Cruz Hewitt and Bernard Tomic crash out of Australian Open qualifying
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The 16-year-old could not follow in his father’s footsteps to qualify for the first grand slam of the year as a teenager, with Lleyton Hewitt a qualifier in 1997 as a 15-year-old. Cruz Hewitt, the son of former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, came up short in his bid to reach the Australian Open main draw on Tuesday when he was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of qualifying.
![[Lleyton Hewitt (R), father of Cruz Hewitt and Peter Luczak (L) watch on]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/07/08/SEI235227123.jpg)
The 16-year-old echoed his watching father with cries of “C’mon!” after winning a couple of crucial points but was no match for the experienced Georgian, who was once ranked 16th in the world. “Cruz showed up and played very well,” Basilashvili said on court.
![[Cruz Hewitt of Australia plays a forehand in his Men's Qualifying Singles match against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/07/08/SEI235226848.jpg)
“When I was 16, I would have been pooping my pants to have to come out on the Grand Slam court and play a match like this.”. Hewitt senior, now Australia’s Davis Cup captain, made the first of his 20 straight appearances at the Australian Open as a 15-year-old qualifier in 1997.
He went on to top the world rankings at the age of 20 and win Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Bernard Tomic, one of a string of talents who have been touted as a potential successor to Hewitt as an Australian Grand Slam winner, also bowed out in the opening round of qualifying at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
