Novak Djokovic gets rolling with statement win in Australian Open 1R

Novak Djokovic started his 2025 Australian Open campaign today with a match against rising star Nishesh Basavareddy. The American teenager has had a really good start to the season, playing a couple of events and making the semi-final in Auckland, where he lost to Gael Monfils.

That’s why this wasn’t the easiest draw for Djokovic because the youngster would be very eager, and he has a bit of a tricky game. He has a decent forehand, a good backhand, strong returning, and overall is capable of hitting any shot.

Set 1

The opening set featured a good start by Novak. He immediately had a break chance and hit a couple of aces. Still, as time went on, Basavareddy started to play better and better, and his super aggressive approach yielded a breakthrough when he broke first to take a 5-3 lead.

The approach from Basavareddy was rather simple - be as aggressive as you can be. He did that both in the rallies and on the return. A bit of luck here and there, some nice shots, and he was up a break. At 5-4, the youngster held his nerve to serve out the set where he outplayed Djokovic by a decent margin.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion was a bit too slow to start and missed a bit too much, contributing to him losing the set. He had 14 winners and 10 unforced errors in the opening set while Basavareddy posted 15 winners and only 8 unforced errors.

Another thing is that he saved all three of the break points he faced compared to Djokovic saving only one of the two he faced.

Set 2

The second set featured quite a bit more battling than the first one. After 30 minutes of play, only 5 games were completed with Djokovic being on top 3-2. Basavareddy had more problems in this one, but he was still holding firm thanks to some really inspiring play under pressure.

Djokovic was pushing more because it was go time. Dropping the second set wouldn’t be ideal. Basavareddy also didn’t serve as well in this one, giving Djokovic chances, but the Serbian was still unable to break as easily as he would have liked. The good thing for Djokovic is that he didn’t have any problems holding his own serve.

The breakthrough for Djokovic came at 4-3 in the second set as he broke to take a 5-3 lead. Basavareddy then started to experience cramps suddenly which prevented him from playing at all in that game, and he lost it easily. As Djokovic was celebrating taking the second set 6-3, Basavareddy called for the physio because he could barely walk due to the cramps.

Novak Djokovic seized the momentum as opponent Nishesh Basavareddy started cramping - Set 3

2025 Australian Open - Day 2 - Source: Getty

The 3rd set opened with Basavareddy not playing as well as he played before. His movement looked much slower compared to before. He did have a medical timeout in between sets, but something was clearly impacting him.

He got broken immediately at the start of the 3rd set with Djokovic now looking very comfortable in how the match was unfolding. Basavareddy didn’t look too discouraged though as he still believed that he could do something in the match.

He did start to play a little bit better and moved better overall, but again Djokovic had things figured out. He was able to keep his lead without too many problems, though Basavareddy kept pushing as much as he could.

He came somewhat close to breaking at 5-4 for Djokovic, but the Serbian played well enough to hold his serve and win the set 6-4. He played much better in this one, especially his hitting which was far more crisp than before. He had 13 winners and 5 unforced errors in this one.

Set 4

The fourth set pretty much continued what had happened in the set before. Djokovic was still playing pretty clean overall while Basavareddy kind of hit his limitations after a brilliant opening set. Djokovic took an early break but then also faced a break point in the next game requiring a bit more focus. Basavareddy wasn’t going to go away because by now he was playing without any pressure, allowing him to play well in spurts.

The nail in the coffin, so to speak, came at 3-1 for Djokovic in the 4th set because Basavareddy had a 40-0 lead in the game but then complicated it a bit too much allowing Djokovic break chances which the Serbian took. It was 4-1 after that, and the arguably greatest player of all time cruised after that. The final score was 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-2 for Djokovic who finished the match with 23 aces, 51 winners, and 41 unforced errors.

A really inspired effort from Basavareddy but ultimately the physical issues and playing Djokovic proved a little bit too much for the 19-year-old.