Two Young Ones in Mexico

Interviews with Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy from Acapulco.

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Hello from the Mexican Open—or, Hola desde el Abierto Mexicano de Tenis—where I’m delighted to bring you on-the-ground reporting here at Bounces once again, this time from an ATP 500 that’s arguably the biggest tennis event in Latin America.

My first day on the ground on tour since the Australian Open featured two young Americans in qualifying who both made names for themselves back in Melbourne: Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy. I spoke to both of the 19-year-olds after their respective emphatic qualifying wins, in interviews for Bounces you can read below.

First was California’s Learner Tien, who made a run from qualifying all the way to the fourth round of the Australian Open, stunning Daniil Medvedev in a five-set, late night thriller en route. 80th-ranked Tien rolled 6-1, 6-3 over Federico Agustin Gomez to advance in Acapulco.

Then came another participant in last year’s eight-player ATP NextGen Finals: Indiana’s Nishesh Basavareddy, who made waves in the first round of the Australian Open when he took the first set over perennial powerhouse Novak Djokovic, before Djokovic rallied to win in four sets. 106th-ranked Basavareddy pulled off a slight upset in his first match in Acapulco, beating 96th-ranked James Duckworth 6-4, 6-2.

There’s about 3,000 total words of interview goodness with these two rising stars below the paywall, and I do think you’ll enjoy making the plunge, like an Acapulco cliff diver. Thank you for subscribing! -Ben