'Pretty bleak times': John Millman's honest take on Aussie tennis development

(Getty/Kelly Defina)

Former world No.33 John Millman believes that there's "not the volume of players coming through" in the Australian tennis system despite the rise of Cruz Hewitt.

Millman, who retired in 2024, shared his thoughts on Cruz, son of former world No.1 Lleyton, after reaching the Wimbledon Boys' final and earning his maiden ATP Tour victory.

"For me, Cruz is very, very talented. Sometimes when I watch him play, and when I was with him, his biggest opponent at times could be himself, if that makes sense, because he could get caught up in his own head at times because he is a bit of a perfectionist," he told Fox Sports.

"But what I have noticed is mentally, for the majority of Wimbledon and at Washington so far, I've seen just that maturing process mentally starting to happen, and I think that's a really positive sign for Cruz because when he gets that right… he's a very good ball striker from the back of the court, so if he can continue to develop that mental side of his game, he won't be qualifying for these tournaments. He'll be in the main draw directly."

Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEST in its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tennis program on commercial radio running through till the end of November.

Two weeks ago on Monday night's edition of The First Serve Live, host Brett Phillips shared a letter from Neil in Sydney, writing directly to Millman off the back of his earlier comments.

Millman, who recently became a father, clarified a misunderstanding in what Neil was attempting to get out of the letter.

"Look, I might've read the letter a little bit wrong, so apologies to Neil in that sense," Millman said on The First Serve Live.

"But I have heard commentary in the past around Cruz and whether he's there based on his last name or whether he's there on merit.

"I see a lot of firepower from Cruz. I see a guy that's maturing each day. I think he's a really exciting prospect, as you've seen at junior Wimbledon, and then to go on and compete at such a high level at the Washington ATP."

Best known for his win over Roger Federer at the 2018 US Open, Millman recently spent a month on the road with Cruz, during which he saw the teenager improve and mature.

Cruz's second round main draw result in Washington propelled him to a career-high No.370, but where are the rest of the Australian juniors of similar age?

"I think it's really fair to say that it's pretty bleak times in terms of development; at least that's what I see," Millman admitted. "I don't see a whole lot coming through if I'm to be completely honest.

"I have a bit more exposure just because I'm from Brisbane and because I trained at the National Academy, which I think they do a really good job there; I just want to put that on record.

"But I don't see too many 17, 18-year-olds now coming into that system that are maybe up to the mark, but also just not the volume of players coming through.

"So therefore, perhaps I think Australia is more accepting of probably substandard, I would like to say, culture. I don't think it's necessarily a talent thing. I don't think we've got the depth, so I don't think we're producing them at a young enough age now, but I think our standards have slipped a little bit if I'm to be completely honest."

Catch the full interview here.

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