Qualifier Hijikata routs Darderi to earn a shot at Djokovic or Vacherot
The Australian qualifier, ranked No. 83, beat Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2 for his third win over the Italian this season and a personal-best 16th win of the year. He will next face 10th seed Novak Djokovic or Basel champion Valentin Vacherot.
Rinky Hijikata, 2026 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
Qualifier Rinky Hijikata kept his run going at the Paris Masters 1000 on Monday, as the Australian, who came through two rounds of qualifying, beat Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour 4 minutes in the first round.
It was Hijikata’s third win in three days at the Rolex Paris Masters. In qualifying, he beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday and Czech Vit Kopriva 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Sunday.
Hijikata, ranked No. 83 and playing the event for the first time, will face the winner of the first-round match between 10th seed Novak Djokovic and Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot. The Serbian has won the title seven times, while Vacherot beat Jiri Lehecka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Basel final on Sunday.
The win was Hijikata’s 16th of the season, a personal best. It ended a run of four straight tour-level defeats since he beat Dalibor Svrcina 7-6 (4), 6-4 in Hangzhou in September, the last of them against American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (3) in Basel, where he had entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
Six breaks of serve for Hijikata against Darderi
Hijikata converted six of his 11 break points and was broken twice. He won all nine points he played at the net and hit 21 winners to 13 unforced errors.
Darderi made 24 unforced errors, 12 in each set, along with three double faults. The Italian, who came into the match with a 2-10 tour-level record on indoor hard courts, is still looking for his first win at the event.
The win gave Hijikata a 3-2 lead in his head-to-head with Darderi, ranked No. 21, and was his third over the Italian this season. He had beaten him 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at Indian Wells and 6-4, 6-2 in Cincinnati.
Rolex Paris Masters 2026 first-round results
Lorenzo Musetti d. Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10)
Luca Van Assche vs Mariano Navone (Monday)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Learner Tien (15) (Tuesday)
Novak Djokovic (10) vs Valentin Vacherot (Tuesday)
Rinky Hijikata (Q) d. Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2
Andrey Rublev vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Tuesday)
Cameron Norrie vs Matteo Arnaldi (Monday)
Mattia Bellucci (Q) vs Lorenzo Sonego (Q) (Monday)
Arthur Rinderknech vs Francisco Cerundolo (16) (Tuesday)
Tommy Paul (12) vs Holger Rune (PR) (Tuesday)
Daniel Merida vs Sebastian Baez (LL) (Monday)
Quentin Halys vs Arthur Fery (Tuesday)
Jan-Lennard Struff (SE) vs Arthur Gea (WC) (Tuesday)
Casper Ruud vs Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Q) (Monday)
Alejandro Tabilo vs Rafael Jodar (9) (Monday)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (13) vs Moise Kouame (WC) (Tuesday)
Denis Shapovalov vs Karen Khachanov (Monday)
Ignacio Buse d. Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-4
Kyrian Jacquet (WC) vs Tomas Machac (Q) (Monday)
Alex Molcan (Q) vs Titouan Droguet (WC) (Monday)
Benjamin Bonzi (Q) vs Taylor Fritz (11) (Tuesday)
Brandon Nakashima (14) vs Matteo Berrettini (Tuesday)
Ugo Humbert vs Botic van de Zandschulp (Monday)
Alex Michelsen vs Jiri Lehecka (Tuesday)
Sources: ATP media notes; match statistics from Flashscore.
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