Alex de Minaur vs Cruz Hewitt ATP Washington Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Aussies collide in second round

Andrew Hendrie

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Last updated: Thu 30 Jul 2026 05:25

Andrew Hendrie 30 Jul 2026

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Alex de Minaur vs Cruz Hewitt predictions for Thursday's ATP Washington R2
Cruz facing a top 50 player for the first time in ATP main draw debut
De Minaur expected to prevail in routine fashion in crazy all-Aussie second round
The match is scheduled to start around 3.00am AEST on Friday July 31

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Alex de Minaur vs Cruz Hewitt ATP Washington Tips, Prediction & Live Stream

Cruz Hewitt faces the man he describes as 'like an older brother' as the 17-year-old continues his ATP main draw debut in the Washington second round on Thursday, but top seed and defending champion Alex de Minaur should prove far too strong in this all-Aussie showdown.

Alex de Minaur vs Cruz Hewitt ATP Washington Tips, Prediction & Live Stream
De Minaur vs Hewitt Stats & Trends
De Minaur vs Hewitt Head To Head
Alex de Minaur Form Analysis
Cruz Hewitt Form Analysis
De Minaur vs Hewitt Live Stream

It's a crazy situation for Cruz, De Minaur and former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, who probably must take a somewhat neutral position as his son takes on the man who he has coached and guided to the top 10 over the years.

“He's like my older brother. I've known him basically my whole life. He's stayed with us. We have Christmas together, also. He's taught me so much," Cruz said of de Minaur ahead of the match.

Hewitt earned a wildcard into Washington qualifying on the back of his run to the junior Wimbledon final and was aided by two retirements to advance into the main draw, where he produced a brilliant display to dominate World No. 85 Marcos Giron 6-3 6-4 for his first win over a top 100 player.

Meanwhile, de Minaur managed to overcome a daunting 1-12 record against Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening round, which was delayed by a day due to rain. It wasn't the cleanest performance you'll ever see, but de Minaur got the job done to open his title defence with a win.

Obviously Cruz has nothing to lose here, but de Minaur's superior consistency, experience and overall more-rounded game should prove far too strong here. I'm backing the World No. 6 to cover a -5.5 line, with a small stake on a first set correct score of 6-2, which has landed a lot in de Minaur's second round matches this season.

De Minaur vs Hewitt Stats & Trends

De Minaur has won 60 of his last 81 ATP 500 matches
De Minaur has won 10 of his 14 matches in Washington
De Minaur has a 7-2 record in his second round matches in 2026
Seven of de Minaur's 22 sets in second round matches this year have seen a 6-2 score
Hewitt will be facing a top 50 player for the first time
Hewitt has a 4-5 record vs top 200 players

De Minaur vs Hewitt Head To Head

This will be the first career meeting between the pair, but they would have played hundreds and hundreds of practice sets together over the last few years.

Alex de Minaur Form Analysis

2026 ATP Record: 28-14
ATP Washington Record: 10-4
Current Ranking: No. 6
Career-High Ranking: No. 5 (July 2026)

Despite climbing to a career-high ranking of No. 5, de Minaur has endured a frustrating season and has openly admitted he's been battling both his confidence and motivation following a string of painful defeats.

The Australian suffered more Grand Slam disappointment earlier this month, with his Wimbledon campaign ending in a straight-sets fourth-round defeat to Flavio Cobolli.

De Minaur also suffered an early exit at Roland Garros, falling to Jakub Mensik in the third round, while a runner-up finish in 's-Hertogenbosch after losing to Kamil Majchrzak and a quarter-final defeat to Brandon Nakashima at Queen's rounded out a disappointing grass-court swing.

The 27-year-old was dealt an extremely difficult opening round in Washington against Stefanos Tsitsipas, someone who he had lost to in 12 of their 13 previous meetings. However, de Minaur hung tough and found a way to win in a scrappy contest, coming away with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory, improving his ATP 500 record to 60-21 since the start of 2023.

Cruz Hewitt Form Analysis

2026 ATP Record: 1-0
ATP Washington Record: 1-0
Current Ranking: No. 612
Career-High Ranking: No. 606

It's been a whirlwind month for Hewitt.

The 17-year-old made the junior final of Wimbledon and was subsequently awarded a wildcard into Washington qualifying, where he moved past Dusan Lajovic and Zachary Svajda to take his place in the main draw.

Hewitt then secured his first top 100 win with a one-sided 6-3 6-4 victory over Marcos Giron, winning 85 per cent of points behind his serve and not facing a single break point. He's now the youngest player to win a main draw match at Washington since Kei Nishikori in 2007.

The rising teenager has now climbed to a live ATP ranking of No. 357 after starting the tournament outside the top 600.