Nishesh Basavareddy is ready to face his dream guest Novak Djokovic! | ATP Tour

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One of Basavareddy’s dream dinner guests? His Australian Open opponent Djokovic!

Find out more about the #NextGenATP star’s life off the field

January 12, 2025

Nishesh Basavareddy could hardly have wished 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. Playing in his first main round match at a major would have been a milestone for Basvareddy regardless of the opponent, but now he knows he will be facing one of his childhood idols.

“I met Arthur Ashe, I’m going to meet Laver (before the match), so I’ll use that experience a little bit, but I think it’ll be really cool to just take in the whole moment,” Basavareddy told ATPTour.com ahead of his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Djokovic. “Hopefully the crowd is full. This is where you dream of playing as a little child.”

Basavareddy has seen Djokovic up close before: he was a tournament hitting partner at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals, where the Serb triumphed. Even though he didn’t share a training ground with Djokovic in Turin that week, it remained an extremely formative experience for Basavareddy, who was playing college tennis at the time.

“The (Nitto ATP Finals) is the highest event there is in tennis,” said the former Stanford University Cardinal standout. “Seeing the top eight guys in person back then was almost a little bit (surreal) because that was the first time I had seen a lot of those guys. Being here now about a year later is definitely a little surreal. But I think this week gave me a lot of confidence as I saw that the level wasn’t as high as I thought. I think that was huge for me.”

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

“I just remember how much mental toughness those two guys had to fight with throughout the game and how tense they were in the postgame 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 invested.”

Djokovic also came up when Basavareddy was put to the test by ATPTour.com’s quick off-court question and answer session. Which of the Serb’s games would he have liked to have played at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF? And which baseball star would he like to accept as a tour guide? Read on to find out more about the #NextGenATP star.

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

If you could swap places with one person for a 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 would show me a good time.

Is there a particular game from the past that you wish you had played yourself?
Maybe Djokovic (against Alcaraz) at the Paris Olympics. I think it’s really cool to win a gold medal like he did 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 just because you’re a tennis player?
I think I just visit all sorts of places. I never really took a vacation outside of tennis. I was able to go to Lake Como, one of the best places I’ve ever been, or last year I went to Chile and rode a dune buggy in the desert. I don’t think I would have done this without tennis. So it’s the different experiences that I’ve had.

What are your biggest hobbies outside of tennis?
I enjoy playing video games on my phone and might try PlayStation more. I like watching TV. I just finished Outer Banks, which was good, or White Collar was good too. I also drive a little kart at home, which is fun sometimes. I also like watching different sports.

What would your dream day be without tennis?
Visit a cool place. I like sightseeing and seeing different things.

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