'What did Cruz have that others didn't?' Important questions raised after John Millman's comments
- Christian Montegan
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Days after 17-year-old Cruz Hewitt took a massive step in his pro tennis career, a healthy discussion has materialised about his junior environment and the lessons Tennis Australia can take away from it.
Hewitt, who qualified as a wildcard for his first-ever Tour-level main draw at the ATP 500 Washington Open, won his first Tour-level match against world No.85 Marcos Giron before falling to 2025 champion and mentor Alex de Minaur.
Just a few weeks prior, the Aussie teen reached the Wimbledon Boys' final, defeating four seeds en route.
The world No.370 was recently praised by former world No.33 John Millman.
"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."
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On Monday night's edition of The First Serve Live, host Brett Phillips shared emails and texts off the back of Millman's comments, and one letter from Neil in Sydney caught the most attention.
"Hi John, you are spot on. Right now, Cruz is by far the best junior on the boys' side from what I would broadly describe as the 2005–2009 birth years," the letter read.
"But that wasn't always the case, and that is actually what I would be interested in getting your thoughts on, as well as Tennis Australia's.
"What was it that Cruz had, or did, that the other players in this age group didn't?
Listen to the full letter below:
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