Cruz Hewitt, the son of former world No. 1 Lleyton, came up short in his bid to reach the Australian Open main draw when he was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of qualifying Tuesday.

The teenager, who has been warming up with Jannik Sinner at Melbourne Park, received a wildcard to Australian Open qualifying

Cruz was handed a brutal first-up assignment and was blown away by Basilashvili in a lopsided opening set. But the youngster showed his dad's fighting spirit to take the match to the Georgian in the second stanza, only to come up agonisingly short.

Cruz Hewitt's first foray into senior grand slam tennis ended with a swift reality check, but glimpses of his exciting potential were on display for a packed-out crowd at Melbourne Park.

Veteran Bernard Tomic and 16-year old Cruz Hewitt have both made quick exits from the Australian Open qualifiers as the duo both fell in straight sets in the first round.

Cruz Hewitt has crashed out of Australian Open qualifying with a straight-sets loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round on Tuesday. The 16-year-old was bidding to become the youngest player to make the main draw since his father Lleyton qualified for the 1997 tournament a month shy of his 16th birthday.

Cruz Hewitt, the son of former world number one Lleyton, came up short in his bid to reach the Australian Open main draw on Tuesday when he was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of qualifying.

The 16-year-old could not follow in his father’s footsteps to qualify for the first grand slam of the year as a teenager, with Lleyton Hewitt a qualifier in 1997 as a 15-year-old

Bernard Tomic's absence from the Australia Open main draw will stretch on for another year after the controversial star suffered a straight-sets loss to Jozef Kovalik in his opening qualifying game.