French crowds are normally some of the more riotous crowds in tennis and the Paris Masters has been no different.
The home crowd at the Plenitude Arena have been loud and proud for Frenchman and they have been rewarded with several deep runs at the tournament.
Luca Van Assche has produced a dream run to the quarterfinals, while the likes of Quentin Halys, Arthur Rinderknech, and Arthur Fils all reaching the third round.
However, the Paris Masters crowd has been called into question for their behaviour during a non-French player match, between Rinky Hijikata and Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
The pair played out an enthralling third round contest, as Hijikata reached his first Masters quarterfinal by beating the Argentine in three sets.
However, after the match, Hijikata suggested he was far from happy with the conduct of some members of the crowd during his match againts Etcheverry.
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“He had some pretty raucous fans out there that were being clowns,” said the Australian during his post-match interviews at the Paris Masters, in his inimitable Aussie style.
However, Hijikata saw the positive side of the ‘clownish behaviour. He said he used that to battle his way into the quarterfinals of the competition, where he will face Frenchman Luca van Assche for a place in the semifinals.
“They kind of fired me up,” admitted the star, who currently sits at world No 59 in the ATP Tour live rankings. “Without them I probably wouldn’t have been able to get going. So thanks to those guys.”
Hijikata has enjoyed a Paris Masters to remember after defeating Jaime Faria and Vit Kopriva to gain access to the ATP 1000 main draw.
He has beaten Luciano Darderi, Novak Djokovic, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the main draw, all of whom are ranked significantly higher than him.
If he continues his progress through the tournament, there is an outside chance he can gain seeded entry into his home Grand Slam at the Australian Open next year.
The top 32 ranked players are awarded seeded status and Hijikata is currently 27 places away from that. With 800 ranking points still to play for in Paris, Hijikata could soar up the rankings before the tournament reaches its conclusion.
Hijikata has been joined in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters by van Assche, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, and Nuno Borges.
The Paris Masters is set to conclude with the final on November 8th and Hijikata will absolutely be hoping he can be one of the two players battling for the title.
