ANDY Murray’s newborn baby daughter is said to be “doing well” after he and wife Kim Sears became parents for the first time.
The tennis player’s partner gave birth to the girl on Sunday – news which prompted an influx of good wishes from fellow sports stars and members of the public.
Locals in Murray’s home town of Dunblane have been celebrating the news, but no details have yet been revealed about the child’s name.
Murray’s agent said: “Andy and Kim had a daughter in the early hours of Sunday morning and the family are doing well.” No further details have been released.
Andy’s grandmother Shirley Erskine said she was thrilled at the arrival of the new addition to the family.
And she revealed the family had not known what sex the baby was going to be.
She said: “Andy and Kim said from the outset that they didn’t want to know, so I’m assuming that they didn’t know and of course none of us knew, so it was nice to get a little surprise like that.”
Erskine, the mother of Andy’s mum Judy, said she received a text message from her grandson telling her about the birth.
“Andy had sent a text round all the family – one of these multimedia-type texts – and then I got a text from him saying something about ‘she’s doing well’ and I thought, ‘Oh something’s happened’,” she said.
Judy Murray touched briefly on the news in a light-hearted Twitter exchange with Scots stand-up comedian Fred MacAulay.
In a message to Judy, the comedian wrote: “Delighted to hear Andy And Kim Murray’s lovely news. @judmoo ... surely a cert for 2016 GlamGran comp at Butlins.”
Judy replied: “Love it.”
Hundreds of messages of support for the family have been posted online from members of the public.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Lovely news. Congratulations to @andy_murray and Kim on the birth of their daughter. Wishing every happiness.”
Former world number one tennis player Boris Becker said: “BIG Congrats to Kim/Andy for the arrival BabyMurray !!!”
Former British tennis star Annabel Croft, paralympic wheelchair tennis players Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley and former Olympic champion Sally Gunnell were among the fellow athletes sending their early congratulations to the couple.
Organisations British Tennis, Team Scotland, the Elena Baltacha Foundation and the Davis Cup gave their best wishes to the new parents.
Judy Murray has said she will be taking a step back from tennis to focus on her new grandchild and would make the newborn a priority in her life.
She later tweeted a picture of the gold postbox in Dunblane painted in honour of her son’s 2012 Olympic triumph which was decorated with pink ribbons to mark the birth.
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