Hijikata into Delray Beach quarters
Rinky Hijikata is through to his second quarterfinal of 2024 in Delray Beach, while fellow Aussie Alex de Minaur has reached the same stage in Rotterdam.
Delray Beach, USA, 15 February 2024 | Matt Trollope
Delray Beach, USA
Rinky Hijikata has advanced to his third career ATP Tour quarterfinal after a three-set win over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi at the 250 hard-court event in Florida’s Delray Beach.
The Aussie youngster beat the world No.43 6-2 3-6 6-4 to reach his second quarterfinal of the season, after also doing so at the Brisbane International in January.
Hijikata clinched victory with a powerful forehand winner and will next face Taylor Fritz, after the No.1 seed beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
Finished in style 👌
Rinky Hijikata pounds a forehand winner to seal a thrilling contest over Arnaldi to reach the QF at the @delraybeachopen! pic.twitter.com/8gkaa8HSLN
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 14, 2024
This performance is expected to return Hijikata to the world’s top 80 and closer to his career-high of world No.70, achieved last October.
Fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson could join Hijikata in the Delray Beach; Thompson next faces American qualifier Nicolas Moreno de Alboran, a match scheduled for Thursday afternoon (local time).
Capping a positive day, Hijikata returned to the court later and won his first-round doubles match alongside William Blumberg.
Aussies in action – Delray Beach
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) d [6] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) 6-2 3-6 6-4
Men’s doubles, first round
Andrew Harris (AUS)/Dominik Koepfer (GER) d [4] Gonzalo Escobar (ECU)/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/William Blumburg (USA) d Francisco Cabral (POR)/Henry Patten (GBR) 6-4 6-2
COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v [1] Taylor Fritz
Men’s singles, second round
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [Q] Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (USA)
Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
Andrew Harris (AUS)/Dominik Koepfer (GER) v Diego Hidalgo (ECU)/Cristian Rodriguez (COL)[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/William Blumburg (USA) v [1] Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Neal Skupski (GBR)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Alex de Minaur continued his winning ways at the ATP 500 indoor hard-court tournament in Rotterdam, beating David Goffin in straight sets on Wednesday.
The No.5 seed’s 6-3 6-1 win over Goffin followed on from his 6-4 6-3 win over Sebastian Korda a day earlier.
He improves to 8-2 in season 2024 and is projected to return to the world’s top 10.
De Minaur’s win sets up a quarterfinal showdown with Andrey Rublev – a rematch of their high-quality fourth-round clash at AO 2024, which Rublev won in five sets.
Rublev saved three match points to overcame Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round.
Aussies in action – Rotterdam
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[5] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d [Q] David Goffin (BEL) 6-3 6-1
COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
[5] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [2] Andrey Rublev
Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[Q] John-Patrick Smith (AUS)/Andreas Mies (GER) v [1] Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA)
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