Novak Djokovic staged a comeback to beat Ugo Humbert 4-6 6-3 6-4 in his first appearance at the Basel tournament in 15 years, keeping his hopes alive for a record 19th ATP Finals qualification.
The 39-year-old Serb, currently 11th in the race to Turin, described the two-and-a-half-hour victory as a "big win" after saving break points and breaking Humbert's serve to turn the match around.
Djokovic, a 24-time major champion, won the Basel title in 2009 by defeating Roger Federer and is now bidding to match Federer's 103 tour-level titles after claiming his 102nd in Beijing last month. The win marked his 20th tour-level victory of 2026, extending his streak of seasons with at least 20 wins to 21 consecutive years.
He entered the event 319 points behind Spain's Rafael Jodar, who holds the final ATP Finals qualification spot and also earned 50 points with a first-round win.
In other action, Britain's Harriet Dart reached the Guangzhou Open quarter-finals with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over second seed Janice Tjen, setting up a meeting with former world number two Paula Badosa.
