Federer keen to return to winning ways

Dubai: World No 1 Roger Federer is more-than-convinced he wants to hit the winning trail once again, following his shock first-round loss to Great Britain's Andy Murray in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships late on Monday.

"I want to get back to the winning route and that is really what matters to me at this moment," Federer told media after his three-set defeat to Murray.

The Barclays-sponsored event was only the second one this season for Federer. He took part in the Australian Open, and contrary to expectations, went down to third ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in Melbourne.

After the Australian Open, Federer relaxed and spent time with his family and friends back in Switzerland before coming to his training base in Dubai on February 19.

"You are going to be a bit rusty if you come off a one-month break and play an opponent like Murray. The eye will be a bit slower and the choice of shots will take a bit more time," Federer said.

Much of this rust that Federer spoke about showed up on centre court on Monday night as the world's best player missed some easy opportunities.

There were only two breaks and both came from Murray - the very one in the fifth game of the second set to go 3-2 up and the second one to win the set and match.

'Missing forehands'

"I don't think I was particularly terrible, but I was missing forehands by two to three metres. You think you have got it all lined up and if such a thing happens it gives you a shock sometimes and it makes you play more inside the court instead of chasing the line. This in turn makes you a bit more predictable," Federer explained.

"For me, I think the match was fine tonight, but not good enough to beat him [Murray]," he said.

Murray now joins others such as Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Canas, David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal for having beaten the top player at least twice since he became the world No 1 on February 2, 2004.

With the top seed and four-time champion here out of the way, the tag now falls on Djokovic, Nadal and Murray.

Crucial week

And perhaps, it will be the most crucial week for Nadal as he seeks to cut down on Federer's lead on the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Should Nadal win here, the 300 points that he stands to earn will cut down Federer's lead at the top to a mere 100 points, thus becoming a serious challenger to the Swiss star's reign at the top for more than four years.

"I always give my best and I know that I can get better and better with time. I am going to practice hard and this break will give me much more time to get better before the next challenge at Miami," he added.

Hard facts: the 'Fedex' saga

• Monday's match was Federer's first after surrendering his Australian Open crown to Novak Djokovic.
• Murray has now won two of the three times he has played the Swiss top-ranked player so far.
• Federer would have been chasing a record fifth title here.
• Going into this tournament, Murray had already captured two singles titles in 2008 - the Marseille Open and the season-opening Doha Open.
• Murray now joins the likes of Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Canas, David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal to beat Federer at least twice since he became the world No 1 on February 4, 2004.
• Federer could have his lead in the rankings cut down to a mere 100 points, if Nadal goes on to win in Dubai this week.
• Monday's loss was only the sixth time since becoming the world No 1 (on February 4, 2004) that Federer has not reached a final.
• The last time Federer lost in his first match of a tournament was at the ATP Masters in Indian Wells (against Guillermo Canas 7-5, 6-2) in March last year after being given a first-round bye.
• This is also the first time that as the world's best player, Federer has lost in the first round of a tournament - the last was against Dominik Hrbaty, in August 2004, at the Cincinnati Masters.