Davis Cup: Parenthood leaves GB's Andy Murray feeling positive ahead of his return to action

The world No 2 has left wife Kim and three-week-old daughter Sophia at home in Surrey for the first-round tie at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena, which begins tomorrow.

Murray prizes his privacy but was more than happy to discuss his experiences of becoming a parent and revealed Kim and Sophia will be travelling with him to the tournament in Miami later this month.

The 28-year-old’s last competitive appearance was a fifth Australian Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic, after which he ran out of Melbourne Park to catch the first flight home.

In the event, he did not have to worry about missing the birth, with Sophia arriving a week later, ensuring he could experience the full labour.

Murray cited that as the biggest surprise of parenthood so far, saying: “It was very different to what I expected.

“It’s an amazing experience but it’s also difficult to see someone you care about go through that. I knew it wasn’t going to be like in the movies or on the TV. You see the last 20 seconds, you don’t see everything that goes on beforehand.”

Luckily for Murray, he has not yet experienced one of the main trials of having a baby – sleep deprivation.

He said: “She has been sleeping very well the first few weeks. Without getting particularly graphic, there’s nothing much I can do.

“She is waking up because she wants to be fed and unfortunately my body doesn’t produce any milk. I can’t help too much there. In the night I would stay up with her as late as is needed, while Kim was asleep.”

Murray will hope becoming a father has the same effect on him as it has on Djokovic, who has been nigh on unbeatable since the birth of Stefan 16 months ago.

He will get his first taste of how things will play out when he takes on Japan No 2 Taro Daniel – an American-born Led Zeppelin fan ranked 87th in the world.

Murray said: “I still practice hard and do all the same things I was doing before. It can only be a positive thing.

“I don’t see it being negative at all, in terms of my career. And it is not the end of the world if it is as I now have something more important.”

With his new commitments and the effort it took to pull off Britain’s shock win in the tournament last year, it would perhaps not have been surprising had Murray taken a step back from the competition. But he revealed he is planning to play in all Britain’s ties this year, including a potential quarter-final against Djokovic’s Serbia in July sandwiched in between Wimbledon and the Olympics. Captain Leon Smith will announce his team ahead of the draw today but has a potential injury problem to contend with after Beverley’s Kyle Edmund felt a niggle in his back.

The 21-year-old, the highest-ranked singles player available to Smith besides Murray, ended his practice session early but is confident of being fit.

Edmund said: “Being a tennis player you get niggles now and again. Obviously it’s a concern this close to the match but I think I’ll be able to recover in time.”

Edmund and local boy Dan Evans are vying for the No 2 spot, while Murray will see how he feels after tomorrow’s match before deciding whether to play doubles with his brother.