Xavier Malisse is in first round action at the Open de Moselle against Michael Berrer.
Malisse will be looking to put a dire summer behind him after losing seven straight matches since Wimbledon. The Belgian came to life on his favourite grass courts to reach the fourth round before losing to young Aussie tyro Bernard Tomic.
However since then Malisse has barely been able to buy a win, culminating in a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 Davis Cup loss at the weekend on a fast indoor surface against Austrian clay-courter Andreas Haider-Maurer.
Malisse is normally a threat indoors particularly in these ATP 250 events but the sixth seed is in quite a strong quarter of the draw and in this form it's hard to see him surviving for long.
Malisse leads 3-0 on the head-to-head against Berrer, last beating him 7-5, 6-2 in the 2010 Canadian Masters. Fortunately for Malisse, the German has been in similarly dire form this summer and his year has been characterised by two things; reaching the Zagreb final in January and the praise and criticism he received for refusing to use the drop shot against an injured Andy Murray at the French Open.
Prediction: Malisse in two.
