Novak Djokovic avoids scare to beat Tomas Machac in Dubai thriller in first appearance since Australian Open

Novak Djokovic avoided a scare to beat Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 7-6(1) at the Dubai Tennis Championships in his first match since winning a 10th Australian Open title. An entertaining match saw Machac play some superb tennis to take the encounter to a final set tie-break but Djokovic showed his class when it mattered to find a way over the line. Ad Djokovic, who has won the ATP 500 event in Dubai five times, will play Tallon Griekspoor in the last 16 on Wednesday.

TennisExclusive: Djokovic v Alcaraz rivalry 'great for tennis' says Corretja13 HOURS AGO “It was fantastic as it always is in Dubai, it's definitely one of my favourite places to play tennis," said Djokovic after the match. “Tomas definitely didn’t play like 130 in the world today. He played some great tennis.

“He was giving me all kinds of trouble but I guess when it mattered I found another gear and physically you can always be better." Unforced errors from Machac gave Djokovic a break to go 3-1 up, but the Czech player broke back immediately. However, Djokovic began to find his rhythm with the backhand and broke for a second time which proved to be decisive as he went on to wrap up the set in 37 minutes. Knowing how most players fare against the 22-time Grand Slam champion when going a set down, Machac started to go for his shots and he broke Djokovic in the second game, before going 3-0 up.

Djokovic began to miss his forehand and could only create one break point chance at 5-3 down, which he couldn’t take as Machac hit a superb backhand winner down the line and held serve to win the set. At deuce, during the second game of the decider, Machac required the trainer due to what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury. He held his nerve to win the game but was broken