Andy Murray on fatherhood: I want my daughter to be proud of me

Andy Murray says he wants his daughter to be proud of him

Andy Murray has opened his heart about fatherhood for the first time saying that he wants his daughter to feel proud of him.

Murray and his wife Kim Sears became parents with the birth of their girl, Sophia, on February 7.

The tennis star said he now feels bad about being away from home and that he doesn’t want to miss the tiny changes he is already seeing in his daughter.

Tennis star Andy Murray married Kim Sears at Dunblane Cathedral last April

New dad Andy Murray will return to court for Davis Cup clash

Murray will be away from Sophia for the first time this week when he leads Britain’s Davis Cup defence against Japan in Birmingham on Friday.

The world number two said: “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.”

Murray, 28, in an interview with The Guardian, said he had been “surprised” at how quickly his daughter was changing.

“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,” he said.

The tennis star also revealed he been “ok” holding his daughter but that changing her had been a challenge because he considered his daughter to be so “fragile”.

Murray added: “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.”

Murray said he was unsure whether fatherhood was going to make him a better player, like his key rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Twice Grand Slam-winning Murray 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 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.”

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