Cruz Hewitt given opportunity to play DC Open next week after wildcard into qualifying confirmed

Thursday, 23 July 2026 at 08:40

Cruz Hewitt has been rewarded after finally heading towards fulfilling some of the billing he has been given in his career so far in reaching the final of the Wimbledon boys tournament earlier this season.

The 17-year-old son of the Aussie tennis legend, Lleyton Hewitt has only been awarded qualifying wildcards on home soil, but the DC Open have decided to help him out.

Organisers at the DC Open have given him the chance the test himself at the highest level after that dreamr un at Wimbledon. Hewitt went down in three sets to Jordan Lee in the boys' final after knocking off a number of top seeds on the way to doing so.

Both Wimbledon boys finalists have been rewarded for this run and have been given the chance to qualify for the Washington Open. The ATP 500 event is set to be played next week and the post captioned: "The future is here". Organisers confirmed that Hewitt and Lee have been given spots in the draw.

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If Hewitt does qualify, he will join a number of Aussies in said main draw including defending champion Alex de Minaur. Qualifying begins on Saturday in Washington and Hewitt will need to win two matches to secure his spot.

This kicks off on Monday in the US. If he's successful, it would be a huge achievement given that he has failed multiple times to win through qualifying for events. This being at the 2025 and 2026 Australian Open as well as the Brisbane International.

17 year old Aussie 🇦🇺 Cruz Hewitt will feature in qualifying at an ATP 500 tournament for the first time this weekend. https://t.co/xrOth0KaCh
— The First Serve (@TheFirstServeAU) July 22, 2026

All of whom he has been given wildcards into and has had both flits of success and also been soundly beaten at other junctures so it will be interesting to see how he gets on under that pressure.

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

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