Who is Nishesh Basavareddy? All you need to know about Indian-American taking on Novak Djokovic in Australian Open 2025 1R 

Novak Djokovic will be vying for a record-breaking 25th Major title at the 2025 Australian Open during the next fortnight. The World No. 7's bid for Major glory may hit a roadblock if he isn't on top of his powers during his first-round match against USA's Nishesh Basavareddy.

Basavareddy is only 19 and has yet to play a full ATP Tour season. The Indian-origin player turned pro late last year after several favorable results, which included successfully qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

The World No. 133's 2024 exploits were mostly limited to the ATP Challenger circuit. After reaching his first-ever competitive final at the Fairfield Challenger in 2023, he replicated the result the following year as he fell in the finals of the Challenger events in Fairfield and Charleston.

Nishesh Basavareddy then won his maiden Challenger-level title in Tiburon, California, in October 2024, after which he finished runner-up at two more Challenger events in Knoxville and Champaign. The American saved his best of the season for the final few months, winning his second title in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The 19-year-old qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals with a ranking of 138 and beat fast-rising Shang Jungcheng en route to a 1-2 round-robin finish. He has been playing better than ever at his first-ever pro tournament at the ASB Classic, having gone on a giant-killing run this year.

Due to not meeting the direct cut for main draw entry, the youngster had to qualify for the ATP 250 tournament. He made the most of the opportunity, beating defending champion Alejandro Tabilo in the second round on Wednesday (January 8) before coming from a set down to beat sixth-seeded Alex Michelsen to reach the last four.

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Novak Djokovic looking to improve positive Australian Open record against players ranked outside ATP top 100 rankings

Novak Djokovic looks on during a practice session at Rod Laver Arena | Image Source: Getty

World No. 133 Basavareddy will have his work cut out against Novak Djokovic, who has already arrived in Melbourne. The Serb has a record ten Australian Open titles to his name, having beaten his arch-rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer en route to title victory on multiple occasions.

That said, the 24-time Major winner is as proficient at winning his early-round matches in Melbourne as he is at coming on top of marquee matches. Since playing at the Happy Slam for the first time in his career 20 years ago, he has won 13 of his 14 matches against players ranked outside the men's top 100.

Djokovic's only loss to a player ranked below World No. 100 at the Australian Open in 2005-24 came to Denis Istomin (117) in the second round of the 2017 edition of the tournament. Against that background, beating the 37-year-old will be a tall order for Basavareddy when they face off in the first round in Melbourne next week.