Andy Murray is ready to put family before tennis: 'It's going to be life changing when the baby comes but I am excited about that'

Andy Murray may be renowned for letting just about nothing stand in the way of his ambitions in tennis, but family will come first for the world No 2 when he becomes a father next year.

Murray may be busting a gut here on the training courts in Dubai — just a fortnight after his 2015 season ended with Davis Cup glory in Belgium — with another tilt at the Australian Open trophy in mind.

The Scot is also competing in the International Tennis Premier League exhibition event, which coincides with his time here in the Middle East.

However, Murray’s January campaign to finally win in Melbourne after finishing runner-up four times will come to an abrupt halt and he will be on the first flight back to the UK if a call comes from home informing him that his first child is on the way.

Murray’s admission on Tuesday that he will pull out of the Australian Open if wife Kim was to go into premature labour was a clear sign where his priorities lie. While it may cause him to miss out on a potential third Grand Slam title, the 28-year-old believes fatherhood will have a more lasting positive impact.

Murray told Sportsmail: ‘It’s obviously going to be life changing when the baby comes but I am excited about that. People have asked me “do you think it will be a distraction?”. It might be a distraction but it’s a good distraction.

‘It’s actually not good to all the time 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 your family, so I am looking forward to it.’

If all goes to plan, however, and Murray’s first child arrives in mid-February, then there will be no need to rush back from the other side of the world.

It is why Murray is leaving no stone unturned in his preparations for the start of next season Down Under, with the time around the birth instead acting as his off-season with no tournaments in his schedule between the Australian Open and the Davis Cup first-round tie against Japan in the first weekend of March.

Murray said: ‘I’m not playing the whole of February and obviously with Davis Cup it is quite a different end to this year.

'Obviously the beginning of the year is going to be different for me because I almost have my off-season in February if that makes sense.

‘I took 10 days off after Davis Cup, so that’s normally as long as I would take off. It’s just that I would probably start a bit slower because I would have more time to build up.

'But it’s been all right and because I finished quite late into the season I didn’t lose much fitness, and I played loads of matches this year so my body actually feels pretty good.

Murray reunited with coach Amelie Mauresmo in Dubai on Monday after the Frenchwoman took a period of maternity leave for the birth of her first son Aaron in August.

Murray said: ‘I hadn’t seen her since Wimbledon. It’s nice. It is just good to have everything set for next year.

‘I obviously really enjoy working with her. The last six months not seeing her, it’s just nice to have her back as part of the team and get that continuity going again because I think that’s very important when you are working with a coach.’

It has also afforded the opportunity for some practice with a baby in hand.

Murray said. ‘I got to meet her baby as well which is nice too, give me a bit of practice and training before.’

Was there any nappy-changing practice? ‘I don’t know about that,’ he admitted with a sly grin on his face.

As revealed by Sportsmail on Tuesday, Murray will attend the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony for the first time in a number of years on Sunday, all being well with his travel plans.

He will leave Dubai in the morning for Belfast, departing to London straight after the show to resume his training block with Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller — coached by Murray’s good friend Jamie Delgado — on Monday.

Murray said: ‘It’s been a long time because I had always been training during it in Miami. I think they moved the dates a bit. For me it makes a big difference because it was always right in the middle of my training. This year with it being later, that’s helped a lot.

‘It will be nice as well going over with all of the Davis Cup team. It should be a fun day. Being in the same room with so many great athletes, that’s the nicest thing about it.

‘I remember the couple of times that I had been, I feel quite nervous being in those surroundings. These are people that I watch on TV all of the time. To be at the same event as them is really nice.’

Murray was in action on Tuesday night in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in Dubai, beating Roger Federer 6-4 to give the Singapore Slammers victory against the UAE Royals in the end-of-season exhibition series.