Novak Djokovic boosted his ATP Finals qualification chances after a comeback victory over Ugo Humbert at the Swiss Indoors on Wednesday.

The Frenchman started the brighter of the two, breaking Djokovic in the first set and closing out the opener 6-4 in Basel.

But the Serbian had an immediate response early in the second when he broke Humbert, who called for a medical timeout for a back issue when he was 4-1 down.

The 39-year-old held his nerve and took the second set 6-3 before standing firm and claiming the decider to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in two hours and 29 minutes.

The result saw him leapfrog Alex De Minaur into 10th in the ATP Tour Race with 2,890 points to the Australian’s 2,880. He is still trailing Rafael Jodar’s 3,184 points, with the 20-year-old currently occupying the last qualification spot for the season-ending event in Turin.

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Djokovic admitted that it took a while for him to get used to Humbert’s ultra-aggressive game but he was happy with how he regained his composure and battled to the win.

In his on-court interview, he said, “Super tight match. Very intense from the very beginning. He was striking the ball beautifully, being super aggressive, taking away a lot of time from me.

“I was under attack from the very first point. I had to weather the storm, and it was tough; it was really tough for a set and a half. But I managed to find my rhythm at the beginning of the second and saved some break points, which was crucial.

“After that I started feeling a bit more comfortable with his tempo but overall a huge challenge, a great burden and obstacle that I succeeded to find the solutions in a tough match today.

“It’s my first indoor match [of the season], so I kind of expected to be a little bit rusty and a tough draw for the first round. I only played Humbert once on grass years ago (three-set win for Djokovic at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships).

“Tough player, really quick conditions, it’s hard to break the serve, and once you do you’re under pressure with a player like him because he serves so well; he was super aggressive from all corners. It’s a big win for me. I know there are quite a few things I can do better, but a win is a win, and I’ll take that today.”

Djokovic, who is playing in Basel for the first time since 2011, will realistically need to win this ATP 500 event to stand a good chance of playing at the ATP Finals.

Indeed, a title win in the Swiss city will see him rise to 3,340 points, but the Serb may still be reliant on some of his rivals slipping up this week and at the Paris Masters.

Next up, Djokovic will face the in-form Jan-Lennard Struff, who was a runner-up in Brussels last weekend, in the second round. The winner of that will face Nuno Borges in the quarter-finals, after the Portuguese pulled off a shock three-set victory over ninth seed Casper Ruud.

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