Rinky Hijikata has pulled off a stunning upset over 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic, eliminating him from the Paris Masters and ending his hopes of qualifying for the end-of-year ATP Finals.
Hijikata played the match of his life as he cracked 37 winners, including 29 forehand bullets, that earned him a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback triumph in the second round.
Djokovic had a chance to make the Finals if he could reach the Paris semifinals, but he found an inspired opponent in Hijikata.
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“I wasn’t even close to his level in that set. I couldn’t touch his serve either, he was acing me for fun,” beamed Hijikata in an interview with Sky Sports.
“I knew I just had to really hang tough, and take it to him and play aggressive, impose myself, and I guess in the end I was glad I could maintain my level for as long as I did and trust myself in the big moments.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s number one ranked player Alex de Minaur had his hopes of making the ATP Finals for a third consecutive year dashed with an upset loss to world number 31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
De Minaur was nowhere near his best as Etcheverry earned his first ever victory over a top-10 player 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 at Paris’s Plenitude Arena.
But with an inconsistent display that mirrored his uneven season, de Minaur really missed his chance when Etcheverry, who quite out-served the Aussie, had a lapse when serving at 5-6 down in the opening stanza to cough up a couple of set points.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (left) knocked Australian Alex De Minaur (right) out of the Paris Masters. (Getty Images: Shi Tang)
But the Argentine rallied to take the set into a tiebreak and then proved the more patient in its long, drawn-out rallies as he took the last five points in row.
At 2-3 down in the second set, de Minaur served a crucial double fault to give Etcheverry the key break that he never looked like surrendering.
The dispiriting reverse left de Minaur stranded in ninth place in the live Race to Turin standings, one spot behind young Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar, with no chance of picking up any more points as Paris is the last qualifying event.
His only hope now of getting into the Turin field is if one of the current top-eight pull out. Flavio Cobolli, who’s already qualified, isn’t competing in Paris because of his leg injury but he’s expected to be fit for the Italian event.
And de Minaur could, in any case, yet be overtaken by others before the week in Paris is out.
AAP/ABC
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