Australia’s young tennis player Rinky Hijikata has revealed that he has received death threats after his defeat to Acapulco Challenger. There have been instances in the recent past where players from different sports complained about receiving death threats, mostly after their own or team’s poor performance.
The same has happened with Hijikata who not only revealed that he received a death threat after the disappointing outing at the Acapulco Challenger but also condemned the action recent post. "All for hate mail but this has to be crossing some line surely? Not writing from a burner was a rookie error.. anyone know this Thyerry bloke?,” he stated in a post on his official account on the social media platform.
In the competition, the Sydney-born lost in the quarterfinal to Canada’s Alexis Galarneau with a score of 6-0, 7-5. Before that, in the round of 32, he defeated Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the round of 16, Hijikata defeated Bor Artnak in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-3.
Hijikata, despite playing in the Challengers competition, is already a known name in the world of men’s tennis at the highest level. He has already won a double Grand Slam as he lifted the Australian Open in 2023 with partner Jason Kubler defeating the pair of Hugo Nys and Jan Zieliński in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6.
3 - Since 1990, only three pairs will have now met in ATP Masters 1000 and ATP 500 finals in consecutive weeks: Patrick Rafter-Gustavo Kuerten (2001) Rafael Nadal-David Ferrer (2011) Stefanos Tsitsipas-Casper Ruud (2024) 🆕 Rematch. #BCNOpenBS | @bcnopenbs @atptour
