Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing on his journey to ATP Tour
An Australian hopeful received shocking news regarding his girlfriend’s university before clinching the biggest win of his blossoming career at the US Open on Monday. Rinky Hijikata showed his class to grind out a 7-5 5-7 6-3 7-5 win against Russia’s Pavel Kotov to make it into the second round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in his career after achieving the same feat at the Australian Open in January.
But the wildcard’s impressive win had to be achieved against the backdrop of terrifying events at the University of North Carolina, where the 22-year-old spent two years.
According to the Mail, a gunman is currently being held in custody after a faculty member was killed and petrified students were forced to shelter for hours while a hunt for the suspect was undertaken by police.
Speaking straight after his first-round win at Flushing Meadows, Hijikata immediately turned his attention to the dramatic events of his old university.
He told reporters: “I was pretty happy with the win today but that’s kind of put a dampener on it, to be honest. First and foremost I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone back in Chapel Hill because that’s not something you want to see what’s happened. There is a lot bigger than my tennis match here today.
“I was there for two years. I would have graduated this May but my girlfriend is still in school there. I’ve still got a lot mates on the team or in school. Not the news I was hoping to come out to.”
Sydney-born Hijikata, currently ranked 110th in the world, went on to explain how it was difficult for someone from Australia like him to comprehend why shootings are so commonplace in the USA.
He said: “It is a very different dynamic. ‘I feel like as an Australian it can be a little bit of head-scratcher at times, the way things run in the US. There are times when you kind of don’t feel safe and it’s very unfortunate what’s happened today.
“I feel like it is really not an unexpected event, which makes it worse almost.”
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Hijikata will now play undeeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round, as he attempts to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. And the Australian insisted that events in North Carolina have only motivated him to play even harder.
He added: “I think come tomorrow hopefully I will be alright. I’ll definitely be focused on my match. If anything, I want to try and play 10, 20 per cent harder on Wednesday for everyone at school at the moment.
“I’ll definitely try harder for everyone back home and all the Tar Heels [the basketball team at his university].”
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