Australian Rinky Hijikata is through to the second round at an ATP 250 grass-court tournament in the Netherlands.
‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, 12 June 2023 | Leigh Rogers
‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Rinky Hijikata has recorded his first ATP main-draw victory on grass at an ATP 250 tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The 22-year-old Australian took advantage of a lucky-loser spot in the draw by posting a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 win against Dutch wildcard Gijs Brouwer.
The world No.133 fired eight aces in the two-hour and 18-minute opening-round battle.
This sets up a second-round clash with Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler, who eliminated eighth seed Maxime Cressy.
Hijikata is finding impressive form on grass, with four wins from his six matches on the surface so far this season. He scored his fourth career top-100 win (beating world No.73 Ilya Ivashka) to reach the quarterfinals at an ATP Challenger grass-court event in Surbiton last week.
The news wasn’t so good for Jason Kubler, who lost in straight sets to world No.36 Ugo Humbert.
Aussies in action – ‘s-Hertogenbosch
RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[LL] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) d [WC] Gijs Brouwer (NED) 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2
[7] Ugo Humbert (FRA) d Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-4 6-2
COMING UP
Women’s singles, first round
Kimberly Birrell (AUS) v [WC] Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove (NED)
[LL] Priscilla Hon (AUS) v [5] Elise Mertens (BEL)
Men’s singles, first round
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [Q] Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [WC] Arthur Rinderknech (FRA)
Men’s singles, second round
[4] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v TBC
[LL] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI)
Men’s doubles, first round
[4] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) v [WC] Sander Arends (NED)/David Pel (NED)
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v John Peers (AUS)/Marcelo Melo (BRA)
Stuttgart, Germany
Matt Ebden has made a promising start to his doubles campaign at an ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart.
The 35-year-old Australian and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna romped to a 6-0 6-3 victory against Monaco’s Romain Arneodo and France’s Gregoire Barrere in the opening round.
The top seeds conceded only four points on serve in the 40-minute demolition.
Aussies in action – Stuttgart
RESULTS
Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) d Romain Arneodo (MON)/Gregoire Barrere (FRA) 6-0 6-3
COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
[8] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Yibing…
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