Murray comeback ends in defeat

Andy Murray's first match since undergoing surgery in the autumn ended in a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

World number four Murray has been out of action since going under the knife in September to correct a long-standing back injury and was some way from his best as he went down 7-5 6-3 in the first round of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Murray matched Tsonga for much of the first set, the contest going with serve to 5-6 before his opponent converted his first break-point chance with a precise lob to take the opener.

Murray came out firing in the next to immediately forced a break of the Tsonga serve, but the Briton was unable to maintain his advantage and two breaks for Tsonga on successive Murray service games ensured the Frenchman wrapped up a 72-minute victory.

The opening match of the invitational tournament ended with victory for world number three David Ferrer, who defeated Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5 6-1.

Ferrer now progresses to an all-Spanish semi-final against world number one Rafael Nadal, while Tsonga will meet Novak Djokovic, the world number two, in the last four.

Murray will get more match practice under his belt when he meets Wawrinka in a fifth-place play-off.