Andy Murray to take brief hiatus as wife Kim expects their third child
"Obviously the baby can come any time from pretty much next week."
Friday 11 October 2019 21:21, UK
Andy Murray will take a brief hiatus from his tennis comeback as his wife Kim is expecting the couple's third child in the coming weeks.
Murray is planning a month-long break after next week's European Open, but he is prepared to leave Antwerp and fly back should Kim go into an early labour.
"Obviously the baby can come any time from pretty much next week. I would adjust my schedule if I couldn't go to Antwerp," the former world No 1 told The Times.
"My plan is to play Antwerp and then I am done through to the Davis Cup (November 18-25). If the baby came early, I would miss Antwerp and then maybe play at the Paris Masters (October 26-November 3)."
The 32-year-old has recently returned to singles competition following a career-saving hip resurfacing operation.
A run to the quarter-finals of the China Open last week - where he was beaten by world No 5 Dominic Thiem - was followed by a hard-fought second-round defeat to world No 12 Fabio Fognini at the Shanghai Masters.
Murray is pleased with his progress and the three-time Grand Slam winner is hopeful of being able to compete with the world's best going forward.
He added: "I am surprised with how smooth (my return) has been. I had two years of having lots of pain after every single match. Now I play a match, the body hurts, I have some pain in my back, the muscles are tired and things like that, but my hip is fine and I couldn't remember what that was like before.
"I have been competitive so far. If I can keep improving a few things over the next few months, then maybe there is an outside chance I can get around there.
"I would like to be competitive in the big events against the best players. I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I was a month ago, and much closer than a couple of months ago."
Murray is the first player to return to the singles game following his type of surgery, although Bob Bryan has managed to continue his doubles career following a similar procedure.
Should he suffer another injury to the area, though, Murray would be ready to call it a day.
"I now know that it's not important where or when I end my career," he said. "If I had another hip injury, I probably wouldn't keep going. My hip could break and that would be it. I would be finished if that happened.
"But there is no sign of that happening any time soon. It seems to be getting stronger all the time."
