Cruz Hewitt's bold claim about father Lleyton after 'hurtful' Australian Open backlash

Cruz Hewitt has claimed his goal is to overtake his father's legacy in Australian tennis having been praised for making his own way in the sport after some 'hurtful' fan backlash. The tennis legend's son has been a huge draw factor at the 2025 Australian Open having attempted to qualify for the men's main draw at 16 years old, before he lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili.

The Aussie then made the second round of the junior's singles competition. Although Cruz went down to the No.1 seed Jan Kumstat 6-3, 7-6 in front a packed Aussie crowd. There was also plenty of noise around the 16-year-old's pre-match photos with some of the superstars of tennis.

Hewitt has trained with reigning champ and World No.1 Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Aussie fan favourite Alex de Minaur ahead of this year's tournament. However, there were plenty of suggestions Cruz was receiving preferential treatment because he was the son of Aussie tennis icon Lleyton.

The ugly claims suggested the 16-year-old was only handed a wildcard into the qualifying tournament for the main draw at the Australian Open due to his famous surname. Only last week, Speaking to Yahoo Sport Australia last week, leading sports psychologist Alan Mantle urged Hewitt to ignore the haters and focus on himself.

And it appears this is exactly what he has done. Speaking on Wednesday morning, sitting alongside his father, Cruz Hewitt claimed he was not letting the noise around his position among the tennis community discourage him.

The 16-year-old also made the bold claim he wanted to surpass his father's legacy in Australian tennis and become one of the all-time greats. "I try to focus on the good things that come with it," Cruz Hewitt told Channel 9 of the the pressure that comes with being Lleyton's son.

"It doesn't bother me too much. It is kinda a challenge to be better than him. It's what I want to do," And he earned the approval of Lleyton who quickly claimed: "Fingers crossed".

Lleyton won two-grand slams having lifted the US Open trophy in 2001 and then Wimbledon in 2002. Hewitt admitted Cruz has worked very hard to get where he is and was taking advantage of the experience surrounding him at Melbourne Park.

"He was very fortunate to be around a lot of these players, but to be here on his own right," Lleyton said on Wednesday. Cruz's comments come after he was urged to forget about the backlash surrounding his involvement at this year's Australian Open.

Cruz Hewitt urged to block out 'hurtful' backlash

Hewitt brought plenty of eyeballs to the Australian Open qualifying rounds and the junior competition this year. His junior's match against Kumstat was played in front of a raucous crowd. Although there was some backlash to his pre-tournament photos with Sinner and Alcaraz after some suggested he was being promoted due to his name.

Although sports psychologist Mantle told Yahoo Sport Australia Cruz needed to block out the noise surrounding this once in a lifetime opportunity. "Nepotism is a very hurtful word. I believe anyone who plays at that top level has got there on their own merits. I'd be very surprised if favours were being done for sons or daughters of famous parents. What I would say to Cruz is that when he hears that word (nepotism) he needs to think it's just what someone is saying about you, but it doesn’t mean it is you.

"It's reputation versus character. Character is what you form about yourself and a reputation is something that other people form about you. The white noise is always going to be there for him and that's something he won't be able to control. But he can control how he is going to process it and filter it. He has already shown a great deal of resilience to get where he is and that will hold him in good stead into the future."