The teenager long ago outgrew his legendary father, has been prominent at the Davis Cup, and has already sparked an off-court controversy with Nick Kyrgios. Yet Cruz Hewitt hasn't yet made his formal Australian Open debut.
The son of Lleyton and Bec Hewitt is just 16, but at 6ft 2in already towers over Australia's Davis Cup captain and two-time grand slam winner. And despite ranking in the 1,200s and with just six ATP rankings points to his name (the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, has 11,830), Hewitt has already become the talking point in the grand slam's opening week.
Preparing for this week's qualifier against the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, the Australian shared a practice hit with Sinner, the defending champion, at Melbourne Park at the weekend. Afterwards, he posted an image of the session alongside an older photo of the pair from five years ago, when he barely measured up to Sinner's chest.
The post sparked a social media storm thanks to a comment from Kyrgios, who has been outspoken in his criticism of players who receive doping violations. Sinner tested positive for a banned substance last year but avoided a ban.
"Love ya Cruz but this is wild," Kyrgios replied, before adding "cooked post" with a needle emoji.
Denne historien er fra January 07, 2025-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra January 07, 2025-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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