Difficult… but still enjoying it: Murray upsets sixth seed Fokina to advance in Gijon

Former world No 1 Andy Murray scored a morale-boosting upset win over sixth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets to reach the second round of the Gijon Open on Tuesday.

Murray, who took a wild card entry into the draw, came from a break down in the first set to win 7-5, 6-2 and move into the last 16 at the Palacio deportes.

The three-time Grand Slam winner, now ranked No 48 in the world, will play the winner of the match between Argentinian Pedro Cachin and Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin next.

“Sometimes it is difficult to keep up (with the youngsters), but I still enjoy it” – Murray

The Brit has repeatedly said that he is hoping to climb up the rankings in order to get seeded at the next Grand Slam and a deep run in the last few events in 2022 will help him a long way in that.

“Obviously I still enjoy it,” Murray as quoted by the ATP Tour website. “It’s not easy, the young guys are moving up extremely well, and they’re all hitting the ball harder and harder. Sometimes it is difficult to keep up, but I still enjoy it. We had a fantastic crowd today, a really nice atmosphere for the first round of a tournament… I really enjoy playing in new places, I’ve never been here before and it’s a beautiful place, so I’m happy to be here.”

Gijon ATP 250, first-round matches

• Marcos Giron beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas (8): 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Nicolas Alvarez Varona (Q) beat Marco Trungelliti (Q): 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Manuel Guinard (Q) beat Fabio Fognini: 4-6, 6-0, 2-0 ret.
• Tommy Paul (5) beat Martin Landaluce (WC): 6-3, 6-0
• Dominic Thiem beat João Sousa: 6-2, 6-0
• Arthur Rinderknech beat Carlos Taberner (LL): 6-3, 6-3
• Constant Lestienne beat Sebastian Baez (7): 7-6 (5), 4-4 ret.
• Thiago Monteiro beat Benjamin Bonzi: 6-4, 7-5
• Sebastian Korda vs. Jaume Munar
• Pedro Cachin vs. Alexey Vatutin
• Ilya Ivashka vs. Feliciano Lopez

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