Cruz Hewitt reaches the final of a Futures tournament but falls to an impressive Kubler

Cruz Hewitt continues to make headlines after receiving a wildcard in the Australian Open qualifiers. Lleyton's son has stayed in Australia to play local tournaments.

Last week, in Launceston, he managed to advance through the qualifiers and reached the final. He lost to Jason Kubler, a former world No. 63, with a score of 6-2, 6-4.

Thanks to this performance, he gained 349 places in the ATP rankings and is now ranked 826th.

Despite this defeat in the final, Hewitt impressed the Australian audience throughout the week. Kubler said: "I trained with him at the end of last year.

Of course, it was just training and a bit different, but I feel like he already understands tennis much better, identifying the moments not to miss and the moments to take his chance.

I was also impressed by his time management. Sometimes, I looked up, and he was ready to serve, while other times, he took his time.

His shot tolerance was very high. During our long rallies, I thought he was young and would make a mistake. But he was incredibly solid."

On his side, Kubler continues to climb the rankings after returning from a very long injury in November. He is now ranked 383rd in the world this week.