Cruz Hewitt Wins First ATP Tour Main-Draw Match At DC Open

Cruz Hewitt
Cruz Hewitt (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Like father like son, Australia teenager Cruz Hewitt is used to being compared to his famous father, Hall of Famer Lleyton Hewitt.

Just 17, the son of the former World No. 1 and 2004 Mubadala DC Open champion, made his ATP Tour debut in the ATP 500-series tournament in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon – and it was a successful one. The elder Hewitt, now 45 and traveling with his son, is his biggest fan. It’s a big role reversal for the Hewitt family. Once upon a time, Cruz Hewitt was a precocious six-year-old child watching his father play in the same tournament and on the same courts.

The 612th-ranked and recent Wimbledon junior boys’ singles runner-up, Hewitt took on a fellow qualifier, No. 85 Marcos Giron of the United States and won 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 13 minutes on Court 4.

“Yeah, it’s pretty surreal to win here,” Cruz Hewitt said during his post-match news conference. “Obviously, I saw my dad played here. I came to his last tournament I remember. There are so many memories of that.

“To get it around the line and make it to round two, it’s very special.”

Tuesday first-round victory advanced Hewitt into the second round against either defending champion and current World No. 6 Alex de Minaur or No. 51 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, whose Tuesday evening match on Stadium Court was cancelled due to prolonged rain that suspended play for two-plus hours. It will now be played Wednesday afternoon on Stadium Court.

“Yeah, well, obviously if I play Alex, that would be a dream to share the court with him. I’ve known him. He’s like my older brother. I’ve known him basically nearly my whole life. He’s stayed with us. We have Christmas together, also,” Hewitt said.

“To play him, share the court with him, he’s taught me so much, I think that would be a pretty cool memory for us.”

Hewitt became the fourth man born in 2008 or later to win a tour-level match, joining Diego Dedura of Germany, Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands and Moise Kouame of France. After qualifying for the main draw over the weekend, Hewitt has shot up to No. 357 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Should he win another round, against either de Minaur or Tsitsipas, he’s projected to break into the ATP Top 300.

The young Australian became the youngest match winner at the Washington, D.C. event since Kei Nishikori of Japan in 2007, who was also 17 when he beat Teymuraz Gabashvili of Georgia.

Upon securing match point with a crushing forehand winner that capped a seven-shot rally, the Aussie teenager celebrated with a “vicht,” a four-fingered gesture pointed at the forehand that his father commonly used during his celebrated career.

During his on-court interview with ATP Media, Hewitt was asked how it felt to gain his first ATP Tour victory. He replied: “That sounds pretty good. I’m really happy with how I competed today. I came out and started pretty well. Now, I’m through to the next round.”

Hewitt warmed up for his first-round match earlier in the day with his father. “I hit with him a lot,” the younger Hewitt said. “I hit the ball really well. It was perfect.”

Any advice from his famous father before he walked out on court? “Just mainly to enjoy it, my first tour main draw match,” the younger Hewitt said, “and to take every point one by one. That’s what I did. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the crowd.”

 

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Jodar’s breakthrough season continues with Fils triumph

World No. 24 Rafael Jodar, who played collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia, about a 120-mile drive from Rock Creek Tennis Center, made a successful debut in Washington with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over World No. 22 and eighth-seeded Arthur Fils of France in one hour and 52 minutes on John Harris Court Tuesday afternoon.

In his first competition since reaching the third round at Wimbledon, Jodar handed the heat best and beat Fils with his aggressive court play. The 19-year-old Spaniard hit 16 winners, saved four of five break points, converted three of 10 break-point chances and outpointed Fils 80-74. He took advantage of 35 unforced errors by the 22-year-old Frenchman.

“It is my first time playing here and I knew the conditions would be tough, especially playing during the day. I did a great job handling it,” Jodar said during his on-court interview. “There are many people from Virginia who came to watch my match and I am very grateful for everything they did and are still doing a great job and supporting me in all the tournaments I am playing around the world.”

On Wednesday evening, Jodar will face 36-year-old wild card Kei Nishikori of Japan, who won the 2015 DC Open title, in a featured second-round Stadium Court match. 

