Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz impresses ahead of Australian Open tilt

Everyone is saying the same thing about Cruz Hewitt after the 16-year-old took on a much older foe at the Canberra International.

Cruz Hewitt may have lost his opening match of the summer but he didn’t lose any admirers as he showcased the same fighting spirit made famous by his father Lleyton Hewitt.

The 16-year-old son of the former men’s World No. 1 was beaten 7-6 (11-9) 6-1 in the first round of qualifying by Brandon Holt, 26, at the Canberra International challenger event.

The young tennis star is ranked an incredible 1000 spots lower than his American counterpart but still managed to lead 5-2 in the first set and had two set points in the tie-breaker before eventually going down.

And while his inexperience showed in the straight sets defeat, his flashy forehand, booming serve and nippy court coverage got plenty of tongues wagging ahead of his bid to qualify for the Australian Open main draw in January.   

Cruz Hewitt may have lost in the opening round of qualifying at the Canberra International but didn’t lose any admirers. Picture: Mark Stewart

Cruz has been given a wildcard to Australian Open qualifying where he will attempt to emulate the incredible rise of his famous dad, who went on an inspired run through qualifying as a 15-year-old wildcard in 1997 to reach the first of 20 consecutive main draw appearances at Melbourne Park.

From there Lleyton went on to become World No. 1 by age 21 and claimed US Open and Wimbledon titles across a decorated tennis career.

While Cruz isn’t quite at the level yet to topple the top players in the world, the fact he nearly took a set off the World No. 198 showed he is heading in the right direction.

Watching a bit of Cruz Hewitt.

I’m impressed.

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) December 29, 2024

Cruz Hewitt, the son of former World No.1 Lleyton, goes out in Canberra qualies 6-7 1-6 to Brandon Holt. Cruz had three set points in the tiebreak and kinda ran out of puff after missed chances. Played a very promising opening set regardless, has some qualities similar to his dad

— Jake Davies (@jakedavi5) December 29, 2024

Cruz Hewitt led Holt 5-2 in the opening set and had four set points before losing 6-7(9) 1-6. Seems like he's made a nice jump recently and was enjoying the role of the aggressor in this one (Brandon does give you plenty of space ofc). Gonna play AO qualies in a bit over a week.

— Damian Kust (@damiankust) December 29, 2024

Cruz is one of Australia’s most highly rated juniors and is expected to feature in the Australian Open junior tournament in 2025.

But in just over a week’s time he will first try to secure an unlikely place in the main draw at Melbourne Park.

To do so, however, he will need to win three straight matches in qualifying to book his place in a maiden grand slam tournament.

If he manages to do so the comparisons to his dad will only grow stronger.

But most likely he will instead have to settle for the junior tournament at the Australian Open, where he will attempt to better his first-round exit earlier this year.

In January, Cruz went down 6-2, 6-3 to sixth seed Alexander Razeghi in front of a packed and raucous crowd.

Cruz Hewitt continues to follow in the footsteps of his father Lleyton by taking on a tennis player a decade his senior (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Tennis Australia)

But since making his Melbourne Park debut, Cruz has gone from strength to strength and has surged up the rankings to become the junior World No. 107 (senior No. 1264)

Cruz has gone 30-10 this calendar year, won two ITF junior titles in 2024 and claimed his first professional win in August.

And his rank outside the top 100 juniors is a misleading one given the fact the majority of players ahead of him are older.

Cruz is 15th among players born in 2008 and has made huge strides in the last 18 months, suggesting even if he can’t achieve what his famous father did at such a young age, he is set for a long and successful career.