By Alastair Himmer

British number one Andy Murray slumped to a 6-3, 7-6 defeat against big-hitting Czech Jiri Novak in his opening match at the Japan Open on Wednesday.

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

"Every young player goes through a patch where he's not playing well," shrugged the fourth-seeded Murray. "You can't expect to get to the semi-finals every week -- unless you're Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. They are the only two who can do it. I wasn't looking that far ahead."

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, while Novak has been number five in the world.

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