Absent on the circuit since his elimination in the 3rd round (round of 16) of the US Open on August 31, Novak Djokovic made his comeback on Saturday during the 2nd round of the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, played on hard surface and offering a prize of 8,995,555 dollars, Saturday in China.
The former world No.1, who has only won one title this year, that of the Paris Olympic Games, got the better of the young 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen in two sets 7-6 (7/3 ) and 7-6 (11/9) after 1h55 of a match played under the roof.
“Djoko”, now 4th in the world, took a little time to find the rhythm. He found himself trailing 1-4 before taking possession of the court. After winning the opening set in the tiebreaker, Djokovic looked set for an easy victory when he led 4-1, 40-15 in the second set. Michelsen held on (4-4) and obtained the right to play a new tie-break. He lost not without having saved two match points (6/5 and 7:6), but also missed two points of a set everywhere (7/8 and 8/9), against “Nole” well supported by the local public.
In the round of 16, Djokovic, 37, will meet the winner of the match between the Italian Flavio Cobolli (ATP 30/N.28) and the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (ATP 236), 39, who has an invitation.
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