Cruz Hewitt, the 16 years old son of Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt, is emerging as a very promising talent in the tennis world. Cruz achieved his first professional main draw victory at the age of just 15 in August 2024. Since then, he has added two more impressive wins to his resume, defeating former World No. 343 Makoto Ochi and World No. 678 Joshua Sheehy at his first two Challenger events. Recently, it was announced that Cruz would receive a wildcard entry into the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers. While this decision has sparked some controversy with claims of nepotism, Cruz’s evident talent indicate that he is a player with massive potential and is fully capable of carving out his own legacy in the sport.
Cruz’s Strengths
- Aggression:
Cruz plays with a very aggressive style that may be inspired by his idol and mentor, Nick Kyrgios. He is constantly looking to dominate points, hitting bigger and bigger shots during rallies, and producing plenty of winners from both wings. Despite this, Cruz has also shown commendable precision, often aiming within the court rather than the lines, which helps limit unforced errors. He also has the ability to grind out extended rallies, has good rally tolerance and ball retrieving skills.
- Power, Athleticism, and Movement:
Standing at 6’0”, Cruz possesses impressive physical capabilities for his age. He generates significant power from both wings and moves exceptionally well around the court. His speed, agility, and stamina allow him to chase down difficult shots, cover a large area, and outlast opponents in long exchanges.
- First Serve and Serve Plus One:
Cruz’s first serve is a standout weapon, with good pace and sets up his 1-2 punch strategy. Often following up with an aggressive forehand, he is able to dictate and finish points quickly, gets a lot of comfortable holds on serve.
- Backhand Slice:
Much like his father, Cruz has a very solid backhand slice, which he mainly uses to neutralize and redirect his opponents' pace. It is Cruz's most reliable shot and its depth and consistency make it a critical part of his game.
- Dictating From the Baseline:
Cruz excels when he has time and space to dictate from the baseline. His forehand has a very long windup, which allows him to generate a lot of heavy topspins. He can also flatten the ball out very well, and when given the opportunity to be in control, he can move his opponents around the court effectively and hit a lot of winners from this wing. His backhand also produces many impressive down the line winners.
Cruz’s Weaknesses
- Consistency and Inexperience:
At just 16, Cruz is understandably still developing and lacks experience at professional level. He struggles at times against more experienced and consistent opponents, particularly those with superior physicality and power. He also needs to improve mentally, as he often has patches within matches where he becomes very erratic and error prone.
- Maturity and Composure:
Cruz has shown he can be immature and hot headed at times. When things don’t go his way, his body language can become quite negative, and his level of play, especially on serve, can drop significantly.
- Forehand Consistency:
While Cruz’s forehand can be a weapon, the long take back has occasionally lead to timing issues and he can be late to his shots. Fast balls and big serves to this wing often result in errors or short balls from him, and is the main area his opponents try to exploit. In contrast, his flatter backhand has a smoother motion and is a lot more solid and consistent.
- Lack of Variety:
Cruz’s game heavily revolves around baseline power and sometimes grinding. He rarely ventures to the net, where his volleys and touches aren't anything special. In addition, he doesn’t use drop shots or mix up spins and speeds a lot, which can make his game more predictable and easier to exploit by high level opponents.
Tennis Talent Scout’s Potential Rating: 9/10
Cruz Hewitt's current limitations, such as his mental and consistency, are natural for a player of his age and entirely fixable with experience and maturity. His forehand similarly should improve and become a more balanced and solid shot, and he should be able to add more variety to his game as he develops more. Beyond these areas, Cruz showcases very impressive weapons, athleticism and the foundation for a complete and dominant game. Cruz Hewitt has the potential to be a world class player, capable of reaching the Top 30.
