Today, Novak Djokovic faced Alex Michelsen, a player known for his devious play, to begin his 2024 Shanghai Masters campaign. Djokovic prevailed in two sets.
The Serbian player last competed in the Davis Cup, when he helped his nation win that tie with some strong tennis. He didn’t actually play against any tough opponents, so the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai served as his first genuine challenge following the US Open.
Before the tournament in China, he had played a genuine match at the US Open versus Alexei Popyrin. The unexpected outcome was that the Australian defeated Djokovic so easily.
He stated that the events he is now most concerned about are not the Shanghai Masters or anything like that. He has reiterated his dedication to the Davis Cup and Grand Slams as the only two events he will participate in.
These are his primary objectives, but whether he’s competing for a Grand Slam or not, he’s playing to win. For Djokovic, the beginning of this encounter proved to be rather unsteady. It wasn’t shocking because the opponent was skilled and he has a history of bad starts to matches, particularly following a lengthy layoff.
When motivated, Michelsen can be a very good player, especially on hard courts. So it wasn’t all that odd that he started the match with a 3-0 lead.
Nevertheless, Djokovic recovered and gradually swung the tide in his favour. The Serbian eventually found a comfortable rhythm and maintained his serve with little difficulty.
When Michelsen followed suit, the set went to a tie-break, which Djokovic ultimately prevailed in. It was the hitting that made the difference. Even though Michelsen had seven aces on his serve, he suffered a lot during rallies.
Fair enough, he made 14 winners, but he also committed a total of 15 unintentional blunders. The Serbian was superior, winning the tie-break 7-3, in contrast to Djokovic, who had 20 winners and only nine unintentional errors.
The more the Serbian observed how Michelsen played, the better Djokovic countered his game. As expected, there was an early break in the second set, with Djokovic leading 3-1.
He improved his ability to read Michelsen’s serve, which reduced the number of free points the American was awarded. During the rallies, Djokovic stayed quite steady and took it easy, allowing Michelsen to make mistakes while trying to do a little too much.
It’s incredibly difficult to hit past Djokovic, but he accomplished so on a few occasions during this match. It allowed him to tie the match and break back in the second set.
With four trophies to his name, Djokovic is the most successful player to have ever competed in Shanghai; however, because the event was postponed for three years following the epidemic, he hasn’t played there since 2019.
He also missed the previous year’s tournament, thus the matchup with Michelsen served as a fitting “welcome back” celebration for him. To win the match 7-6(3), 7-6(9), Djokovic had to save two set points in the second set, which also concluded in a tie-break.
