One to watch: At 12-years-of-age Rinky Hijikata has already won the Gosford Junior Open and competed in three European tennis tournaments. Picture: Gene Ramirez
AUSTRALIAN tennis has unearthed a star in the making after Rinky Hijikata's impressive win at the National Grasscourt Championships in Mildura last month.
The 12-year-old dominated his junior rivals and dropped only one set on his way to a finals match-up with South Australian Sam May.
Despite a nervous start to the final Rinky got composed and overpowered his No.8 seed rival to win 6-2 7-5.
Speaking to the News Rinky said he was excited to win the title on a surface which doesn't usually match his game.
"I'm more of a clay and hardcourt player so this win was very important for me," Rinky said.
"For this tournament I had to adjust my game a bit because I'm usually an aggressive top spin player."
Away from the junior tennis scene, Rinky is also turning heads at The King's School where he's just started year 7.
In his first week at the school last month Rinky beat one of the senior year 12 players to earn a spot in the opens tennis team.
Rinky said teammates weren't letting success get to his head.
"My teammates tell me not to get too cocky," he said.
"It's a lot of fun playing with them because there's no pressure as I'm not expected to beat someone twice my size."
Rinky hopes to build on his success from the National Grasscourt Championships as he prepares for the Orange Bowl tournament in the US where he hopes to qualify for the final 64 draw against the best junior tennis players in the world.