round of 16 at the US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taking on Chinese world No.67, Zhizhen Zhang, Hijikata resisted a fightback late to post a 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory and qualify for the fourth round.<\/p>\n

He'll now take home the biggest \ufeffpay day of his career, a minimum of $US284,000 ($A440,000), with his ranking creeping inside the top 80.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 US Open from August 29. Every match ad free and on demand. <\/strong>Centre court coverage in 4K UHD on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Sydney-born son of Japanese immigrant parents needed the green light from Tennis Australia to be granted a wildcard entry into the main draw, and will now feature in the final week of the last Grand Slam of the year.<\/p>\n

\"Rinky<\/p>\n

"I wouldn't have picked it at the start of the week," Hijikata said.<\/p>\n

"But I put a lot of hard work in. I've always strived for these type of results and I've always felt that I am capable of having runs in these tournaments.<\/p>\n

"But to have it happen this soon when I feel like I am still pretty new playing at the grand slams, it's pretty cool."<\/p>\n

This time last year, Hijikata turned heads when he took a set off Rafael Nadal but 12 months on, he's recorded a\ufeff landmark win and booked a fourth-round date with American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe on Monday (AEST).<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1697795134639993202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"I have developed a lot since I played Ashe at this time last year in my first grand slam and that was really cool," Hijikata said.<\/p>\n

"I really learned a lot from that match and that experience. That has been the biggest key, I think, every week I play. I am learning more and more.<\/p>\n

"I feel like I am a lot better player than I was 12 months ago and I still have a lot improve on."<\/p>\n

Hijikata did not have it his own way in the clash against the Chinese player, \ufefffighting off eight break points in the first two sets. He went on to snatch a two-set lead with three service breaks as Zheng battled to contain the Aussie's groundstrokes.<\/p>\n

Zheng, bidding to become the first Chinese man in the 56-year open era to make the last 16 of a grand slam, needed two medical time-outs for a back issue which ultimately led to him nabbing the third set.<\/p>\n

However, Hijikata remained composed as he gained two decisive breaks in the fourth set and then slammed down his 12th ace to secure the win in three hours and 10 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata continued his best ever run at a Grand Slam, progressing to the round of 16 at the US Open. Taking on […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327930,"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\/327928"}],"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=327928"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327931,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327928\/revisions\/327931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}