Gijon Open: In his first match back, Andy Murray defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday at the first-ever Gijon Open in Spain.
The three-time Grand Slam winner started slowly against his Spanish opponent and missed last week’s Astana Open due to sickness. However, he recovered his form and won admirably 7-5, 6-2 at the ATP 250 competition.
In order to stay in the match, Murray, who last competed at the Laver Cup in London last month, lost serve in the first game and had to preserve break points in two of his subsequent three service games.
When he returned to serve in the eighth game, he was rewarded for his efforts, and another break in the 12th game gave him the opening set.
The former world No. 1 Davidovich Fokina is rated 17 places higher than Murray at 31. Murray kept up his momentum by taking the lead early in the second set, and he finished strong to earn a matchup with either Pedro Cachin of Argentina or Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin in the second round.
He was playing far better than me in the opening set, according to Murray. He had numerous opportunities to break serve again, but I was able to maintain my composure. He played poorly in the 4-3 game to give me the break back, and I then began to play a little bit better.
“I believe he was a little disappointed, and then in the second set his level dipped a little bit, but the finish of the first set was very significant because he was playing pretty well and it was a challenging first set,” the author said.
The 35-year-old is attempting to win his first tour-level championship since he won in Antwerp in 2019. He has advanced to finals in Sydney and Stuttgart this year.
Naturally, I still enjoy it, Murray said. “It’s not easy, the young boys are all moving up really well and hitting the ball harder and harder,” one of them said. Even though it can be challenging at times to stay up, I still like it.
“Today’s attendance was amazing, and the mood was great for a tournament’s opening round. I’ve never been here before, but it’s a beautiful spot, so I’m thrilled to be playing in a new location.”
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