Rinky Hijikata's Breakout Week in Paris
Rinky Hijikata’s week in Paris was never supposed to last this long. Qualifiers rarely do. They take their shot at a big name, ride a wave for a night, then disappear back into the pack.
Hijikata has other ideas.
Fresh from stunning Novak Djokovic, the 25-year-old Australian backed it up with another statement win, coming from a set down to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and reach his first ATP Masters quarterfinal.
This is no cameo. It’s a breakout.
From flat start to full roar
For a while, it looked like the familiar underdog script. Emotional high, heavy legs, quick exit.
Hijikata was blown away early. He lost the first eight points, dropped the opening set in just 26 minutes and was broken twice, unable to get any real foothold against the Argentine world No.31. The Sydneysider looked a step slow, the ball rushing him, the court suddenly feeling very big.
Then the match changed with a single hold.
He steadied to get on the board in the first set, but the real turning point came at the start of the second. Hijikata dug in during a gruelling 12-minute opening game, saving a break point that would have left him staring at a straight-sets defeat. He escaped, exhaled, and then started swinging.
In the fourth game of that second set, he finally broke Etcheverry. The shift was obvious. Hijikata began to dictate with his forehand, took the ball earlier, and held his nerve through the next games to close out the set 6-3 in 43 minutes. From one-way traffic to a live contest.
A tightrope of a decider
The deciding set turned into a test of nerve as much as shot-making.
Both men held serve through 5-5, but the scoreboard hid the tension. Hijikata had to fend off three break points at 1-2, a pivotal game that could easily have snapped his resistance. He survived that stretch; after that, his serve turned rock solid. Four of his service games in the set were held to love, a remarkable show of composure for a player still learning the rhythms of this stage.
The curious thing was that, for all his improved level, he hadn’t seen a single break point on Etcheverry’s serve in the decider.
Until it mattered most.
At 5-5, Hijikata finally cracked the Argentine’s delivery. He earned his first break chance of the set and took it, seizing the initiative at precisely the right time. No second invitation, no hesitation.
Serving for the match, he opened with an ace. Etcheverry pulled back to 15-all, but that was as close as he got. Hijikata rattled off the next three points, finishing with an emphatic cross-court forehand smash that underlined the scale of the moment as much as the scoreline.
The celebration said everything. Usually reserved, Hijikata let it all out, drawing the remark from television pundit and former top-40 player Ryan Harrison: “He is a guy who is typically mild-mannered; he's as fired up as I've ever seen him before.”
Paris is getting to him, in the best possible way.
From No.83 to the big time
The numbers tell their own story.
Hijikata arrived in Paris as world No.83, forced to come through qualifying. He has now beaten five higher-ranked opponents in a single tournament, including Djokovic and Etcheverry, and climbed into the top 60 for the first time in his career.
This run guarantees him a new ranking high. If he wins one more match, he will surge to around No.48. That’s not just a reward; it’s a reclassification. From hopeful to genuine tour threat.
And the challenge only intensifies from here.
Home favourite awaits
Next up is local hope Luca Van Assche, ranked 47 and riding his own wave after a gripping win over Lorenzo Musetti, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. The Frenchman trailed by a break at 3-4 in the third set, faced two break points, and then exploded, winning 12 of the next 13 points to rip the match away from Musetti.
The crowd loved it. They will love him even more when he walks out to face Hijikata.
The Australian has never played Van Assche and will step into a quarterfinal that will feel, in atmosphere, more like a Davis Cup tie than a regular tour match. Every Van Assche point will be cheered, every Hijikata error amplified. Handling that noise will be as important as handling the ball.
Hijikata has already proved he can live with the best. Now he has to prove he can do it with a stadium leaning against him.
Alcaraz advances, Americans roll
Elsewhere in the draw, the quarterfinal picture continued to take shape.
Carlos Alcaraz moved through without hitting a ball after Matteo Berrettini withdrew from their third-round clash with an arm injury. The Italian, ranked 43, pulled out after feeling pain, handing the second seed a walkover into the last eight.
Waiting for Alcaraz there is Taylor Fritz, who silenced another French crowd by beating Arthur Fils 6-3, 6-4. Fritz’s win capped a strong day for the American men.
Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul both booked their spots in an all-American quarterfinal. Paul, the 12th seed, handled Quentin Halys 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, while Shelton had to grind. Pushed hard by Arthur Rinderknech, the third seed came back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), edging a tense deciding tiebreak.
On the other side of the draw, Portuguese lucky loser Nuno Borges continued his unlikely march, dismantling Ignacio Buse 6-0, 6-2. His reward is a quarterfinal against the winner of Casper Ruud and Jan-Lennard Struff, a tie that will decide whether his dream run meets established pedigree or rugged power.
For now, though, Paris belongs to the unexpected story.
A qualifier from Sydney has walked through Djokovic, stared down Etcheverry, and punched his ticket into the last eight. The rankings will change, the draw will tighten, the pressure will rise.
The real question is simple: how far can Rinky Hijikata push this?
