Cruz Hewitt celebrates ATP Challenger main-draw debut with victory over world No.192 James McCabe

Cruz Hewitt has marked his main-draw debut on the second-tier ATP Challenger circuit with a dominant first win over a top-200 opponent. Received a wildcard into the Brisbane event, the 16-year-old son of tennis great Lleyton wasted no time justifying the faith inside Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday. Hewitt made light work of fellow Aussie — and world No.192 — James McCabe for a 6-2 6-1 victory in just 80 minutes. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Hewitt faced just one break point in a strong performance on both ends of the court, making McCabe pay for his wayward service. The son of a gun has had mixed results in recent months but reached a semi-final in a third-tier ITF event in Brisbane late last month. McCabe, the fifth seed, arrived in Queensland on the back of reaching an ATP Challenger semi-final in Taipei last week. Hewitt’s win will lift him to a new career-high ranking from 818th to near 750th in the world. But more pressingly it sends him into a winnable second-round clash with world No.518 Wu Tung-Lin or world No.320 Christian Langmo. The Brisbane Challenger features a host of familiar faces. Bernard Tomic has already dispatched Li Tu in a 6-4 7-5 win for a spot in the second round. He could meet Dane Sweeny in the third round. James Duckworth and Rinky Hijikata are the top seeds, with Jason Kubler, Alex Bolt, Marc Polmans also in the draw.