Shanghai Masters 2024: Novak Djokovic battles past Alex Michelsen in tense tie-breaker

Shanghai: Novak Djokovic roared back into action at the Shanghai Masters as he braved past Alex Michelsen 7-6(3), 7-6(9) in straight sets in the second round on Saturday. He will face the winner between Wawrinka and Cobolli in the next round. The Serbian faced a scare in the opening matches of the game and found himself trailing at 1-4 before making a comeback in which he prevailed in the tie-breaker.

In a full reversal of roles, Djokovic grabbed an early 4-1 lead in the second set before Alex fought back to tie the score at 4-4. The 24-time Grand Slam winner then went on to once again prevail in the tie-breaker to take the 2-0 victory.

"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. It was a very close encounter and I thought a high level of tennis in both sets. I'm just glad to keep calm when it mattered in the second-set tie-break,” said Djokovic in a post-match interaction. IANS

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