By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 30, 2026
Photo credit: Libéma Open
Alex de Minaur continues month-long celebration season.
Earlier this month, de Minaur wed long-time fiancé Katie Boulter.
Today, de Minaur streaked through an all-Aussie reunion with Cruz Hewitt.
In a match of mentor vs. protegee, de Minaur defeated the 17-year-old Hewitt, son of Hall of Famer Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2, 6-3 to return to the Mubadala Citi Open quarterfinals.
Defending-champion de Minaur scored his seventh straight Washington, DC victory to set up a compelling quarterfinal vs. American Brandon Nakashima.
In today’s opening stadium match, Nakashima won 17 of 21 trips to net toppling seventh-seeded Jakub Mensik 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4.
The 24-year-old Nakashima, who has reached back-to-back DC quarterfinals, owns a 2-1 record vs. de Minaur, including a 7-5, 6-3 quarterfinal conquest on the grass of Queen’s Club in London last month.
De Minaur carried a 13-2 record as a tournament top seed onto court for this all-Aussie clash that saw both the veteran and the teenager high-five Washington, DC fans during the walk on.
Wimbledon boys’ finalist Hewitt has known de Minaur since he was a child and wasted no time applying pressure.
Newlywed de Minaur won the toss, elected to receive and immediately put the teenager under pressure. Committing a double fault and a couple of forehand errors, Hewitt gifted the opening-break to the US Open quarterfinalist. De Minaur confirmed the break at love for 2-0.
With his father, former No. 1 and 2004 Washington, DC champion Lleyton Hewitt, watching on clad in a black Yonex baseball cap, Cruz Hewitt missed a backhand down the line to face another break point. Hewitt over-hit a forehand as de Minaur took a 3-0 double-break lead just nine minutes into the match.
Clean combinations from de Minaur helped him drain first-set errors from DC debutant Hewitt, who prevailed in a pair of retirements playing through qualifying to reach the main draw.
Dashing left, Hewitt defended a deep backhand and drew the error breaking back to get on the board at 1-5. Hewitt thumped a 124 ace down the T holding at 15 for 2-5.
De Minaur, who hit eight winners in the 28-minute opener, delivered a series of flat strikes to snatch a one-set lead.
The lanky Hewitt showed some sting off both wings and moves well, but the veteran de Minaur, a far more experienced and polished player, was winning the longer baseline exchanges throughout. De Minaur broke at 15 for a 2-1 advantage and consolidated for a 3-1 second-set lead.
On his third match point, de Minaur drew a ballooned forehand beyond the baseline breaking to seal a 6-2, 6-3 win in 61 minutes.
The Aussie friends shared an embrace at net. De Minaur leads all ATP players in ATP 500 level victories since 2023 with a 61-21 mark at 500-level events in that span.