Novak Djokovic lost the opening set to one of the most dangerous indoor players on tour, then spent the next hour and three quarters taking the match back. The Serb, seed No. 4, beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 (2h29) on Wednesday evening to reach the last 16 of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The win returns him to the Top 10 and keeps his bid for the Nitto ATP Finals alive. Djokovic will face German Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic came to Basel needing a good week to get closer to Turin, and the work is far from done. He is ninth in the Live Race to Turin with 2,890 points, one place below the cut. That leaves him 294 points behind Rafael Jódar, who holds the eighth and last qualifying spot with Jannik Sinner out for the rest of the season, and only 10 points ahead of Alex de Minaur.

This was a win of real substance against an opponent built for these conditions. Humbert, a former Paris Masters finalist with several indoor titles to his name, hit 12 aces and 39 winners. But the Frenchman also made 39 unforced errors, against 24 for Djokovic, who landed 73% of his first serves.

In Basel for the first time since 2011

The Serb saved five of the six break points he faced and converted two of eight on Humbert’s serve, breaking once in each of the last two sets.

Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton have already qualified. To stay in the race, Djokovic will likely need to reach the final in Basel.

Back fit and winning again, the 39-year-old is playing in Basel for the first time since 2011. The 2009 champion is now 13-2 at the event. He is chasing his 103rd tour-level title, which would tie Roger Federer for second-most in the Open Era, seven years after the Swiss won his 103rd and last in Basel in 2019. He is also bidding to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the 19th time in 20 years.