How Andy’s learned to hold his nerve... just to change his precious Sophia
...and she might improve his game
ON the tennis court, he can hit a backhand fierce enough to make his opponent wince.
But for new dad Andy Murray, 28, the prospect of changing and dressing his precious baby daughter Sophia Olivia is absolutely terrifying.
In his first full interview since becoming a father, the world No 2 revealed he’s extra cautious when it comes to his threeweek-old baby with wife Kim.
In an interview with The Guardian, the former Wimbledon champion said: ‘I was OK holding her.
‘The only thing I found difficult was changing her because you see a small person and you think they’re so fragile – or that their hands are so small that when you’re putting their fingers through their top that they could maybe break.
‘But when you see all the midwives – and Kim has a good friend who is a midwife – they’re a lot rougher and they do things much more quickly. Lots of people have told me babies are a lot more resilient than you think. They’re not going to break.’
After a month’s break for Sophia’s birth, Murray will resume playing tennis at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena this week, as Great Britain take on a Japan side boasting world No 6 Kei Nishikori in the Davis Cup.
Murray has admitted he is not looking forward to leaving his daughter behind at their home in Oxshott, Surrey.
He said: ‘The thing that has surprised me most is how quickly everything changes.
‘You don’t notice it when you’re there every day, but you look back at a photo on the day she was born to one taken five days later to now, a few weeks on, and you see how much things change on a daily basis.
‘I really don’t want to miss
‘Fatherhood is a positive thing’
seeing those changes. Even when I’m away for a day I feel bad. I feel I should be there and I want to be there as much as I can. So when I’m leaving the house at eight in the morning and getting back at eight at night, I feel bad.’
Murray, of Dunblane, Perthshire, also told how his tennis-playing older brother is a nervous uncle. He said Jamie, the 30-year-old Australian Open men’s doubles champion, was awkward when he held his niece for the first time.
Some feel Murray’s game might improve now that he, like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, is a father. He said: ‘It’s tough to tell. I’ve been training again and certainly haven’t been worse.
‘I’ve been very motivated in practice. Obviously with Novak and Roger it’s worked out well. I don’t know if having kids has made them play better or if they’re just really good.
‘For other players it hasn’t worked out as well. But fatherhood is a positive thing – and tennis not being your priority can help. It lends perspective.
‘The outcome of a match is not everything but I want my daughter to be proud of her dad when she grows up and sees what I did. I hope it works out in a positive way on the court but if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.’
Mrs Murray, 28, gave birth to 8lb 10oz Sophia on February 7. Her parents took her to Dunblane to meet family last week. Murray’s maternal grandmother Shirley Erskine, 81, said she was ‘lovely’.
The couple have yet to release a picture of Sophia.
AN DY MURRAY makes his return to action this weekend as Great Britain commence the defence of their Davis Cup title — but already the new father is feeling guilty about spending time away from his three- week- old daughter Sophia.
After a one-month break from competition for the birth of his first child, the Scot resumes life on the tour at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena as Great Britain take on a Japan side boasting world No 6 Kei Nishikori.
But the 28-year-old has admitted that he even felt bad leaving his daughter and wife Kim at their Oxshott home last week for his daily training sessions at the All England Club in Wimbledon.
‘The thing that has surprised me most is how quickly everything changes — from the first day she was born,’ Murray t old Guardian. ‘You don’t notice it when you’re there every day but you look back at a photo on the day she was born to one taken five days later to now, a few weeks on, and you see how much things change on a daily basis.
‘I really don’t want to miss seeing those changes. Even when I’m away for a day, I feel bad. I feel I should be there and I want to be there as much as I can.
‘So, when I’m leaving the house at eight in the morning and getting back at eight at night, I feel bad.’
After spending little time off following the Davis Cup victory in December against Belgium, Murray instead treated the month of February as his off- season, racing straight to Melbourne airport for the first flight home after his defeat by Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open on January 31.
Seven days later, on February 7, Murray was racing to the hospital with Kim for the arrival of Sophia. After reading books on fatherhood such as Commando Dad — which was also used by Prince William ahead of the birth of his first child George — Murray has slowly got to grips with it all. ‘I was OK holding her,’ he continued.
‘The only thing I found difficult was changing her because you see a small person and you think they’re so fragile — or that their hands are so small that when you’re putting their fingers through their top that they could maybe break.
‘ But when you see all t he midwives — and Kim has a good friend who is a midwife — they’re a lot rougher and they do things much more quickly.
‘Lots of people have told me babies are a lot more resilient than you think. They’re not going to break.
‘I’ve not held her upside down yet. But, yeah, after the first couple of days I felt much more confident.’
There is no shortage of people
Fatherhood is a positive thing
and tennis not being your priority lends perspective
to give advice on all things fatherhood to Murray on tour, with each member of the world’s top four — Murray, Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka — having children.
Djokovich as lost just seven matches in 113 since son Stefan was born in October 2014, Federer continues to produce a high level of tennis at the age of 34 with two sets of twins and Wawrinka has won both his Grand Slam titles as a dad.
It will be intriguing to see if fatherhood has a similarly positive impact on Murray.
‘It’s tough to tell,’ he admitted. ‘ I’ve been training again and certainly haven’t been worse. I’ve been very motivated in practice. Obviously with Novak and Roger, it’s worked out well.
‘I don’t know if having kids has made them play better or if they’re just really good.
‘For other players it hasn’t worked out as well. But (fatherhood) is a positive thing — and tennis not being your priority can help. It lends perspective when you have a bad loss or bad practice.
‘The outcome of a match is not everything but I want my daughter to be proud of her dad when she grows up and sees what I did.
‘I hope it works out in a positive way on the court but if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.’
After the Davis Cup tie, Murray will head straight to the Californian desert for the first ATP Masters event of the season in Indian Wells, at which he will be accompanied by his new assistant coach Jamie Delgado.
The 38-year-old joined Murray for his training sessions at Wimbledon last week and will sit in the players’ box in Indian Wells in an official capacity for the first time.
Murray will be hoping the former Davis Cup player, working alongside main coach Amelie Mauresmo, can help him win a long-awaited third Grand Slam title to follow up on his Wimbledon 2013 and 2012 US Open triumphs.
‘When I lost the Wimbledon 2012 final, I didn’t know if I’d ever win a slam,’ said Murray. ‘Then when I won the US Open they were asking: “What’s going to happen now?” I thought: “It’s taken me this long to win one, I don’t know if I’ll win another”.
‘And now that I’ve not won one for a couple of years, I don’t know if I’ll win another one.
‘But I believe I still can. I’ve been close the last year. I had my best French Open. At Wimbledon I was playing extremely well and it took Federer to play an unbelievable match. He served 79-per-cent first serves which might happen once a year — twice at best.
‘I can definitely still win more slams. I’ve just got to take the chances when they come.’