The thing that really struck me about Andy Murray’s upset of Roger Federer 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 Monday in the first round of the Dubai tournament was his complete self-composure. Upon hitting a service winner on match point, he didn’t pump his fist. He didn’t shake his fist in the air or turn to his box and thump his chest. He dropped the balls and walked slowly to the net with his head almost down to shake Federer’s hand.

That his lack of emotion stands out in today’s over demonstrative tennis universe (where most players aren’t ashamed to self-celebrate following the first point) is one telling aspect of Murray’s demeanor. He’s laid back, but also a cool customer. Later, the Scot explained his lackadaisical march to the net was due to the respect he has for perhaps “the greatest player in the history of tennis.” But it also said to me that he truly believes he belongs with the elite. Why get all worked up when you know you can play at that level?

Murray is a cagey and fast-rising player many thought would do serious damage in Australia. He ran into the Tsonga tsunami in the first round in Melbourne, which didn’t look so suspect by the end of the tournament. Indeed, the 20-year-old Scot has already captured two titles in 2008 (Doha and Marseille) and has had the look the past few months of a player capable of moving solidly into the top 10 or top 5. What also stood out to me is how much his serve has improved. He spoke about how hard he’d worked on it since the end of 2007, and it’s clearly paid off. Murray upped his record against Federer to 2-1 by hitting 10 aces and winning 91% of his first-serve points. More amazing still, he never faced a single break point in all three sets. I can’t remember the last time that’s happened against the Mighty Fed.

Watching this match, I also came away feeling that Federer is becoming more beatable - more so than when I watched Down Under in January. To be sure, Murray is a difficult match-up for Roger because, like Novak Djokovic, he moves extremely well and forces Federer to go for a little more offense than he’s comfortable with. But I think, more and more, players can sense he isn’t invincible, even if Murray said he expects Federer to assume his place at the top. “People were saying that he was vulnerable at Indian Wells and Miami last year and look what happened,” said Murray, referring to Federer’s three majors and French Open final in ’07. He may not be on a precipitous slide, but the seasons of three Slams and 10 titles could be in the rearview mirror for the 26-year-old Swiss.

Federer, who lost his previous match to Djokovic in the Aussie Open semis and is only in his second tournament this year, admitted he might be a little “cold” and “rusty” and that his forehand was “awful.” Federer hasn’t lost twice in a row much during his four-year reign at No. 1, but it’s the second time in four months that it’s happened. He lost back-to-back contests to David Nalbandian at Paris and to Francisco Gonzalez in his first round-robin match at the Masters Cup in Shanghai. On Monday, was tough to gauge four-time Dubai champ Federer’s mood, but he seemed to take the loss in stride. I wish he’d seemed angrier with himself for not stepping up more forcefully. “I definitely could have played better,” he said. “It’s tough, but it could be worse.”