NEW BAWLS, PLEASE!
‘Secret’ fourth baby for Sir Andy and Kim
FEW circumstances that delay the return from injury to top form bring great joy to a sporting hero – but that has proven to be the case for tennis ace Sir Andy Murray.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has withdrawn from next week’s ATP tour event in Dubai after the birth of his fourth child.
Sir Andy, from Dunblane, Perthshire, and wife Kim Sears kept the pregnancy secret and it is not known if their new arrival is a girl or a boy.
The couple, who live in Surrey, already have two daughters, Sophia, five, and Edie, three, and a one-year-old son, Teddy.
It is understood Sir Andy, 33, who is still on the comeback trail following hip surgery two years ago, felt he would not have had enough preparation time before the championships in Dubai. Their baby joy comes a week after threetime Grand Slam winner Sir Andy gained his first ATP Tour victory of the year in Rotterdam. He won his opening match against Robin Haase before losing 7-5 6-2 to Russian world number eight Andrey Rublev last Wednesday.
The former world number one intends to go to the United States early next week to prepare for the Miami Open.
He is expected to receive a wild card entry for the event, which starts on March 22.
Sir Andy, now ranked number 116 in the world, had to miss the Australian Open last month after testing positive for Covid-19.
It is not the first time he has faced a tournament coinciding with the birth of his child.
Before Teddy’s birth in 2019, he chose to compete in the European Open in Antwerp – which he won – rather than the Stockholm Open, as the Belgian city was only a short flight from home.
In 2016, there was a one-week gap between the Australian Open and Sophia’s birth.