Ranked 83rd at the start of the week, he leaves Paris with a career-best ranking inside the top 60.
“Probably a game I’ll never forget”
Hijikata played six matches in Paris, two of them in the qualifying round. The biggest was his He won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Djokovic On Wednesday, after his first two defeats against the Serb. Then he came again from the set to beat Thomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Rinki Hijikata’s six matches at the Rolex Paris Masters 2026
| Round | Date: | They will be against it | Unit: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying round, 1st round | October 31 | Jaime Faria BY: | V:6-3, 6-4 |
| Qualifying stage, 2nd round | November 1 | Vit Yehinj JUNE: | V:7-6 (5), 6-2 |
| 1st stage | November 2 | Luciano Darderi ATA: | V:6-2, 6-2 |
| 2nd stage | November 4 | Novak Djokovic (10) SRB | V:2-6, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 3rd stage | November 5 | Thomas Martin Etcheverry Armenian gas | V:2-6, 6-3, 7-5 |
| Quarter finals | November 6 | Luca Van Assche WHY? | L:4-6, 7-6 (4), 5-7 |
Points from Hijikata’s point of view. W: to win L: loss (10). sow Source: Flashscore.
Asked to choose between his new ranking and Djokovic’s win, he didn’t hesitate. “Probably have to play Novak and then get a win,” he said. “Just being on the court with him is pretty awesome as a kid growing up and watching some of the epic matches he’s had at some of the Slams and tournaments like that. I could never dream of being there, at the Paris Masters 1000, playing against him. It should be there. I will probably never forget the match.”
“I’m pretty proud of what I was able to do this week,” he added. “I felt like I brought a great level to all my matches and repeated that many times, day in and day out. I’m disappointed with the way it ended, but if you told me at the beginning of the week that I’d be down 7-5 in the third in the quarterfinals, I probably would have made it.”
“Find a way to make it into the week, out of the week”
For Hijikata, the week is above all a source of confidence for 2027. “The money is great too, but more than anything is the confidence I can take from this week,” he said. “I’ve had flashes all year. I feel like my high has been a lot higher this year. I’ve been able to play head to toe with some really good players and beat some really high ranked players. I know I have that level now.”
He knows where the challenge is. “I know it’s not going to be easy to bring that week in, week out, but that’s what I’ve got to try to do from next year onwards, find a way to play like this in all the different conditions, different balls, different surfaces,” he said. “That’s the hard part.”
He cited Indian Wells, Queen’s and Basel as other weeks where he felt his game was there. “In the right conditions, I felt like I was playing good tennis,” he said. “I played six matches this week and I felt like I played at a very high level in all six matches. I hope I can continue to improve and keep moving forward.”