Andy Murray Wimbledon opponent won match after deadly shooting at girlfriend's university
Andy and Jamie Murray face Rinky Hijikata and John Peers in Wimbledon doubles.
Rinky Hijikata is set to take on Andy and Jamie Murray alongside his Australian compatriot John Peers on Thursday, after two-time Wimbledon champion Andy pulled out of the singles competition.
Hijikata, who lost 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 to Italian star Flavio Cobolli in singles on Tuesday, gets a second chance of redemption at SW19 against the Murray brothers. The world No. 77 reached the doubles second round last year, after winning his home Major, but at the US Open received some chilling news that overshadowed his victory.
After securing a 7-5 5-7 6-3 7-5 win against Russia's Pavel Kotov to seal his place in the second round at Flushing Meadows, Hijikata revealed that he was informed prior to the clash that his girlfriend’s university was the scene of a shooting.
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Zijie Yan, a professor in the Applied Physical Sciences department, was fatally shot seven times according to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Students on campus, where Hijikata’s girlfriend was in attendance and he had spent two years, were forced to shelter for hours before the shooter was found by police and arrested.
Further up the East Coast Hijikata should have been celebrating his US Open victory, but instead could not focus after hearing of the shooting in North Carolina. "I was pretty happy with the win today but that's kind of put a dampener on it, to be honest,” he said shortly after winning.
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“First and foremost I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone back in Chapel Hill because that's not something you want to see what's happened. There is a lot bigger than my tennis match here today.
"I was there for two years. I would have graduated this May but my girlfriend is still in school there. I've still got a lot mates on the team or in school. Not the news I was hoping to come out to.
"I feel like as an Australian it can be a little bit of a head-scratcher at times, the way things run in the US. There are times when you kind of don't feel safe and it's very unfortunate what's happened today.
"I feel like it is really not an unexpected event, which makes it worse almost."
On Thursday, less than a year after the shooting where his girlfriend was attending and a faculty member was fatally shot seven times, Hijikata and Peers will face the Murray brothers, hoping to upset the British crowd in what could have been Andy’s last match at SW19, before he announced that he would also be playing mixed doubles later in the week with Emma Raducanu.
