{"id":538404,"date":"2026-07-13T00:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T00:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538404\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T00:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T00:06:06","slug":"wimbledon-agony-for-teenager-cruz-hewitt-as-he-bids-farewell-to-junior-tennis-wimbledon-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538404\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon agony for teenager Cruz Hewitt as he bids farewell to junior tennis | Wimbledon 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cruz Hewitt has vowed to blossom again at Wimbledon<\/a> as he brushed off the heartbreak of just failing to follow in the celebrated footsteps of his father, 24 years after Lleyton won the men\u2019s title.<\/p>\n

With his dad watching on and cajoling him from the players\u2019 box on No 1 Court, the 17-year-old Sydney prospect Hewitt fell agonisingly short in the boys\u2019 final on Sunday after he had led 4-2 in the final set against talented young American prospect Jordan Lee.<\/p>\n

Hewitt had looked on the verge of becoming Australia\u2019s first winner of the junior men\u2019s tournament for 15 years since Luke Saville, but qualifier Lee, at 16 the youngest boy in the event, stormed back, coming from a set down in a thrilling roller-coaster contest 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.<\/p>\n

Hewitt\u2019s disappointment after the two-hour three-minute final was palpable as his parents Lleyton and Bec, and coaching team headed by Wayne Arthurs, tried to reassert that he had enjoyed a fantastic tournament, one in which he had not dropped a set until the final.<\/p>\n

Lleyton Hewitt was in the stands to watch his son Cruz. Photograph: Brian Inganga\/AP<\/p>\n

The youngster showed considerable maturity in the way he handled his disappointment and, confirming he had probably played his last junior match now, he plans to concentrate on the senior pro ranks and hopes to be back in the senior men\u2019s draw, both at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that would definitely be one of one of my big goals long-term,\u201d he said, when asked if he hopes to back playing in the Wimbledon event which his father won in 2002. \u201cI\u2019d have to get my ranking up a little bit, but with a whole lot of hard work, it\u2019s possible. I look forward to definitely coming back in the future for the men\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Hewitt and Lee, who only turned 16 in May, looked like stars of the future as they locked into a tremendous battle but in the denouement, Lee proved the stronger as, serving to stay in the match a second time, Hewitt double-faulted en route to being broken to love.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Hewitt suffered the same fate as the last Australian boy to have made the final here. Alex de Minaur lost in the 2016 championship match but has since gone on to become one of the world\u2019s top six players.<\/p>\n

De Minaur had been hitting with the teenager over the week, while British breakout star, semi-finalist Arthur Fery, also practised with the youngster in what Hewitt accepted at the presentation on court afterwards had been a great experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very special week for me, I\u2019ve played some really good tennis,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cI grew up around this tournament, seeing my dad play here and it\u2019s a privilege playing on any court here. It\u2019s been a really good atmosphere all week.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel like people this week maybe have seen how well I can play. Obviously, it\u2019s disappointing to lose the final, but I think it\u2019s a really good week.\u201cDefinitely had some good memories at Wimbledon. I wish I could have won today\u2019s match, but no it\u2019s still a good memory, it\u2019s been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently world No 606, that ranking is sure to rise as Hewitt showcased an impressive, attacking game which only really came up short because his opponent Lee looks as if he could be something special.<\/p>\n

Hewitt hopes Australian Open organisers could end up furnishing him with a wildcard next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be the dream,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s a big goal of mine \u2013 and I feel like I I can show my level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cruz Hewitt has vowed to blossom again at Wimbledon as he brushed off the heartbreak of just failing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-538404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}