Former world number one Novak Djokovic survived the test posed by all-court American player Alex Michelsen, pushing the four-time Shanghai Masters champion through two thrilling tiebreakers to punch his ticket into the third round on Saturday at the Masters 1000 event.
Contesting his second match since his third-round exit at the US Open, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic returned to the Rolex Shanghai Masters for the first time since 2019, launching his campaign with a 7-6(3), 7-6(9) win over world No. 43 Alex Michelsen just under two hours on Saturday in Stadium Court.
After the second-round encounter, the Paris Olympics singles gold medalist commented: “It was the first match against Alex, and I also hadn’t played in a while, so it took me a little time to get the rust off.
“He started terrifically; big serves and an aggressive style of tennis… he’s not afraid to step it up and take it to his opponent.
“I found the groove, I served well, and I thought we both played a high level of tennis for both sets; throughout the entire match, the atmosphere was amazing. I’m glad to keep calm when it mattered in the second-set tiebreak.”
Djokovic took to his social media channels to share how much it means to him to comeback to Shanghai, celebrating with the fans.
Novak celebrating with fans after his victory in Shanghai
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 5, 2024
Xie xie @DjokerNole @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/IAU7poPF09
Bidding to claim his 100th career title at the Masters 1000 tournament, the Serbian awaits to meet next either Italian Flavio Cobolli or three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic made a slow start to the opener, dropping his serve early, giving the 20-year-old American breathing room to build a 4-1 advantage in their first meeting on tour.
Then, the Belgrade-born held his ground, charging back to convert his first break of serve in the seventh game and held to level up at 4-4.
From there, the first set went on serves, leading to a tiebreak the 37-year-old took, winning the last four points on his way to wrap up 7-6(3) in 47 minutes.
Building upon his momentum, Djokovic stayed solid behind his serve - winning 77 percent of the points on his first serve, breaking in the fourth game, and holding to consolidate a 4-1 lead.
However, Michelsen’s superb all-court coverage and aggressive game helped him narrow the gap, recovering from a 1-4 deficit to even the scoreboard 4-4, eventually forcing a second-set tiebreak.
Djokovic shook the rust off, moving forward with exquisite accuracy - won 12 of 17 net approaches, letting experience take over to find an edge against a fierce adversary.
He fended off set points in the tiebreaker before sealing the set 7-6(9) and the match, securing his spot in the third round on Chinese soil.
The high-level matchup saw the world No. 4 hit 35 winners against 24 unforced errors in his 10th appearance at the venue, compared to the American player, 31 and 37, respectively.
Meanwhile, the California native, who began his first full season at tour level ranked No. 97, finds himself at a career-high of No. 43.
The young talent is having an impressive season, finishing as runner-up in Winston-Salem and Newport. Last August, he went the distance, becoming the youngest American man to achieve the third round at the US Open since 2007.
In the build-up to Shanghai, he competed at the Japan Open, falling in the quarterfinals to Czech Thomas Machac in straight sets.
