Nearly a quarter-of-a-century since Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon, his promising son Cruz is now flying the Australian flag impressively on the lawns of SW19 – with his illustrious dad in his corner.
With no singles interest left in the men’s and women’s draws, the Aussie singles focus has switched to the 17-year-old, son of the Davis Cup captain, who’s the last youngster standing and roared into the quarter-finals of the boys’ championship on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
It was a notable achievement for the young professional prospect Hewitt, who’s the first to get this far in the boys’ event since Alex de Minaur a decade ago.
And he was quick to praise his dad – Lleyton was the champion back in 2002 – after his notable third-round triumph over the second seed, New Zealand-born German Jamie Mackenzie, 6-3 6-4 in just 69 minutes in the blazing sunshine.
In 2016, de Minaur went on to reach the final, eventually being beaten by Canadian Denis Shapovalov, and Hewitt, who’s No.606 in the ATP rankings and rising, has not been hiding his hopes of a similar run.
‘Every tournament, you come in and you hope to win it, but I’m just here taking it one match at a time,’ said the Sydneysider.
Cruz Hewitt (pictured) has progressed to the quarter-final stage of the boys’ singles event at Wimbledon
Cruz (pictured with his legendary father Lleyton) is proving he’s one of Australia’s brightest young tennis talents
Hewitt (pictured with parents Lleyton and Bec) is looking to become the first Aussie to make the final of the boys’ singles at Wimbledon since 2016
‘So far, three matches and I’ve enjoyed playing every one. So next match, I’ll try and do the same and then we’ll see how it goes,’ added the unseeded Hewitt, looking forward to playing Bulgarian ninth seed Dimitar Kisimov in the last-eight on Thursday (Friday AEST).
Hewitt reckoned that having dad on hand to help, with Lleyton on duty in the invitational doubles event for former stars, was working to his benefit.
‘I’ve warmed up with him every day, so he helps me a lot. Obviously, having him on the sidelines has helped, just to support me being there. I’m grateful for him in my corner.’
Lleyton was playing alongside Italian Fabio Fognini on No.2 Court on Wednesday, while Cruz was playing his match, but had been courtside throughout his son’s win in the previous round.
Inevitably, there’s a lot of interest in the ex-champion’s son around the grounds of the All England Club, and Cruz reckoned he really enjoyed all the interaction.
‘The Australian people in the crowd have just been really good. I got a few ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussies!’ today, and that definitely helps, gets my energy up. I perform better in those type of situations on the court,’ he said.
‘I showed my appreciation to those who were cheering for me and basically helping me get over the line. I appreciate everyone who does that.’
The teenager has chosen to skip junior events since last year’s US Open, opting instead to harden himself on the competitive senior World Tennis circuit, and has already reached one final and a semi in grass-court events that clearly suit him.
Against Mackenzie, he was impressed by his own form.
‘I think I played a pretty good match and feel like I did the right things. It’s good to get the win, I’m pretty happy to be in the quarter-finals and happy that I get to play another match at this tournament.’
