Fresh from a run to the Wimbledon boys final, Cruz Hewitt has taken another significant step in his fledgling career by claiming a maiden win on the ATP Tour when on debut in Washington D.C. today.
The 17-year-old’s reward for defeating veteran Marcos Giron would be a clash with his mentor and occasional hitting partner Alex de Minaur should the Australian star defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the American capital later today.
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The Sydneysider hit with his champion father Lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s most recent No.1 man, prior to the clash against Giron, who reached the 3rd Round at the Australian Open last year and has been ranked as high as No.37.
In defeating Giron 6-3 6-4, the right-hander becomes the youngest winner in the ATP Tour 500 event held in Washington since former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, who is playing the tournament this week, in 2007.
The teenager, who said winning on debut “sounded pretty good”, was delighted with how he handled the challenge from the aggressive American, who won the ATP Tour Hall of Fame Championships in Newport two years ago.
“I am really happy with how I competed today. I came out and started pretty well and I am thrilled to get through to the next round,” he said.
The win over the world No.80 provides another significant surge for his own status, with Hewitt guaranteed to jump from a position outside the top 600 at the start of the week to a spot in the mid-360s based on a live estimate.
He said his father, a former US Open and Wimbledon champion who won in Washington D.C in 2004, advised him prior to the encounter against Giron to embrace the occasion.
“(He told me) mainly to enjoy it, because it was my first tour level match … and to take every point one-by-one, to enjoy the atmosphere and to enjoy the crowd and that is what I did,” he said.
Given the deeds of his father, a former US Open and Wimbledon champion, Hewitt is dealing with a lot of expectation. But he believes he his handling the spotlight well, as demonstrated by his win in what is an extremely strong field.
“I try to deal with it as best as I can. There is obviously a little bit of pressure but I try to take the positives out of it as well and I am happy with how I am dealing with it so far,” he said.
Originally published as C’mon! Cruz Hewitt causes massive boilover on ATP Tour debut… after a warm-up with dad