Majchrzak sinks newlywed Paul

In their first tour-level meeting Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak upset newlywed American Tommy Paul, 7-5, 7-6 (4), in two hours on Stadium Court Tuesday afternoon.

Although the 21st-ranked Paul, who was married following Wimbledon and owns the third-most wins on the ATP Tour this season with 32 – trailing only Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev (44 each) – the Polish No. 2 stymied an all-American second-round encounter from taking place between Paul and World No. 10 Taylor Fritz by being the most consistent player. Majchrzak won 76 percent (28 of 37) of his first-serve points, hit 15 winners converted two of 11 break points and outpointed Paul 87-72. He took advantage of 41 unforced errors by Paul.

The 72nd-ranked Majchrzak, who won his first ATP Tour title earlier this season at ‘s-Hertogenbosch on grass and reached a career-high ranking of No. 45, improved to 6-17 versus Top-30 opponents in his career following a 0-12 start, including 5-3 this season. He’s the third Polish man to win a match in Washington, D.C., after Wojtek Fibak (1978) and Hubert Hurkacz (2018-19).

Eala wins DC Open debut over Zheng

World No. 28 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines came back from down a set and a break to defeat 123rd-ranked Chinese wild card Zheng Qinwen, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in her DC Open debut Tuesday afternoon on Stadium Court. 

The victory, her first against Zheng at WTA Tour level, advanced the Filipina to the second round, where she will face No. 7 seed and defending champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada in a Stadium Court match on Wednesday.

From ahead 4-3 in the second set, the 123rd-ranked Zheng was two games away from winning the first-round match. However, Eala went to work, and started with a break of Zhang’s serve at love. She would go on to win a total seven straight games. After taking the second set, Eala built a double-break 4-0 lead in the decider. 

“I definitely think it helped,” Eala said of the break, during her post-match news conference. “Maybe if I hadn’t gotten that break, who knows? Maybe, it would have been too big of a gap. You never know in tennis, but that definitely helped me, I think.”

Eala withstood 14 aces from Zheng and hit 25 winners to 25 unforced errors, and benefited from 46 unforced errors by her opponent. Eala converted six of eight break points and saved seven of 11 break points she faced from Zheng. Eala outpointed her opponent 95-81.

One thing is certain: Eala has quickly gained a reputation for showing fight and being able to turn matches around. She spoke about those qualities during her news conference.

“Well, I think I’ve already had that in me. I think it’s definitely a mindset that you have. That being said, I think it’s been trained or I’ve practiced. I’ve had more experience now to implement that mindset at the higher level,” she said.

“I guess that just comes also with the level of my tennis getting higher because you always want to win, and you always want to fight. But I think now with the progress I’ve had this past year, I have a bit more of ammunition to back it up, yeah.”

Around the Mubadala DC Open

Men:

• No. 1 American Ben Shelton arrived at his first-round match on Stadium Court Tuesday afternoon 13-2 at ATP 500 level this season and the only player to win multiple ATP 500 titles so far this season after lifting trophies in both Dallas and Munich.

Shelton took on fellow American Martin Damm in their first meeting, 33 years after both of their fathers – Bryan Shelton and Martin Damm – played in the same edition of the Washington, D.C. event in 1993. Damm sought the biggest win of his career (after going 0-2 versus Top-10 foes) to secure his Top 100 debut on Monday.

A two-hour-plus rain delay during the second set coupled with the 104th-ranked qualifier Damm leveling the match forced a decider. By the end of their two-hour, nine-minute tussle, Shelton prevailed with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory for his 26th victory of the season to advance.

Shelton hit 18 winners and won 77 percent (37 of 48) of his first-serve points. He converted three of five break points and outpointed Damm 91-83.

The 23-year-old Shelton, in his fourth Washington, D.C. appearance, has made it to back-to-back semifinals. He was asked during his on-court interview with ATP Media what it would mean to go all the way this year.

“It’s a huge dream for me,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite tournaments. Obviously, I have a lot of family here. It means the world to me to be able to play here every year. For me, I’ll take it one step at a time. I’m happy to be back on Thursday.”

Next, Shelton will face No. 29 Ugo Humbert of France, who eased past 381st-ranked American qualifier Andres Martin, 6-2, 7-5, in 81 minutes on Court 4. Humbert converted all four of his break-point chances and outpointed Martin 64-49.

