Andy Murray loses first match since recovering from back surgery

British number one Andy Murray lost on his return to action after undergoing back surgery in September.

The 26-year-old, who was recently named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, lost 7-5 6-3 to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.

Murray has not played since Britain's Davis Cup World Group play-off win over Croatia in September.

He will now face Stanislas Wawrinka in the fifth-placed play-off on Friday.

Murray was due to return to action last month at the Dream Cup exhibition in Barbados but the event was cancelled , so he continued training at his Miami base.

"The courts here are very fast and you have to react quickly," said Murray.

"Jo was sharper than me, he served very well.

"It's always good fun here. It's great preparation for the season as you have to play against the best in the world."

Tsonga, 28, went into the match with an 8-1 career deficit in competitive matches against Murray.

"It's not often I take two sets off Andy, even in practice," said the Frenchman, who himself has been struggling with a knee injury.

In the other match, Spaniard David Ferrer beat Wawrinka 7-5, 6-1 to set up a meeting with world number one Rafael Nadal.

Tsonga will face world number two Novak Djokovic on Friday also.