Basavareddy and Naef warm up for Roland Garros with Milan success
American Nishesh Basavareddy and Celine Naef of Switzerland boosted their preparations for the Roland Garros Junior Championships by triumphing on the clay of Milan and lifting silverware at Trofeo Bonfiglio.
Victorious in Milan 🏆
— ITF (@ITFTennis) May 22, 2022
Nishesh Basavareddy secures his second Grade A title of the season! Read more about this promising young star ⬇️
It is a second Grade A title – the highest classification of junior event on the ITF World Tennis Tour – for the in-form Basavareddy, who also conquered all before him at JA Criciuma in February.
The 17-year-old defeated junior world No. 10 Bor Artnak of Slovenia and Peru’s junior world No. 5 Gonzalo Bueno on his way to the final, where he faced an even bigger test in the form of Paraguayan Daniel Vallejo.
However, Basavareddy dispatched junior world No. 2 Vallejo 6-2 4-6 6-3, which means he has now won 22 of his previous 23 main draw matches at junior level dating back to J1 Porto Alegre in February – a tournament he won after navigating qualifying.
“This is the best moment of my career, definitely,” said Basavareddy, who was a member of the victorious USA team at the 2019 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov. “Vallejo is the No. 2 in the world and has been playing well all year, so this was a big challenge.
“I feel amazing. To begin with, I was just trying to find my level again, but when I started playing better and better, I thought I had the chance to win the tournament. I think I played my best tennis and I’m very happy.”
His latest victory sees Basavareddy rise 14 places in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings to No. 5 ahead of what will be his Junior Grand Slam debut at the Roland Garros Junior Championships, which begin on Sunday.
Congratulations to Celine Naef on her win in Milan 🏆
— ITF (@ITFTennis) May 22, 2022
A recipient of the Grand Slam Player Development Programme, Naef's win in Milan is her biggest junior triumph to date!
Catch up on her results 👇
Naef, meanwhile, was also in imperious form and lit up the Trofeo Bonfiglio, proceeding to the final without dropping a set, although once there she was required to instigate a comeback to dispatch American Liv Hovde 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3.
“This trophy means a lot to me because I worked really hard,” said Naef, who has risen to No. 7 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings following her latest clay-court title.
“The final was a tough match. I gave everything and I’m so tired. Sometimes my legs hurt, and I was angry at times, but I knew I would never give up and I would fight for every point. That’s exactly what I did.”
Victory in Milan represented the biggest junior title of the 16-year-old’s career and her first at Grade A level, although she has already had exposure to professional events and lifted silverware at W15 Monastir in March.
Naef, who this year received a Grand Slam Player Grant through the Grand Slam Player Development Programme, has now won 15 of her previous 16 matches at junior level, having claimed victory at J1 Santa Croce Sull’Arno earlier this month.
Victory also ensures that Basavareddy and Naef join an impressive roll call of past Trofeo Bonfiglo winners, which includes Stefanos Tsitsipas, Marketa Vondrousova, Alexander Zverev, Belinda Bencic, Katerina Siniakova, Sloane Stephens and Simona Halep.
In addition to January’s Australian Open Junior Championships, JA Milan was the third Grade A junior event of the 2022 season following JA Criciuma and JA Offenbach, with the Roland Garros Junior Championships the next event of such stature.