Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz Hewitt fails to qualify for Canberra prior to Australian Open qualifying

Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz Hewitt was bundled out in the opening round of qualifying for the Canberra International tournament on the lower level of the tour.

Hewitt who is highly touted will aim to qualify for the Australian Open in the coming weeks but was well beaten in a battle of players with a famous parent.

He was beaten by American Brandon Holt whose mother is former World No.1 Tracy Austin. But the 16-year-old suffered a 7-6 (11-9) 6-1 loss in favour of Holt.

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It was a fight back in the opening set for Holt as he came from 5-2 down before saving two set points as he claimed it in a narrow tiebreak.

Hewitt was unable to recover from that and was well beaten in the second set. He now pays attention to qualifying for the Australian Open which begins on January 12.

At the age of just 16, he has been handed an Australian Open qualifying wildcard. He will also contest the boys title after crashing out in the opening round in 2024.

Albeit he was still nominated for the Newcombe medal for Australian junior male of the year despite not hitting the heights as of yet.

'It is what it is. But I don't really mind,' he said at the ceremony about the comparisons drawn to his father. 'It just drives me to be better.'

'I like to bring the energy,' he said on his game style. And (to) serve - I love hitting forehands as well. I love Ben Shelton and I love (now-retired) Dominic Thiem.'

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