Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata has continued his wild US Open run, booking his spot in the fourth round after a masterful display on Saturday.
Hijikata dominated his opponent Zhang Zhizhen from the outset as he claimed the 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
Zhang, who stunned last year’s US Open finalist Casper Ruud in the previous round, was unable to reproduce the quality of that performance against a fired-up Hijikata.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. Join now and start streaming instantly >
Murray & Isner knocked out of US Open | 01:22
MORE COVERAGE
‘Spitting in their face’: Star’s brutal final act rocks US Open
Demon secures win as six Aussies sent packing in brutal US Open bloodbath
America loses it over boy’s US Open antics
The Aussie unfurled a stream of 55 winners to overpower Zhang before sealing victory with his 13th ace of the match in the fourth set.
In what is only his second Grand Slam appearance the young star continues to defy belief and will now advance into the second week of the US Open where he’ll take on tenth seeded American Frances Tiafoe.
Tiafoe dropped the opening set of his third round encounter before storming to victory against Adrian Mannarino.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic conjured a trademark comeback from two sets down to defeat Serbian compatriot Laslo Djere in a five-set thriller and seal his place in the US Open last 16.
Second seed Djokovic recovered from a sluggish start on the Arthur Ashe Stadium to complete a 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory in three hours and 45 minutes.
The win marked the eighth time in Djokovic’s career that he has overturned 0-2 deficit to win in five sets at a Grand Slam tournament.
“I hope you enjoyed the show,” Djokovic told fans in an on-court interview after a match that wrapped up at around 1.30am Saturday local time.
“It was definitely not so enjoyable for me, especially in the first two sets. It was one of the toughest games I’ve played here for many, many years.”
Again, it was the 36-year-old 23-time Grand Slam singles champion’s near-superhuman composure under pressure that came to the rescue.
Djere, seeded 32nd in New York, has never been beyond the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, and had fallen in the first round on his last four visits to the US Open. But the 28-year-old stunned Djokovic in the opening two sets, playing with poise and confidence to open up a 2-0 lead after breaking his compatriot once in each set.
Yet with the match seemingly there for the taking, Djokovic flipped the switch in the third, fourth and fifth sets.
Suddenly, Djere’s serve, which had been virtually impregnable in the opening two sets, began to look vulnerable.
Djokovic broke twice in the third before breaking Djere four times in the fourth set to set up a decider.
From there, there was only going to be one winner and Djokovic broke again and had soon sprinted into a 4-1 lead, before serving for the match at 5-3.
Djere stubbornly saved one match point, but Djokovic sealed victory on the next match point when Djere pulled a backhand wide.
Djokovic later revealed he had given himself an angry pep talk in the locker room after falling two sets behind.
“I did a little pep talk in the mirror,” he revealed. “I laughed at myself because I was so pissed off with the way I played, to try and lift my spirits up.
“I’ve done it a few times before in my career and it hasn’t worked but tonight it did and I’m grateful.” Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 24th Grand Slam title in New York, will now play Croatia’s 105th-ranked Borna Gojo on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.
AUSSIES IN ACTION ON DAY 5
Zhang Zhizhen def by Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3