The present and future of Australian tennis will collide in Washington DC early on Friday when newly married Alex de Minaur and his protege Cruz Hewitt face each other in the second round.
Former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt’s 17-year-old son made the most of his qualifying wildcard to reach the ATP 500 event’s main draw and then upset 85th-ranked American Marcos Giron to continue his steep rise after reaching the Wimbledon boys’ final last month.
But the much-anticipated clash – scheduled for 3am AEST on Friday – depended on de Minaur beating his nemesis Stefanos Tsitsipas for just the second time in 14 match-ups, which he achieved with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory on Thursday.
Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt is a regular part of Team Demon, mostly at the grand slams, and that relationship has helped foster a close bond between de Minaur and Cruz Hewitt, too.
They train together, support one another from courtside, and even spend Christmases at the same table. Hewitt describes de Minaur as “like my older brother”.
“I think there’s got to be a lot of respect shown to [Cruz] because it’s definitely not easy being an ex-No.1 in the world’s son,” de Minaur said.
“Ever since he started [and] picked up the racquet … the expectation, the eyeballs, the spotlight was already on him. It’s not easy when there is that kind of weight behind your surname.”
De Minaur’s win followed closely behind being revealed this week as one of the six tennis stars competing at the invite-only Six Kings Slam, which offers a $US1.5 million ($2.2 million) appearance fee, plus $US6 million ($8.6 million) to the winner.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner, 2025 runner-up Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz round out the field.
It has been a whirlwind period for de Minaur, who married British player Katie Boulter in an intimate legal ceremony in Leicestershire, England, followed by a larger celebration in Tuscany, Italy. They squeezed in a brief honeymoon in Portofino before de Minaur returned to defend his Washington Open title.
The wedding helped the world No.6 brush off the devastation he felt in losing his fourth-round match at Wimbledon to Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, after which he said the circumstances of the defeat “breaks me inside”.
“I don’t think it was warranted, as much as a lot of people – myself included – wanted to make a big deal out of it,” de Minaur said of the reaction to his post-match comments.
“It became a really big thing, but realistically, it took me a couple of days to get over it. They were just the same feelings and emotions that any athlete has after a tough loss. Now, I’m feeling great.”
Hewitt’s own Wimbledon campaign, which was his last junior tournament, was a significant success despite losing the boys’ final in three sets to American rising star Jordan Lee.
To many, inside and outside Australia, the result legitimised the teenager as a top-tier prospect and proved he was more than just the “son of”. Hewitt backing up his Wimbledon run by qualifying in Washington then upsetting Giron has only furthered that cause as he emerges from his dad’s sizeable shadow.
“I try to deal with it as best I can,” Hewitt said of following in Lleyton’s footsteps.
“Obviously, there is still pressure, but I try to take the positive that comes with it as well. I’m happy with how I’m dealing with it so far.”
Hewitt told this masthead at Wimbledon that he hoped to be inside the world’s top 300 by year’s end. His Washington breakout means his ranking is already guaranteed to surge into the 360s from outside the top 600.
That will improve further if he can stun his mentor de Minaur, a seven-time major quarter-finalist.
“He’s like my older brother. I’ve known him basically my whole life,” Hewitt said after his first-round win, before he knew whether he would play de Minaur.
“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.”
De Minaur won’t underestimate Hewitt, who stands about 190 centimetres and boasts a fearsome serve and forehand combination that is already proving problematic to rivals.
“I think what he’s done an incredible job of is maturing, getting a good head on his shoulders and becoming his own player,” de Minaur said.
“Having these results [shows] that he deserves to be where he is. I think he’s a great kid, he’s been doing great, and I think Lleyton has done an incredible job as his father and helping him out whenever he can.
“They’ve created a great atmosphere, and that’s led to him being a very good tennis player.”
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