Nishesh Basavareddy says what Novak Djokovic did which was 'special' during their Australian Open first round match

Novak Djokovic may have prevailed in his first-round match at the Australian Open but Nishesh Basavareddy can hold his head up extremely high.

The American player was making his Grand Slam debut in Melbourne. As a result, facing the 11-time winner first up might have been too much for some 19-year-olds to handle.

Basavareddy took the match to Djokovic though and grabbed the first set 6-4 which seemed to spark the man who has won 24 Grand Slam titles into life before it was too late.

John McEnroe has built up Djokovic in the run-up to this tournament. However, although it was the Serb who came through to reach the second round, Basavareddy won the hearts of plenty in the crowd.

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Nishesh Basavareddy recalls ‘special’ Novak Djokovic moment

This might not come as too much of a surprise to fans who have followed Djokovic for a number of years.

The legendary player is arguably the best returner of serve that has ever played the game and his ability to make opponents play one extra shot in every rally is sensational.

Basavareddy has highlighted that aspect of Djokovic’s game. He’s claimed that he’s never experienced anything like it and ultimately it proved a bit too much for him on his debut at this tournament.

He told his press conference: “Yeah, I would say accuracy on the serve was something special today, for sure. Then also just the amount of returns he gets back on you quickly. I feel like I’m serving and the ball is already on me.

“Everybody says that, but you don’t really feel it until you actually play him. He just makes you play an extra ball on a lot of the serves. I think that kind of affected my serve percentage today, just putting a lot of pressure on me every single service game.”

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Basavareddy can take so much confidence from Djokovic defeat

This was a serious effort from Basavareddy given he only recently turned professional. He entered this tournament through a wildcard and can take some serious confidence from his display.

Basavareddy mightily well to take a set from Djokovic but it was always unlikely he’d be able to continue through the match how he started and cramps soon started to set in.

Five-set matches will naturally take some getting used to. He’s not been familiar with those type of things and it’s all something for Basavareddy to learn from as his career takes off.

The American player is already at number 107 in the world rankings and given how well he performed against Djokovic, it will not be fascinating to see what else he can achieve as the year progresses.

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