But no one at Tennis Australia is laughing about the situation now, although the Mecca deal certainly delivered plenty of money and exposure for both sides.<\/p>\n
Those two players younger than 24 are James McCabe (world No.208) and Edward Winter (No.488). Neither is a top prospect. McCabe, 22, did not even score a main draw wildcard into last month\u2019s Australian Open.<\/p>\n
![\"Cruz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/60ed0ae2e27e3ec0ca5936ce42f4f632be25a583.jpeg\")
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Cruz Hewitt looks the biggest long term hope for Australian men\u2019s tennis.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Lleyton\u2019s son, Cruz Hewitt<\/a>, who turned 17 in December, is probably Australia\u2019s best prospect, but how he handles everything that comes with being the \u201cson of\u201d could decide where his career heads. It won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n Worth noting also is that Cruz was never ranked higher than No.38 in juniors, so we should keep expectations in check, but as if that will happen.<\/p>\n This masthead asked Tiley again last week<\/a> about Tennis Australia\u2019s development pathway, and he pointed to the \u201cper capita\u201d numbers suggesting that \u201cwe are punching above our weight\u201d.<\/p>\n Our response was to point out that we are one of four countries with the distinct advantage of hosting a grand slam.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a grand slam country, so we should be high,\u201d Tiley conceded. \u201cI think the cycle of replacing older players with younger players is a long cycle. It\u2019s not a year or two-year cycle. Buying players is an option, but it\u2019s not an option we take.\u201d<\/p>\n There is finally a promising group of Australian players on the women\u2019s side, but the cracks were covered for years from the likes of Daria Saville, Ajla Tomljanovic and the Rodionovas \u2013 Anastasia and Arina \u2013 switching allegiances to Australia.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n More recently, and with a personal motivation, Daria Kasatkina followed suit<\/a>. Maya Joint at least has an Australian father, but grew up and developed in the United States.<\/a><\/p>\n Tiley contends that all those players wanted to play for Australia, and were not chased or bought.<\/p>\n