It was a proud moment for the Hewitt family when two-time grand slam singles champion Lleyton came out of retirement to play with his son, Cruz, at the NSW Open on Wednesday.
The duo cruised to a convincing victory, needing only 46 minutes to defeat fellow Australians Hayden Jones and Pavle Marinkov, 6-1, 6-0.
Progressing to the quarter-finals, the Hewitts will be back on court on Thursday to face Calum Puttergill and Dane Sweeny.
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This is the duo's first time playing together as a professional doubles team.
Speaking to 9News Sydney on Wednesday, Lleyton shared that playing together professionally was something Cruz had wanted, describing the experience as a wonderful family moment.
"It was great," he said.
"I don't know if I've been thinking about it for a long time. You know, [Cruz] has been asking for the last couple of months, and he persuaded me to come out and play with him in the doubles.
"He's had a couple of really successful months playing on the singles tour as well, and, especially in seniors. So it was a lot of fun to be out there with my son."
Although Lleyton deferred to Cruz, allowing the 16-year-old to serve first in their opening match, their dynamic on the court was ultimately all about teamwork.
"Yeah, well, I said it a little bit as a joke before the match that I'll serve first, and then when we got out there, I said it again, and then he agreed with it. So then we went along with it," Cruz said.
"But it was a lot of fun and a bit of teamwork on the court. So, you know, we got the win, which was good."
Asked if tennis fans could expect to see more of the partnership in the future, Lleyton said he was unsure but would not rule it out because the match was so much fun.
"I'm not sure," he said.
"I don't know just yet, but it was a lot of fun, and potentially maybe a few times we might do it.
"But it was really special the first time here in Sydney, where Cruz is obviously from and has grown up, and I won this tournament many years ago. So, it's good to be back out there."
The match marked Lleyton's return to professional play after a hiatus of nearly five years.
A former world No.1, Lleyton received a wildcard to play in the ATP Challenger Tour tournament with Cruz.
The Australian great's last professional tournament was the 2020 Australian Open, where he appeared in the doubles draw with Jordan Thompson.
While Hewitt has kept his rhythm sharp in retirement by playing in legends matches at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
His return to the ATP Challenger level ended a 27-year absence. The now 44-year-old last featured at a Challenger in Perth, where he claimed a straight-sets victory against Mark Draper.
Cruz has built impressive momentum in the youth circuit over the past 12 months, regularly competing in ITF and ATP Challenger events across the country.
As a result of his strong performances, he has broken into the men's top 800 this week.
Aside from playing doubles with his dad, Cruz also competed in the singles draw.
He defeated countryman Omar Jasika 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the first round before falling to Japan's Matsuoka Hayato 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a tight second-round match on Wednesday.
