Oscar Otte: Profile, ranking and recent results of German tennis player facing Andy Murray

World No 151 beat Arthur Rinderknech in marathon five-setter earlier this week to set up dream tie against ‘huge icon’ and two-time tournament winner Andy Murray

German tennis star Oscar Otte (Clive Brunskill/Getty)

Two-time Wimbledon winner and British fan favourite Andy Murray faces a tough challenge on Centre Court on Wednesday as he faces off against Germany’s Oscar Otte, 27, for a place in the third round.

Otte, ranked 151 in the world, fought an exhausting battle in the first round earlier this week that saw him (eventually) beat fellow qualifier Arthur Rinderknech on Tuesday after their match was suspended at 9-9 in the fifth set late on Monday evening due to fading light, his belated win only the second deciding tie-break in All England Club history.

The injury-hit Murray meanwhile sailed to a comparatively breezy four-set win over Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, emerging unscathed following pre-tournament concerns about his fitness.

“He’s just a huge icon in the sport. It will be a pretty big match,” Otte told Sky News of his illustrious opponent. “The crowd probably won’t be on my side, but that’s OK for me, of course. I have my coach here, my girlfriend, I think it can be enough, but we will see.

“Everybody knows he’s one of the best tennis players ever and, when he gets in control of his body, I think everybody knows he can still beat the top guys and come far in tournaments.”

Born in Cologne on 16 July 1993, Otte’s father Rolf is a dentist who first began to teach him tennis aged just six.

The player turned pro in 2011 and won his first ATP Challenger Tour doubles title at the Garden Open in Rome in 2017, partnering Andreas Mies, before making his Grand Slam debut at the following year’s French Open.

Otte says he favours clay courts, cites Roger Federer as his idol and is known for his towering stature and two-handed backhand.

He is also a football fan, supporting FC Koln and Bayern Munich, so will no doubt be keen to avenge his nation’s defeat to England at Wembley on Tuesday, which saw Joachim Low’s men crash out of Euro 2020 without reaching the quarter-finals.