Lleyton Hewitt’s son receives Australian Open qualifying wildcard alongside Simona Halep
The Australian Open qualifying wildcards have been announced, with the son of Lleyton Hewitt hoping to replicate his father’s feat from nearly 28 years ago.
Cruz Hewitt is just 16-years-old and made his Grand Slam debut at the junior Australian Open last year.
The teenager is now set to take a step up at the senior event, after the Australian Open announced him as one of nine qualifying wildcards.
Lleyton Hewitt received a qualifying wildcard for his home major back in 1997, and won three consecutive matches to advance to the main draw.
And Cruz Hewitt has big shoes to fill, with his father being a former World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, before officially retiring from the sport back in 2020.
1997 – Cruz Hewitt (16 years and 32 days when the event will start) is looking to become the youngest player to appear in the Men’s Singles main draw at the Australian Open since… his father, Lleyton Hewitt in 1997 (15 yy and 323 dd). Footprint.@lleytonhewitt @TennisAustralia https://t.co/qpCWZy3hCU
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) December 18, 2024
The remaining qualifying wildcards for the men’s draw include last year’s junior champion Rei Sakamoto, as well as Australian hopefuls Marc Polmans, Matthew Dellavedova, Blake Ellis, Edward Winter, Dane Sweeny, Pavle Marinkov and Hayden Jones.
While the women’s qualifying wildcard list is headlined by former World No.1 Simona Halep, who is looking to continue her comeback after having her doping ban reduced from four years down to nine months.
Halep reached the Australian Open final back in 2018, before losing to Caroline Wozniacki, but is currently ranked down at No.877 after playing only five matches since returning at the Miami Open back in March.
Upon the announcement of her wildcard, Halep has expressed her excitement to return to Melbourne, “The thought of returning to Australia after three years is exciting and I’m very grateful to the tournament for this opportunity. I have been working hard to get ready for the 2025 season.
“The Australian Open has provided me with some of the best moments in my career, so I can’t wait to be back in Melbourne and playing in front of the Aussie fans.”
Other wildcards for the women’s qualifying draw are 2024 Australian Open girls winner Renata Jamrichova, and Australian players Astra Sharma, Tina Smith, Petra Hule, Lizette Cabrera, Jaimee Fourlis, Melissa Ercan and Elena Micic.
The Australian Open qualifying draw begins on Monday 6th January, with the main draw starting on Sunday 12th January.
Inside the baseline…
With all of these announcements it is really hyping up the 2025 season, with some big names featuring in this Australian Open qualifying wildcard list this year. Although Cruz Hewitt has no pedigree at this level, the teenager will likely be drawing from his father’s previous success and will be using the home crowd to his advantage. While Simona Halep will be looking to kick-start her career, having not been able to compete much after returning from her doping ban.
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