He just celebrated his 16th birthday a few weeks ago, but budding tennis champ Cruz Hewitt – son of former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Lleyton – is already well on track to follow in his dad’s very big shoes!
The teen pinned all his hopes on nabbing just one of a handful of wildcards for the Australian Open qualifying event, which he succeeded in. But behind the scenes there appears to be mounting tension in the close Hewitt family ranks.
SIBLING TENSION
According to a reliable insider, the teen’s sisters Mia, 19, and Ava, 13, are reportedly frustrated with so much of the focus being on Cruz.
“Don’t for a moment think they’re not proud of him – of course everyone is because he’s such a great kid, but they see history repeating itself after years of being on the road with Lleyton – the Hewitt girls are rightly feeling a bit like, here we go again!” a close source shares exclusively with Woman’s Day.
“Lleyton and Cruz have been working towards him being in the mix for the 2025 Aussie Open for years, even Lleyton recently admitted, ‘It’s been a long road.’
“He wants his son, who has worked incredibly hard to achieve success, to experience opportunities he was afforded at the same age when he famously won his hometown Adelaide International in 1998 – and that was a wildcard entry!”
There were plenty of rumours swirling recently when proud mum and dad, Bec, 41, and Lleyton, 43, accompanied their son to the Australian Tennis Awards after he was nominated for the male junior player of the year. Cruz achieved a personal-best junior ranking of world No. 99 in October – and though he didn’t win the award, it was more about who wasn’t there to support him that had everyone talking.
“The Hewitt girls were nowhere to be seen – they adore their brother, but they’re busy with their lives and are not as invested in their brother’s tennis career as their dad and mum are,” adds the source.
“Lleyton is a terrific father, but when it comes to parenting their daughters, he leaves more of that to Bec. It’s true it’s Bec who has the time to go to Mia’s gigs and Bec who flies around the world with Ava to support her dance dream. The girls understand why it happens, but they miss that time spent with their dad and it’s only natural that sometimes they wish his focus wasn’t on tennis so much,” says the source.
FAMILY JUGGLE
And while they are rarely seen together as a whole family these days, that doesn’t mean they’re not close.
“They just have a very unorthodox family life – Lleyton has huge commitments with his commentary and coaching responsibilities,” adds the family friend.
All eyes will be on Hewitt junior this month, but it could put a few noses out of joint in the tennis world if Cruz gets preferential treatment thanks to his famous father.
“While there will be many tennis followers who feel that Cruz is deserving of a wildcard, traditionally a wildcard is largely designed to go to less privileged juniors who do it tough on the circuit and whose parents are mortgaging their houses to keep their kids in the sport,” the source explains.
“If Cruz makes it into the Australian Open, even if he’s knocked out in the first round in straight sets, he will pocket a whopping $120,000 in prize money! That’s not a bad payday for a 16-year-old whose dad’s net worth is more than an eye-watering $25 million.”
