Cruise Hewitt stormed into the Wimbledon men’s singles final, becoming the first Australian to reach a junior final in a decade.
The 17-year-old extended his perfect tournament run with a 6-4, 6-4 straight win over Dutchman Thijs Boogaard.
Cruise Hewitt reached the Wimbledon final. Kin Chung
Hewitt was absolutely delighted at the All England Club, booking his place in the championship match without dropping a set.
His father, Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, watched his son in the stands.
Hewitt himself won the men’s singles title on grass at Wimbledon 24 years ago and now watches his son stand on the precipice of history; The last Australian to lift the Wimbledon junior trophy was Luke Saville back in 2011.
Alex de Minaur was the last Australian to compete in the 2016 junior final.
The youngster will play the championship match on Sunday AEST and his performance has been praised by British tennis legend John Lloyd.
“Impressive. Impressive. He controls the game so well that he looks like he’s ready for senior tennis,” Lloyd said in a Stan Sport report.
“A little more hitting here and there, but he reads the game, he has great awareness of the plate. You see, so many players are great hitters and they hit the ball, but they don’t know enough about the game, about when to come in, when to hit the right ball.”
“(Cruz) looks like he’s got his groove on, he’s ahead of junior tennis. I know he’s played a couple of senior tournaments, but I think he’s very impressive.”
“And it will obviously improve some things, but it’s a nice change.”