Top-seeded Ugo Humbert from France against the former world N10 Ernests Gulbis from Latvia will be the match to watch in the first round of Sofia Open 2022’s qualifiers. Humbert, currently ranked 110, achieved career-high No. 25 after upsetting No. 6 Alexandar Zverev and No. 7 Andrey Rublev en route to the biggest of 3 career titles at 2021 Halle. Gulbis reached career-high No. 10 on 9 June 2014 after a run to Roland Garros SF.
The Bulgarian debutant Piotr Nestorov will face Salvatore Caruso in his first ATP appearance. Caruso reached the quarterfinals in Sofia in 2020.
Aleksandar Donski substituted Andrian Andreev in the draw. He will play again against Andreas Seppi from Italy. Both played in the Sofia Open qualifiers second round last year as the Italian won 6:3, 6:2. Seppi will play in Sofia for the fifth consecutive year, as his best achievement is the quarterfinals in 2016.
