Mismatch in Majorca as Murray faces novice teen

When Andy Murray decided to play in this week’s Challenger event in Majorca, he was looking for a gentler match that would ease him back into the swing of singles after two tough defeats on the American hard-court circuit.

But while Murray was expecting to drop down a level, he cannot have imagined that he would be drawn against an untried 17-yearold whose career prize-money stands at $150. This could turn out to be the biggest mismatch since he scored a 6-0, 6-0 “double-bagel” victory over Luxembourg’s Laurent Bram, a club coach, in the Davis Cup eight years ago.

Murray’s ranking of No 329 places him lower than any of the 41 men who earned direct entry to the Rafa Nadal Open. There is even a top-100 player in there, in Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk.

But the tournament did not receive enough applications to run the usual qualification event for the last seven places. As a result, they were almost reduced to signing up anyone they could find.

Hence the appearance of Murray’s opponent, Imran Sibille – a trainee at the Rafa Nadal Academy, which is hosting the event – as an alternative. Sibille does not have an ATP ranking and is equal 2,792nd on the International Tennis Federation’s system. Apart from Bram – who had no ranking at all – he is the weakest player statistically Murray has faced since he was 18 years old.

Assuming that Murray wins today – which you would hope he will – he is due to face third seed Norbert Gombos in the second round. Gombos, a 29-year-old Slovakian, is considerably more experienced, having reached a career high of No 80 in the world two years ago, 36 places above where he stands now.

While Murray builds up his match fitness again after the implantation of his metal hip in January, the rest of the so-called “Big Four” are seeded Nos 1, 2 and 3 at the US Open. Novak Djokovic opens his campaign against world No76 Roberto Carballes Baena. Roger Federer has been drawn against Indian qualifier Sumit Nagal.