Andy Murray revealed how the recent birth of his third child, Teddy Barron Murray, has led to an altered schedule, temporary weight gain and numerous adjustments in his life as he set his sights on next week’s Davis Cup finals and then the Australian Open in January.
The former world No 1 was speaking after a triumphant and chaotic October in which his four-week tournament run across two continents culminated in a European Open victory over Stan Wawrinka in Antwerp. A few days later Murray’s wife, Kim, gave birth to their first son.
As Murray took his first timid steps into parenthood in 2016 he revealed that one of his dreams was to compete long enough for his children to see him playing tennis. But as he completed his magnificent comeback last month in Belgium, his daughters had other ideas.
“I think they were having dinner at Wagamama’s during the final,” said Murray at the launch of his AMC collection with the clothing brand Castore on Tuesday. “So I don’t think they were watching. They’ve seen me on the tennis court on TV over the last couple of months. I’m not sure they’ve got the patience to sit and watch a tennis match.”
Murray will play his final tournament of the season at the Davis Cup Finals alongside his Great Britain teammates Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Neal Skupski and his brother, Jamie, in the revamped format starting this year. He used the gap in the calendar as efficiently as most would.
“I didn’t do anything for 12 days, literally nothing,” he said, beaming with pride. “Got up to my heaviest weight in my career probably. My elbow was pretty sore afterwards so I needed to take a break because of that.”
“It was evenings that were the issue. When the newborn has been going to bed at seven, sleeping for a three-hour period, my wife would sleep upstairs and get a period of good sleep in before the baby would wake up. I’d be on my own downstairs and chocolate biscuits and stuff.
“There was Halloween and my second daughter’s birthday party, then also my sister-in-law had a birthday. So there was lots of cake and junk and that, with no training, is not a good combination. I was 88.5 kilos and I’m normally 84.”
After the Davis Cup Murray will immediately look to his next big challenge, the best of five sets at the Australian Open. The 32-year-old says he has had “no issues” with his hip. As in China, he is curious to see how his body holds up as it continues to readjust to the intense grind of the sport.
The new arrival has meant a change in his schedule. He will go to Miami in the off-season but for no more than two weeks rather than the four weeks he previously spent toiling in the Floridian heat. Instead of travelling with his kids, as he did after the birth of his first daughter, Sophia, he will leave them at home as much as possible.
“I didn’t particularly like trying to wake my daughter up in the middle of the day and she’s completely out of it,” he said of his experience after the 2017 Australian Open. “So we decided we wouldn’t be doing any more long-haul trips because it’s better for them. It’s something that you’re going to have to factor in when scheduling and planning.”
It has been clear for a while that Murray has returned to the sport with greater perspective and understanding of everything he has. During his press conferences in January, he admitted that he felt like he had pushed his body too much at times. No more. From deciding to rest the day before a match for the first time in his life during the Chinese swing to inhaling chocolate biscuits on the couch, the moments of indulgence seem to reflect a slightly more relaxed Murray.
But that does not mean that his 12 days of rest were a preview of his life after tennis: “He’ll probably kill me for saying this but I always said I don’t want to end up with what happened to Ivan [Lendl],” said Murray. Then he laughed: “If you put that in your papers I know I’ll get a message from him tomorrow. When he was playing he was in great shape and very thin. And when he stopped things went south so I need to avoid that.”