Murray learns tough Gijon opponent as Brit bids to end 2022 on a high

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Andy Murray has received a tough first-round opponent at the Gijon Open as he aims to end 2022 on a high and build up his ranking ahead of next season. The three-time Major champion took a wildcard into the tournament after pulling out of last week’s Astana Open and will now face sixth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Murray is playing his first tournament since representing Team Europe at the Laver Cup for the first time. The world No 48 was set to play last week’s Astana Open but withdrew and took a wildcard into Gijon instead but will have a tough task in his first match.

The Brit will face home favourite and sixth seed Davidovich Fokina in the first round, likely playing on Tuesday. The world No 31 defeated Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this year en route to the biggest final of his career, and beat then-world No 7 Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon.

Murray has never faced the 23-year-old, and Davidovich Fokina will have more support than ever with the Spaniard playing in front of a home crowd. The 35-year-old is hoping to earn some extra ranking points to end the season on a high so he can go into 2023 with an improved ranking.

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If he makes it into the second round, the former world No 1 will face either world No 61 Pedro Cachin or qualifier Alexey Vatutin. And there are more tricky Spanish opponents lurking in Murray’s half of the draw, with second seed Pablo Carreno Busta and third seed Roberto Bautista Agut in his section.

Murray is then expected to play the ATP 250 in Antwerp, the ATP 500 in Basel and the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy before ending his season. He is defending 150 points for the rest of the season, giving him a good chance to build on his ranking if he can have some deep runs at his last few tournaments.

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The three-time Major champion has already had an impressive climb this season, starting the year down at world No 134 before re-entering the top 50, but he is yet to get back into the top 40 since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery three-and-a-half years ago.

But he will need to get past Davidovich Fokina before he can focus on any other tournaments or matches for the rest of the year. The good news for Murray is that the Spaniard has played just one tournament since making the second week of the US Open, losing his opening match to world No 103 Pavel Kotov in Astana last week.

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