New York, Aug. 31 (BUS): Second seed Rafael Nadal faced a shock test in his first US Open appearance since winning the 2019 title, as he beat 21-year-old Australian wildcard Rinki Hijikata 4-6 6-2 6- 3 6- 3 on Tuesday in the opening round.
Playing only his second match after withdrawing from Wimbledon with an abdominal injury, the Spaniard speculated whether he was ready to face New York and appeared to confirm those concerns as he struggled in the second leg in the first set, Reuters reports.
Hijikata incredibly smashed the 22-time main winner with a clear overhead shot in Game Seven of his Grand Slam debut, sending the crowd roaring.
“I didn’t start that bad in the first two matches, but then I had some chances that I couldn’t give,” Nadal, 36, said after the match. “I didn’t play a good game with my serve. Then he got the break. Then I got a little nervous.”
But it was Goliath who got the momentum on David under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, as a steadfast Nadal blasted through the first three games of the second set, improving in almost every respect as his opponent’s level deteriorated.
He dropped just one of his first serve points with a few fouls, as Hijikata made dozens of unforced errors and dropped his serve in the last game of the frame.
Flourishing on familiar ground, the four-time winner at Flushing Meadows faced no breakout in the third set and broke Hijikata to love in the fifth game of the final set before recovering from 0-40 in the eighth set to carry his serve.
Hijikata gave the raucous New York crowd a final thrill as he defended four match points in Game Nine before succumbing to a vicious forehand Nadal, just weeks after scoring his first tour-level win in Los Cabos.
“First match here in New York in three years, night session, it’s always exciting. Yeah, I’ve had that tough moment,” said Nadal, who sent 9 aces into the match.
“The second game in 50 more or less days. Somehow it wasn’t the perfect day to play. It’s just a day to get the job done, and that’s what I did.”
The win extends Nadal’s undefeated streak in this year’s Grand Slam competition, after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros, with his world number one finish in New York in the exhausted men’s draw.
The evening was a clear confidence booster, after a disappointing defeat in his first game from injury in Cincinnati.
“You have to be humble enough to go through this process and accept that you need to fight and you have to accept that you will suffer,” he said. “That’s what I did today.”