World No.4 Andy Murray returns to the courts for the first time since his Australian Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic when he plays his first round match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against Michael Berrer on Tuesday.

The Scot admits there is a stark difference between how he felt last year after losing the Australian Open final to Djokovic and how he feels now, considering how well he performed against the Serb in their 290-minute clash last month.

“It was a good tournament. I played a lot of good tennis and I was points away from winning in the semis,” said Murray of his run in Melbourne. “You can’t be disappointed when a match comes down to one or two small details that can go either way.

“It’s not like last year where obviously I was very disappointed after the final. This year that wasn’t the case at all. It was a very close match and I just have to move on from it.

“I did everything very, very well. I would’ve liked to have had a better start to the fourth set but apart from that, that’s the only thing I would’ve liked to have done better.”

The 24-year-old says he plans to capitalise on the confidence he gained in Melbourne by doing well in the upcoming US swing. Murray said: “It’s not just for this tournament in Dubai but for the year ahead, it’s exciting. 

“I went over to Miami and worked really hard on my game and practiced the things I did well in Australia and just fine-tuned them a little bit more and I’m looking forward to playing here.

“The last couple of years I struggled at Indian Wells and Miami, after the Australian Open, so hopefully this year will be different.”