Cruz Hewitt crashes out of Open qualifying again
Anna Harrington |
Teenage son-of-a-gun Cruz Hewitt has suffered a hasty straight-sets exit from Australian Open qualifying for a second consecutive year.
On a difficult day for Hewitt and the majority of local hopefuls, Storm Hunter, James McCabe, Jason Kubler and 21-year-old Elena Micic flew the flag on Tuesday and broke into the second round.
But the crowds had flocked to watch 17-year-old Hewitt, who again received a wildcard into qualifying, at the revamped ANZ Arena.
However, despite some gutsy moments against 21-year-old American Michael Zheng, Hewitt was outmuscled and outclassed 6-3 6-3. He then knocked back post-match media requests.
Unlike his father, who famously qualified for the Open as a 15-year-old in 1997, the younger Hewitt, ranked world No.734 is yet to live up to his potential on the senior tour and start to move out of Lleyton’s shadow.
The teenager, left to rue 37 unforced errors and six double faults, will attempt to claim his first Australian Open junior win in the boys’ competition later in the tournament.
After an even-handed start, Zheng seized control when he reeled off five consecutive games to win the first set and take the upper hand in the second.
In the second set, Hewitt broke back when trailing 4-2 to get the contest back on serve.
But Zheng broke him immediately then served out the match.
When asked if he would speak to media, Hewitt, rushing out of the players’ entrance past a mural of his famous father, said “No”.
Players are not required to accept media interview requests during qualifying.
Earlier, popular veteran Hunter claimed a 7-5 6-3 win over Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze in an hour and 23 minutes on Kia Arena to mark a successful return to Melbourne Park.
Hunter, 31, missed last year’s Open as she recovered from a ruptured achilles tendon.
Her lowly singles ranking of No.363 meant doubles star Hunter had to rely on a wildcard just to go through qualifying.
“I was like, ‘wow, I’m missing out, and don’t know if I’m going to be back’,” she said of her experience watching on at Melbourne Park last year.
“So to just get the win today felt amazing.”
Having blitzed through qualifying in the past, the popular veteran is confident she can again reach the main draw.
“I can beat anyone. And I have qualified here at Aussie Open, qualified at Wimbledon, qualified at French,” she said.
“So I know what it takes, but same time, I know how hard it is to do it.”
Hunter will play Serbia’s Lola Radivojevic in the second round of qualifying after the 21-year-old overcame a scare from 18-year-old Australian wildcard Alana Subasic, winning 3-6 6-1 6-4.
The pair have never played each other.
McCabe beat fellow Australian Pavle Marinkov 6-2 7-6 and Kubler beat Frenchman Harold Mayot 6-3 6-4 while wildcard Micic also progressed with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 win over Frenchwoman Carole Monnet.
Alex Bolt, Marc Polmans Tahlia Kokkinis, Blake Ellis, Li Tu and Astra Sharma all crashed out.
Destanee Aiava, Arina Rodionova, Maddison Inglis and Moerani Bouzige were set for later starts.
Omar Jasika received a late call-up to play Belgian Kimmer Coppejans after former world No.4 Kei Nishikori withdrew.
AAP
