Rinky Hijikata comes from behind to knock out second seed Jiri Lehecka in Queen’s Club drama
Rinky Hijikata achieved one of the most valuable victories of this week’s ATP tournament in London after defeating second seed Jiri Lehecka 4:6, 7:5, 7:6(7) in the round of 16 of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club. According to the official ATP Tour results, the match was played on 18 June 2026 at the Andy Murray Arena, lasted two hours, 47 minutes and 34 seconds, and ended only after an exceptionally tense third-set tie-break. The Australian qualifier thus stopped the Czech tennis player, who had arrived in London as one of the main contenders for the final stages and as last year’s finalist of the tournament. The outcome is particularly significant because Lehecka had the status of second seed in the draw, while Hijikata entered the main tournament through qualifying. In a match that constantly changed rhythm, the decisive factor was the Australian’s ability to remain steady after losing the first set and to convert his fourth match point in the closing stages.
Comeback after losing the first set
Lehecka opened the encounter better and, according to the ATP Tour report, had an early break advantage in both the first and second sets. In the opening section, the Czech player made use of his initial initiative and won the set 6:4, thereby confirming his status as favourite in the match against the qualifier. Hijikata, however, did not retreat into a defensive role, but gradually extended the rallies and looked for a way to neutralise Lehecka’s flatter shots from the baseline. The second set showed that the duel would not be a one-sided story: the Australian stayed close enough on the scoreboard, waited for a drop in his opponent’s concentration and, at the end of the set, reached the key shift. The 7:5 score in the second set opened up a completely new match, and the crowd at Queen’s Club got a finish that matched the reputation of a grass-court tournament, where a few points often change the direction of the entire encounter.
The third set brought the highest level of pressure. According to the official ATP record, the deciding section ended 7:6(7), meaning that Hijikata had to go through an additional layer of uncertainty in the tie-break before confirming the victory. The LTA, the organiser of British tennis events, states that the Australian failed to convert his first three match points in the tie-break, but still remained calm enough to turn the fourth into victory. The final point, according to the same report, came after a serve through the middle of the court that Lehecka was unable to return. That detail sums up the match well: Hijikata did not dominate from beginning to end, but at the most demanding moment he found a simple and effective solution.
A qualifier who withstood the favourite’s pressure
Hijikata’s passage into the quarter-finals carries extra weight because of the path by which he reached this stage of the tournament. The official ATP results show that the Australian already had to play three sets in qualifying against Dino Prižmić, whom he defeated 4:6, 6:4, 7:5, and then in the final qualifying round he beat Marcos Giron 7:5, 6:7(4), 6:1. In the first round of the main tournament, he was convincing against Alejandro Tabilo, whom he defeated 6:2, 6:4 in just over an hour. Such a sequence of results shows that the victory over Lehecka did not come as an isolated flash, but as the continuation of a week in which Hijikata had already become accustomed to the specific grass-court conditions in west London. Qualifiers at grass-court tournaments often gain an additional competitive advantage because they play more matches on the same surface before the main draw, and Hijikata used that circumstance in the best possible way.
After the match, the ATP Tour stated that Hijikata is the No. 104 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and that he had entered the Queen’s Club quarter-finals for the second time in his career. In 2024 as well, he reached the quarter-finals at the same tournament from qualifying, which indicates that London’s grass-court conditions suit him more than his ranking alone would suggest. According to the ATP report, after the victory Hijikata pointed out that the match had been difficult from the beginning because he lost serve early in both of the first two sets and because Lehecka did not allow him easy points. Such an assessment matches the flow of the encounter: the difference was not in long periods of dominance, but in several short sequences in which the Australian managed to survive the pressure and turn it into momentum. For a player trying to stabilise his place in main ATP draws, a victory like this can have both results-based and psychological value.
Lehecka’s defeat changes the picture in the upper part of the draw
For Lehecka, the defeat is particularly unpleasant because he arrived in London with clear results-based expectations. In its report, the ATP Tour describes him as the second seed and the 2025 Queen’s Club finalist, which means he was defending the reputation of a player who knows how to reach the closing stages of this tournament. In the first round of this year’s edition, according to the official ATP results, he defeated Kamil Majchrzak 7:5, 7:6(4), but he did not have an easy task even then. Against Hijikata he started well, but he was unable to close out the match after taking the lead in sets, and on grass that is often especially costly. When an encounter turns into a deciding tie-break, the difference between a seed and a qualifier can disappear in a few quick points, and that is exactly what happened at the Andy Murray Arena.
