Andy Murray: ‘I stayed tough in hard moments’ to move on in Gijon
Andy Murray has come through a tough first round draw at the Gijon Open in his first ranking tournament since the US Open.
The former world number one defeated world number 31 home talent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 6-2 to stay in the ATP 250 event. Despite the straight sets result it was by no means an easy victory for the veteran.
“The first set he was playing a lot better than me,” Murray admitted in his on-court interview. “He had a lot of chances to get the second break of serve. I managed to stay tough in those moments.
“At 4-3 he played a bad game to give me the break back. After that I started to play a bit better. I think he was a bit frustrated and in the second set his level dropped a little bit.
“The end of the first set was very important because he was playing very well. It was a difficult first set.”
Andy Murray trailed 4-2 in the first set but rallied to claim the opener and winning six of the next seven games. Facing 23-year-old Davidovich Fokina, a man 12 years Murray’s junior, was a notable challenge for the 35-year-old.
“Obviously I still enjoy it,” Murray continued. “It’s not easy. The young guys are moving unbelievably well and they’re all hitting the ball harder and harder all of the time. So it’s difficult to keep up.”
It just kept coming back ?@alexdavidovich1 @andy_murray #GijonOpen pic.twitter.com/VcAiRkMV7V
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 11, 2022
After this tough tussle against a higher ranked opponent, Murray will take on a player ranked below him next. That will either be 61st ranked Pedro Cachin or world number 279 qualifier Alexey Vatutin
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