Nishesh looks to chart his own path

The 19-year-old is on the cusp of entering the top-100 and many believe he is destined to go much higher

- Shahid Judge

MUMBAI: Nishesh Basavareddy remembers being greeted by a flurry of notifications on his phone shortly after his Australian Open match against Novak Djokovic last month. That was the 19-year-old's first main draw match at a Grand Slam. The expectations were low, but he did manage to win the opening set against the 24-time Major winner.

He eventually lost in four sets, but Basavareddy, an American of Indian heritage, had found a larger fanbase.

"I got a lot of messages from Indians, like either actors or some athletes," he said to HT. "It shows that the people are following me over there. And I really enjoy all that, just having a whole another country behind me."

Born and raised in the US, Basavareddy's performance earned him praise from fans in India. But in the wider tennis world too, he has been rated as a promising young player to watch out for. Just a few months after turning professional, he is now getting close to breaking into the top 100.

He has had a good start to the season so far. A week before the Australian Open, he rose from the qualifiers of the ATP 250 event in Auckland and reached the semi-final. But against Djokovic, a player whose photograph he had once kept as the background image on his phone, Basavareddy, the world No. 106 had plenty of takeaways.