Wimbledon 2008: Andy Murray v Xavier Malisse - Live

Preamble:

Well, thanks to Anne Keothanvong's surprisingly spirited resistance against Venus Williams, we've had to wait a little longer than expected for this.

If Andy Murray can match the vigor of his British counterpart, he shouldn't have too much trouble this afternoon. He may not have hit the heights achieved in the early part of 2007, but he's not lost to a player ranked outside the world's top 100 since his defeat to Fabio Fognini in Canada in August last year. And he's beaten plenty of better players than Malisse so far this season.

That said, Malisse is no chump. The Belian seems to have been around forever, he's still only 27. A consistent top 50 player throughout his career, his ranking (now 226) only really started tumbling after a wrist injury in the middle of last season. He was as high as 19 in the world rankings back in 2002, reached the Wimbledon semis that year, and has already beaten David Nalbandian and Jarkko Nieminen in 2008. And remember, Murray has played just three full matches on grasss since July 2006.

That said, Malisse's 2002 semi-final (when he lost in five sets to Nalbandian) is one of only two occasions on which he has been passed the second round at the All-England club. In seven visits, that's hardly a fearsome record.

Yeah, I've done my research. But that's all of it.