Lleyton Hewitt says Australian tennis is struggling. Is he right?

Lleyton Hewitt says Australian tennis is struggling.

The man who oversees the country’s development and performance pathway begs to differ – but would welcome more involvement from the former world No.1.

Australia’s indifferent results on the global, and particularly grand slam, stage are again in the spotlight after Hewitt’s frank comments on Friday ahead of a rare Davis Cup tie in Brisbane against Poland.

Strong thoughts: Australia’s Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.Getty ImagesAlexei Popyrin’s dramatic fall from grace, on top of ranking tumbles from Maya Joint and Daria Kasatkina, means top-10 star and seven-time major quarter-finalist Alex de Minaur is Australia’s sole player in the top 50 on the men’s and women’s side.

That figure trails the other grand slam nations – France (six), Great Britain (two) and United States (15) – with the asterisk that Australia’s population is far smaller, and it is much further away from the heart of the tour.

Hewitt was the last Australian man to win a grand slam singles title in 2002, but the US (Andy Roddick in 2003) and France (Yannick Noah in 1983) are also enduring significant droughts.

“We’re struggling at the moment,” Hewitt said.

“There’s no doubt about that, just with the numbers coming through, so it’s something that’s definitely got to be looked at … we should be doing a lot better than we are.”

De Minaur was the hero again with two singles victories over Poland this past weekend, but even he has endured an underwhelming season by his standards. His top-10 ranking is under threat, and he is unlikely to qualify for this year’s ATP Finals in Turin.

However, Tennis Australia’s chief strategy and performance officer, Tim Jolley, told this masthead that he remained optimistic about the state of the sport in this country.

“We always want more players,” Jolley said, “but other than a couple of magnificent years from Ash [Barty], Australian tennis is in its best shape for 20 years, and the momentum and trajectory are positive.

“In 2025, we had 14 players have a top-100 ranking in the calendar year, which is the most we’ve had since 1989, and this year, we’re on track to match that – and possibly one better if Emerson [Jones, or Dane Sweeny] can go top 100.”

Jolley said he spoke regularly with Hewitt, whose 17-year-old son Cruz made the Wimbledon boys’ final and is Australia’s brightest men’s prospect.

Cruz has been part of TA’s national academy, and coached by Wayne Arthurs, since after last year’s US Open.

But Hewitt appeared to distance himself on Friday from the development of Australia’s next generation – outside his own son – saying his job and focus was leading the country’s Davis Cup squad.

“Lleyton’s primary role is the overall development and management of the Davis Cup team, which is a very important role in Australian tennis,” Jolley said.

“He does have a role in the Tennis Australia pathway, and we don’t put constraints on how Lleyton can be involved in the pathway. Someone with his accomplishments, experience and understanding of tennis has the freedom to invest his time [however he wants].”

Lleyton Hewitt.Getty ImagesAdvertisementFrance’s Moise Kouame is the only 17-year-old higher in the ATP rankings than Cruz Hewitt, but there are no other top Australian prospects in his age bracket, or even slightly older, which Jolley conceded.

But TA’s performance boss was bullish about a younger men’s group coming through.

Ethan Domingo, Taiki Takizawa and Har Abir Sekhon combined in May to qualify Australia for the Junior Davis Cup finals for the first time since 2022, while Novak Palombo led Australia to a third placing in last month’s 14-and-under World Junior Tennis finals.

Whether any of that group graduates as a top-line prospect to the ATP Tour is years away from fruition, but a talented crop of Australian women are already making their mark.

Joint, who broke into the top 30 in February, has arrested a multi-month slump and beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, while Talia Gibson, 22, beat five top-20 opponents in March to charge into the top 60, and 20-year-old Taylah Preston became Australia’s newest top-100 player on US Open eve.

Former junior world No.1 Emerson Jones, a two-time girls’ slam finalist, is still only 18 but on the cusp of her top-100 debut.

Something Jolley said TA was working hard on, and needed to succeed in, was ensuring Australia’s best young athletes were choosing tennis, instead of Australian football, rugby league or basketball. He said all those sports were in a “fight to the death” for the best talent.

“I wouldn’t say Alex de Minaur is covering the cracks,” Jolley said.

“For a country with a population our size, having Alex is great – and congratulations to Alex on the incredible career he’s enjoying at the moment.

“We don’t have depth coming through [in the next crop of men, outside Cruz Hewitt], but we’ve got it on the girls’ side and pretty quickly, we’ll see the next branch of boys coming through, who we’re very excited about. These things come in cycles.”

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