- Cruz Hewitt secured victory in the opening round of the Boy’s Singles on Sunday
- His dad Lleyton watched on from the stands at Wimbledon as he won 6-1 6-2
Aussie tennis legend and former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt was spotted watching his son Cruz as the 16-year-old beat Russian tennis player Savva Rybkin 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Wimbledon Boy’s Singles on Sunday.
Cruz showed shades of his two-time Grand Slam-winning dad, as he dispatched his opponent in just 51 minutes.
Lleyton, who is regularly seen on the sidelines supporting his son, cut a jubilant figure on the sidelines, raising a fist in the air in support of his son.
Hewitt, who had crashed out in the first round of the juniors competition at the French Open in May, came out firing on Sunday, breaking his opponent twice in the first set to take the lead.
He’d carry on where he left off in the second set, hitting 26 winners for the match.
Earlier this year, Hewitt had looked to qualify for the main draw at the Australian Open but had lost in the opening round of qualifying to Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Cruz Hewitt (pictured) secured a big victory in the first round of the Boy’s Singles at Wimbledon on Sunday
His dad, Lleyton (bottom-right), was seen giving him a fist-bump as Cruz advanced to seal a 6-1 6-2 victory against Savva Rybkin
Cruz is currently ranked 827th in the ATP rankings and pointed to his dad in the corner after sealing the win
It was also here that he became the centre of a storm of controversy after appearing to cop flack from Nick Kyrgios for training with Jannik Sinner, while the Italian was waiting to learn his fate after breaching anti-doping rules.
Kyrgios had commented on a post that Hewitt had published on Instagram, saying: ‘Love ya Cruz but this is wild,’ before adding: ‘Cooked post’ with a needle emoji.
He then added: ‘Thought we were boys,’ with several broken-heart emojis.
Andy Roddick later clapped back at Kyrgios, who explained that the comments were a joke between the pair, who are known to be good friends.
Cruz currently sits at 827th in the ATP Tour’s rankings, having recently been playing on the ITF Tour.
Last month, he reached the final of the final of the M25 ITF event in Launceston, Australia, only being beaten in the final by compatriot Jason Kubler.
His dad Lleyton, Australia’s former No 1 and now Davis Cup captain, was also spotted watching Alex De Minuar this week, during his opening-round win against Roberto Carballes Baena.
Lleyton had stood by his son after he had copped flack from Kyrgios,
Cruz (pictured) will now go onto face 11th seed Oskari Paldanius, who hails from Finland in the second round
‘It’s a long journey,’ the former Wimbledon champion said after the Australian Open.
‘I was excited to watch him play. He had a tough draw playing Basilashvili, a former No.16 and a guy who played finals at Indian Wells.’
He’ll now go onto face 11th seed Oskari Paldanius, who hails from Finland in the second round.
