Djokovic given fright by Malisse on comeback

NOVAK Djokovic was seriously tested on his competitive comeback last night, beating Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors after being sidelined for six weeks with a back injury.

The top-ranked Serb endured some difficult moments before improving his record this season to 65-3. Djokovic arrived on court for the first time since 18 September wearing a fright mask resembling rock star Alice Cooper the night after Halloween. Dressed all in black, Djokovic was suitably ruthless when breaking his Belgian opponent’s first service game.

However, Malisse pressed the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon champion in the second set and broke in the ninth game. Djokovic broke to lead 2-0 in the decider, and Malisse required a medical time-out one game later after colliding with the umpire’s chair when racing to retrieve a drop shot. However, Djokovic failed to serve out the match at 5-3 and wasted a match point chance in the next game.

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The Serb then quickly closed out the last two games to complete a tough two-hour, 13-minute workout.

When Djokovic last played, he retired in a Davis Cup singles match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Mardy Fish retired against fellow American James Blake after just one game because of a hamstring injury. Fish held serve in the opening game and lost the first point of the next game when he decided the pain in his left leg was too much to continue.

In Spain meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was given a scare by local teenager Javier Marti before rallying to win their first-round match at the Valencia Open 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The second-seeded Frenchman had won 11 of his last 13 matches coming in, including titles at Metz and Vienna. But Tsonga trailed early due to unforced errors and the smooth backhand of the 19-year-old wildcard, who was playing his first match against a top-ten player.

Tsonga complained about the streaks of sunlight across the indoor court at City of Arts and Sciences, but settled toward the close of the second set after Marti double-faulted and was broken in the 11th game. Tsonga, who smacked 10 aces, was more disciplined in the final set and used his experience when Marti’s faltered.

“He played better than me in the first set but after that I recovered,” said the seventh-ranked Tsonga, who is now only five points behind Tomas Berdych in qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London later this month, where three spots remain up for grabs. Tsonga now meets Sam Querrey after the American enjoyed a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ernest Gulbis of Latvia.

Top-seeded David Ferrer opened his title defence by beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2. Marcel Granollers of Spain provided the first upset of the tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.

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