Tennis: Basavareddy breaks through for first title at Tiburon Challenger

With his Stanford University teammates cheering him on, Nishesh Basavareddy broke through for his first ATP Challenger title on Sunday afternoon at Tiburon Peninsula Club.

Make that his former Stanford teammates.

Following Basavareddy’s near flawless 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eliot Spizzirri in the final of the $82,000 Tiburon Challenger, the 19-year-old announced he was turning pro. It was Basavareddy’s second-straight appearance in a Challenger final and fourth overall.

“It feels great,” said Basavareddy “To finally get this one means a lot, especially with the performance I had today.”

Ranked No. 199 in the world, Basavareddy only needed an hour to polish off No. 301 Spizzirri, a 22-year-old standout from the University of Texas. Basavareddy’s penetrating groundstrokes and serve returns whizzed by Spizzirri with head-scratching pace for 4-0 leads in both sets.

Spizzirri was making his first trip to a Challenger singles final. He endeared himself to the Tiburon crowd by also reaching the doubles final with Patrick Kypson, losing to Luke Saville and Tristan Schoolkate of Australia 6-4, 6-2, on Saturday.

Both Basavareddy and Spizzirri are products of the new ATP Next Gen Accelerator program, which grants top college players direct entry into Challenger events thus bypassing lower-tiered tournaments.

“It definitely works,” said Basavareddy. “Last year was the first year and I got lucky because I basically have been able to go straight to the Challengers. It’s just accelerated my path up.”

Basavareddy believes the second-year Next Gen Accelerator pipeline should help Spizzirri as much as it has boosted him. Spizzirri was turning heads before Tiburon as two-time Division I National Player of the Year and qualifying for the first round of the U.S. Open, where he lost to Alex Michelsen 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.

“I think his first title is coming for sure,” said Basavareddy of Spizzirri.

Early in the second set, Spizzirri had a game point that would have made it 1-1. But Basavareddy elevated his game to reel off the next eight points, including holding at love for a 3-0 cushion.

“I wish I had a better performance today, but congrats to Nishesh — you’re first class,” said Spizzirri to the sellout crowd. “He’s one of the hardest workers out here. He’s really playing some high-level tennis.”

New tournament co-directors Dan Oppenheim and Raul Saavedra have to be pretty darn proud of their first turn at the helm, especially with two rising Americans meeting in the final for the second time in three years. Recent Tiburon Challenger alums include No. 13 Tommy Paul, No. 16 Ben Shelton, No. 17 Frances Tiafoe, No. 43 Michelsen and No. 52 Cam Norrie.

“It’s about seeing the young, up-and-coming players and seeing the potential, and then watching them over the coming months and years to see them deliver on that potential,” said Oppenheim.

The Tiburon Challenger presented by Raymond James relies on tons of volunteers, including club members hosting players in their homes. Saavedra, a TPC board member and player, says everyone takes the tournament very seriously.

“We’ve raised the bar every year,” said Saavedra. “You don’t want to let the players down, but also the people who support this event as well. We want people to know we really do care about tennis, the Challenger and the players.”

The Solano Challenger (formerly in Fairfield) is up next at Solano College running through Oct. 13. Basavareddy reached his first final there a year ago but won’t return after playing in the finals in Charleston and Tiburon in back-to-back weeks.