• No. 5 seed Learner Tien of the United States took on No. 47 Adrian Mannarino of France on the Grandstand Court. Tien was looking to extend his seven-match winning streak against lefties while the 38-year-old Mannarino was hoping to become the second-oldest player in tournament history after Ken Rosewall, 43, in 1978. As it happened, Mannarino came out on top and knocked off Tien, 7-5, 6-4, in one hour and 22 minutes on the Grandstand Court. He dropped just four points on his first serve, faced no break points and converted two of two break-point chances. Mannarino outpointed Tien 67-53.

Next, Mannarino will take on No. 40 Alex Michelsen of the United States, who advanced over fellow American and 145th-ranked lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald, 6-4, 7-5, in 91 minutes on Court 4 behind nine aces and 27 overall winners.

Women:

• Qualifier Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan, ranked No. 108, upset No. 40 Cristina Bucsa of Spain, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-0, in two hours and 22 minutes on the Grandstand Court, after converting six of 19 break-point opportunities while outpointing the Spainiard 117-108. Next, she will face World No. 10 and second seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine on Thursday. 

• No. 42 Wang Xinyu of China ended the run of 17-year-old American qualifier Julieta Pareja, ranked No. 309, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in one hour and 50 minutes on John Harris Court. Wang struck eight aces and saved nine of 12 break points. She outpointed Pareja 87-70 and will face 2022 DC Open champion Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the second round.

• No. 5 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, a DC Open finalist a year ago, advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over 61st-ranked Australian qualifier Daria Kasatkina in 65 minutes on John Harris Court. Kalinskaya converted six of seven break-points chances and outpointed Kasatkina 58-40. Next, she will play Janice Tjen of Indonesia.

• No. 48 Magdalena Frech of Poland advanced to face World No. 3 and top seed Jessica Pegula of the United States after fighting off No. 31 Ann Li of the United States, 6-4, 6-3, in 93 minutes on John Harris Court. Frech converted five of 13 break points and outpointed Li 71-59.

Doubles:

• In men’s doubles, No. 3 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Yuki Bhambri of India and 2019 DC Open champion Michael Venus of New Zealand in 70 minutes on Court 5. 

Also, No. 4 seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) victory over Lucas Miedler of Austria and Marc Polmans of Australia in one hour and 43 minutes on Court 5.

Meanwhile, wild cards Nick Kyrgios of Australia, a 2022 DC Open doubles champion, and Frances Tiafoe of the United States pulled out of the doubles draw due to a right wrist injury suffered by Tiafoe and were replaced by lucky losers Ariel Behar of Israel and Anirudh Chandrasekar of India.

• In women’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Sara Errani of Italy and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States coasted past Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Polina Iatcenko of Russia, 6-1, 6-0, in 45 minutes on Court 4.

Also, No. 3 seeds Janice Tjen of Indonesia and 2025 champion Zhang Shuai of China defeated Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan and Wu Fang-Hsien of Taiwan, 6-3, 6-4, in 72 minutes on Court 5.

However, No. 4 seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Leylah Fernandez of Canada were upset by Chinese duo Tang Qianhui and Xu Yifan, 6-2, 6-4, in one hour and 13 minutes on Court 5.

Finally, unseeded Miyu Kato of Japan and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico rallied to beat Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Heather Watson of Great Britain, 1-6, 6-1, 11-9, in one hour and 11 minutes on Court 4.

Tuesday’s Mubadala DC Open men’s results

Tuesday’s Mubadala DC Open women’s results

Wednesday’s Mubadala DC Open order of play

By the numbers

Since the start of the 2023 season, defending DC Open champion and this year’s top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia leads the ATP Tour in most 500-series victories with 59. Tied for second with 50 each is Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Alexander Zverev of Germany.

“Quotable …”

“I’m really proud of my performance today. It’s never easy to go into your first round after the break after Wimbledon. So, I’m really happy with the level of competition and how I held my ground, yeah.”

– Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, during her post-match news conference after defeating wild card Zheng Qinwen of China in three sets on Stadium Court Tuesday afternoon. 

 

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