Novak Djokovic wins close tiebreak duel against Alex Michelsen · tennisnet.com

Novak Djokovic has successfully started the ATP Masters in Shanghai. The Serb won against Alex Michelsen 7:6(3), 7:6(9) and is celebrating a successful comeback on the tour.

Not a good start for Novak Djokovic in his first match after losing in the third round at the US Open against Alexei Popyrin. After eight minutes, the former world number one had to make up a 3-0 deficit against Alex Michelsen. The Serb achieved this with the break to make it 3:4, which became more stable as the playing time progressed.

The tiebreak decided the first set a short time later in favor of Novak Djokovic, who now dominated the match from the baseline. And that continued for the time being. Alex Michelsen, who is ranked 43rd in the world this week, had three chances to break when the score was 2:4, and the American was able to use the third opportunity.

Novak Djokovic was also the stronger player in the second tiebreak

So it went into a tiebreak again, which Novak Djokovic won. After 1:56 hours on the court, the Serb was able to celebrate his move into the third round after the third match point. As in the first set, the 24-time Grand Slam winner appeared more stable at first and also won an entertaining exchange of blows at the net. But after the first two match points fended off, Alex Michelsen was very close to equalizing with set points at 8:7 and 9:8.

Novak Djokovic returns to the tour with a win after a close duel. In the next round, the winner of the duel between Flavio Cobolli and Stan Wawrinka awaits the former dominator on the tour. The match could not be played due to persistent rain and will now be played on Sunday.

Here is the individual tableau in Shanghai