By Scoop Malinowski
Andy Murray will make his first appearance at the Infosys Newport Hall of Fame Championships since 2006 against an old rival in Sam Querrey. Murray leads the overall career head to head vs Querrey 7-2 and their first ever ATP match happened at Newport in 2006, won by world no. 52 Murray 75 62. 157th ranked Querrey won their last match at Wimbledon QF in five sets in 2017 36 64 67 61 61.
Steve Johnson vs Stefan Kozlov will meet in the first round in Newport and it will be the seventh time the 24 year old and 32 year old have clashed on the court. Kozlov, ranked 107, leads the series 4-2 but suffered a 60 60 double bagel loss to 93rd ranked Johnson last month in Queens in the qualifying first round. Kozlov won their other 2022 match in Delray Beach R of 16 encounter, 61 63.
103 ranked Jack Sock has drawn 113 ranked Radu Albot first round. The heavyweight (Sock 195 pounds) and the junior middleweight (Albot, 152 pounds) have played twice as pros and both of those duels were in Delray Beach, each won by Sock, however the margins were very close – in 2017 Sock prevailed 64 76 and in 2020 Sock won 36 63 76.
Other good first round matches include the battle of veteran lefthanders, Jiri Vesely vs Feliciano Lopez, who have only played once in the ATP, at Miami Open in 2014, Lopez won 62 76. The 40 year old Lopez is ranked 240 now and still striving to extend his pro career which began in 1997. Vesely is 28 years old and ranked 68.
The first round also features a battle of Australian veterans, Jason Kubler vs Jordan Thompson. Kubler is ranked 99 and Thompson is 76. Thompson won their one match at the Seoul, Korea Challenger semifinals 63 36 64. The winner of this match will play top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Infosys Hall of Fame Open main draw kicks off tomorrow with Peter Gojowczyk vs. Ugo Humbert on Center Court, starting at 11 am, followed by Jason Kubler vs. Jordan Thompson, Stefan Kozlov vs. Steve Johnson, and Radu Albot vs. Jack Sock. In addition, three doubles matches are set to take place and the singles qualifying draw will be completed.
The first round of the main draw will continue on Tuesday, with the top four seeds in action on Wednesday.
Andy Murray · Infosys Hall of Fame Championships · Jack SOck · Newport Hall of Fame · Sam Querrey
Scoop Malinowski · July 11, 2022 at 10:17 pm
Johnson beat Kozlov 75 63. Took 3-0 lead, 15 games in a row vs Kozlov, but Kozlov got it to 5-5 but that was it, johnson was stronger today. Johnson had a rough practice yesterday with Sock. Krueger beat ex ucla player gage Brymer. Noah Rubin lost in three sets to Will Blumberg who yelled Let’s GOOO! after match point. Ugo Humbert lost in three to Peter Gojowyczk. Humbert chatted with Jeremy Chardy after who needed crutches to walk, he looked in bad shape. Sock handled Albot.