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ATP Gijon Day 2 Predictions Including Andy Murray vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Ilya Ivashka in action ahead of the ATP Gijon Open.

Day two at the inaugural ATP Gijon Open on Tuesday will feature more intriguing first-round. Home fans will be thrilled with four Spaniards in action, two of whom are seeded in the draw, whilst a former-world #1 is also set to take to the courts. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, but who will come out on top?

ATP Gijon Day 2 Predictions

Manuel Guinard vs Fabio Fognini

Head-to-head: first meeting

Manuel Guinard is a journeyman who is generally a clay-court specialist with a majority of his matches this year and his career played on the surface. Fabio Fognini is also best on clay, though he can produce magic on hard courts, as he did at the US Open when he came down from two sets to love down to Aslan Karatsev. Fognini is talented on hard but the speed on the indoor court somewhat neutralizes his great spin. However, Guinard has a similar skillset and will also be less equipped to play well on indoor hard. Fognini is simply the better player and even on a fast court can use his shotmaking to keep Guinard off balance and score a comfortable victory.

Prediction: Fognini in 2
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Marco Giron vs Albert Ramos Vinolas

Head-to-head: Giron 1-0 Ramos Vinolas

This is their second meeting with their first coming in December of 2020 also on an indoor hard court in Paris. Marcos Giron is looking to continue to build on a career year that has seen him break into the top-50 for the first time and reach his first tour-level final in San Diego two weeks ago. Ramos Vinolas is a veteran with a good baseline game and is equipped to wear down any player he comes up against, although he is rather more comfortable on the clay.

Giron has a similar game and is strong physically to hit with Ramos Vinolas and continue to grind out long rallies. He has had a great hard court season, qualifying for Montreal and Cincinnati in consecutive weeks before making the final in San Diego in his most recent tournament. The Spaniard has had another good year on clay, but has gone 4-7 on hard and 0-2 on grass. The court speed will benefit Giron and he is in better form that will be the difference to pull out a hard-fought battle.

Prediction: Giron in 3
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Marco Trungelliti vs Nicolas Alvarez Varona

Head-to-head: first meeting

This is an interesting matchup between two clay-court specialist both ranked outside the top-200 in the world. Both players had to qualify with Marco Trungelliti winning both his matches in straight sets, while Nicolas Alvarez Varona dropped his first set before reeling off four straight to qualify. Trungelliti has had a bit stronger season so far and is coming in with more experience. At just 21-years-old, Alvarez Varona should have a physical advantage against the 32-year-old veteran Trungelliti.

Alvarez Varona should also have the support of the majority of the crowd. However, faster courts should play into the Argentine Trungelliti’s hands by keeping the points quick and avoiding physicality being a major factor. Experience will be the main difference, as well as the fact that the match not being on a show court will neutralize the home advantage for Varona. Trungelliti will pull it out in three sets.

Prediction: Trungelliti in 3
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Andy Murray vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Head-to-head: first meeting

This will surely be the most exciting match of the day. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is an exciting young Spaniard playing in front of a home crowd, whilst three-time Major champion Andy Murray is easily the biggest name in the draw and will likely bring out many fans. Murray has struggled a bit on hard courts the second half of the year, with his physical game hard to continue after serious hip surgeries. Davidovich Fokina is unquestionably very talented but continues to struggle with inconsistency.

He reached the fourth round at the US Open then lost in the first round last week to lucky loser Pavel Kotov. This will be a back-and-forth battle, and if Fokina can get one of the first two sets, his youth and physical advantage will lead him to victory in a third. Davidovich Fokina will surely come out firing and whilst he shouldn’t expect to win this match in straight sets, he should have the beating of Murray over the distance.

Prediction: Davidovich Fokina in 3
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Ilya Ivashka vs Feliciano Lopez

Head-to-head: first meeting

Feliciano Lopez is playing his first tournament in two months as his career rapidly nears its end. At 41 years of age, he is far from the player he once was and has compiled just a 1-14 record in 2022. Ilya Ivashka is a talented, all-court player with a big serve just like Lopez, but rather more firepower off the ground. He is in good form, coming off a fourth-round appearance at the US Open and a quarterfinal showing two weeks ago in Sofia.

Lopez will have to serve really well to have a chance, and his one win this year was on grass, with his game suited for faster surfaces. Unfortunately, Ivashka’s strong serve does not bode well for Lopez, who does not have enough game currently to break it. Lopez can make it to a tiebreak in at least one set thanks to his own serve which remains potent, but Ivashka is in far better form and will take care of business on serve to take the match.

Prediction: Ivashka in 2

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