Novak Djokovic made a successful return to Shanghai, defeating Alex Michelsen in two tie-breaks. The Serb does not yet know his opponent in the next round since the program was greatly disrupted by the rain.
Apart from a Davis Cup match against the Greek Xilas, which he dispatched in 44 minutes, Novak Djokovic had not played a competitive match since his elimination in the round of 16 of the US Open by Alexei Popyrin. The Serbian, eighth in the Race, did not necessarily make the Turin Masters his end-of-season objective, but he had announced several weeks ago that he would be present at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, a tournament that he He has not contested since 2019 and has won four times (in 2012 against Murray, in 2013 against Del Potro, in 2015 against Tsonga and in 2018 against Coric). The world No. 4 made his comeback against No. 43, Alex Michelsen, whom he faced for the first time, and he beat him in two tie-breaks and 1h55 of play: 7-3 then 11-9 .
Despite a few air gaps, the Serb generally controlled this match well, which he finished with 35 winning shots and 24 unforced errors (31 and 37 for his opponent). Novak Djokovic was in difficulty at the start of the match, where he was down 3-0 then 4-1. But he got the machine going and equalized at 4-4, before pocketing the set in the tie-break without much trembling (7-3). In the second, it was the Olympic champion who started the best, leading 4-1, ball 5-1, but Michelsen woke up and equalized at 4-4. The second tie-break was more complicated than the first for Djokovic: he led 5-3, then missed a match point at 6-5 then another at 7-6, before saving two set points at 8 -7 and 9-8. Ultimately, the king of the tiebreaker had the last word, winning 11-9.
Rain spoils the program
The quest for his 100th tournament has started well. But he does not yet know who Flavio Cobolli or Stan Wawrinka will be his next opponent, the rain having prevented them from playing their match. The Bergs-Dimitrov (3-6, 4-2), Fritz-Atmane (4-3) and Safiullin-Bublik (2-1) meetings were able to start but were interrupted. They will resume on Sunday. Before the rain, world No. 24 Alexei Popyrin had time to qualify against Miomir Kecmanovic (6-3, 6-2 in 1h02 thanks to 13 aces and no break conceded), just like No. 34 Jiri Lehecka , scorer of Jaume Munar (7-6, 6-4 in 1h53).
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