Basavareddy, from data scientist to Australian Open wild card winner

This Friday, Nishesh Basavareddy will play a semi-final against Monfils at the ATP 250 in Auckland, before going on to play at the Australian Open, where he has been awarded a wild card.

The American has not had an ordinary career as a tennis player. He has played very little in the Future and Junior Tours.

He was studying for a degree in data science at Stanford University.

However, at the age of 19, a choice had to be made between finishing his studies or becoming a professional tennis player.

Basavareddy chose the yellow ball and explains his choice: "I thought about it a lot, but I knew that playing in Jeddah (at the ATP Next Gen Finals) and having a wildcard for the Australian Open would make this decision very easy to make.

Knowing that I was close to the top 100 and could play in the big tournaments pushed me to turn professional, even if leaving my Stanford (college tennis) team behind wasn't easy.

I spoke to my agent, the Stanford coaches and Rajeev Ram, who helped me understand what I needed to prepare for when I turned professional.

Getting such good results at Challenger level after the US Open made me see that I could reproduce that level consistently, week after week.

I saw that my game had a constant evolution throughout the year.

While I'm on tour, I won't be able to study because Stanford doesn't allow online courses. However, once my career is over, I'll definitely be back to finish my degree, I've got about 15 months left.

Becoming a pro is a big step forward, but knowing that I still have the safety net of university.

That's one of the reasons I went to Stanford, in fact: I still have that there, whether it's for post-career or if I want to pursue something beyond tennis.

Right now, my feeling on the tour is one of excitement, not anxiety."

The American will face Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open.