The same nonchalance that allowed Andy Murray immediately to return to his slumbers after being informed that he had been drawn to face Roger Federer in the first round of the Barclays Dubai Championships enabled the young Scot calmly to register what he maintains is the sort of result of which his most pleasurable dreams are made.

That Murray could have ever contemplated, subconsciously or otherwise, that Federer would ultimately become so frustrated with his own game that the world No 1 found himself virtually unable to hit a forehand in court is open to doubt.

And if the pattern established by the 20-year-old thus far in 2008 holds firm (title, first-round defeat, title, first-round defeat), come Saturday he could be raising a third trophy of the year here.

Certainly the man most likely to succeed is out of contention after Murray’s 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 triumph meant that the champion of four of the past five years and the runner-up on the other occasion must content himself with work-outs on the practice court before he sets off for New York and another exhibition match with Pete Sampras. Murray next plays Fernando Verdasco, the world No 30, of Spain, an opponent he has beaten in both their previous meetings.

Quiet pride was the British No 1’s mood after his second win in three meetings against the player he insists is possibly the finest the world has seen. “That was pretty special,” the world No 11, who just missed out on a place among the tournament’s eight seeds, said. “I have so much respect for him that I was not going to jump up and down in celebration and didn’t want it to get too emotional. But I am so pleased with the way I played; to serve so well that you don’t allow a player like Federer a solitary break point through three sets is really something.”

Murray was, indeed, too good for Federer, but still not enough to make a good impression on the world No 1. “I don’t think he’s changed his game a whole lot since I played him in the Bangkok final [in 2005],” Federer said. “It sort of works for him but he’s going to have to grind very hard for the next few years if he keeps playing this way.

“I gave him the mistakes today but I think overall, over a 15-year career, you want to look to win a point more often than for the opponent to miss.”

Murray maintained that he had been concentrating on improving specific elements of his game since losing in the opening round to Robin Haase in Rotterdam and said that he had gained 6lb. Clearly added muscle and extra diligence saw benefit in his serve; he served ten aces to Federer’s six and only twice allowed his imperious opponent to progress to deuce when Murray started the point.

Undeniably Federer paid the price for his voluntary 39-day layoff from competitive activity. Initially he seemed to have purged the memory of the Australian Open and his straight-sets semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic, the eventual champion, but before too long elements of self-doubt seemed to creep into his game. His touch was errant and at times his concentration appeared in tatters. After allowing Murray to break serve to lead 4-2 in the second set, Federer made for his courtside chair thinking it was a change of ends.

Federer had not suffered the embarrassment of a first-round defeat in a tournament since he lost to Dominik Hrbaty in Cincinnati in August 2004 but this defeat in 1 hr 54 min was all the more ignominious in that Dubai is effectively a home tournament after he acquired an apartment in the Emir-ate two years ago. “I’m not going to beat anyone without a forehand and I played some awful shots,” he said.

“When you are missing with the shot by two or three metres, winning is just not possible. But this does not come as a huge shock, I always struggle in the opening round here because the ball flies. Usually I manage to win through, but Andy was too good for me.”

Certainly that was the case in the later stages of the match as Murray never once looked like buckling after breaking Federer’s serve to love in the third set; a double fault and two horrendous forehand errors helping the Scot on his way. But in truth it should have been a straight-sets victory with the only lapse in Murray’s composure coming in the first set tie-break when he led 5-2 before noticeably tightening.