Andy Murray says he will quit the Australian Open midway through the tournament to be at the birth of his first child, if the need arises.
Murray’s wife Kim is due to give birth in mid-February, a couple of weeks after the Melbourne tournament, but he revealed plans are in place should she go into premature labour.
The world No 2 says being at the birth is far more important to him and he is looking forward to becoming a dad, rejecting some of the talk that it could take away from his bid to topple Novak Djokovic from top spot.
“It’s obviously important. I want to make sure at the beginning I am there as much as I can be to try and help out, just be there for whatever is really required of me.
“It’s going to be life changing when the baby comes but I am excited about that. People have asked ‘Do you think it will be a distraction?’ It might be but it’s a good distraction.
“It’s actually not good to be just concentrating on tennis and your training all of the time. It is important to be able to take a step back from it and, when you finish on the practice court, be able to just go away and be with your friends and family, so I am looking forward to it.
Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer on Tuesday to help the Singapore Slammers to a 27-24 win over the UAE Royals
Kim’s pregnancy has also seen Murray change his practice schedule as he is working out in Dubai rather than make his normal journey to Miami, and his early-season tournament schedule will also be light.
He added: “I was either going to go to Dubai or Miami but because obviously Kim is quite heavily pregnant it’s a lot easier to get back from here. All the flights leave in the evening from Miami, whereas here you can fly at all times in the day.
“I’m not playing the whole of February and obviously with the Davis Cup it is quite a different end to this year. I will almost have my off-season in February.”
