Young Aussie distracted by Spidercam 'shocker' in loss but pockets $440k for US Open fairytale
Rising Australian star Rinky Hijikata is walking away from Flushing Meadows a rich man, and with plenty in the tennis world talking.
The 22-year-old bowed out of the men's singles draw with a straight sets loss to Frances Tiafoe, but his fourth-round appearance was by far his best result at a grand slam.
Hijikata pockets about $440,000 (AUD) for his US Open performances, where he beat Pavel Kotov, Marton Fucsovics, and Zhang Zhizhen before falling to No.10 seed Tiafoe 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 on Monday morning (AEST).
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Aussie tennis great Todd Woodbridge also revealed Hijikata will jump from 110 to 80 in the world rankings following the tournament.
Rinky Hijikata of Australia returns to Frances Tiafoe. AP
"The experience that has been garnered for him is only going to take him further and further," Woodbridge said after Monday's loss.
Nine commentator Brenton Speed added: "He's learned so much over the last week and a half. A big payday for the young Australian".
Hijikata attracted plenty of attention at last year's US Open when he won a first set against Spanish champion Rafael Nadal, before losing in a dogfight.
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He went much deeper this time around, and now the tennis world is on notice.
He was gallant against Tiafoe but lacked some class as the American fan favourite largely dominated the second and third sets.
Early in the third set Hijikata became distracted while losing a point on serve, and immediately approached the chair umpire.
"That's a shocker," Hijikata could be heard saying.
"An absolute shocker.
"I'm getting chopped as it is, I don't need that happening."
Nine commentator Speed wasn't sure what the complaint was, but revealed it may have been related to an overhead camera.
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"He's getting annoyed here... I'm not exactly sure, I think it's the camera distracting him there," Speed said.
"I think he was annoyed and saying 'I should get a replay of the point because the camera was in my eyeline'... the overhead camera, the Spidercam."
