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Cruz Hewitt (born 11 December 2008) is an Australian professional tennis player.

Early life

Hewitt was born in Sydney, Australia on 11 December 2008 at the Royal North Shore Hospital. His father, Lleyton, is a former professional tennis player who reached the world number one ranking and won multiple Grand Slams throughout his career and his mother, Bec, was an actress and singer best known for her role on the soap opera Home and Away. Hewitt's aunt, Jaslyn, is also a former professional tennis player who competed on the women's circuit and his grandfather, Glynn, was a professional Australian rules footballer who played at the highest level for AFL club Richmond in the 1970s.

Hewitt spent the first eight years of his life living in Sydney and relocated to Melbourne in 2016 after his father retired from professional tennis and began working at Tennis Australia's headquarters. In 2021, the Hewitt family moved to the Gold Coast in an attempt to further Cruz's tennis prospects by training at the KDV Tennis Academy with high level coaches and opposition at state-of-the-art facilities.

Junior career

Hewitt entered his first ITF junior tournament a month after his 13th birthday in January 2022 when he received a wildcard entry into the J1 Traralgon qualifying draw and was defeated in straight sets by eventual quarterfinalist Daniel Verbeek 2–6, 0–6. He claimed his first junior ITF victory at a J5 Darwin tournament in May 2022 when he was victorious in a main draw first round match against Jett Grech 6–2, 6–2 before being defeated in the second round. In November 2022, still aged 13, Hewitt claimed his first junior ITF title in a Fijian J5 Lautoka tournament with victory in the final against fellow Australian Cristian Care and in doing so became the youngest male to win an ITF junior tournament in 2022.

He began 2023 by entering the qualifying draw for the Australian Open and was defeated in three sets by the number one seed Adhithya Ganesan in the first round. He won his second junior ITF title in the Virgin Islands at a J30 Christiansted tournament in May 2023 with a 6–3, 6–3 victory in the final against American Ryan Cozad. He claimed his third ITF junior title a month later with a win in a J60 Darwin tournament. Hewitt ended the 2023 season with a fourth junior ITF title in Thailand at a J60 Nonthaburi tournament with a 7–5, 6–1 final win against Russian Makar Krivoshchekov.

In January 2024, Hewitt made his junior Grand Slam debut at 15 years of age when he received a wildcard entry into the Australian Open main draw event and was defeated in the first round by sixth seeded American Alexander Razeghi 2–6, 3–6 in front of a large show court crowd. In October 2024, still aged 15, Hewitt entered the top 100 in the U18 junior rankings after claiming a seventh title at a New Zealand J100 tournament in Christchurch. He ended 2024 ranked 15th in the world for his age group (2008).

Professional career

Hewitt entered his first professional tournament at 14 years of age in September 2023 when he gained direct entry into the qualifying draw of an ITF M25 tournament in Darwin and would claim third set tiebreaker victories in his first two qualifying matches, but was defeated in straight sets in the final round of qualifying. Hewitt continued to enter and unsuccessfully quaify for professional ITF tournaments over the next 12 months before receiving a wildcard entry into the main draw of an Indonesian ITF M15 event where he claimed his first professional main draw win at the age of 15 against Thijmen Loof 6–4, 6–4 in August 2024.

Hewitt will begin his 2025 season at the Canberra International after receiving a wildcard entry into the qualifying draw. He will make his senior Grand Slam debut a month after his 16th birthday at the 2025 Australian Open after being granted a wildcard into the qualifying draw. Should Hewitt qualify for the main draw of the 2025 Australian Open, he will become the youngest male player to do so since his father set the record for youngest male participant in 1997, with just 74 days separating the father and son.

References

1. "Bec and Lleyton Welcome Baby Boy". New Idea. 2009. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008.
2. "Cruz Hewitt | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
3. "Hewitts welcome a son". 16 December 2008.
4. "Nitto ATP Finals 50th Anniversary: Hewitt Soars In Sydney And Shanghai | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
5. "Bec and Lleyton Hewitt's daughter Mia, on-set for Home and Away as a member of production: Full circle moment!". 19 December 2024.
6. "Who Are Lleyton Hewitt's Children? Meet Mia, Cruz And Ava Hewitt". 29 August 2016.
7. "Lleyton's Punt Road pilgrimage". 7 February 2016.
8. "Inside the (very) private Bec and Lleyton Hewitt as they plan his life away from the court and her return to the screen". 2 July 2016.
9. "Details emerge after Lleyton Hewitt and family move to Gold Coast". 15 December 2021.
10. "Records smashed: 2022 ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in numbers". 22 December 2022.
11. Valencich, Glenn (21 January 2024). "Cruz Hewitt makes Australian Open junior debut in front of huge crowd on Court 3". Seven News. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
12. "Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz to break into ITF Juniors top 100 rankings after J100 Christchurch triumph". 15 October 2024.
13. "Lleyton Hewitt's lookalike son gets first pro win". 13 September 2023.
14. "Like father, like son: Cruz Hewitt claims first ATP win at 15". 28 August 2024.
15. "Why Canberra fans need to see son of a gun teen star Cruz". 19 December 2024.
16. "Hewitt receives wildcard to join Birrell, Tomic in AO qualifying". 18 December 2024.
17. "Mental strength makes Hewitt the young gun who can stay at the top". 13 January 2002.
18. "The remarkable Lleyton Hewitt feat Cruz Hewitt can emulate after being handed 2025 Australian Open wildcard". 22 December 2024.

External links

• Cruz Hewitt at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Cruz Hewitt at the International Tennis Federation

• 2008 births
• Living people
• Australian male tennis players
• Tennis players from Sydney
• Tennis people from the Gold Coast