SHANGHAI, Nov 9: Second seed Novak Djokovic overpowered seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3 in the opening match of the Masters Cup on Sunday.

In the day’s second match, fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 after fending off a dramatic comeback by the Frenchman in the third set before a roaring crowd.

Serb Djokovic broke del Potro’s serve to claim the final game of the first set and after a close start to the second came on strong with a succession of aces to win the final three games.

Roger Federer is the top seed at the week-long round-robin tournament, after world No 1 Rafael Nadal pulled out due to injury. Federer is seeking to become only the third player to claim five season-ender victories.

Frenchman Tsonga, down 5-2 in the third set, battled back from match point to win three successive games but then came away pointless in the tiebreak.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Gold Group: 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt 6-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 7-6 (7-0); 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt 7-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 7-5, 6-3.—Reuters