{"id":795712,"date":"2026-07-12T15:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795712\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:20:16","slug":"cruz-hewitt-falls-painfully-short-in-wimbledon-boys-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795712\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruz Hewitt falls painfully short in Wimbledon boys\u2019 final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cruz Hewitt has fallen agonisingly short of a fairytale debut in the Wimbledon<\/a> boys\u2019 tournament<\/a>, defeated 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the final by American Jordan Lee.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old son of former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt<\/a> hadn\u2019t dropped a set on his way to the final and looked in control for most of the match as he sought to win the title 24 years after his dad lifted the men\u2019s trophy at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cruz Hewitt\u2019s frustration in an epic battle with Jordan Lee.\u00a0AP Photo\/Brian Inganga<\/p>\n

But his incredible run was brought undone by 16-year-old Lee, the youngest in the 2026 boys\u2019 draw.<\/p>\n

Hewitt looked composed but heartbroken as he was presented with the runner\u2019s up plate.<\/p>\n

He was impressive throughout the entire final and led 4-2 in the deciding third set before Lee fought back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very special week for me, I think I played some very good tennis as well, being able to make the final and play on this beautiful court, it\u2019s been really unreal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lleyton Hewitt in the coach\u2019s box watched on anxiously as his son put up a tremendous fight.\u00a0AP Photo\/Dave Shopland<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mum Bec Hewitt and sister Ava Sydney Hewitt watch Cruz in the final.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I grew up around this tournament, seen my dad play, seen this court for many years now. It\u2019s been a privilege to play on any court here and being around all the fans, it\u2019s been a really good atmosphere all week.\u201d<\/p>\n

After match point, Lee celebrated with a dance on the hallowed grass of No.1 Court before he was overcome with emotions. He climbed into the stands to celebrate with his team.<\/p>\n

As he collected his trophy he congratulated Hewitt and revealed a year ago he was on his couch with \u201clots of injuries\u201d, unsure if he would play tennis again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He was composed but clearly heartbroken after the match.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m really happy to be here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hewitt played with his father in the coach\u2019s box and actress mother Bec Hewitt cheering on in the stands in one of the longest-ever boys\u2019 finals at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Hewitt was unseeded and had to beat four consecutive seeded players, including the No.2 seed, on his way even to the final.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t drop a set the entire tournament until the final two.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jordan Lee dances to celebrate winning the Wimbledon boys\u2019 title.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

His debut at Wimbledon comes 24 years after his father won the men\u2019s singles title.<\/p>\n

Cruz is the first Australian to reach the junior boys\u2019 final since Alex de Minaur in 2016. Australia\u2019s last winner was Luke Saville in 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cruz Hewitt has fallen agonisingly short of a fairytale debut in the Wimbledon boys\u2019 tournament, defeated 4-6, 6-4,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-795712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}