Novak Djokovic edged past Alex Michelsen 7-6(3) 7-6(9) to begin his campaign at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
The four-time champion returned to Shanghai and defeated the talented young American in two tiebreaks.
Djokovic didn’t have it all his own way but the Serb did enough to secure a place in the third round and will now face Flavio Cobolli or Stan Wawrinka.
This was Djokovic’s first match since his shock third round defeat to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open and early rust was shown as he went 3-0 down to the fearless American.
Michelsen produced some stunning winners throughout the contest as he took the match to Djokovic and opened up a 4-1 lead.
However the American was bound to be nervous at some stage and Djokovic took advantage of that in the sixth game as a volley winner secured the break back.
After that the set went at a lightning quick pace as both players were authoritative and efficient on serve with the opening set going to a tiebreak after 40 minutes.
Djokovic’s tiebreak record is immense and that once again showed in this match as he won seven of the ten points on offer to take the opening set.
In the second set, Djokovic was much more aggressive and proactive on return as he took the ball early and rushed Michelsen’s play.
After surviving a tough hold in the third game, Djokovic broke to secure a 3-1 lead before consolidating to seal a 4-1 advantage.
It looked as though Djokovic was cruising to victory in the second set as his defensive skills triumphed against Michelsen’s aggressive play, creating break points for a 5-1 lead.
However the American produced some stunning first serves and survived a massive test of his serve and then capitalised on a poor service game from Djokovic.
The Serb produced uncharacteristic errors and allowed Michelsen back into the match as 4-1 became 4-4.
Once again there was nothing to separate the two players as the second set went to a tiebreak, which lasted over 15 minutes.
The second serve of Djokovic bailed him out as he was forced to save a set point from the American.
Despite the 30 winners from the American in the match, Djokovic secured the tiebreak 11-9 and sealed victory in Shanghai.
A victorious return to Shanghai for Djokovic in what is his first appearance for five years and will now play Cobolli or Wawrinka on Monday for a place in the last 16.
