“Nepotism at its finest”: Lleyton Hewitt’s son sparks criticism with Australian Open wildcard

The Australian Open wildcard announcements for the qualifiers have sparked debate, particularly surrounding 16-year-old Cruz Hewitt, son of former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. Fans didn’t hold back, voicing harsh criticism and accusations of nepotism.

The Australian teenager, currently ranked World No. 107 in juniors, has achieved some success on the junior tour, breaking into the ATP rankings three months ago. However, at World No. 1264, he is the lowest-ranked wildcard recipient for the qualifiers.

For some fans, Cruz Hewitt has yet to prove himself professionally to merit a wildcard, considering he hasn’t even cracked the top 1000 in the ATP rankings.

Cruz has a chance to become the youngest player to make the Australian Open main draw since his father did in 1997 at just 15 years and 323 days old. If Cruz makes it through the qualifiers, he would enter the main draw at 16 years and 32 days old.

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Fan Reactions

“Cruz hasn’t made an impact on the tour. It ain’t happening,” wrote one fan. “Sorry, but not deserved. Look at his ranking. He hasn’t made an impact; his tennis career isn’t happening. The WC should go to someone DESERVING,” commented another.

“Current ATP ranking of 1264... I wonder why he got the WC...” another fan posted on X. “Nepotism at its finest. Lost in the 1st round convincingly of the AO Juniors tournament,” one added.

"No stop Cruz never got here on his own merit. Wonder how he got that wild card🤔🤔🤔🤔 Lleyton Hewitt dropped down to play local tournaments with Cruz to boost his UTR. Not once did Cruz get here on his own. Absolute joke"

“What an utter joke! Nepotism at its finest! Lleyton should be fired for abusing his power and allowing this to happen. Yet the media won’t say sh*t. Pathetic for not looking into this matter,” another angry fan said.

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