HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Sir Andy Murray is revelling in his role as a dad - and planning a magical family Christmas

- SHARNAZ SHAHID

Ask Sir Andy Murray about life in retirement and the former Wimbledon champion and Olympic gold medallist doesn’t mention the adrenaline of match points or the adulation of the crowd.

Instead, his focus is squarely on the school run.

“My relationship with my children has got so much stronger over the past year because I'm with them every single day,” he says.

“I'm very lucky that I’m in a position where I'm able to do that. I do all of the drop-offs and pickups and I’m there for all of the birthdays and school events. I love it.”

Not everybody is quite so enamoured of the situation, though. His younger children might be enjoying his presence, but his eldest daughter, Sophia, “finds me embarrassing”, he says.

“When I drop her off, it's like: ‘Turn the music off, don’t get out of the car.’ " The pickup routine is equally fraught. “She won't walk next to me. She likes to walk quite a few steps behind me.”

Although people are constantly asking him “what’s next?”, following his retirement from a glittering career on the tennis court, Andy has just one ambition right now – to be a dad. Indeed, the contrast between his past and present is perhaps at its sharpest during the festive season.