Today, Bernard Tomic won praise from Novak Djokovic seven years ago after his Shanghai Masters clash. In the quarterfinals of the 2015 Shanghai Masters, Tomic tested Djokovic, but the Serb managed to escape 7-6(6) 6-1.

After the match, Djokovic admired Tomic for playing “smart tennis” and said surviving a tense first set may have been the key to his victory. “It was an excellent first set. We both played high-quality tennis.

Bernard, in particular, played some Smart tennis, stepping in with every shorter ball and serving very accurately. He pushes me. In a tiebreak, the first decides by points. Winning the first set was a massive relief for me and the second set started with a break.

It gave me more confidence. I think I played a very nice second set,” Djokovic said after beating Tomic in Shanghai.

How Djokovic beat Tomic in Shanghai

Djokovic got his first breakpoint in the second game, but Tomic saved the breaking point opportunity to tie the first set.

After failing to achieve his first break point, Djokovic got his first game break in the sixth set to lead 4-2. But Djokovic’s lead was short-lived as Tomic scored immediately in Game 7. With no more leaves seen, the first set had to settle in the tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, the two players each tied 4 points, and then Djokovic scored two points in a row to lead 6-4 and scored two consecutive moments. But Tomic refused to back out and saved those two straight sets from tying the tiebreaker to six.

Unfortunately for Tomic, he dropped the following two points as Djokovic edged Tomic in a tense opener. After losing the first set, Tomic broke early, and Djokovic led 2-0 in the second set. Tomic saved a breakpoint in the third game and avoided a double break to cut the lead to 2-1.

It came from Tomic as Djokovic won the next four games to complete the two-set victory. Even when Tomic lost to Djokovic, he didn’t embarrass himself.