Nishesh Basavareddy advances at Next Gen Finals with Gilles Cervara in his corner

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Nishesh Basavareddy announced himself to the tennis world in a big way at the start of the 2025 season. As a qualifier, the American reached the semifinals in Auckland, then followed it up days later by pushing Novak Djokovic to four sets in his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open.

That breakout stretch set the tone for Basavareddy’s best season to date. The 20-year-old continued to build experience across ATP and ATP Challenger events, and in June cracked the Top 100 for the first time.

Read More: The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals: The field, fun facts and where to watch

Now, Basavareddy carrying that momentum into the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where he has reached the semifinals—an encouraging early return at his first tournament with new coach Gilles Cervara.

Basavareddy announced the hire Cervara, the longtime coach of Daniil Medvedev, in November. He said he reached out to the veteran Frenchman following Cervara’s split with the former world No. 1 in August, looking to add more experience to his team alongside Bryan Smith.

“Obviously he had a long and successful partnership with Daniil, who was a good player before they started working together, but they did a lot of great things together,” No. 6 seed Basavareddy told the ATP Tour website in Jeddah.

“I thought that experience at the highest level could help me where I’m at in my career. It’s not just the tennis; he’s interested in all aspects. He’s diligent and professional in areas such as nutrition and fitness and that will help me.”

For Cervara, the new partnership represents a fresh chapter after spending nearly a decade devoted to one player. During that span, he guided Medvedev to six Grand Slam finals, including the title at the 2021 US Open.

“I’m thrilled about this project with a healthy player and environment, eager to build something after many months without a structure,” Cervara told L’Equipe earlier this month.

“He’s a young man who isn’t confined to the United States and wants to work with a French coach. It’s a great adventure. There are quite a few things to accomplish in relation to my coaching profile.”

So far, the results have been promising. Basavareddy is 2-1 in Jeddah, his best showing in his second appearance at the eight-player, under-20 event.

In Red Group play, the No. 6 seed opened with a four-set win over Dino Prizmic, but faced a win-or-go-home scenario after a three-set loss to Alexander Blockx. He responded on Friday by defeating No. 7 seed Justin Engel 4-3 (3), 4-2, 4-3 (5).

Blockx finished atop the Red Group standings, with Basavareddy advancing as the No. 2 seed. Both players move on to the semifinals and will learn their opponents shortly.

In the Blue Group, No. 7 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain defeated countryman and No. 4 seed Martin Landaluce 4-3 (7), 4-1, 4-3 (2). Top seed Learner Tien faces Nicolai Budkov Kjaer as round-robin play wraps up on Friday.

🖥️📲 Stream the Next Gen ATP Finals on the Tennis Channel App!