- Australian wildcard beats Russia’s Pavel Kotov in first round
- Hijikata studied at UNC where shooting took place
Rinky Hijikata walked off court ready to talk about his first win at the US Open but the Australian wildcard’s thoughts quickly turned to a shooting at the University of North Carolina where he studied business for two years.
Hijikata beat Russia’s Pavel Kotov 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a bruising four-hour battle that put him through to the second round at Flushing Meadows. However, his joy was cut short by news of the shooting death of a faculty member at the university, where Hijikata’s girlfriend is still taking classes.