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
BDST: 1046 HRS, OCT 06, 2024
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