Cruz Hewitt is enjoying his time at his second Australian Open! The 16-year-old trained with Jannik Sinner at Rod Laver Arena and earned the qualifying wild card. The young gun fell to Nikoloz Basilashvili and focused on the junior draw.
Cruz kicked off the campaign with a rock-solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over a qualifier MooBeen Kim in an hour and 14 minutes on Court 3. Hewitt mirrored Ben Shelton’s phone celebration after feeling happy about his performance.
The home favorite served at only 50%, and no one could notice that. Hewitt dropped 13 points in nine service games and faced no break points. The Aussie grabbed 38% of the return points and seized three of ten break points.
He controlled the scoreboard and moved over the top in no time.
Dialed in 📞
Cruz Hewitt gets the better of Kim Moobeen in the first round of the junior singles #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/kwOXa1u0ln
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 18, 2025
They stayed neck and neck in the mid-range exchanges, and Cruz took charge in the shortest and most extended one. The Korean missed a game point in the first game and experienced a break when his forehand landed long.
Kim played against three more break points in the third game, defending them and reducing the deficit. Hewitt produced fine holds in games four, six and eight. MooBeen served to stay in the set at 3-5 and faced a set point after a loose forehand.
Australian Open 2025© Stream screenshot
He denied it but fell on the second after Cruz’s forehand return attack and a forced error. The home favorite delivered five comfortable holds in the second set. He mounted the pressure on the other side and created three break chances in the fourth game.
Hewitt missed the first with a routine error, and Kim defended the second and third with service winners. Cruz left those chances behind and served well. The Aussie closed the seventh game after the rival’s mistake and made a push on the return in the next one.
Australian Open 2025© Stream screenshot
The Korean missed a forehand right after the serve and faced two break points. He sprayed a drop shot on the first and fell 5-3 behind. Hewitt served for the win in game nine and created three match points with an ace. He seized the first with a service winner, moving into the second round.
Cruz will face the top seed Jan Kumstat in the second round.
Tennis World USA