Novak Djokovic had to work hard to earn a win in his opening match at the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday after crashing to defeat a week ago in a major US Open tune-up event.

The end of the contest which went for more than two hours was complicated as mist began to fall, with Djokovic up a break 5-4 in the final set.

The top seed eventually beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the third round, where he joined fellow Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, who defeated German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

A week ago, Djokovic was reeling after losing in less than an hour in the Toronto third round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who went on to win the event.

But against Simon, the Serb world number one was never in serious danger early on but after losing the second set found himself facing break points from a charged-up opponent.

The Serb finally prevailed with a break for 5-3 in the third set.

Djokovic is bidding to complete a matched set of Masters 1000 titles, with Cincinnati the only one of nine he has not claimed.

Toronto winner Tsonga confessed that he hit the court completely exhausted as the Frenchman took a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

The world number 20 who beat Roger Federer in the Canadian final on Sunday, had been unable to train on Monday due to a late afternoon rainstorm which caused flooding around the grounds.

But the Frenchman said that it was the physical and emotional toll extracted by his winning week in Toronto that made the crucial difference.

“I gave everything last week. Before the match I believed I was able to play at a good level, but on the court I realised it’s gonna be impossible. And it was.

“I gave my best and it was tough.” Youzhny took full advantage of his weakened opponent, sending Tsonga out in the first round in just over an hour.

Tsonga leaves the American Midwest after his third visit with only a 2011 win to his credit.

“I’ll take some rest and I will prepare for the US Open. The US Open will be a big challenge, but the Davis Cup will be important for me also after that. It’s going to be important to prepare all these events as good as possible.” Latvian ninth seed Ernests Gulbis began with a win over Croatian Ivan Dodig 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4). Marin Cilic, seeded 14th, beat Toronto semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4.

Vasek Pospisil turned the tables on Radek Stepanek for a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) result a week after a poor home showing in Toronto.

American wild card Robby Ginepri beat Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

In women’s matches, 16th seed Lucie Safarova took advantage of the fragile state of Montreal finalist Venus Williams, beating the 34-year-old 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova booked into the third round with her 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 defeat of Madison Keys.

Caroline Wozniacki beat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 in their second-round match.

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