Freshman Nishesh Basavareddy proved that he feels right at home at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Center this week, winning the ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships in decisive fashion to qualify for the upcoming ITA Fall National Championships.
In only the second collegiate tournament of Basavareddy’s career, the 2022 US Open Boys doubles champion did not drop a single set. He capped off his dominant performance with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Berkeley’s Ryder Jackson.
“I think I played really well,” Basavareddy said after the final. “In college, it’s no ad scoring, so every point matters. I think I played the big points well. He had a lot of chances, sometimes on my serve, but I was able to hold him off at some good points and start playing a little bit better.”
Head coach Paul Goldstein believes part of Basavareddy’s success comes from an ability to absorb information like “a sponge” and immediately apply it to his matchplay.
“Yesterday, one area that we identified as an area of growth was the guy he played hit too hard down the line to his forehand for him to be able to get underneath the ball and dip it cross,” Goldstein said. “[Assistant] Coach [Brandon] Coupe did 20 minutes with him on that shot, and he executed it three or four times today during his match. That’s just really fun, as a coach, to work with someone who’s able to do that.”
As a freshman, Basavareddy is relatively new to the collegiate tennis scene, as well as to college life. While he says that adjusting to new coaches and living independently has been “a little more challenging,” Basavareddy has adapted to the challenge, claiming his second title in as many tournaments.
“I’m truly inspired by what we’ve seen from Nishesh in this first month of the season,” Goldstein said. “In terms of making the transition from both high school and junior tennis to college life and college tennis, I don’t think I’ve, in nine years, seen someone make as seamless a transition as Nishesh — both in terms of managing the workload that comes with being a student athlete at Stanford, as well as the quality of play that he’s demonstrating on the court.”
Several Cardinal teammates joined Basavareddy in the draw: freshman Samir Banerjee, sophomore Anders Matta, junior Aryan Chaudhary, seniors Filip Kolasinski and Neel Rajesh and graduate student Isaac Gorelik. Rajesh advanced to the round of 16 before losing to Jackson, Basavareddy’s ultimate opponent in the finals, in three sets.
In doubles, Basavareddy and sophomore Max Basing made a run to the quarterfinals but fell 8-6 in the third set to James Watt and Thibaud Maxant from Saint Mary’s.
“It’s obviously been a great start to my collegiate career,” Basavareddy said. “I’m playing a lot of high-level players, so it’s good to know that I’m playing at a good level right now. I just want to continue to improve and hopefully have a good week next week.”
Basavareddy will next head to San Diego, Calif. for the ITA Fall National Championships from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6. Basing will also make the trip, having qualified after his performance at the recent ITA All-American Championships.