Murray falls to Novak at first hurdle in Japan

The 19-year-old Scot, who received a first-round bye, clawed his way back into the second set from 4-1 down but managed to win just one point in a one-sided tiebreak as Novak closed in style.

It was the 10th time this year Murray has tripped up at the first hurdle and came on the heels of his first-round defeat by compatriot Tim Henman in Bangkok last week.

"Every single young player goes through a patch where he's not playing well," shrugged the fourth-seeded Murray, who was in the same half of the draw as world number one Roger Federer.

"You can't expect to get to the semi-finals every week -- unless you're Roger Federer or Rafael

The fiery Scot also paid tribute to Henman and Novak following his two losses in Asia.

"It's not like I lost to bad players," said Murray. "Henman has been at the top of the game for a long time. Novak was number five in the world (in 2002).

"I did well to fight back into the match but unfortunately I couldn't quite turn it around."

Defending Tokyo champion Wesley Moodie beat Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-3 6-4 to put the South African on course for a third-round meeting with Federer.

The Swiss, making his first appearance in Japan this week, was playing Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki later on Wednesday in his opening match at the $765,000 tournament.