Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a second set hiccup to reach the third round of the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday night, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 over Aleksandar Vukic.
Five-time winner Djokovic needed 2 hours 10 minutes to beat his stubborn Australian opponent in his first match at the Californian venue since 2019.
It was his 400th match win in a Masters event, with only injured Rafael Nadal ahead with 406 wins.
"Five years is quite a long time for a professional tennis player but at the same time playing here the last time in 2019 felt like yesterday," 24-time grand slam Djokovic said.
He added in reference to the 69th-ranked Vukic: "He was going for it and it was going in. I kind of managed to crack the code in the third set and once I broke his serve I felt I stepped it up a bit and finished off the match in style.”
Djokovic, who had a first-round bye, next faces Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi.
Elsewhere, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev beat Roberto Carballes Baena, 6-2, 6-3, while Gael Monfils ousted eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz, 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.
