Cruz Hewitt will complete a full-circle moment for the Hewitt family in Washington DC this week as he makes his ATP Tour debut.
Nearly 30 years since Lleyton Hewitt first appeared at the ATP 500 tournament, also as a 17-year-old, Cruz will be one of four Australians to compete at the event, joining Alex de Minaur, Aleksandar Vukic and Daria Kasatkina.
Hewitt successfully qualified for the main draw in Washington DC, holding leads against Zachary Svajda and Dusan Lajovic before each opponent retired. He will next face local Marcos Giron in his first-round encounter, aiming to record his third straight top-200 victory.
It follows recent success for the teenager, who became the first Australian to reach the Wimbledon boys’ singles final since Alex de Minaur in 2016.
De Minaur, meanwhile, returns to the American capital as defending champion and No.1 seed, with a potential all-Australian second round showdown against Hewitt awaiting.
On his last trip to Washington, De Minaur saved three championship points against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to claim his 10th ATP title.
The top-ranked Australian will compete in his first tournament since marrying British tennis player Katie Boulter. He has drawn two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match.
Having lost to Tsitsipas in their most recent meeting at the Miami Masters in March, the 27-year-old will hope to reverse that result at one of his happy hunting grounds and after his recent top-five ranking breakthrough. He was just the seventh Australian man to achieve the milestone.
Vukic and Kasatkina also qualified for the main draw in Washington DC.
After defeating compatriot Alex Bolt in the final round of qualifying, Vukic will face USA's Svajda, who earned his place as a lucky loser.
Kasatkina is up against No.5 seed Anna Kalinskaya following two come-from-behind victories in qualifying. The 29-year-old will feature at the tournament for the third time.
Two-time singles champion Nick Kyrgios will return to the event, featuring in doubles alongside American Frances Tiafoe. He is one of three Australians who will compete in the tandem format.
After two consecutive ATP doubles titles, in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel respectively, Marc Polmans and Austrian partner Lucas Miedler will aim to continue their hot streak in Washington DC.
They will be joined by John-Patrick Smith, who alongside Brazilian Fernando Romboli qualified for the doubles tournament.
Memphis, Los Cabos
Kimberly Birrell, Talia Gibson, Maya Joint and Storm Hunter have earned their place in the first Memphis WTA tournament since 2013, all featuring in both singles and doubles.
Hunter qualified for her third singles tournament this year, after the Australian Open and Indian Wells. She will also be the top seed in doubles, reuniting with American Desirae Krawczyk.
James Duckworth and Adam Walton return to Los Cabos in Mexico after both enjoyed strong 2025 campaigns.
Walton could meet Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals -- a rematch of their semifinal last year -- but will need to defeat Czechia’s Dalibor Svrcina and potentially second seed Luciano Darderi to get there.
As for Shapovalov, he will first face Australian Rinky Hijikata, who will play in Los Cabos for the fourth time.
Duckworth will hope to improve on his quarterfinal run from last year, facing a yet-to-be-determined qualifier in the first round of the ATP 250 event.
Edward Winter could increase Australia’s singles contingent to four should he win his final qualifying match against No.2 seed Soonwoo Kwon. Victory would earn Winter his tour-level main-draw debut.
Aussies in action
(Singles world rankings in parentheses)
WASHINGTON ATP/WTA 500
Aussies in men’s singles: Alex de Minaur (No.6), Aleksandar Vukic (No.105), Cruz Hewitt (No.607)
Aussies in women’s singles: Daria Kasatkina (No.61)
Aussies in men’s doubles: Marc Polmans (with Lucas Miedler), John-Patrick Smith (with Fernando Romboli), Nick Kyrgios (with Frances Tiafoe)
MEMPHIS WTA 250
Aussies in singles: Kimberly Birrell (No.66), Talia Gibson (No.72), Maya Joint (No.76), Storm Hunter (No.180)
Aussies in doubles: Storm Hunter (with Desirae Krawczyk), Maya Joint (with Hao-ching Chan), Talia Gibson (with Ekaterina Alexandrova), Kimberly Birrell (with Peyton Stearns)
LOS CABOS ATP 250
Aussies in singles: James Duckworth (No.83), Rinky Hijikata (No.93), Adam Walton (No.96)
Aussies in singles qualifying: Edward Winter (No.390)
Aussies in doubles: Rinky Hijikata (with Reese Stalder), Edward Winter (with Tristan Boyer)
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