Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz in massive Davis Cup development after Australian Open debut

Cruz Hewitt, the teenage son of legendary Aussie tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, will make his Junior Davis Cup debut this year, following in the team tennis footsteps of his tennis legend father. Lleyton is the captain of the senior Davis Cup squad in the 'World Cup of tennis' event and has long said winning two Davis Cups for Australia is up there with his proudest tennis achievements.

And he will be even prouder now that his talented 15-year-old son carrying on the tradition. The New South Wales youngster is the ITF's 226th-ranked junior and has made huge strides in the last 12 months.

Earlier this year the 15-year-old was granted a wildcard into the Australian Open boy's singles junior grand slam. Some 27 years after Hewitt senior had become the youngest qualifier to make the Open main draw at just 15, Cruz made his first appearance at Melbourne Park.

And the Aussie youngster now has the honour of donning the green and gold for the first time. Hewitt be playing alongside 16-year-old West Australian Cameron Burton and 15-year-old South Australian Jeffrey Strydom at the Asia-Oceania qualifying event in Kazakhstan from May 20-25.

The top four nations in the qualifier will advance to November's finals. The junior boys team will be captained by Sandon Stolle, the former world No.2 doubles player, who is himself the son of a famous tennis dad Fred Stolle, a two-time grand slam winner.

"I look forward to taking my first Junior Davis Cup team away and to continue supporting our high-performing athletes," Stolle said. "It's a great experience for these young guys to play for Australia and be part of the green and gold history of tennis."

The competition is for teams featuring players 16 and under and takes place after a qualifier for the equivalent event for girls, the Junior Billie Jean King Cup, at the same Shymkent venue next week. The Australian Junior BJK Cup team is 14-year-old Renee Alame (NSW), Ava Beck (15, Victoria) and Tahlia Kokkinis (15, Queensland). The team will be captained by Jessica Moore, who played in the senior competition for Australia.

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Lleyton Hewitt's bid for Davis Cup glory under his lead for the first time

If Australia is to win their first senior Davis Cup under Lleyton Hewitt later this year, they will have to go through a difficult group stage in Valencia. Hewitt's team have reached the final of the tournament for the last two years but will have to finish in the top two in their group in September if they are to get another chance to go for the ultimate glory in the 'final eight' week to be staged in Malaga two months later.

Australia's group features matches against France, the Czech Republic and hosts Spain, with Alex de Minaur set to spearhead the Australian charge again. Each tie will be a one-day, best-of-three-rubbers affair, featuring two singles and a doubles.

Australia's first group B clash takes place on September 10 and will be followed by the Aussies taking on the Czechs two days later. Then there is the real possibility of a group decider against a Carlos Alcaraz-led Spanish team on the final day, Sunday, September 15.

Meanwhile, the Jannik Sinner-inspired champions Italy - who beat Australia 2-0 in last year's final - will kick off the defence of their trophy against Brazil in Bologna on September 11. Italy will also play against the Netherlands and Belgium in Group A.

with AAP