Cruz Hewitt won his first ATP Tour match Tuesday, beating American Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Mubadala DC Open — the same Washington tournament his father, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, won 22 years ago.
"It's pretty surreal to win here," the 17-year-old said afterward. "Obviously I saw my dad played here. I came to his last tournament I remember. There are so many memories of that."
He was last at the tournament in 2015, when he was six, trailing his father around the grounds.
"I remember being in the locker room, and my dad I remember making his protein shake, all that, in the locker room, and just being around him on the practice court," he said. "I did an interview with him, as well, and now sitting here doing my own interview, it's surreal."
Lleyton Hewitt won the Washington title in 2004, beating Gilles Müller in the final, and made his own ATP breakthrough as a 16-year-old in January 1998 in Adelaide — a tournament he went on to win outright. Cruz's win Tuesday made him the fourth man born in 2008 or later to win a tour-level match, and the youngest to win in Washington since Kei Nishikori in 2007. Lleyton and Bjorn Borg are the only members of the ATP's No. 1 Club whose sons have also won tour-level matches.
A Wild Road Through Qualifying
Cruz Hewitt, ranked No. 612 in the world, reached the main draw the hard way: on a wild card into qualifying, then two retirements in a row.
"Obviously it's not how you wanted to get through quallies, but I was grateful to be in this position to have a chance in the main draw to get my first win," he said. Asked where he finds the self-belief to take on a top-100 opponent, he didn't hesitate. "I always believe in myself. I back myself, at the end of the day, so I think that's just the main thing that I have to go out there with."
Riding the Wimbledon Wave
Hewitt arrived in Washington fresh off his first junior Grand Slam final, a loss at Wimbledon earlier this month to 16-year-old American Jordan Lee. Hewitt said that experience, more than the result, is what carried him through Tuesday's win. "I feel like the experience I've had recently playing at Wimbledon, playing the final on Court 1 in that crowd, I feel like that helped me to play in these tournaments in these conditions with the crowd and the tour level, as well."
A Possible Match With De Minaur
Cruz's win sets up a potential second-round meeting with 27-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur, the tournament's top seed and defending champion, who plays Stefanos Tsitsipas next on Wednesday. Hewitt has known De Minaur for most of his life.
"If I play Alex, that would be a dream to share the court with him," Cruz said. "He's like my older brother. I've known him basically nearly my whole life. He's stayed with us. We have Christmas together, also. He's taught me so much, I think that would be a pretty cool memory for us."
Hewitt said the two hit together for two days ahead of the tournament, and a few times at Wimbledon as well.