Tennis legend’s son dumped out of Australian Open before tournament even starts | Tennis | Sport

Cruz Hewitt won’t be following in the footsteps of his father, Lleyton, with a thrilling qualifying run at the Australian Open after suffering another early exit at Melbourne Park. On Tuesday, the youngster was defeated by Michael Zheng in straight sets. His parents, Lleyton and Bec, were in attendance to witness their son’s 6-3 6-3 defeat in front of a lively home crowd.

Despite matching Zheng for much of the first set, which remained on serve for the opening six games, Hewitt lost momentum after his serve was broken midway through. The American started the second set strongly with an early break, but the Aussie managed to claw back some ground with two breaks of his own.

Ultimately, Hewitt’s inability to control his serve led to his downfall, as he conceded six double faults over the course of the one-sided match.

The disappointing result marked the second consecutive Australian Open where the 17-year-old has been knocked out in the first round of qualifying.

Lleyton, on the other hand, breezed through qualifying at the same tournament as a 15-year-old wildcard back in 1997, leading to 20 consecutive main draw appearances and becoming World No. 1.

Speaking to reporters at the 2024 Newcombe Medal, the younger Hewitt stated that he doesn’t pay much attention to the comparisons between himself and his dad.

“It is what it is, but I don’t really mind,” he said at the time. “It just drives me to be better.”

However, as Lleyton pointed out, his son has been managing external pressure for most of his life.

“Oh, they’ve already been there, ever since he picked up a racket,” he said of the comparisons.

“He’s just got to enjoy it as much as possible and make it fun. He’s been doing great so far.”

Whilst Hewitt didn’t deliver the performances he’d hoped for at this year’s Australian Open, one of his compatriots had a considerably better experience.

Storm Hunter claimed a 7-5 6-3 triumph over Ekaterine Gorgodze on Kia Arena following her absence from last year’s tournament whilst recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I’m missing out, and don’t know if I’m going to be back’,” she recalled. “So to just get the win today felt amazing.”

Following her impressive victory, Hunter voiced her belief that she could power through to the main draw.

“I can beat anyone and I have qualified here at the Aussie Open, qualified at Wimbledon, qualified at the French,” she said.

“So I know what it takes, but same time, I know how hard it is to do it. To be honest, it’s incredibly difficult to qualify and I’m just going to take it day by day.”