Tim Henman has a point to prove in Basel today when he faces his young British rival Andy Murray in a competitive match for the first time.

As recently as this summer, Henman would have been heavily favoured to breeze past Murray with the minimum of fuss.

But their contrasting trajectories, post-Wimbledon, have attached greater significance to their encounter in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors.

Murray has closed the world ranking gap between the pair to 42 places and victory for the young Scot would be seen as conclusive proof of an imminent changing of the guard.

"It is a match I'm looking forward to. I have great respect for Tim as a man and as a tennis player," said Murray. "He has had a great career and it will be quite a challenge to play him."

Henman increasingly appears to be clinging on to his position as the domestic No 1, as he also finds himself under threat from Greg Rusedski's recent revival.

"It will be a very difficult match but I've managed to handle similar situations in the past," said Henman.

"It's not going to be an easy match for either of us - it never is when you come up against somebody from the same country.

"We practised back home in London last week and we've also practised together out here, so we do get on well and we know how each other plays.

"Andy's rise to fame this year is well documented. His achievements this year are nothing short of phenomenal when you consider how old he is and he has obviously got a very bright future ahead of him."

Henman will take heart from the fact that in nine previous meetings with Rusedski, he has emerged triumphant from seven of them.

But recent form suggests he has a fight on his hands. Since losing in the second round of Wimbledon, Henman has won just three matches and plummeted out of the world's top 20.

Murray, meanwhile, has made it past the first round in all five of the top-level tournaments he has played since his his Wimbledon breakthrough. n Former Olympic gold medallist Marc Rosset is putting an end to his turbulent tennis career after 17 years on the professional circuit.

The 35- year- old from Geneva will retire following this week's Swiss Indoors tournament where he is playing doubles.

"I actually made the decision a few months ago," said Rosset. "I was still playing (on the Challenger circuit) at the start of the year, but then I had a tough time with the death of a friend and a few other problems, so I decided I wouldn't play again.

"Some friends talked me into playing one more time in Basel and, although I'm not fond of people making a fuss over me, I thought 'why not?'"

Rosset won 15 singles and eight doubles titles in his career, including the French Open doubles in 1992. He was also part of the Swiss team that lost the 1992 Davis Cup final to the United States.

In 1998, he cheated death when the Swissair flight he was booked on crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all on board. Rosset had decided to stay on and continue practising in New York after the US Open.