Murray’s baby joy ahead of title defence
● Scottish star confirms another child is on the way for him and Kim
Andy Murray has spoken of his delight after it emerged his wife Kim is expecting their second child.
As he prepared to begin his defence of his Wimbledon title today, the tennis star confirmed reports of the pregnancy.
The 30-year-old said he and his wife were “obviously very happy and looking forward to it”.
But the Scot insisted that news of the pregnancy would not put him under any extra pressure in the tournament, adding it was “not a distraction in the slightest”.
Murray confirmed the news yesterday as he shrugged off fears his tournament was set to be wrecked by injury problems.
The couple, who already have a 17-month-old daughter, Sophia, discovered they were about to have another child “a while ago”, according to Murray.
Asked whether his wife would be supporting him during the tournament, Murray said: “She’ll be coming to Wimbledon. And we found out a while ago.
“But I’m not interested in discussing the dates of that in here.”
Murray, who declared himself fit to defend his title on the eve of the tournament, has previously spoken of how his family was more important than his career.
The couple announced they were expecting their first baby in August 2015, five months after their wedding in Dunblane.
Shortly after the birth of Sophia, Murray said: “My child is more important to me and my wife is more important to me than a tennis match.”
Murray is due to launch the defence of his title against Russia’s Alexander Bublik, who is ranked 134th in the world, in the opening match on Centre Court today. Bublik failed to make it through qualifying but was given a place in the main draw after a spot opened up.
The odds on murray winning Wimbledon for a third time have lengthened since he lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club then pulled out of two exhibition matches because of a sore hip.
Speaking at Wimbledon, he said: “I’ll be fine to play the event and play seven matches. If I feel like I am today, I’d be delighted and have no issues getting through. If necessary, I can take some anti infl am ma tories if my hip flares up. Hopefully that’s not the case.
“I’ve had hip problems since I was very young. It’s not something new to me. It’s just been very sore the last few weeks.”
In January, Murray was 13-8 with Paddy Power to successfully defend his title, but this moved to 4-1 after his firstround loss at the Queen’s Club and the company now has Murray at 5-1.
A Paddy Power spokesman said: “Roger Federer looks like the man to beat and has shortened significantly into 9-4 after his title win at ATP Halle last week.
“The punters, who are usually so patriotic, continue to bet against Murray.”
Rupert Adams, spokesman for William Hill, which has the Scot at 6-1, said: “For the first time in years we will be minted if Murray comes through and wins this – it will feel very strange cheering him on.”
The Met Office’s forecast for the All England Club today is a cloudy day with highs of 22C.