A FORMER Wimbledon champion’s son followed in his dad’s footsteps by winning his first match at SW19.
His old man lifted the famous gold trophy in 2002.
And now the 16-year-old is hoping to do the same.
Lleyton Hewitt, 44, thumped David Nalbandian on Centre Court in the final 23 years ago.
And Cruz Hewitt booked his place in the junior tournament for the first time in 2025.
Sporting a backwards cap just like his dad, the teenager thumped Savva Rybkin 6-1 6-2 in his first-round match at the All England Club on Saturday.
He will face No11 seed Oskari Paldanius from Finland next.
Hewitt Jr – born in December 2008 – is ranked No827 in the world and earned just over £20,000 in career prize money, with the vast majority of that coming this year.
The rising star was handed a qualifying wildcard for the Australian Open men’s singles in January, prompting a shocked reaction from Nick Kyrgios.
The controversial ex-Wimbledon finalist said: “Love ya Cruz but this is wild.”
But dad Lleyton – who also won the US Open and reached world No1 – defended his son’s opportunity, adding: “It’s a long journey.
“I was excited to watch him play.
“He had a tough draw playing Nikoloz Basilashvili, a former No16 and a guy who played finals at Indian Wells.”
Hewitt Jr lost 6-1 6-4 but did make it to round two of the Australian Open boys’ singles at the same tournament as he practised with world No1 Jannik Sinner, the eventual men’s champion, as Kyrgios again weighed in needlessly.
Cruz then lost in round one at the French Open event.
The kid is yet to make his senior ATP Tour-level debut and is currently building up his ranking by competing on the Challenger and Futures Tours.
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