Cruz Hewitt stuns on ATP tour debut, Alex de Minaur could be next

Cruz Hewitt has officially come of age with a stunning win on ATP tour debut — and Alex de Minaur might be his next opponent.

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The 17-year-old son of Lleyton did not face a break point as he dispatched world no.85 Marcus Giron 6-3 6-4 in the opening round of the ATP 500 in Washington.

American veteran Giron has been ranked as high as 37 in 2024, is usually strong in US conditions and reached the third round of Wimbledon earlier this month.

Hewitt will now play the winner of De Minaur and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday (AEST), with his opponent to be decided on Thursday (AEST) after rain stopped the match starting on Wednesday.

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Hewitt was ranked 606 in the world before the Washington Open commenced and is set to rise to at least 357 even if he loses his next match.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Hewitt in 2026 despite starting the year with a first-up loss in Australian Open qualifying to USA talent Michael Zheng.

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Hewitt worked hard on his game across the Challenger and ITF circuits before making a breakthrough in the Wimbledon boys event — reaching the final before losing in three close sets.

He entered into qualifying for the Washington Open via a wildcard and reached the main draw via two walkovers against Dusan Lajovic and Zachary Svajda, setting up the first round contest against Giron.

«[Lleyton told] mainly to enjoy it, because it was my first tour-level match … and to take every point one-by-one, to enjoy the atmosphere and to enjoy the crowd and that is what I did,» Hewitt said of his father’s words before the Giron match.

He continued: «There is obviously a little bit of pressure, but I try to take the positives out of it as well, and I am happy with how I am dealing with it so far.

«I am really happy with how I competed today. I came out and started pretty well, and I am thrilled to get through to the next round.»

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