He may have lost the biggest match of his young career in Launceston's final, but Cruz Hewitt has a bright future in the game if Jason Kubler's comments are anything to go by.
Hewitt, 16, produced a breakout week in Tasmania at the ITF M25 as he took down the world No.224 in the quarter-finals to mark his most significant scalp to date, before eventually falling to fellow Aussie Kubler 2-6 4-6 in the tournament decider.
Ranked No.1174 coming into the event, Hewitt, ranked No.67 in the juniors, is taking small steps towards trying to emulate his father, Lleyton.
Having played the teen for the first time in a professional setting, Kubler shared his optimism regarding Hewitt's game.
"I hit with him at the Gold Coast Future at the end of last year," former world No.63 Kubler told The First Serve. "The difference now, man... it almost feels like he's understanding tennis a lot more."
"Obviously [that was] in practice so it was a bit different, but I felt like his understanding of when not to miss, understanding of when to go for it [was impressive].
"Even I felt out there which I wasn't expecting was his management of time between points. Sometimes I looked up and he was ready to serve, and then other times he takes a bit longer. I was actually very impressed by that.
"His shot tolerance was very high. At the beginning, we had some really long rallies, and I was thinking, 'He's a bit younger, maybe there could be some errors coming', but he was incredibly solid."
After skipping most of last season through injury, Kubler's title in Launceston ensured back-to-back titles after his victory at the Burnie ITF M25 last month to extend his win streak to 10.
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