We’re here at the Australian Open with renowned tennis coach Bryan Smith. He’s recently been working with rising star Nishesh Basavareddy, who just had a fantastic showing against Novak Djokovic. Coach Smith is also well-known for his work with doubles champion Rajeev Ram. Welcome, Bryan

Surya Raj: Hello Coach Bryan. Good to see you here at the Australian Open. Let’s start with Nishesh’s recent match against Novak Djokovic. What are your thoughts on the match?

Bryan Smith: I think he did a lot of things that he was hoping to do. Just to be able to see that he could play at that level and push Novak was obviously a good confidence booster.

Surya Raj: Nishesh had a brief injury scare with cramps. Is everything okay injury-wise?

Bryan Smith: It was good. He just had a little bit of cramping in the second set at 3-all. Got some electrolytes and was able to recover from it.

Surya Raj: Djokovic has been a role model for Nishesh. What was the feeling like in the camp before the match?

Bryan Smith: Honestly with Nishesh, he’s really good at focusing on what’s coming. He doesn’t seem to get too caught up in the hype. It didn’t seem that much different than usual. We just went over his game plan, what he was going to try to do, and how to avoid getting distracted by everything going on around him. I thought he did a great job with that because it’s hard for someone playing in their first ATP 250 just two weeks before. It was nice to see him perform at that level on that stage.

Surya Raj: Nishesh had a great run in Auckland with five top 100 wins, including victories over the world number 23 and world number 41. How was that experience?

Bryan Smith: It was awesome. I mean, he could have lost first round of qualifying. He got through a tough one and just performed well the whole week. It was nice to see him get on center court and look comfortable, not overwhelmed. I thought he did a great job of keeping his composure, sticking to the game plan, and competing the whole week. We got some great experience and some good wins.

Surya Raj: Based on the past month, how do you assess Nishesh’s game versus the ATP Tour players?

Bryan Smith: I think it’s held up pretty well so far. What he’s done in the last month has been awesome. I think NextGen Jeddah definitely gave him some confidence being around the top younger guys. He’s played mostly Challengers, so to be able to perform at that level has been great. You never know until you get to see it, but it’s gone well so far.

Surya Raj: Are there any aspects of his game that you’re hoping to work on for further establishment on the ATP Tour?

Bryan Smith: Yeah, he’s going to work on different aspects of his game. I think the serve and the return, definitely. Novak, I think, served better and made a lot more returns. So, we’ll focus on the serve and return and continue to work on transitioning to the net. I think those would probably be the main ones, but he’s going to continue to work on everything in his game.

Surya Raj: What is his schedule for the next month or two?

Bryan Smith: For Nishesh, I think this week he’s off. He’s going to train for a couple of weeks. I believe he’s signed up for the ATP Delray Beach Open and then hopefully Acapulco, Indian Wells, and Miami.

Surya Raj: Switching gears to Rajeev Ram, his regular partner Austin Krajicek was unavailable, and Rajeev played with Christian Harrison and reached the Auckland ATP 250 final. How do you review that performance?

Bryan Smith: Christian did a great job. Austin had rolled his ankle in Brisbane, so Rajeev was lucky enough to get Christian. Christian played a great week, got some good wins, and I thought they performed very well together for having not played together before. It was a good week for Raj and for Christian.

Surya Raj: Unfortunately, Rajeev pulled out of the finals in Auckland due to injury. Can you please share some more details?

Bryan Smith: He had something in his leg act up. We’re trying to be cautious with any kind of injury, especially coming into a major.

Surya Raj: Awesome. We wish Rajeev Ram all the best for the Australian Open and also to Nishesh for his enthralling career in the future. Thank you so much, Mr. Bryan.

Bryan Smith: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.