But the wildcard’s watershed win was swiftly overshadowed by a fatal shooting at the University of North Carolina,where Hijikata spent two years.
A suspect is in custody after a faculty member was killed and terrorised students had to shelter for hours as police looked for the gunman.
“I was pretty happy with the win today,but that’s kind of put a dampener on it,to be honest,” Hijikata said.
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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.”