Hijikata Stuns Djokovic In Paris Masters Upset

How to watch: Novak Djokovic vs Rinky Hijikata, Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at Paris La Defense Arena, Nanterre
TV (Canada): TSN
Stream: TSN Premium, Tennis TV

Hijikata Ends The Djokovic ATP Finals Chase In Paris

Djokovic arrived in Paris with almost no margin left. The 39-year-old stood 11th in the Race to Turin and needed at least a semi-final run to keep any realistic chance of taking one of the last qualifying places for the ATP Finals, which run from November 15 to 22 in Turin. Because Jannik Sinner has qualified but will not play through injury, ninth place is the final qualifying spot this year, and Rafael Jodar held it on 3,234 points when play began on Wednesday. Djokovic leaves Paris on 2,940 points, marked in the live race as unable to qualify.

For one set, the chase still looked alive. Djokovic took the opener 6-2, returning the way he has against Hijikata in their two previous meetings, both of which the Australian lost. Hijikata had hit only three forehand winners in that first set. Then the match turned on his forehand and on Djokovic’s second serve. Hijikata broke in the eighth game of the second set and served it out to level the match, and in the decider he broke again with Djokovic serving at 3-3, then broke once more to close out the biggest win of his career.

The numbers show how complete the turnaround was. Hijikata finished with 37 winners to Djokovic’s 18, including 29 off the forehand side, and he won half of the points played on Djokovic’s second serve. Djokovic converted only two of his 11 break point chances, while Hijikata took three of his seven. This was Hijikata’s fourth win of the week in Paris, after two qualifying victories and a 6-2, 6-2 win over world number 21 Luciano Darderi in the first round.

What Djokovic And Hijikata Said After The Match

Hijikata, the world number 83, told Sky Sports he had to survive the opening before he could play his own game. “It took a lot; I was getting outplayed for the first set and a little bit. I wasn’t even close to his level; I knew I just had to really hang tough, had to keep trying to play my game, impose myself as much as I could. I guess in the end I was glad I could kind of maintain my level for as long as I did and trust myself in the big moments,” he said. He added that the key all week has been aggression: “To try and impose my game as much as I can and back myself in the big moments.”

Djokovic gave the performance full credit while naming the moment it slipped away. “Disappointment, obviously, losing a match that I felt like I was dominating for a set and a few games,” he said. “Then he was switched on. I wasn’t serving as well in the second set. He was just playing out of his mind, honestly. He was not missing, keeping the ball low. It was a terrific performance.” He added: “He played really amazing tennis and it was my fault to let the control of the match go.” Asked about his plan for the next few weeks, Djokovic answered simply: “Just rest. I’m looking forward to it.”

Sky Sports pundit Ryan Harrison made the same point from the commentary side, noting that Djokovic did not play poorly and that the result came from Hijikata raising his level, pouring on forehand winners across the second and third sets after managing only three in the first.

A Record Chase That Ends At 18 Finals Appearances

The loss closes a chase that had run through the whole autumn. Djokovic was playing for a 19th appearance at the ATP Finals, which would have moved him clear of Roger Federer, with whom he is tied on 18 appearances. He is a seven-time champion at the Finals and was aiming at a record-extending eighth title in Turin. He had missed the previous two editions through injury, but he had not failed to qualify on the race standings since 2017.

The Paris week had already tested him. On Tuesday he came from a set and a break down to beat Valentin Vacherot, the Basel champion, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1, a win that made him the oldest match winner in the tournament’s history at 39. He needed treatment on his right shoulder during that match. A week earlier in Basel, in his first appearance there in 15 years, he lost to Jan-Lennard Struff for the first time in nine meetings, a defeat that left Paris as his last realistic route to Turin. His 2026 season included a run to the Australian Open final and a semi-final at Wimbledon, but the late push for one more Finals place fell one week short.

What The Result Means For Turin And For Paris

Djokovic’s exit is a direct boost for the men still holding the last places. Frances Tiafoe sits eighth in the live race on 3,390 points and Jodar ninth on 3,234, in the qualifying positions as the Paris week continues, behind the players already confirmed: Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Arthur Fils, with Sinner qualified but not playing. Jodar had lost to Casper Ruud earlier in the tournament, which opened the door for Djokovic; Hijikata has now closed it.

The defeat was also part of a day of upsets in Nanterre. Zverev, playing his first tournament as world number one, lost his second-round match to Lorenzo Musetti 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Medvedev and Alex de Minaur also went out in the second round. De Minaur’s loss, to Tomas Martin Etcheverry, sets Hijikata’s next match: he faces Etcheverry in the third round on Thursday, November 5, playing for a place in the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event. Whatever happens there, his Wednesday is already recorded: a qualifier ranked 83rd in the world came from a set down against a 24-time Grand Slam champion and ended the ATP Finals run of the most successful player the event has known.