Cruz Hewitt picked up the first ATP win of his career on his main singles draw debut, beating Marcos Giron 6-3 6-4 in 74 minutes at the Washington Open. The 17-year-old Australian sealed it with the same right-arm bicep curl celebration his father made famous, turning a straight-sets result into a family echo.
The win matters because the tournament was already part of the Hewitt story. Lleyton Hewitt won the Washington Open in 2004, and Cruz said it felt “pretty special” to land his first tour victory there. He also said seeing his father’s name on the ring of champions in Washington DC during qualifying felt “very surreal” and “kind of inspirational to look up at it as well.”
That is what makes the result more than a routine early-round breakthrough. Cruz reached the boys’ singles final at Wimbledon this year and is now carrying that momentum into the ATP level, where the gap between promise and proof is usually wide. Winning in 74 minutes against Giron gives him the first piece of proof, and it came with the added weight of his surname in the same venue.
There is still one unresolved layer to the week. Cruz said he could next face Alex de Minaur, the top seed and defending Washington champion, though that matchup depended on Wednesday’s result against Stefanos Tsitsipas. For now, Hewitt has the win that matters most: his first on the ATP main draw stage, at a tournament where his father once stood as champion and where the family celebration now has a new chapter.
