Cruz Hewitt will make his Australian Open qualifying debut becoming a member of the likes of Kimberly Birrell and Bernard Tomic amongst a robust residence cohort on entry lists.
Melbourne, Australia, 18 December 2024 | Dan Imhoff
Cruz Hewitt will observe in his father Lleyton Hewitt’s footsteps when he bids to qualify for his Grand Slam debut in Australian Open qualifying subsequent month.
Future world No.1 Lleyton was a 15-year-old wildcard when he certified for the primary of his 20 straight important draw appearances at Melbourne Park in 1997 earlier than two-time Roland Garros champion Sergi Bruguera introduced his daring run to an finish within the opening spherical.
Twenty-seven years later, 16-year-old Cruz hopes historical past will repeat after being awarded a wildcard to affix a contingent of 10 different Australian males in qualifying, which incorporates former world No.17 Bernard Tomic, Jason Kubler and Alex Bolt.
World No.113 Kimberly Birrell spearheads a 13-strong group of Australian ladies in qualifying alongside the likes of Maddison Inglis, Arina Rodionova, Priscilla Hon, Taylah Preston and Destanee Aiava.
Birrell impressed within the second half of the season when she certified for her first US Open in August, one in all a file 5 Australian ladies, and adopted up with a maiden WTA closing in Osaka earlier than a return to the Billie Jean King Cup fold in Malaga.
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The 26-year-old targets a sixth important draw berth at her residence main, the positioning of her strongest outcomes on a Grand Slam stage.
At AO 2019, she defeated Paula Badosa and Donna Vekic back-to-back to succeed in the third spherical and two years in the past denied former world No.15 Kaia Kanepi within the first spherical.
Following a short return to the highest 200 in October for the primary time since March 2020, 32-year-old Tomic goals to return to the primary draw for the primary time in 4 years.
Tomic has reached the fourth spherical 3 times at Melbourne Park, and final contested AO qualifying two years in the past when he fell on the first hurdle.
World No.154 Maddison Inglis is the next-highest ranked Australian girl to contest qualifying as she goals for a 3rd Australian Open important draw berth.
The 26-year-old picked up her first ITF 100 title in Tokyo in April, the primary Australian girl in virtually a decade to assert a title at that degree, and the Playford Professional Tour title in October, which elevated her greater than 120 locations within the year-end rankings.
US Open qualifiers, world No.164 Rodionova, world No.167 Hon and world No.197 Aiava, in addition to world No.170 Preston – a key to Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup tie win over Mexico in April – hope to e-book back-to-back Grand Slam main-draw berths.
OMAR 🙌
After rising 163 rating spots this season, in-form Aussie Omar Jasika has been awarded with a spot within the #AO2025 important draw 👏 pic.twitter.com/Y20gFqWnV1
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) December 18, 2024
On a protected entry of world No.140, Kubler leads the Aussie males in qualifying, whereas world No.157 Alex Bolt, a Wimbledon qualifier this yr after getting into as an alternate and saving a match level within the closing spherical, may even take his place.
Following a five-set defeat to Daniel Galan within the opening spherical of this yr’s Australian Open, the 31-year-old Kubler endured an injury-ravaged season and didn’t contest a match at any degree till ITF occasions in November, when he reached the semifinals in Darwin and the ultimate in Brisbane.
In-form world No.179 Omar Jasika was awarded a important draw wildcard after he compiled a 27-match ITF successful streak from late August, which included titles in Bali, Darwin and Cairns.
Compatriots Marc Polmans, Dane Sweeny, Matthew Dellavedova, Hayden Jones, Blake Ellis, Edward Winter and Pavle Marinkov had been awarded males’s qualifying wildcards, whereas Astra Sharma, Tina Smith, Petra Hule, Melisa Ercan, Elena Micic, Lizette Cabrera and Jaimee Fourlis earned ladies’s qualifying wildcards.
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