A fortnight after a brilliant run in the Wimbledon junior singles, Cruz Hewitt has taken another significant step in his progression to senior ranks by booking a main draw slot in an ATP Tour event in Washington D.C.
The 17-year-old has made the most of a wildcard into qualifying for a tournament that kickstarts the US summer swing and has the chance to set up a blockbuster second round encounter against his mentor Alex de Minaur, the No.1 seed.
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It will be Hewitt’s first match on the ATP Tour and it comes in what is the second highest level of regular tour events, with the Washington D.C tournament drawing a stellar field including top Americans Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
The son of former world No.1 and dual-grand slam champion Lleyton Hewitt demonstrated his potential when defeating an array of talented teenagers at Wimbledon, some of whom have already shown promising signs on the senior tour.
Organisers of the A$3.5 million tournament issued wildcards into the qualifying draw for Hewitt and Jackson Lee, the talented American who edged him in the final at the All England Club, though he was beaten in the first round of qualifying.
Hewitt enjoyed some fortune in booking a spot in the main draw, with both of his rivals withdrawing mid-match, but in both of those encounters he was already demonstrating he had the capacity to challenge established senior rivals.
The Wayne Arthurs-coached right-hander was on top of Dusan Lajovic, who peaked at 23 in the world and reached the last 16 of the Australian Open in 2021, when he withdrew in the first match.
In a second round encounter against American Zach Svajda, who lost to de Minaur in four sets in the third round at Wimbledon and beat fellow Aussies Alexei Popyrin and Adam Walton at Roland Garros, he showed great fight.
After dropping the first set against the world No. 73, he fought hard to win the second in a tiebreaker and was leading 2-0 in the third set when the American withdrew.
Hewitt’s reward is a first round clash against powerful American Marcos Giron, while de Minaur shapes a second round opponent in his return to tennis, but the Aussie has a tough task against dual-major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek returned to form with a title last week and has dominated de Minaur, the world No.5 and defending champion in Washington D.C, in a rivalry that dates back to the Next Gen Championships almost a decade ago.
Regardless of what occurs in his clash against Giron, a 33-year-old who has been ranked as high as 37 and reached the 3rd Rd of the Australian Open last year, he will jump more than 100 spots in the rankings to a spot near 500.
Hewitt is also guaranteed to earn his biggest cheque to date, with the first round prize money totalling A$27,000.