17-year-old Cruz Hewitt, the son of Aussie tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt, has received a wildcard for the 2026 Australian Open. He will try for the second year to qualify in the main draw.
Cruz is playing less events this year in Melbourne. In 2025, he was in the Juniors singles and doubles competition as well.
Some tennis fans hoped to see Cruz partnered with his dad in the doubles as they did last month at a Challenger event.
The 735th ranked player in the world who has enjoyed a career high at 722 is hoping that 2026 is the year he makes big strides up the ATP rankings.
🇦🇺Impressive week for (08) 16y old Cruz Hewitt son of Lleyton Hewitt , Cruz overcame world #192 James McCabe 6-1 , 6-2 and then faced Tung-Lin Wu today , a match that Hewitt should have won. He won the first set 6-3 , lost s2 6-3 then led S3 2-0 with a couple of game points for… pic.twitter.com/hmEUABpmmg
— Shane (@G9_Locks) November 13, 2025
Qualifying for the main Australian Open draw would be a great first step.
Can An Australian Win The Australian Open?
Ashleigh Barty thrilled the hometown crowd in 2022 by winning her home slam.
🇦🇺 YES YES YES!!! 🇦🇺
ASH BARTY IS THE 2022 AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION! 🏆#AusOpen – live on Channel 9 and 9Now. Ad-Free Live & On Demand on Stan Sport pic.twitter.com/4MwmEyKS59
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 29, 2022
On the men’s side, it has been 50 years since an Aussie hoisted the trophy.
The Australian men dominated for decades with legends such as Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, but Mark Edmonson was the last Aussie-born Australian Open champion in 1976.
Alex de Minaur, World No. 7, is the highest ranked Australian player, and he is looking to improve upon his 2025 quarterfinal finish.
Emma Raducanu showed us a few years ago that a qualifier can win a Grand Slam so fans will still hold out hope for Cruz Hewitt.
On the women’s side, Maya Joint and Daria Kasatkina are in the Top 30.
Watch the Australian Open from qualifying through finals beginning January 12 through February 1 on ESPN.
