Rinky Hijikata

Rinky Hijikata came up the unconventional way for an Australian — through American college tennis. He played at the University of North Carolina from 2020-21, earning All-American honours as a sophomore before turning pro. Born in Sydney to Japanese immigrant parents, he started in his backyard at age three or four; his idols are Lleyton Hewitt and Kei Nishikori — and the Hewitt influence is all over the game.

The 5-foot-9 right-hander plays bigger than his frame: a forehand-forward, scrap-for-everything baseliner who lives on court coverage and competitive nerve. His favourite shot is the forehand, favourite surface hard court, favourite tournament the Australian Open. The serve is the natural ceiling against bigger hitters, but the return game and the willingness to absorb pace and redirect it are what fans buy a ticket for.

The signature line on the résumé is doubles. Pairing with Jason Kubler at the 2023 Australian Open, the wildcards won the title — beating top seeds Koolhof and Skupski in the quarters before defeating Nys and Zieliński in the final. In singles, his breakout was that same year at the US Open: he reached the fourth round as a wildcard, beating Kotov, Fucsovics and Zhang Zhizhen before falling to Frances Tiafoe. He climbed to a career-high No. 62 in August 2024 after a run of ATP quarterfinals.

The current beat is a hard-court resurgence. At Indian Wells he qualified, reached a Masters 1000 round of 16 for the first time by beating 20th seed Luciano Darderi, then logged his first top-10 win over Alexander Bublik. At No. 98, he's clawing back toward the top tier of his career — a former slam champion still chasing the singles ceiling.