Grand Slam champions and International Tennis Hall of Famers Lindsay Davenport and Lleyton Hewitt find themselves in the role of tennis parents as their sons Jagger Leach and Cruz Hewitt are competing in the French Open Juniors Competition.
Jagger Leach will turn 18 later this month. He originally committed to TCU to play tennis but has since changed his mind and will compete for Stanford beginning in the Fall of 2025.
After decommitting from TCU, blue-chip recruit Jagger Leach (UTR 13.34 / #1 in class of 2025 @TennisRecNet) has signed with @StanfordTennis. The 17yo has an ITF Jr ranking of #5 & is the son of former world #1 Lindsay Davenport. Also son/nephew/grandson of Jon/Rick/Richard Leach. pic.twitter.com/SBL5fLQhAk
— Parsa Bombs 💣 (@ParsaBombs) May 20, 2025
He is in contention at the French Open Juniors in both singles and doubles. In his recent doubles match, he played against and defeated Cruz Hewitt’s doubles team.
Fun Fun Fun!
Jagger Leach 🇺🇸 & Oliver Bonding 🇬🇧 defeat Cruz Hewitt 🇦🇺 & Didoni Bonini 🇧🇷 6-3 7-5 in French Open Boys doubles
Jagger is the son of Linday Davenport and Cruz is the son of Lleyton Hewitt
— Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) June 3, 2025
Cruz Hewitt is 16 years old and has been on the tennis scene his entire life. When he is not playing, he can be seen at United Cup and Davis Cup Team Australia events where his dad is frequently a coach or captain.
💥 Demon x Cruz
🇦🇺 Alex de Minaur warming up with 🇦🇺 Cruz Hewitt ahead of his first round match in Indian Wells 🌵#TheFirstServe pic.twitter.com/7xJFKQAZD6
— The First Serve (@TheFirstServeAU) March 9, 2025
Does success in French Open Juniors translate to the ATP and WTA levels?
Of course, there is no guarantee that success at the junior level at any Grand Slam translates to the senior level. Players taking the college route, as Jagger Leach plans to do, are not as involved in juniors, but it does not hinder their success. Recent examples include John Isner, Danielle Collins, Ben Shelton, and Emma Navarro.
There are players who win at junior level and go on to be successful at the senior level. This year’s French Open quarterfinalist, Tommy Paul, is a former French Open Juniors champion (2015). Other noteworthy French Open Juniors Champions include Stan Wawrinka, Gael Monfils, Andrey Rublev, Alexei Popyrin, and Holger Rune. Prior to Tommy Paul’s win in 2015, the most recent American French Open Juniors Champion was Bjorn Fratangelo in 2011. He is the husband and coach of 2025 Australian Open Champion Madison Keys.
2025 French Open semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti is a former Australian Open Juniors Champion.
One other noteworthy juniors fact: in 2015, Tommy Paul, Reillly Opelka, and Taylor Fritz swept the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open juniors titles.
