“I’m gaining confidence every day right now” – Nishesh Basavareddy (USA) on beating WR 97 Schoolkate

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Under a punishing North Carolina sun, 20-year-old American Nishesh Basavareddy produced a sizzling performance of his own, battling through the qualifying rounds to secure his debut spot in the main draw of the ATP 250 Winston-Salem Open.

He opened his campaign with a dominant 6−2,6−0 victory over Alex Rybakov before facing a much sterner test in World No. 97 Tristan Schoolkate. Rising to the occasion, the young American dispatched the Australian 6−4,6−3 to book his place in the main draw.

Immediately after his career-defining win, Basavareddy sat down with Chak Koonapareddy of Indian Tennis Daily to discuss the tough conditions, his flawless execution, and the moment he realized he could make a career out of the sport he loves.

Chak Koonapareddy: Nishesh, congratulations on qualifying for your Winston-Salem Open main draw debut. Just tell us how you’re feeling after that big win.

Nishesh Basavareddy: Yeah, feeling good. Today was pretty tough conditions. One of the hottest days I’ve played in this year, for sure. So I’m struggling a bit right now, but I’m just happy to get through in two sets.

CK: Let’s talk about the match today against Tristan Schoolkate. What were your thoughts on the quality and how you handled a top-100 player?

NB: I thought it was high quality. I thought I served pretty well for the most part. He’s a tricky player; he comes into the net a lot. I thought I was able to return well and put pressure on him and, most importantly, handle the conditions.

CK: What was the specific game plan coming in? Looking back, is there anything you could have done differently?

NB: The game plan was to take care of my service games and try to put as many returns as I could back in the court to apply pressure on his games. And I thought I did that pretty well. There was just a minor blip in the second set, but other than that, I thought I executed quite well today.

CK: Going back to your first-round match versus Alex Rybakov, the previous two times you played him, the score lines were very close. What made this time such a dominant 6−2,6−0 win?

NB: I feel like I’m gaining confidence every day right now. Yesterday was one of my best serving days I’ve had in my life, probably. So that helped, for sure. I just started out well and was able to ride that momentum to the end.

CK: How do the courts here in Winston-Salem compare to other tournaments you’ve played recently, like last week in Cincinnati?

NB: I like the conditions here. Last week in Cincinnati, where most of us were, it was definitely faster. This week, it’s more medium-paced. You can still rush the other guy, but it’s a little bit easier to play rallies and return serve. So it’s kind of medium, I would say medium-fast.

CK: To finish, do you remember the exact moment you realized you wanted to pursue tennis professionally?

NB: That’s a good one. Probably when I started playing junior international events when I was like 15 or 16. I started having success against guys my age from around the world, and that gave me a lot of confidence. I think that’s when I really started believing that I could make it professionally.