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Rafael Nadal will begin his quest for a men's record-extending 23rd Grand Slam title against Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata at the US Open 2022 in New York on Tuesday, August 30.
The US Open is the second-most successful Slam of the Spaniard's illustrious career, with Nadal having lifted the trophy in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019. The 36-year-old comes into Flushing Meadows with two of the three Majors of the year in his kitty.
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However, the reigning Australian and French Open champion's form and fitness remain questionable. An abdominal injury cut short his campaign at Wimbledon, forcing him to give a walkover to Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals.
Nadal did return to action at the Cincinnati Masters last week but fell in his very first match in three sets to eventual champion Borna Coric.
That said, the southpaw has a great opportunity to play himself into form at the final Major of the season. Nadal's first-round opponent, Rinky Hijikata, doesn't have much experience at the highest level of the sport.
The 21-year-old will be making his main-draw debut at a Slam this time around.
The 2018 Youth Olympic doubles silver medalist is currently ranked 198th, with his best performance of the season coming on the ITF circuit, where he won a couple of $25,000 events.
He will need to play out of his skin to show the door to one of the greats of the game.
Rafael Nadal vs Rinky Hijikata match schedule
The Nadal vs Hijikata first-round clash will be the first match of the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.
Date: August 30, 2022 (US, Canada & UK); August 31, 2022 (Central Europe, Australia & India)
Time: 7 pm local time/ 11.00 pm GMT/ 1 am CET/ 4.30 am IST
Rafael Nadal vs Rinky Hijikata streaming details
USA - ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN++.
Canada - TSN and RDS.
United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland - Amazon Prime Video.
Australia - Fox Sports & SBS.
Middle East and North Africa - beIN Sports.
Sub-Saharan Africa - SuperSport.
China - Iqiyi & CCTV.
Europe - Eurosport.
Japan - WOWOW.
Latin and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean - ESPN International.
India - Sony Six, Sony Ten & Sony Liv.
Live streaming will also be available on Tennis TV and the US Open website.
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