Andy Murray tells how coach Amélie Mauresmo revealed her pregnancy

'We were actually going to chat about the next couple of weeks,' Murray said

(Getty)

As most of his opponents know all too well, not much gets past Andy Murray. When Amélie Mauresmo, his coach, told him in February that she had “something personal” to tell him the next day, the Scot quickly put two and two together.

“We were actually going to chat about the next couple of weeks,” Murray said after arriving here yesterday for this week’s BMW Open. “But then I thought: ‘Something personal to tell you’? I thought: ‘Maybe she’s pregnant.’ When I spoke to Matt Little [Murray’s physical trainer], I said: ‘Do you think..?’ She wasn’t coming out for dinner in Australia and she normally goes to the gym all the time, but she didn’t train once through Australia.

“When she told me [she was pregnant] it was a little bit of a surprise. But because she’d pre-warned me that she had something personal to tell me, I kind of expected it a little bit.”

Murray said Mauresmo had been “really, really happy” when she broke her news in a conversation they had on Skype. He said she had never talked to him previously about wanting children, but added: “I don’t feel like it’s something she needed to speak to me about. It’s obviously nice that she told me as soon as possible.”

The Scot, who is clearly very happy for his coach, said that at first he had not thought about the implications for his own career. However, he soon appreciated the importance of the recruitment of Jonas Bjorkman, who had originally been lined up to work as a coaching assistant to Mauresmo. “I was obviously looking for someone to help anyway, but then it became maybe more urgent and maybe a bigger job,” Murray said.

Bjorkman, who will take full charge of Murray’s preparations when Mauresmo takes a break after Wimbledon, agreed in March to a trial period working with his team. However, the former world No 4 did not start until last week because he was competing in Sweden’s equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing.

“It was quite tricky for me,” Murray said. “I was thinking: ‘What if I wait six or seven weeks and then things don’t work out with Jonas, because I do really need to find someone?’ It wasn’t until I started a few weeks later to try to plan the year and plan the time with Jonas that this actually became a bit more urgent.”

Murray still talks about an initial trial, but the early indications are that the Swede will fit in well with his team. “It was good,” Murray said of his first days working with Bjorkman (and Mauresmo) at a training camp last week in Barcelona. “He’s a very calm guy. He’s not in your face. Sometimes if someone talks all the time you don’t listen to most of the stuff, but when he talks you listen to him.

“He’s got a very nice way about him. He’s easy-going. But obviously [as a player] he was mentally very strong and had a great work ethic as well. Hopefully that can rub off on me and the team.

“I see him as being a good fit [with the team] personality-wise, but you don’t really get the whole package until you’re maybe playing matches and there’s a bit more pressure and stress and you see how everyone reacts in those environments. But he obviously has a lot of experience with that and I wouldn’t imagine it would be too much of a problem for him.”

Murray added: “I know him fairly well as a person. I played him when I was 18 or 19 years old and played against him in doubles a few times. We were on tour together for quite a few years and I’ve always got on very well with him.”

Bjorkman is here this week, but Mauresmo will miss Murray’s first clay-court tournament of the year. This is also his first competitive appearance since his wedding last month. The Scot had his wedding ring on his finger yesterday but will not be wearing it on court.

“I don’t wear it when I play,” he said. “I might wear it on a necklace, but the necklace I got broke on the first day. I was on a physio bed and it got caught, just snapped off, so I’ll just keep it on the side. It feels fine, but I can’t play with it with my racket, because it gives me blisters.”

A relaxed Murray said he did not think playing as a married man would make any difference to his tennis, but admitted that it was taking time to get used to referring to Kim Sears as “my wife”. He explained: “I’ve made that mistake a few times. I’ve referred to her quite a few times as ‘my girlfriend’. But I’m sure I’ll get used to that in a few weeks.”