5 years after his retirement, the former world leader returned to the field and played alongside his son, achieving a lightning victory

• Lleyton Hewitt is a major name in Australian and world tennis, being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2021, one year after his last official doubles match and 5 years after he retired from singles competition.

• He started his career in 1998 and in 2001 became the leader in the ATP ranking. He has 2 Grand Slam singles titles (US Open, 2001; Wimbledon, 2002) and 2 Champions Tour titles (2001, 2002).

• In addition, Hewitt won the Davis Cup in 1999 and 2003, he had a record of 616-262 in singles and won 30 titles during his career.

Lleyton Hewitt, 2-set win with Cruz, his son: “It's something quite unique and special”

At the age of 16, Cruz, one of his 3 children, is following in his footsteps and is at the beginning of his career. This week, Lleyton made an unusual decision: he returned to the tennis court and teamed up with his son in doubles at the Sydney Challenger.

The Hewitt pair played superbly and needed just 48 minutes to get past Australians Hayden Jones (19) and Pavle Marinkov (19): 6-1, 6-0. Thanks to this result, Lleyton and Cruz qualified for the “quarters”, where they will meet other compatriots: Calum Puttergill (32 years old) and Dane Sweeny (24 years old).

A day they'll never forget 🇦🇺✨

Lleyton Hewitt comes out of retirement to team up with his son Cruz as they cruise to a 6-1, 6-0 debut win in Sydney!#ATPChallenger | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/e00TkW15PE

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 19, 2025

“Obviously, it's something pretty unique and special. It's not very often and there's probably going to be a period where I'm not good enough or physically able to play alongside him. Now, obviously, he's grown up and he's good enough to play so it's been a great fit,” said Lleyton Hewitt, quoted by Yahoo Sports.

“Sydney is quite a special place. Cruz was born here and we have many friends and family members. I also won 4 titles in Sydney and in 2000 I played here in the Olympics when I was at the beginning of my career. Also in 2001, I won the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney and climbed to world No. 1“, he added.

Meanwhile, Cruz Hewitt also played in the singles competition, being eliminated in the “eighties” by the Japanese Hayato Matsuoka (20 years old, 483 ATP), score 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.