Novak Djokovic came through a tricky test against Alex Michelsen at the Shanghai Masters to win his first match on the ATP Tour since a shock third-round exit at the US Open in August.

The 37-year-old Serb lost the opening three games against America`s world number 43, but bounced back to take the first set on a tie-break.

Djokovic then stumbled with victory in sight, forced into another tie-break after letting a 4-1 lead slip in the second set, before finally seeing off 20-year-old Michelsen 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (11-9).

The fourth-seed joins the ATP Tour`s top two players, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, in the third round following their wins earlier on Saturday.

"It was a first match against Alex and I also hadn`t played in a while, so it took me time to get the rust off," said the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who had played just one Davis Cup qualifier since losing to Australia`s Alexei Popyrin at Flushing Meadows.

"He started terrifically. It was a very close encounter and I also thought it was a quite a high level of tennis."

Michelsen had two points to take the match into a deciding set, including when serving at 9-8 up in the second-set tie-break, but unforced errors cost him.

Djokovic, who played with heavy strapping on his right knee, eventually capitalised on Michelsen`s mistakes to claim victory on his first match in China since 2019 as he bids for his 100th tour-level title.

"I`m just glad to keep my calm when it mattered and glad to be really challenged by a young player," he added. "Now I`m looking forward to the next one."

The world number four will next play either 22-year-old Italian Flavio Cobolli or Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are both seeking their first Shanghai Masters title

Earlier on Saturday, Italy`s world number one Sinner and Spanish rival Alcaraz both enjoyed comfortable victories in their opening matches at the Shanghai Masters - just three days after contesting a dramatic China Open final.

Sinner, 23, bounced back from losing to Alcaraz in Beijing, cruising to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Japan`s Taro Daniel at the ATP 1,000 event.

The top seed took just one hour and 17 minutes to book his place in the third round and followed a similarly destructive display from third seed Alcaraz, who was on court a minute less in his 6-2 6-2 win over China`s Shang Juncheng.

It was the 21-year-old`s 10th consecutive victory, with his China Open title following wins for Team Europe at the Laver Cup in September.

"I`ve been playing really good tennis lately and I`m just trying to keep that up," said four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who has won four titles on the ATP Tour this year.

He will next play China`s world number 560 Yibing Wu, while Sinner will face 37th-ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round following the Argentine`s 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 win over the Netherlands` Botic van de Zandschulp. At three hours and 43 minutes, it was the longest match in the tournament`s history.

Elsewhere, Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev fell to a 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-3 defeat by the Czech Republic`s Jakub Mensik.

Play was cancelled early on the outside courts because of rain, but Alexander Zverev`s match against Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci continued under a roof on the venue`s main stadium court.

The 27-year-old German second seed clinched a 6-4 6-2 win to set up a third-round meeting with either Australia`s world number 28 Jordan Thompson or Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

Source: BBC