Australian tennis fans will be bursting with pride after Cruz Hewitt received a wildcard entry into the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Cruz Hewitt, 16, the son of one of Australia’s greatest ever players Lleyton and wife Bec, has been given the nod and will follow the path set by his father as a teenager looking to press into the main draw via qualifying matches.

The qualifying tournament begins on Monday, January 6, with players needing to win three three consecutive matches to reach the main men’s singles draw.

Lleyton Hewitt stunned the nation when, as a 15-year-old, he received a wildcard entry into the Australian Open in 1997 and made it through before losing in the first round.

Cruz will be playing his first ever ATP match in the qualifiers after comparisons were made earlier this year following his appearance in the Australian Open 2024 boys singles where he lost his first round match to Alexander Razeghi 6-2 6-3.

Another notable wildcard entry two-time grand slam winner Simona Halep.

The full list of wildcard entries is as follows:

• Marc Polmans (AUS)
• Matthew Dellavedova (AUS)
• Blake Ellis (AUS)
• Edward Winter (AUS)
• Dane Sweeney (AUS)
• Rei Sakamoto (JPN – Australian Open boys 2024 junior champion)
• Pavle Marinkov (AUS)
• Hayden Jones (AUS)
• Cruz Hewitt (AUS)

• Astra Sharma (AUS)
• Tina Smith (AUS)
• Petra Hule (AUS)
• Lizette Cabrera (AUS)
• Jamiee Fourlis (AUS)
• Melisa Ercan (AUS)
• Renata Jamrichova (Australian Open girls 2024 junior champion)
• Elena Micic (AUS)
• Simona Halep (ROU)