Ten-time Melbourne Park champion Novak Djokovic moved into the second round of Australian Open 2025 in four sets on Monday night, but his opening victory of the tournament wasn’t without its complications.
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Playing his first Grand Slam match with new coach Andy Murray alongside him, the Serb had to stay calm after dropping the first set to 19-year-old American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy.
Physical problems that hampered the teenage world No.107 from the beginning of the third set made things a lot more straightforward for Djokovic, who eventually came through 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 to set up a meeting with Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria.
After nearly three hours on court, Djokovic was the first to recognise his opponent’s quality.
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“I think he was the better player for a set and a half,” admitted Djokovic, who is aiming for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title during his stay in Melbourne. “He deserves every bit of applause that he got when he was leaving the court.
“To be really honest with you, I’d never seen him play until maybe three or four days ago so I didn’t know much about him. These kind of match-ups are always tricky, always dangerous, when you’re playing somebody who has nothing to lose.
“He’s a very complete player. He did very pleasantly surprise me with his shots, his fighting spirit towards the end, so I wish him all the very best for the rest of his career.”
Despite victory for the Serb, the match will perhaps be remembered for the quality produced by Basavareddy, particularly during an astonishing 49-minute opening set.
Playing his first match at Grand Slam level after only turning professional in December, the former Stanford University standout matched Djokovic shot for shot as he built a surprise lead.
Basavareddy has an eye-catching game that helped him win two Challenger Tour titles and reach another four finals during 2024, jumping from 457 to 138 in the rankings by the end of the season. The data science student ended the year by qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.
His standout qualities are his return of serve, early ball-striking and ability to redirect pace as well as seemingly effortless court coverage. It was all on display during the opening hour of the match.
The youngster broke Djokovic with a clean winner in the seventh game to switch ends 4-3 ahead, and showed great poise and maturity whenever he came under pressure on serve.
Despite missing most of his first deliveries as he tried to finish off the opener serving at 5-4, again he stayed calm to eventually hold for a one-set lead.
The best-of-five set format is new to Basavareddy, and as the second set wore on Djokovic’s experience began to show. The Serb let out a huge roar when he broke to go ahead 5-3 and was soon sitting down at one set apiece.
Towards the end of that second set Basavareddy appeared to be suffering with cramp in his left leg, and was visibly weaker even after a medical timeout for treatment between sets.
Djokovic broke in the first game of the third when the American double-faulted break point down, and despite Basavareddy looking a little stronger as the set developed he couldn’t quite recover from that early set-back.
The fourth set was a carbon copy of the third, with the former world No.1 taking his opponent's serve in the very first game. That set the tone for the remainder of the match as Djokovic eased to the line.
In his post-match interview with Josh Eagle, the Serb acknowledged Murray’s input during the contest – once he’d adjusted to having the Scot offering advice from a few metres away.
“It was a little bit of a strange experience to have him courtside in my box,” the world No.7 laughed.
“We’ve played for nearly 20 years at the highest level, and it’s great to have him at the same side of the net.
“He gave me some great advice mid-match. It’s a completely different angle and perspective when you're watching from courtside, and he’s been doing really well and it’s been an enjoyable experience. Hopefully we don’t stop here.”