Alex Michelsen vs Nishesh Basavareddy Prediction & Picks - Next Gen ATP Finals

Prediction published on 12/17/24, 9:04 AM  by Tyler Doty | Modified on 12/17/24 at 9:08 AM in Tennis Picks

Day 1 of the Next Gen ATP Finals continues on Wednesday, with the best players aged 20 and under battling it out all week in Saudi Arabia. On the program is a 100% American duel between Alex Michelsen and Nishesh Basavareddy.

After a period of decline, American tennis is doing well again. And while the likes of Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe have caught the eye, another player has made a name for himself in 2024: Alex Michelsen. The Californian is following a steady progression curve that has taken him into the top 100 in 2023, and then into the top 50 in 2024. Finals in Newport and Winston Salem proved that the 20-year-old could be one of the new faces in the USA. While consistency is still one of the major points to be fine-tuned in order to play against the world's best players, the progress visible match after match augurs well for a patient and hard-working player. 41st on the ATP rankings, Alex Michelsen will be a contender for victory this week in Jeddah, and to get his tournament off to a good start, he will have to start by dominating his compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy.

The Newport Beach native is still in the building phase of his career on the Challenger circuit, and hasn't yet been able to test himself against ATP Tour players on a regular basis. But in the lower division, the 138th-ranked player in the world has performed well, winning two titles since October in Tiburon and Puerto Vallarta. The next step will be to make his presence felt on the ATP circuit, and this is likely to happen at tournaments in the USA where the Californian is expected to be invited during 2025. In the meantime, this confrontation with Alex Michelsen will be an opportunity to judge himself against a player who is not yet at his physical peak.