Reggie Miller, Tyrese Haliburton choke sign appears from Carmel tennis player during Australian Open qualifying
Nishesh Basavareddy, of Carmel, Indiana, is trying to earn a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open tennis tournament. He advanced Wednesday in a most unusual way and celebrated with a move familiar to Indiana Pacers fans.
He trailed Sebastian Ofner of Austria badly in a third-set tiebreaker. Ofner approached the net to celebrate what he thought was a match win after going up 7-1.
What he forgot was that the final-set tiebreaker, in this case, goes to 10 points.
Basavareddy kept battling, eventually winning 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) and pulling out the choke sign originated by Pacers legend Reggie Miller and given new life by Tyrese Haliburton.
Here's how it happened.
And here’s the video, as promised:pic.twitter.com/mMAzcRqsKc https://t.co/33Jg05ydnw
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 14, 2026
Nishesh Basavareddy plays Novak DjokovicNishesh Basavareddy played all-time great Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open main draw in 2025, losing in four sets.
Who is Nishesh Basavareddy?Basavareddy and his family moved from California to Central Indiana when he was 8.
The 20-year-old Basavareddy was ranked the No. 4 recruit in the 2022 class, per Tennis Recruiting, and picked perennial power Stanford.
After earning second-team All-Pac-12 as a freshman in 2023, Basavareddy was named Pac-12 singles player of the year in 2024.
Nishesh Basavareddy gets help from Rajeev RamBasavareddy and fellow Carmel grad Rajeev Ram met at a tennis camp ran by their mutual coach Bryan Smith.
"We've formed a pretty neat bond as two kids from this town, both of Indian American heritage, trying to make it in professional tennis," Ram told WTHR in August 2024.
“I’ve practiced with (Nishesh) probably as much as I’ve practiced with anybody in my life back home,” Ram told ATPTour.com. “He’s been a good enough player since he was about 13 or 14 for me to hit with.”
A 2000 Carmel graduate, Ram has 31 career men's doubles titles in his career, with six Grand Slam titles (four in men's, two in mixed).
“(Rajeev) has been super important for my growth because he played junior tennis, college tennis and made that leap to pro tennis after leaving the University of Illinois," Basavareddy told ATPTour.com. "I think having all of his advice, what to expect on the pro tour, and the tennis advice has been huge for me.”
What is Nishesh Basavareddy ranked in the world?Basavareddy is ranked No. 239 in the world on the ATP Tour. His career high was No. 99 in June 2025.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Reggie Miller, Tyrese Haliburton choke sign appears from Carmel tennis player
