Andy Murray is putting family first as he prepares to welcome his first child with wife Kim Sears. The tennis champion has said he will quit the Australian Open midway through the tournament to be at Kim's side should she go into premature labour.
Kim is due to give birth in mid-February – two weeks after the tournament in Melbourne – but Andy has already put plans in place to ensure he doesn't miss the birth whatever happens.
© Photo: Getty ImagesAndy Murray said he will quit the Australian Open to be at the birth of his first child
"I'd go home. For sure, yes," Andy told Daily Mail. "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."
Andy added that he is excited about becoming a father, and thinks it will be a good distraction from his tennis career.
"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," he explained. "It's actually not good to be just concentrating on tennis and your training all of the time.
© Photo: Getty ImagesAndy's wife Kim is expecting their baby in mid-February
"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'm looking forward to it."
The 28-year-old has also altered his practice schedule to train in Dubai rather than his usual location of Miami, as it is easier to travel home to see Kim as she approaches her due date.
"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," Andy said.
Andy and Kim are not the only ones excited about the new addition to the family, his mother Judy Murray recently told HELLO! Online that she couldn't be happier about becoming a grandmother in 2016.
"It's my first time and I am very excited, I will take to it well," she told HELLO! Online exclusively. "My mum was an active granny to Jamie and Andy and also to my twin nieces so I would hope to be as good a granny as she is."
