Murray happy to stay in rhythm as French test awaits

The Frenchman was ranked in the top 10 last year but has been troubled by a right knee injury for much of the last 12 months, and his two victories at Eastbourne last week were his first of the season on the ATP World Tour.

After coming through a first-round match with qualifier Guillermo Alcaide, Simon was given a walkover when his opponent Illya Marchenko withdrew.

Murray, meanwhile, polished off a second straight-sets victory in fine style in front of the Queen as he easily saw off Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4 6-2.

The Scot said of the pair's differing paths: "Everybody reacts differently to those circumstances. But, from my side, I was happy to play. It was good to stay in a rhythm. Obviously winning in three sets was good."

Murray has played Simon four times, winning their most recent three matches, which all came in 2008. But he remains wary of a player who has beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

"It will be great," said the fourth seed. "He's a tough player. He was obviously in the top 10 last year but he's had a problem with his knee the last few months.

"He's beaten Federer a couple of times and had some tough matches with Djokovic. He was at the top of the game before he got hurt.

"He's a very difficult player to play against, very unorthodox. It will be a bit of a tough match if we both play well."

Simon, seeded 26, is free of pain but admits his chances of beating Murray, who has looked in fine fettle this tournament after an indifferent few months, are not great.

The man from Nice said: "I'm just testing myself in the match and in this tournament, so I don't have expectation about the result at the end. I will just play my match and we will see.

"I'm not in my best shape, and Andy is a very good player. I lost against him when I was playing my best tennis, so this time I don't know."

Simon insists playing the home hope on a Wimbledon show court holds no fear for him.

Indeed, the 25-year-old can draw on his experience of playing Spaniard Nadal in the semi-finals in Madrid two years ago, where he came from a set down before triumphing in a final-set tie-break.