ANDY Murray’s wife Kim gave birth to their daughter after a 20-minute
late-night dash to hospital.
The couple, both 28, prepared with dummy runs before the 8lb 10oz beauty
arrived at the maternity unit near their Surrey home.
A source close to the tennis ace said they rehearsed the route to the Chelsea
and Westminster — adding: “It was a mad rush but they were ready.”
Hatch point
By GRAEME DONOHOE and CHRISTINE LAVELLE
PROUD Andy Murray is already relishing the role of doting dad after wife Kim
gave birth to a “beautiful” baby daughter, his gran Ellen revealed.
The tennis hero, 28, announced the arrival of their 8lb 10oz girl to relatives
and close pals on Sunday night.
Now Ellen, 82, is desperate to hug the mite for the first time. She said:
“It’s wonderful news.
“Andy is over the moon and he is very much the doting dad. I’m so happy for
them both. She’s such a beautiful baby. She is my first great-grandchild. I
found out the morning after she was born. Andy phoned and said
‘Congratulations, you’re a great-granny’.”
Ellen, who lives in Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, with hubby Gordon, went on: “I don’t
really know about her name yet but I hope we’ll see them all soon. I’ll be
looking forward to a cuddle.”
It’s not known when Andy and Kim, 28, will reveal their daughter’s name
following the birth at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.
The world No2 made a frantic dash to be at Kim’s side following his defeat in
the Australian Open final defeat last week.
And his other gran Shirley Erskine, 81, was almost left in the dark over the
arrival — because she couldn’t work her mobile.
Shirley, from Andy’s hometown of Dunblane, Perthshire, said: “Andy had sent a
text round all the family — one of those multimedia types — then a text came
through to the effect of ‘She’s doing really well’.
“I thought ‘Something’s happened’ so I had to text back frantically and say
‘What’s happened?’. I got a reply from Andy saying ‘Sorry Minnie. I forgot
you had an old phone. It’s a baby girl. She’s doing really well’.
“There’s been so many texts flying back and forward — it’s just lovely.”
Shirley revealed the former Wimbledon and US Open champ and his artist missus
had decided not to find out the baby’s sex before she was born.
She said: “Andy and Kim said from the outset that they didn’t want to know, so
I’m assuming they didn’t know. It was nice to get a little surprise like
that — ‘Oh, it’s a girl’.”
Shirley and hubby Roy hope they travel back home to show off the tot. She
said: “I’m sure if they can fit a trip up in, he will do that because the
people of Dunblane will want to see her.
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“Although I don’t suppose he would be parading the baby around or anything.”
Meanwhile, Andy’s mum Judy, 56, celebrated becoming a granny with an evening
at the theatre.
She was beaming as she arrived to watch Elaine C Smith star in Annie at the
King’s Theatre in Glasgow last night.
The British Fed Cup coach thanked well-wishers but stayed tight-lipped on
other details.
She quickly walked into the foyer and posed for a few snaps before heading to
her seat.
Earlier she tweeted artwork showing two tennis balls — including one with
Andy’s AM77 logo — alongside a little ball and a pink dummy. Last night,
Andy’s dad William was not at home in Dunblane — but his partner Samantha
Watson said: “It’s a very happy occasion and everyone is absolutely
delighted.”
Bookies made Freya the 6-1 favourite likely name. Others in the mix with
Ladbrokes include Morag, Flora and Skye.
The firm’s David Macdonald said: “Early money suggests they will opt for a
traditional name.”
Dunblane’s celebration for parents
DUNBLANE was quick to celebrate Andy Murray’s new arrival as a large pink
ribbon was tied to his Olympic gold-winning post box.
Shops along the High Street were decked out with balloons and banners
welcoming the little one.
Local butchers David Bennett & Son created a special ‘Miss Murray
sausage’, flavoured with pork, strawberry and chilli, in honour of the tot
and had a board outside which read: “It’s a girl! Congratulations to Kim and
Andy.”
Owner Graham Fleming said: “When we heard it was a baby girl, we came up with
something sweet to celebrate and the ‘Miss Murray sausage’ was born.”
The Sue Ryder charity shop’s pink window display included a tennis racket with
the message “No.1 Dad”.
Lorna Brown, hand-made a batch of cards to bring in the arrival which had a
sketch of the gold postbox next to a pink pram.
She said: “It’s just a bit of fun.”