It was all heart and emotion at the net after the match between Alex de Minaur and Cruz Hewitt at the DC Open. The defending champion had an emotional message for his younger compatriot, with whom he shares a close off-court bond, after securing a straight-sets victory in the second-round clash.

“Good luck for the next 10 years of your life”, De Minaur was heard saying at the net after the match. “We’re going to play for the next ten years of our lives.”

With former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt being his mentor, De Minaur has shared a close relationship with the Hewitt family off the court, almost like an elder sibling to young Cruz. The duo has had hitting sessions together, and the young Aussie has been thankful to be getting valuable insights about his game from one of the top-ranked players in the world.

On the court, the match highlighted the gap in quality between the two players, as Hewitt struggled to serve against an elite mover like De Minaur. The 17-year-old had not faced a single break point in his first-round win, but got broken thrice in the opening set and was 5-0 down in no time. The youngster did get one break back but lost the set 6-2.

De Minaur did not let his foot off the pedal in the second set either, as he got an early break of serve in the third game. Hewitt did hold his serve after that, but could not make any headway against De Minaur’s serve, with the top seed winning the match 6-2, 6-3 and reaching the quarterfinals.

The loss did not dampen the mood between the two as Hewitt had a smile on his face when he came up to De Minaur at the net. The dynamic of an elder brother and mentor is not uncommon in men’s tennis, as Carlos Moya famously took up that role for a teenage Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Major champion looked up to Moya in his early days, and their close bond helped Nadal to tackle the hectic nature of Tour life. The Mallorcan brought in Moya in his coaching team in the second half of his career, with the two sharing a very close off-court bond as well.

Given the way De Minaur spoke about Hewitt before the match, it is evident that the two share almost a brotherly bond, but that did not stop the World No.6 from securing a one-sided win to set up a clash against Brandon Nakashima in the next round.

Alex De Minaur Faces a Tough Draw in Washington

Having secured a victory over Hewitt in the previous round, De Minaur will now go up against Brandon Nakashima in the quarterfinals. This will be a rematch of last year, as the two met in the quarterfinals in DC, which the Australian won in straight sets. However, it is Nakashima who has an overall 2-1 lead in the head-to-head, having won his last match against De Minaur at Queens this year.

This already makes the draw even tougher for De Minaur, who already had to win against the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. Given the Greek’s current form, one might not consider him a formidable opponent, but he did have a 12-1 win-loss record against the Australian player, including a victory over him this year. In a match that got postponed due to rain, De Minaur had to battle past the former World No.3 in a tough three-set match.

Nakashima has been in good form this week as well, winning against the likes of Tomas Martin Etcheverry and the seventh-seeded Jakub Mensik, meaning De Minaur will have his work cut out. Should the Australian make it through, he will likely face third-seeded Taylor Fritz in the semifinals, and potentially one of Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Musetti in the final.

De Minaur has a close 6-5 win-loss record against Fritz, while having a losing head-to-head record against Musetti and Shelton, which means the Australian will have to play some of his best tennis in the next few days if he has to successfully defend his title.