Novak Djokovic begins his Australian Open 2025 campaign in Melbourne with a first-round clash against American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy.
Djokovic is eyeing an 11th title at Melbourne Park and overall, a record-breaking 25th career Major.
Here’s everything you need to know about Nishesh Basavareddy:-
Nishesh Basavareddy is a 19-year-old American with Indian heritage. His parents moved from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, to San Francisco in 1999. Basavareddy was born in Newport Beach, California. When he was eight years old, the family shifted to central Indiana. He also had an older brother.
At a tennis camp led by their mutual coach Bryan Smith, Basavareddy connected with former doubles No. 1 and Indiana-native Rajeev Ram. Since then, Ram has been a mentor for the youngster.
At the junior level, he reached a career-high ranking of 3. He clinched the boys’ doubles titles at the Junior US Open in 2022 with compatriot Ozan Baris. He also had two knee surgeries in 2016 and 2018.
READ | Australian Open 2025, men’s draw: Djokovic projected to meet Alcaraz in quarterfinals, Sinner opens title defence against Jarry
In 2024, he clinched two Challenger Titles in Puerto Vallarta and Tiburon while finishing runner-up at four tournaments at the same level. The performance helped him secure a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah where he defeated China’s Juncheng Shang in the group stage. It was his maiden tour-level win.
Before the tournament in Jeddah, he announced on social media that he is turning pro. He had spent two years at Stanford University.
He started the 2024 as No. 457 in the ATP Rankings and ended it as No. 138.
“I feel like having consistent results at Challengers post-US Open definitely gave me a belief that that’s something I can replicate month after month, and at each tournament,” Basavareddy told atptour.com regarding his decision to turn pro. “I think that’s probably where I saw the most improvement in my game, just the steady improvement throughout the year in a lot of aspects of my game.”
The 5’11” tall Basavareddy has begun 2025 season by qualifying for the main draws at Brisbane International and Auckland Open. In New Zealand, he became the youngest American to reach a tour-level hardcourt semifinal since an 18-year-old Reilly Opelka in 2016. He lost to Gael Monfils in the final-four clash.
Basavareddy has named Djokovic as his favourite player and modelled his game after the 24-time Grand Slam champion. “I’ve looked up to a lot of different players and modelled my game after a lot of players, but he’s been my favourite,” said the 19-year-old after his quarterfinal win in Auckland.
Facing Djokovic on his Grand Slam main draw debut is going to be the toughest test of Basavareddy’s young career.
As far as the Serbian is concerned, he revealed that he did not know much about Basavareddy before Auckland. “I watched him play yesterday actually for the first time. I think he’s played the semifinals of the New Zealand tournament,” said Djokovic in the press conference prior to the Australian Open.
“I saw that he’s very quick. He’s a very talented player. He’s got great hands. He’s very dynamic. He can serve well, hit spots.
“Just a very complete game overall. Yeah, I mean, it’s going to be his, I guess, first time in the main draw of the Grand Slam, wild card, playing on the center court.
“Not much to lose. I’m sure that he is going to be really pumped to make a statement. I have to obviously approach that match very seriously, like any other, and do my best to get a win. Also in the process, enjoy the nice moment of sharing the court with him.”
