Nishesh Basavareddy, remember the name! This 19-year-old American tennis prodigy is making headlines at the moment. He finished the 2024 season on a high note by winning two ATP Challenger Tour titles and reaching three more finals since October. His incredible run earned him a spot at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals, which will be held later this month. It was a dream for him to become a pro tennis player and now that dream has turned into a reality. Speaking of fulfilling dreams, earlier this year he also got the chance to meet the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer. What advice did Federer give to this young tennis sensation during his visit to Stanford?

Basavareddy spent two years at Stanford University, where he was a two-time ITA All-American and qualified for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator in both the seasons. He was born in Newport Beach, California and his family moved to central Indiana when Nishes was just 8 years old. Talking about fulfilling his dream of becoming a pro, Nishesh Basavareddy said, “Since I started playing tennis at three years old, it’s been my dream to be a pro tennis player. Thanks to the support from my friends, family, coaches, Stanford family, and the USTA, I can live out my childhood dream.”

Recently, the youngster appeared on The Changeover Podcast, and during the podcast, he was heard sharing some wisdom he got from Roger Federer during their previous meeting. Roger Federer made a surprise visit to Stanford University in March this year. He came to watch their match against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and even hit some balls on the court, then joined the Cardinal for a private dinner. Federer went there to meet his longtime agent Tony Godsick and his son, Nico who was a freshman for the Cardinal this year. Speaking about this experience, we saw Basavareddy say, “It’s super cool hitting with anyone of that caliber. I think that’s probably the best player I’ve ever hit with.”

While speaking about their discussion with Roger Federer he said, “We were joking around that none of us blinked for 10 minutes.”  Basavareddy added, “We got lucky enough that Roger came to visit us when we were at Stanford…and we were asking him about what he did for fitness like later in his career. He said that he didn’t go above like 20 lbs. Like if he’s going Bulgarian split squats, he’ll just be holding both and just doing it and a lot of it was like bodyweight plyo stuff like that.”

However, he further added, “But when he (Federer) was younger, obviously he probably did the same stuff that we all do until the weights and getting a base. But then at the end of his career, he was just focusing a lot on core stability, movement, things like that.” So, Nishesh Basavareddy got the chance to live multiple dreams in a short time span. Can he achieve a historic feat at the Next Gen ATP Finals this year? Time will tell, but Stanford’s men’s tennis head coach coach, Paul Goldstein thinks this young lad has a lot of potential.

During a previous interview, Goldstein said, “Nishesh is a special young man whose successes on the tennis court are a tribute to his unique talent, highly disciplined work ethic, and sheer passion for our sport.” Has he learned all these things from his favorite player? Well, who is his favorite player, though? Roger Federer?

American tennis sensation snubs Roger Federer to pick his favorite player

Nishesh Basavareddy has used all the coaching and resources from Stanford in his favor to make it into the AO 2025 as wildcard. However, several other people had also made a significant impact on his tennis career. In 2022, Bsavareddy won the biggest paycheck as a 16-year-old – $5000 for winning the Rajeev Ram Foundation Indy Challenger tournament.

Speaking about Ram’s role in his career, the youngster said, “Rajeev has been a big influence. I have known him for 10 years. He has been really supportive in my jump from juniors to college to pro. He made that jump as well a while back. He gave me a lot of advice on what to expect on the Tour and how to improve my game. He has had so much success.” Is Rajeev Ram the favorite tennis player of Nishesh Basavareddy, then?

Well, speaking on his favorite player, he added, “Djokovic as he is my favorite player. Del Potro is also inspiring. I had a couple of injuries when growing up, a couple of knee surgeries, so it is inspiring to see him come back strong so many times.” Who does he look up to from the current generation, though?

“I would say I looked up to Alcaraz in the past couple of years. He has done it at such a young age it has been incredible. It is incredible how quickly he shot up the rankings. That is something that other guys can’t do but it has been inspiring to see how quickly he has moved up and all the success he has,” said the 19-year-old. Do you think he can do wonders for American tennis in the upcoming years? Share your thoughts in the comment box.