Melbourne, Australia, 18 December 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Cruz Hewitt will follow in his father Lleyton Hewitt’s footsteps when he bids to qualify for his Grand Slam debut in Australian Open qualifying next month.

Future world No.1 Lleyton was a 15-year-old wildcard when he qualified for the first of his 20 straight main draw appearances at Melbourne Park in 1997 before two-time Roland Garros champion Sergi Bruguera brought his bold run to an end in the opening round.

Twenty-seven years later, 16-year-old Cruz hopes history will repeat after being awarded a wildcard to join a contingent of 10 other Australian men in qualifying, which includes former world No.17 Bernard Tomic, Jason Kubler and Alex Bolt.

World No.113 Kimberly Birrell spearheads a 13-strong group of Australian women in qualifying alongside the likes of Maddison Inglis, Arina Rodionova, Priscilla Hon, Taylah Preston and Destanee Aiava.

Birrell impressed in the second half of the season when she qualified for her first US Open in August, one of a record five Australian women, and followed up with a maiden WTA final in Osaka before a return to the Billie Jean King Cup fold in Malaga.

> READ MORE: Eight rising Aussies among AO 2025 wildcard recipients

The 26-year-old targets a sixth main draw berth at her home major, the site of her strongest results on a Grand Slam stage.

At AO 2019, she defeated Paula Badosa and Donna Vekic back-to-back to reach the third round and two years ago denied former world No.15 Kaia Kanepi in the first round.

Following a brief return to the top 200 in October for the first time since March 2020, 32-year-old Tomic aims to return to the main draw for the first time in four years.

Tomic has reached the fourth round three times at Melbourne Park, and last contested AO qualifying two years ago when he fell at the first hurdle.

World No.154 Maddison Inglis is the next-highest ranked Australian woman to contest qualifying as she aims for a third Australian Open main draw berth.

The 26-year-old picked up her first ITF 100 title in Tokyo in April, the first Australian woman in almost a decade to claim a title at that level, and the Playford Pro Tour title in October, which elevated her more than 120 places in the year-end rankings.

US Open qualifiers, world No.164 Rodionova, world No.167 Hon and world No.197 Aiava, as well as world No.170 Preston – a key to Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup tie win over Mexico in April – hope to book back-to-back Grand Slam main-draw berths.

OMAR 🙌

After rising 163 ranking spots this season, in-form Aussie Omar Jasika has been awarded with a place in the #AO2025 main draw 👏 pic.twitter.com/Y20gFqWnV1

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) December 18, 2024

On a protected entry of world No.140, Kubler leads the Aussie men in qualifying, while world No.157 Alex Bolt, a Wimbledon qualifier this year after entering as an alternate and saving a match point in the final round, will also take his place.

Following a five-set defeat to Daniel Galan in the opening round of this year’s Australian Open, the 31-year-old Kubler endured an injury-ravaged season and did not contest a match at any level until ITF events in November, when he reached the semifinals in Darwin and the final in Brisbane.

In-form world No.179 Omar Jasika was awarded a main draw wildcard after he compiled a 27-match ITF winning streak from late August, which included titles in Bali, Darwin and Cairns.

Compatriots Marc Polmans, Dane Sweeny, Matthew Dellavedova, Hayden Jones, Blake Ellis, Edward Winter and Pavle Marinkov were awarded men’s qualifying wildcards, while Astra Sharma, Tina Smith, Petra Hule, Melisa Ercan, Elena Micic, Lizette Cabrera and Jaimee Fourlis earned women’s qualifying wildcards.

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