Rinky Hijikata is a 21 year old Australian tennis-playing youngster who is currently competing in the US Open. Rinky started playing tennis at a young age, since his father is a tennis coach, and after progressing through some amateur tournaments, he turned pro in 2021.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Australian tennis hotshot.
Rinky Hijikata Quick Facts
Name: Rinky Hijikata
Age: 21
DoB: 23 February 2001
Nationality: Australia
Height: 5 ft 10 in / 1.78m
Weight: 159lbs / 72kg
Ranking: 198
Net Worth: $1.2 million estimated ($222,993 earned in prize money)
Instagram: @r1nky_23 – 5.9k followers
Who is Rinky Hijikata?
Rinky Hijikata is an Australian tennis player who was born on 23rd February 2001 in Sydney, Australia. He picked up his first tennis racquet around the age of 3 or 4, and was coached by his father, Junko.
Rinky also showed interest in other sports as a child, competing in football, rugby and swimming, and he even trained to be a surf lifesaver.
His siblings, Shori and Kamiyu are also keen athletes, but compete in swimming instead.
Rinky attended The King’s School in Sydney and joined the varsity tennis team when he was 11. He then moved to America and played college tennis at the University of North Carolina from 2020-2021.
Away from tennis, Rinky says his favourite subject at school was business, according to ATP Tour, and he plans to plans to finish his undergraduate degree in the future. He also says his secret talent is being able to sleep on aeroplanes.
Rinky Hijikata Tennis Carrer
Rinky’s first ITF (International Tennis Federation) match came at the Australia F3 tournament in 2018, in Mornington, Australia. He did, however, lose his first match against fellow Australian Matthew Dellavedova.
He then appeared in the Australia F4 tournament a week later, and managed to progress to the second round, but lost out to Max Purcell (who recently won the men’s doubles championship at Wimbledon).
Rinky was given a wildcard into the 2019 Australian Open, but went out in the first round but eventually won his first professional singles title at the M15 Fayetteville in Arkansas, also in 2019.
Wildcards into the Australian Open came once again for Rinky in 2020 and 2021, but on both occasions he only made it to the second round.
Rinky made it on the ATP in 2022 and made his tour debut at the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1. Rinky made it through the qualifying stages but went out in the first round of the tournament to Maxime Cressy.
Rinky attempted to make it into the 2022 Australian Open via qualifying, but once again went out in the second round. However, following some wins at ITF tournaments in California, Rinky was able to break into the ATP top 300 in March 2022.
He is now ranked 198th on the ATP Tour.
2022 US Open
Rinky Hijikata made it into the 2022 US Open, marking his first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament. His first round opponent was Spanish tennis player, Rafael Nadal. Rinky managed to win the first set but Rafa responded by taking the second and third.
Rafael Nadal eventually won the fourth set after a 9 game thriller, which saw the pair trading advantage points, to win the match 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 3-6.
Despite Rinky going out in the first round, he will take home $80,000 in prize money.
Rinky Hijikata Net Worth
Rinky’s exact net worth is unknown right now, although his career earnings to date are $222,993. Some publications estimate his net worth to be around $1.2 million, but this hasn’t been proven.
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