2018 U18 Australian Champion.: Hijikata and Da Silva Fick win title
Some of the finest Australian juniors have gathered at the Melbourne Park this week and Rinky Hijikata and Gabriella Da Silva Fick claimed titles to become national junior champions for 2018. The 17-year-old Sydney native Hijikata is in the top-15 on the ITF junior list and he scored five wins in Melbourne, ousting the last year's champion Alexander Crnokrak 4-6 6-1 6-4 to win the title and secure the place in the next week's 2019 Australian Open Play-Off. Hijikata had to work hard after dropping the opening set and he found his shots in set number two to prevail and secure the crown and the place in the main draw of the East Hotel Canberra Challenger in January. Alex de Minaur, Australian best teenager was there to present the trophy to Hijikata (they were both born in Sydney) and this was the great experience for the youngster who will switch his focus on a pro career in 2019.
“It feels really good to get the win, I’m pretty happy with my performance this week, I had a bit of pressure on myself so I’m just really happy to come away with the win,” Hijikata said. “He’s (Alex) someone that I think everyone can look up too, the way he goes about his game and how quickly he’s risen up the ranks is pretty surreal and something not many people can do and it’s just a credit to his work ethic and something I’ll try and implement into my own training program and matches. Hopefully, in a couple of years, I’ll be out there playing alongside him. I think December Showdown is just a great event, it’s not often you have so many Aussie players in one place at one event, there’s a lot of different people to look up to and great camaraderie between everyone… it’s just really good to see where the level of Australian tennis is and be able to benchmark yourself against your peers, it’s really special.”
The top seed Gabriella Da Silva Fick won the girls' title, beating the 16-year-old Olivia Gadecki 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.
“It feels amazing, to be honest, I did not expect this as I really struggled with my form to begin with, but I was able to play some of my best tennis in my semi and in the final so feeling pretty happy right now,” Da Silva Fick said. “I was really focused, taking it one point at a time, very zoned in, and not really focusing on the score, just digging out every point which added up, and before I knew it, it was match point. It’s such an important week for tennis in Australia, there are some amazing players like Ash Barty who have won the 18s title so to play my best tennis and come out with is really motivating for next year, it means everything.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2RQW8Bm
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