Fighting Thompson, Hijikata keep Australia in Davis Cup
Darren Walton |
Rinky Hijikata has made a triumphant Davis Cup debut to help keep Australia in their second-round qualifying tie against Belgium in Sydney.
Hijikata and fellow Sydneysider Jordan Thompson recovered from the brink to pull off a tense 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-4 victory over Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen on Sunday to peg Australia’s deficit back to 2-1.
World No.8 Alex de Minaur must beat the 46th-ranked Zizou Bergs in the first reverse singles rubber to give Thompson a shot of steering Australia home from 2-0 down for only the third time in history when he faces Raphael Collignon in the potentially deciding match.
The tie could have been all over had Thompson and Hijikata not rallied back from a set behind and three break points down at love-40 at 3-3 in the second.
Australia’s all-grand-slam-winning pairing drew a standing ovation from the packed crowd at Ken Rosewall Arena after conjuring their mighty comeback.
Runners-up in 2022 and 2023 and semi-finalists last year, Australia are bidding to reach the quarter-finals for a fourth straight campaign.
There was no wiggle room after de Minaur and Thompson lost their opening singles matches on Saturday.
The Belgian doubles duo were nigh on impenetrable on serve in the opening set against Thompson and Hijikata, barely dropping a point and conjuring the only break and set points.
Hijikata was under huge pressure staring down set point on serve after coughing up an untimely first double fault of the match and watching the left-handed Vliegen rifle two massive return winners.
The 2025 Wimbledon doubles runner-up rose to the challenge and then fired a booming forehand return down the line to give Australia their four set points in the tiebreaker.
Alas, Hijikata and Thompson were unable to convert from 6-2 up as Belgium snatched the set to stun fans.
The home team was in dire trouble in the second set, when Hijikata fell love-40 down serving at 3-3, but staved off four break points to stay in the match – and the tie.
Riding the momentum shift, the Aussies broke the Belgians for a first time in the very next game to storm to a 5-3 lead as both stars nailed groundstroke winners after some pulsating rallies.
In a match full of twists and turns, Thompson had to fend off two break points before Hijikata finally put Australia back on level terms with a piercing forehand volley on their fourth set point.
Thompson fell to the court such was the ferocity of a forehand that drew the Belgian error for Australia to seize the decisive break in the third game of the deciding set.
He was quickly up, chest-bumping and sprinting to the changeover in delight.
Two more service holds each from Thompson and Hijikata were enough as Australia finally prevailed after two hours and 24 minutes of tense action.
AAP
