Cruz Hewitt’s nod to Lleyton with backwards cap as he exits Aus Open

Cruz Hewitt changed up his approach in his final match at Melbourne Park as he revved up a vocal home crowd.

Cruz Hewitt’s run in the junior boys singles has come to an end, but the 16-year-old did his reputation no harm as he forced the No. 1 seed to bring his best on Monday night.

The son of Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt was unable to back up his milestone first-round victory as he succumbed to Czech rising star Jan Kumstat 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in front of a vocal home crowd on court three.

Hewitt faced an opponent two years his senior with a significant size and power advantage, but fought back from a break down in the second set to reach a tie-break in a major test of Kumstat’s problem-solving.

Again dressed in all-yellow but for the first time this tournament sporting a white backwards cap in a nod to his father, Hewitt laced two big forehand winners to get ahead in the tie-break, showing impressive quick footwork to get back to his forehand side in both rallies.

Cruz Hewitt has been knocked out of the junior boys singles in the second round by No. 1 seed Jan Kumstat. Picture: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images

He pumped his fist and roared ‘c’mon’ as the crowd roared back when he saved a match point with a fast and wide serve which Kumstat was unable to get back over the net.

Hewitt had a set point of his own, but his Czech opponent served his way out of trouble as he delivered his 12th ace of the match at a decisive time.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the South Australian against Kumstat, who was runner-up in last year’s junior boys final to historic Japanese winner Rei Sakamoto.

The Czech young gun had hit 36 winners to 13 when Hewitt belted two on consecutive points to push ahead in the tie-break.

While he could not match his power, Hewitt was again reliable at the baseline, making only 20 unforced errors to his opponent’s 37.

The defeat brought an end to his summer at Melbourne Park after a maiden appearance in men’s qualifying earlier this month and a first-round junior doubles exit on Sunday alongside fellow Aussie Duje Markovina.

Originally published as Cruz Hewitt’s nod to Lleyton with backwards cap as he exits Aus Open