This result opens space for other players in the part of the draw where Lehecka was positioned as a seed. According to the ATP Tour, after the victory Hijikata had to wait for the outcome of the match between Hamad Medjedovic and Ugo Humbert, which was suspended on Thursday evening because of darkness. This means that the quarter-final picture formed gradually, while some of the main favourites had already secured continuation in the tournament. At the same stage of the competition, according to the ATP and the LTA, Tommy Paul defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 7:6(5), 6:3, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Corentin Moutet 6:4, 6:3. Those results confirm that the London tournament had entered a phase in which seeds and players from the shadows were directly fighting for positions ahead of the final part of the week.
Queen’s Club as an important stop in the grass-court season
The HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club are traditionally one of the most important tournaments in the preparation for Wimbledon, and this year’s men’s edition, according to the ATP Tour profile, runs from 15 to 21 June 2026 in London. The tournament has ATP 500 status, which means it brings a significant number of points and gathers part of the top of world tennis in a short but intense period between the end of the clay-court season and the beginning of the peak of the grass-court section of the calendar. The grass surface rewards the first shot after the serve, quick movement toward the net and the ability to adapt quickly to the low bounce of the ball, but at the same time punishes every brief phase of indecision. That is precisely why a victory like Hijikata’s has broader significance than merely reaching the quarter-finals: it shows that a player who becomes accustomed to the conditions through qualifying can threaten even a much better-positioned opponent.
In its daily updates, the organiser LTA emphasised that Thursday in the men’s part of the tournament brought several important results, including the progress of Paul, Davidovich Fokina and Hijikata. In that context, the Australian’s victory stands out because it was the only one that involved eliminating one of the highest-ranked seeds at that stage of the competition. With such an outcome, Queen’s Club once again confirmed the unpredictability of grass-court tennis, in which form from other surfaces does not automatically mean control over a match. Lehecka had the experience of a final, better status in the draw and a lead in sets, but he was unable to finish the job. Hijikata, by contrast, had played more matches in the same conditions and had enough patience to wait for a finish in which every serve carried weight.
What the victory means for Hijikata’s week in London
For Hijikata, the Queen’s Club quarter-final is confirmation that his grass-court tennis can cope with players from a higher results category. According to official ATP data, this is his second quarter-final appearance at that tournament, and the fact that both times he came through qualifying speaks of continuity in the specific London environment. Such a result can also be important because of confidence ahead of the continuation of the grass-court season, as a victory over the second seed at an ATP 500 tournament carries a different weight from a standard passage through an early stage of the draw. It is especially important that the Australian reached victory after losing the first set, because that shows he did not depend only on an initial surge, but also on the ability to adapt during the match. In the closing stages he also had to overcome his own missed opportunities, since only the fourth match point brought the final outcome.
Such matches often have consequences that become visible only in the next appearance. Hijikata spent a great deal of energy in a duel lasting almost three hours, but he also gained strong confirmation that his game on grass can withstand the pressure of a player who had been a finalist at the same tournament a year earlier. Lehecka, on the other hand, will have to redirect his focus quickly toward the continuation of the grass-court season, because a defeat after leading in sets leaves more tactical questions than an ordinary early exit. According to the available official information, the difference in the match was minimal, but clear enough at the decisive moment: Hijikata remained aggressive, hit the serve when it was needed most and completed one of the most dramatic round-of-16 encounters in London.
Sources:
- ATP Tour – official results of the HSBC Championships 2026 tournament, including the result, duration and court of the Hijikata – Lehecka match (link)
- ATP Tour – report on the victories of Tommy Paul and Rinky Hijikata, with context on Hijikata’s ranking, qualifier status and Lehecka’s seeding position (link)
- ATP Tour – profile of the HSBC Championships 2026 tournament with dates and tournament context (link)
- LTA – official daily updates from the HSBC Championships 2026, including a description of the match finish and other results of the day (link)