Novak Djokovic overcame Alex Michelsen in two close sets at the Shanghai Masters to make an impressive winning return to action.
The Serbian icon prevailed 7-6(3), 7-6(9) against the world No 43 in a high-quality second round encounter at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Djokovic made a slow start to fall 0-3 behind, but he responded strongly and battled back from a 1-4 deficit to take the opening set.
The world No 4 was in a commanding position at 4-1, 40-15 on Michelsen’s serve in the second set, but the 20-year-old American showed his resilience to break back and force a tiebreak.
Djokovic survived two Michelsen set points in the tiebreak before converting his third match point to seal a hard-fought win in his first match in China since 2019.
The tennis legend has now won 33 consecutive ATP matches against American opponents, with his last defeat coming against Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in 2016.
The 37-year-old was playing just his second match since his shock third round loss to Alexei Popyrin at the end of August, having crushed Greece’s Ioannis Xilas in a Davis Cup rubber three weeks ago.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s level was encouraging given his lack of recent action and the questions over his motivation.
Djokovic performed significantly better than in any of his three US Open matches having been pushed hard by Michelsen, who imposed his aggressive style impressively.
The great Serbian’s trademark fire was also on display at times, which is arguably even more important.
In an on-court interview with Tennis TV, Djokovic said: “Yeah, I mean was the first matchup against Alex, I’ve watched him play but never faced him on the court.
“I also haven’t played in a while so it took me a bit of time to get the rust off and get things going. But he started off terrifically and, you know big serves and quite aggressive style of tennis.
“For a big guy, he moves well, comes in. He’s not afraid to step it up and take it to his opponents.
“It was a very close encounter, I thought it was quite a high level of tennis, both sets. I’m just glad I guess to keep my nerves and calm when it mattered in the second set tiebreak.
“I was 4-1 up, 15-40, and he hit the net cord, it went over — it could have easily been 6-1 for me in the second. But on this level, things can change very quickly, which was the case.
“Yeah, I’m just glad to really be challenged by a young player and looking forward to the next one.”
Djokovic will face Flavio Cobolli or Stan Wawrinka in the second round in Shanghai.
