Nishesh Basavareddy ready to face his dream guest Novak Djokovic!

Player Features

One of Basavareddy’s dream guests? His opponent from the Australian Open, Djokovic!

Learn more about the #NextGenATP star’s off-court life

January 12, 2025

Nishesh Basavareddy could hardly have asked for a more exciting start to his Australian Open career.

The 19-year-old American will face ten-time champion Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park on Monday. Competing in his first main draw match at a major tournament would have been a landmark moment for Basvareddy regardless of the opponent, but he now knows he will be facing one of his childhood idols.

“I flirted with Arthur Ashe, I’m going to flirt with Laver [before the match]so I’m going to use that experience a little bit, but I think it’ll be really cool to enjoy this whole moment,” Basavareddy told ATPTour.com ahead of his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Djokovic. “I hope the crowd is packed. This is where you dream of playing when you are a little kid.

Basavareddy has already seen Djokovic up close: he was a tournament striking partner at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals, where the Serbian triumphed. Even though he didn’t share the practice court with Djokovic that week in Turin, it was still a very formative experience for Basavareddy, who was playing college tennis at the time.

“No [Nitto ATP Finals] is the highest level event that exists in tennis,” reflected the former Cardinal of Stanford University. “The top eight guys at that time, seeing them in person, it was almost a little [surreal]because it was the first time I saw so many of these guys. Being here about a year later is definitely a little surreal. But I think this week gave me a lot of confidence, since the level wasn’t as high as I thought it would be. I think that was huge for me.

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Basavareddy didn’t have to think long when asked about the Djokovic matches he remembers most: the Serbian’s 2019 Wimbledon final victory over Roger Federer and his victory in five hours and 53 minutes in the 2012 Australian Open championship against Rafael Nadal. Basavareddy was only six years old when this match took place.

“I just remember the mental toughness that those two guys had to fight through that whole game, and also the cramps during the post-match celebrations,” he said. “Obviously it was a painful moment for them, but I also think it was a pretty cool moment for tennis fans to see how much they put into it.”

Djokovic also appeared when Basavareddy was put to the test by ATPTour.com’s off-court rapid-fire Q&A. Which of the Serbian’s matches would the ATP Next Gen 2024 Finals presented by competitor PIF wish they could have played? And which baseball star would he gladly accept as his tour guide? Read on to find out more about the #NextGenATP star.

If you could have dinner with three people, who would they be and why?
Novak [Djokovic]LeBron [James]…I’m trying to think of a businessman or something… But I’ll skip that and go Roger [Federer]. Three great athletes who I can ask a lot of questions to.

If you could switch places with one person for the day, who would it be and why?
Maybe Shohei Ohtani. He’s a pretty famous person and Japan is a pretty cool country. Maybe he’d show me a good time.

Is there a particular match from the past that makes you want to be the one to play it?
Maybe Djokovic [against Alcaraz] at the Paris Olympics. I think winning a gold medal is really cool, the way he’s able to do it in this atmosphere. I think it would be really cool to win a gold medal.

Is there anything cool you’ve done off the court that you did purely because you’re a tennis player?
I just think about visiting all kinds of places. I’ve never really taken a vacation outside of tennis. I was able to go to Lake Como, which is one of the best places I’ve ever been, or last year I went to Chile and went buggy riding in the desert there. I don’t think I would have done this without tennis. So those are all the different experiences that I’ve had.

What are your biggest hobbies outside of tennis?
I like to play video games on my phone and maybe jump into some other PlayStation games. I like watching TV. I just finished Outer Banks, it was good, or White Collar was good too. I also do a bit of karting at home, sometimes it’s fun. I also like watching different sports.

What is your dream day without tennis?
To visit a nice place. I like to go sightseeing and see different things.

You travel a lot with tennis. If you could visit one place just for vacation, where would it be?
I haven’t really been to Asia, so maybe Japan or Korea. I heard these places are nice.