Daniil Medevedev’s ex-coach Cervara takes up new challenge, joins Nishesh Basavareddy’s team
NewsFriday, 05 December 2025 at 18:30
Gilles Cervara, Daniil Medvedev’s former coach, has taken over
the wheel for young Nishesh Basavareddy.
Cervara and Medevedev parted ways in August this year after
eight successful years on the ATP Tour. Cervara will now coach Basavareddy, the
20-year-old American ranked 167 in the world.
Basavareddy is gearing up for the Next Gen ATP Finals. He made
his tour debut at Brisbane International last December and reached the semifinals
of the ASB Classic as a qualifier the following week.
A couple of days later, he met the greatest opponent on tour,
Novak Djokovic, in the opening round of the Australian Open. He troubled
Djokovic initially and took the opening set but ended up on the wrong side of
the result ultimately.
He entered the top 100 in June, but his ranking plummeted
thereafter. Failures on the Challenger Tour, coupled with multiple first-round
exits from Wimbledon and the US Open underscored just how much improvement he
needed.
Thus, Basavareddy has turned to Cervara, who carries years of
experience coaching Medvedev, a Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1.
Cervara too is looking forward to the new challenge in order
to add more stars to his resume.
“I’m thrilled about this project with a healthy player and environment, eager to build something after many months without a structure.”
“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.”- Gilles Cervara, as quoted by L'Equipe
The French coach has known Basavareddy since the 2023 ATP Finals,
where the young American served as Daniil Medevedev’s hitting partner.
Cervara and Basavareddy have already held their first training session together at the Mouratoglou Academy in France. The Frenchman is likely to travel with his new student to Jeddah
for the Next Gen Finals. Basavareddy will play the tournament for the second
straight year. In 2024, he could not make it past the group stages, with one
win and two losses. This year, he is up against the likes of Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien, Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Nikolai Budkov Kjaer and Rafael Jodar.
The 20-Under-20 tournament begins on December 17 and will crown a champion on December 21.
Before turning pro in December 2024, Basavareddy played for the Stanford University Cardinals as a freshman. He received mentorship from former doubles No. 1 Rajeev Ram, a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles.
He was the World No. 5 on the ITF's Junior U-18 circuit. With Stanford, he won the Fall National Champion and All-American accolades in ITA. He also won the Northwest Region Rookie of the Year and Scholar Athlete awards.
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