From training with Carlos Alcaraz to breaking into top-200, 19-year-old Indian-origin Basavareddy bags AUS Open wildcard | Tennis News

19-year-old Indian-origin American tennis player Nishesh Basavareddy is set to participate at the upcoming Australian Open next year. Basavareddy recently bagged notable Challenger results, in Charlottesville, Knoxville and Champaign. He lost two finals, and added a semi-final to his record, to get a wildcard in the main draw in Melbourne.

He also played in the qualifying draw at the 2024 US Open and is set to make his Grand Slam debut now. Basavareddy travelled to Turin a year ago, and he practised with some of the best players in the world, including Carlos Alcaraz. He finished 12th in the ITA singles ranking this May, and is in Stanford University, also getting a Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year award. He is currently ranked 152nd in the ATP standings.

Basavareddy has also received financial support from The Rajeev Ram Foundation. Speaking to the ATP Tour, he said, “Any time you can get that kind of support, financially, knowing that people are backing you is huge.”

“[Rajeev] has been super important for my growth because he played junior tennis, college tennis and made that leap to pro tennis after leaving the University of Illinois. I think having all of his advice, what to expect on the pro tour, and the tennis advice has been huge for me,” he added.

He reached the semis at the Little Rock Challenger at the beginning of June, also entering the top-400. Then he reached the final in Bloomfield Hills, and then lost to Hamad Medjedovic in the third round qualifying round at the US Open this year. He clinched his first Challenger Trophy in Tiburon.

He will be playing at the Next Gen ATP Finals, he said, “It seems like a really cool showcase for the younger guys who maybe don’t get as much exposure if they aren’t playing on the main tour yet. I think it’s a really cool initiative and obviously [Carlos] Alcaraz has won the event. A lot of Top 10 guys have played it.”