Rinky Hijikata has been dealt a grand slam reality check as Australia’s tennis stars crashed back to earth at the US Open in New York.

Hijikata was no match for Grigor Dimitrov, suffering a 6-1 6-1 7-6 (7-4) thrashing at the hands of the Bulgarian ninth seed to bow out in the second round.

Former women’s quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic and 18-year-old qualifier Maya Joint were also eliminated on day three at Flushing Meadows.

With 10 players making the second round, Australia’s bumper 20-strong contingent had made their brightest start to the Open in 45 years.

The men, in particular, have been on fire with eight Australians winning their opening matches for the first time since 1976 – almost half a century ago.

Now they’re down to seven, with 28th seed Alexei Popyrin given the chance to save the day later against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

Hijikata stormed to the fourth round last year as a wildcard but knew he’d have his work cut out against Dimitrov, who is playing his best tennis at age 33.

Hijikata, though, could not have imagined winning only two games in the first two sets.

The 23-year-old put up more of a fight in the third but the one-time world No.3’s class ultimately prevailed as Dimitrov won through in two hours and 10 minutes.

Tomljanovic lost her second-round match 6-3 6-2 to Belgian 33rd seed Elise Mertens, while Joint’s breakout grand slam run came to a halt with a 6-4 6-0 loss to 2017 runner-up Madison Keys.

But with four wins at her maiden international slam, Joint is projected to leave New York with a career-high ranking of No.108 in the world, up some 27 spots and on track to gain direct entry to the Australian Open in January.