Cruz Hewitt is now just one victory away from a surprise all-Australian meeting with Alex de Minaur at the Washington Open after an extraordinary qualifying run sent the teenager into the main singles draw.
The 17-year-old son of Australian great Lleyton Hewitt advanced in dramatic fashion, helped by two retirements across qualifying. Hewitt secured his place in the main draw after pushing American Zachary Svajda into a third set.
After losing the opening set 1-6, Hewitt recovered despite falling a break behind in the second, fighting back to turn the contest around. Svajda then retired injured with the score at 1-6, 7-6 (3), 2-0.
That result on Monday morning followed another unusual escape, after No. 8 seed Dusan Lajovic retired from their qualifying match on Sunday (AEST) with Hewitt leading 5-1 in the first set.
As a result, the world No. 615 will now meet American Marcos Giron in the first round of the main draw, with that match scheduled for Wednesday. The winner will then move on to face the winner of defending champion de Minaur’s clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The fortunate path Hewitt has taken this week has sparked plenty of reaction.
He only received a late qualifying wildcard after his run to the boys singles final at Wimbledon. Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado described it as “crazy”.
American tennis official Randy Walker labelled it “pretty crazy”.
Posting on X, tennis podcaster Scott Reichel wrote: “Cruz Hewitt with one of the flukiest qualifying runs I have ever seen”.
Another tennis content creator account, ‘Tennis Talks’, posted on X: “Oh my god Cruz Hewitt is into the Washington MD via back to back retirements”.
Before this tournament, Hewitt had never played a senior match in the United States.
The Washington Open is among the biggest events staged in the United States, carrying ATP 500 and WTA 500 status.
Until now, the only wildcards Hewitt had received above ATP Challenger and ITF level had come in Australia. He featured in the 2025 and 2026 Australian Opens and did not win a set in either appearance. He was also handed a wildcard into the Brisbane International in January, an ATP 250 event.
This latest opening is his biggest chance yet outside Australia, and it offers him the opportunity to rise to a career-high ranking.
The junior Wimbledon finalist will also have plenty of Australian company at the tournament. Daria Kasatkina came through to the main draw in the women’s singles, while Alexander Vukic advanced with a 6-0 6-1 win over fellow Australian Alex Bolt.
There are also major expectations on de Minaur, who enters as the No. 1 seed and will defend his title.
Nick Kyrgios, the Washington singles champion in 2019 and 2022, was announced last week as a men’s doubles pairing with American Francis Tiafoe.
After losing the Wimbledon boys final earlier this month, Hewitt said that making the main draw at the 2027 Australian Open is his top goal.
Although he appears likely to receive a wildcard into qualifying at Melbourne Park, there is still a genuine chance he could be handed one of the eight wildcards for the men’s main draw.
