Andy Murray begins what he hopes will be a successful next phase of his career in Doha this week when he and his team of advisors attempt to make a seamless transition from life under the guidance of Brad Gilbert, the top American coach.

Murray begins his challenge for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open against the Belgian, Olivier Rochus, and will be hoping to enjoy more joy under the desert sun in Doha, where a year ago he defeated top-seed Nikolay Davydenko on the way to reaching the final in which he lost to Ivan Ljubicic.

The British No.1, who has fellow Scot Miles Maclagan as his main advisor for the first time on tour - they had a trial run in Florida recently to see if their professional relationship works - is confident his policy of running a team of "no egos, no clashes of personality and no yes men" will propel him back into the world top 10.

He was threatening to break into the top-eight qualifiers for the Masters Series final in Shanghai until a wrist injury interrupted his career and kept him off the court for three months. However, he now, believes he is fitter and stronger than ever thanks to the efforts of trainers Matt Little and Jez Green, and is keen to make up for lost time in Doha to build confidence for the Australian Open.

Victory against Rochus will earn Murray, the world No.11, a second-round confrontation with either Rainer Schuettler or Andre Pavel as he savours the possibility of meeting Davydenko again in the semi-finals and Ljubicic in the final.

There is a possibility Murray will meet his elder brother, Jamie, in the semi-finals of the doubles a year after the Dunblane pair reached that stage playing as a scratch pairing.

They have gone their separate ways, with Andy respecting Jamie's desire to make further progress in an area which brought him mixed triumph at Wimbledon with Jelena Jankovic.

Jamie is paired with Max Mirnyi and they are in the same half of the draw as Andy, who has been granted a wild-card entry with the Englishman, Ross Hutchins.

nNovak Djokovic gave Serbia, the top seeds, a winning start to their Hopman Cup campaign yesterday with a 3-0 victory over Taiwan. Jankovic had a 6-4, 6-4 victory against world No.157 Hsieh Su-wei and Djokovic was pushed hard before beating 110th-ranked Lu Yen-hsun 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. The Serbs, ranked third in the world, then joined forces to win the mixed doubles 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.

France opened their bid for the title with a 2-1 win over Argentina in the other Group A match. Having only returned to the practice courts two weeks ago after nose surgery in November, Jankovic looked very rusty. Hsieh, who has spent most of her time on the ITF circuit, a level below the main WTA Tour, forced Jankovic into a host of errors but the Serb's greater experience got her through.

Djokovic needed to dig deep to overcame the stubborn Lu, who levelled the match at one set apiece after the Serb had won a tight opener.

nFifth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer overcame a sluggish start before advancing to the second round of the Australian Hardcourt championships on Australia's Gold Coast yesterday.

The world No.17 dropped the first set before beating Julie Ditty of the USA 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. She now meets either Lourdes Dominguez Lino or a qualifier.