Andy Murray stumbled out of the Dubai Championships with a 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 defeat by unseeded Janko Tipsarevic.

The Serb won the first set on a tie-break and Murray seemed fuelled by his frustration in the second, securing an early break which he never lost.

Tipsarevic took the initiative in the decider and, despite failing to serve out at 5-3, the world number 39 broke Murray's serve to wrap up the win.

Murray will now head to the US ahead of next month's Indian Wells Masters.

"It is always disappointing to lose, but I did not have much expectation from the tournament," said Murray.

"I am coming from a big break after the Australian Open and was not as prepared as I should have been for the tournament.

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"I was still trying out things on the court, rather than playing my normal game."

The opening set of their second-round clash went with serve until the fifth game, when Tipsarevic broke and followed up with a good service game for 4-2.

Murray's play was strangely muted and he failed to make any headway on the Tipsarevic serve until the Serb moved to within one game of the first set.

With the pressure now on, Murray sparked into life and found the returning and defensive skills that are the basis to his game.

It came down to a tie-break and the momentum appeared to be with the Scot, but Tipsarevic was not in the mood to crumble and he controlled it from the outset.

The set ended on a confused note, with Tipsarevic's serve initially being ruled out before the umpire admitted his mistake and awarded the point, and with it the set, to the Serb.

I just told myself that I have to remain calm and composed and take my chances when they come Janko Tipsarevic

This seemed to inspire a riled-looking Murray, who pulled off a fine cross-court winner to break his opponent in the opening game of the second and went on to level the scores.

Again, Murray looked to have wrestled the initiative away but Tipsarevic's all-court game proved a constant challenge and he was soon 3-0 up in the final set.

Murray narrowly avoided falling a double-break behind but then had five chances to pull the break back in a thrilling fifth game, the best of the match.

When the Serb prevailed it seemed there was no way he was going to let the advantage slip, but serving for the match at 5-3 he made two backhand errors and could only watch as Murray fired a backhand passing shot on the run to break back.

The comeback ended abrupty in the next game, though, as Tipsarevic broke serve once again to clinch a deserved victory with a forehand winner into the corner that set up a quarter-final against Mikhail Youzhny.

"One of the biggest wins, surely," is how Tipsarevic described his achievement. "Murray is a contestant to be number one at the end of the season.

"He played unbelievable tennis at the Australian Open. He was one of the favourites to win the tournament here, for sure."

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