De Miñaur leans towards Cruz Hewitt but predicts a great future for him: "We will have many battles in the coming years"

Alex de Miñaur moves like a fish in water on the concrete of the ATP 500 in Washington. The defending champion, after his tough debut in three sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas, faced a rival he knew quite well this time. It was Cruz Hewitt, the son of Lleyton Hewitt, with whom he has shared many hours of training and travel. But once on the court, ‘Demon’ has no friends and dominated the match by 6-2, 6-3, after exactly one hour of play.

Before thinking about the quarterfinals and his next opponent, Brandon Nakashima, the number six in the ATP ranking shared his initial feelings after his victory with the microphones of TennisTV, where he did not hesitate to praise the figure of Cruz Hewitt, who reached the final of the Wimbledon Junior less than a month ago.

Alex de Miñaur expects more matchups with Cruz Hewitt in the future

“It was definitely strange. I would say that I knew I would face him on the tour someday, but I didn't expect it to be this week. And yes, it was an incredible feeling. Even everything that happened before the match, looking back at all the amazing moments we have shared together and how we have both grown, it was something very special. I’m thrilled,” the Australian noted.

In fact, De Miñaur is very clear that this will not be the last time he faces Lleyton Hewitt's firstborn: “I’m happy to have made it through, but I’m sure we will have many, many battles in the coming years.”

A special first meeting 🇦🇺🤗

All class from @alexdeminaur as he embraces Cruz Hewitt after clinching his spot in the DC quarterfinals.#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/HJYwpXiYhF

— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 30, 2026

He even confessed that he thought about how Hewitt's father would advise Hewitt's son to play: “I thought about that. I was like, ‘Wow, this is an interesting situation.’ But in the end, I think we both have trained together many times, we have practiced and grown together for a long time, so we know each other’s game in detail. It was probably about who could execute their plan a little better, and I think today it was me who did. The serve helped me at a couple of important moments, and that was probably the key to today's match.

But the Australian also took the opportunity to talk about his next opponent, Nakashima, with whom he will battle for a spot in the semifinals of the tournament in the capital of the United States, just like last year: “I remember it was a tough match of high quality. I think he is a very good player in these conditions. He doesn’t mind playing on these fast courts, he is very solid, a great competitor, and I will try to give my best to avenge the loss I suffered against him earlier this summer at Queen's.”
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, De Miñaur inclina a Cruz Hewitt, pero le augura un gran futuro: "Tendremos muchas batallas en los próximos años"