A victory in Cruise Hewitt’s ATP Tour main event debut will catapult the son of a gun into the world rankings.
Hewitt, who just reached the Wimbledon men’s final, defeated former world No. 37 Marcos Giron (currently No. 85 in the rankings) 6-3, 6-4 in Washington DC on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian Eastern Time).
The Australian, who did not face a break point, became the fourth player born since 2008 to win a tour-level match, and the youngest player to win against Washington since Japan’s Kei Nishikori in 2007.
The teenager qualified thanks to a bye after leading both Dusan Lajovic and top seed Zach Svajda, moving up 255 places to No. 357 in the ATP live rankings.
In the next round he will face the winner between his compatriot and mentor Alex de Minaur and former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He was warming up with his father, Leighton, a former world No. 1, two-time major winner and 2004 Washington champion, when Leighton told him to lap up the moment.
“(He) told me the main thing is to have fun, because this was my first tour-level match…and to take every single point, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the crowd. And that’s what I did,” Cruz said.
Cruz said he is dealing with the pressures of carrying the Hewitt name “as best I can.”
“Obviously there’s some pressure, but I’m trying to look at it positively and I’m happy with the way I’ve handled it so far,” he added.
“I’m really happy with the way I fought today. I came out and started pretty well, so I’m excited to move on to the next round.”
De Minaur is defending his title in the US capital and has just embarked on a two-day Portofino honeymoon after marrying fellow pro Katie Boulter in Tuscany last month.
“It was a great time. It was everything I had imagined,” said de Minaur, who had recovered from the disappointment of losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“It was like our own little movie. We were able to celebrate with family and friends and have a very small honeymoon.
“Then we’re going to get on a plane here to Washington and straighten our heads and get back to being tennis players.”
