Novak Djokovic returns to victory at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing

More than two months after his last success on the circuit, Novak Djokovic returned to victory. The Serbian, currently 11th in the world, passed the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing on Wednesday, but he appeared to be in physical difficulty, a month after his early elimination at the US Open, where he admitted that his body was starting to “fail” on him.

The former world number 1 won 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) against the Portuguese Nuno Borges (49th) and thus signed his first victory since July, when he reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

For his first official match since his defeat in the first round in New York, the man with 24 Grand Slam titles started with his feet on the floor, with a break in the second game to quickly break away 3-0.

But the former boss of the circuit, never beaten in six appearances at the Beijing tournament, gradually seemed to be overtaken by the weight of his 39 years.

Despite the pain, Djokovic held on

Sometimes out of breath at the end of the rally, Djokovic seemed limited in his movements and let out grimaces of pain between points.

The Belgrade native held on to save two break points at 4-2, 15-40, helped by a big direct error from Borges on his second opportunity.

This was enough for him to win the first set 6-3, before leaving the court for a few minutes.

On his return to Central Beijing, Djokovic's ailments hardly seemed to improve, the Serb rubbing his back and grimacing from the second game.

Manipulated in the right arm, ribs and sternum at 3-2 in favor of Borges, the 11th in the world paradoxically had a series of shutouts on his serve.

He even got a break point at 4-4, but failed to convert it and therefore ended up making the difference in the deciding game.

In the second round, Djokovic will face the Chinese Bu Yunchaokete (104th), whom he has never met on the circuit.