'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Rinky Hijikata condemned a death threat that he received after his defeat at the 2024 ATP Challenger Acapulco.
There have been quite a few instances of tennis players receiving a lot of abuse and death threats online after their matches.
Joao Sousa and Linda Noskova are among a few of the players who have faced online abuse in recent times. The latest addition to this list is Rinky Hijikata.
The Australian recently competed at the Acapulco Challenger where he was the top seed and kicked off his run with a comeback win against Jamaica's Blaise Bicknell. He followed this win up with a straight-set win against Bob Artnark to set up a quarterfinal clash with Alexis Galarneau.
However, the Aussie's run came to an end as the sixth-seed Canadian defeated him in straight sets.
This sadly wasn't the only disappointment Hijikata would face as he received a death threat online. The individual messaged the 23-year-old in which they said that they would put a bullet in the his head and also said that they wished the worst for the Aussie and his entire family.
The World No. 77, who was understandably taken aback by this message, shared this message on his Instagram story where he said that though he didn't mind hate mail, he felt that this message crossed the line. Hijikata further said that the sender, a person named Thyerry, made a rookie error by not using a burner to send the message and asked if anyone knew them.
"All for hate mail but this has to be crossing some line surely? Not writing from a burner was a rookie error.. anyone know this Thyerry bloke?"
Not just young players like Rinky Hijikata, but even legends like Andy Murray are subject to online abuse
Not even young players like Rinky Hijikata, but even legends of the game such as Andy Murray are subject to abuse from fans online.
At the Swiss Indoors in Basel last year, Murray faced Tomas Martin Etcheverry in his Round of 16 match. Though he claimed a hard-fought first set after winning the tiebreaker, an inspired performance by the Argentine would see him coming back from behind and eliminating the Brit.
After the match, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted some hate comments directed at Murray for losing his match.
