Murray to play Verdasco on Tuesday
Monday 12 October 2020 19:47, UK
Andy Murray will face Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the first round of the bett1HULKS Indoors in Cologne.
The former world No 1 accepted a wildcard entry but he has been handed a tough draw with world No 59 Verdasco first up with Germany's US Open finalist Alexander Zverev awaiting the winner.
Zverev, who is the top seed at the ATP 250 event, has a bye into the second round.
Murray remains optimistic of showing better form to finish the season and into 2021, saying: "The clay season was obviously pretty short for me this year.
"It will be good to hopefully get a few tournaments over the next few weeks and get some matches in. I think they've done a really good job here with the venue and everything. It's really nice. I'm hoping I can perform better than I did in Paris.
"I want to try and win tournaments. Indoor hard courts has been a good surface for me. It's obviously quite a tough draw here but that's what I want to do. I want to try and win. That's the goal.
"I am hoping that over these next few months with more matches, more tournaments and a training period going in to the new year, that next year will be a good one."
Kyle Edmund is also in the top half of the draw and will face a qualifier in his first match with a potential clash against Zverev, Verdasco or Murray in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Roberto Bautista Agut leads the bottom half and he will face Martin Fucsovics or Gilles Simon in the second round.
Sky Scholar Daniel Altmaier, who put up an impressive showing at Roland Garros by reaching the quarter-finals, faces a qualifier in his opening-round match with the winner to face third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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