Nearly 30 years after his father made his first Australian Open with a qualifying wildcard, the 16-year-old Cruz Hewitt was bidding to do the same.
But watched by his parents, he was crushed 6-1, 6-4 by experienced Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili at the first hurdle.
Fellow Australian Tomic, a former world number 17 who is now playing the lower-level Challenger circuit after his game collapsed, was trounced 6-3, 6-1 by Slovakian Jozef Kovalik.
Gasquet was bidding to make an 18th Australian Open main-draw appearance but fell in straight sets to Duje Ajdukovic, who is 15 years his junior at age 23.
“Shout-out to Richard still giving it his all at his age, it’s unbelievable,” Ajdukovic said after the match.
Britain’s Dan Evans, who has reached a career-high 21, also failed to negotiate qualifying for the opening Grand Slam of the year, which gets under way on Sunday.
© 2025 AFP
