Cruz Hewitt is suddenly one match away from setting up an unlikely all-Australian showdown with Alex de Minaur at the Washington Open.
The 17-year-old has progressed through to the main singles draw in wild scenes after he benefited from two retirements during qualifying.
The teenage son of Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt booked a spot in the main draw after forcing a third set against American Zachary Svajda.
After dropping the first set 1-6, Hewitt regrouped after going down a break in the second set to claw his way back into the match.
Svajda retired hurt with the scores at 1-6, 7-6 (3), 2-0.
That result on Monday morning came after he also benefited from No. 8 seed Dusan Lajovic retiring with Hewitt ahead 5-1 in the first set of their match on Sunday (AEST).
It means Hewitt, the world No. 615, now faces American Marcos Giron in the first round of the main draw. That match is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
The winner of that match will progress to play the winner of defending champ de Minaur’s match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The way the cards have fallen so kindly for Hewitt this week has caused plenty of chatter.
He was given a late call up with a qualifying wildcard after his run through to the final of the boys singles at Wimbledon.
Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado called it “crazy”.
American tennis official Randy Walker called it “pretty crazy”.
Writing on X, tennis podcaster Scott Reichel posted: “Cruz Hewitt with one of the flukiest qualifying runs I have ever seen”.
One tennis content creator account that goes by the name ‘Tennis Talks’ posted on X: “Oh my god Cruz Hewitt is into the Washington MD via back to back retirements”.
Before this week, Hewitt had never previously played a senior match in the United States.
The Washington Open is one of the biggest tournaments hosted in the United States as an ATP 500 and WTA 500 event.
Hewitt had only previously been handed wildcards — above the level of ATP Challenger and ITF circuits — on home soil where he played in the 2025 and 2026 Australian Opens, failing to win a set. He also got a wildcard for the Brisbane International in January — an ATP 250 level event.
Now he is getting his biggest opportunity on foreign soil yet — a chance to boost his rankings to a career-high.
The junior Wimbledon finalist will be surrounded by Aussies at the event.
Daria Kasatkina also won through to the main draw of the women’s singles.
Alexander Vukic also progressed through to the main draw with a 6-0 6-1 win over fellow Aussie Alex Bolt.
Big things are expected of de Minaur, who will defend his title as the No. 1 seed.
Nick Kyrgios, who won the singles title in Washington in 2019 and 2022, was last week announced to be teaming up with American Francis Tiafoe in the men’s doubles.
After falling short in the Wimbledon boys final earlier this month, Hewitt said making the main draw at the 2027 Australian Open is his top goal.
While it appears most likely he will receive a wildcard into the qualifying draw at Melbourne Park, there remains the real possibility he could be gifted one of the eight wildcards into the men’s main draw.