When asked about life in retirement, Sir Andy Murray doesn't mention the adrenaline of match points or the adulation of the crowd. Instead, his focus is squarely on the school run. For a man who spent his entire adult life immersed in the high-pressure atmosphere of the global tour for "at least 30 weeks of the year," the pivot to full-time fatherhood has been surprisingly seamless.
"I'm very lucky that I'm in a position where I'm able to do that," Andy exclusively tells HELLO! of his new routine. "I do all of the drop-offs and pickups, and I'm now there for all of the birthdays and school events. I love it."
"My relationship with my children in the last year has got so much stronger because I'm with them every single day," he reflects. Now retired from a glittering career on the tennis court and despite people constantly asking him "what's next?", Andy's ambition right now is simply to be a dad.
However, 38-year-old Andy is finding that even Grand Slam winners are not immune to the humbling scrutiny of a nine-year-old. His younger children might be enjoying his increased presence, but his eldest daughter, Sophia, "certainly finds me embarrassing".
The protocols for the school run are now strictly enforced. "When I drop her off, it's like, 'Turn the music off, don't get out of the car,'" he recounts. The pick-up routine is equally fraught. "She won't walk next to me. She likes to walk quite a few steps behind me."
Christmas with the Murrays
Indeed, the contrast between Andy's past and present is perhaps at its sharpest during the festive season. "It was a tradition that I would go and train on Christmas Day," he recalls of the relentless grind required to be the world number one. "Wimbledon every year, indoors. It was freezing cold, there was nobody else there and I would go and train most years."
That tradition has now firmly ceased. In fact, Andy goes on to note he picked up a racket recently for the "first time since May". Asked if his children have shown an interest in tennis yet, Andy replies: "I'll ask them if they want to play, but they've not shown any interest yet."
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© GettyBeing in a cold, empty training centre has now been replaced by the warm, chaotic imperatives of fatherhood, and a pre-Christmas trip to Scotland to connect with his wider family.
For Andy, who lives in Surrey with wife Kim and children - Sophia, nine, Edie, seven, Teddie, five, and Lola, four - the season is no longer about presents, but simply "an opportunity for us all to be together".
"I don't play tennis now for enjoyment, and I'm really happy about that."
At home, the doting dad faces the delicate duty of keeping the festive illusion for his four children. While he admits navigating this precariously with his eldest daughter, who is "starting to question it a little bit," the collective enthusiasm remains potent. They are "massively into Elf on the Shelf" - a tradition Andy embraces with enthusiasm, not entirely shared by his wife, Kim.
"I love it. My wife is not a fan," he confesses, noting the pressure is on because the kids "expect big things in the morning from the elves". He adds: "I think [celebrating] Christmas now with the kids has become more magical, like they still believe and we play up to that massively as a family. It's a time to spend time with your loved ones."
The day itself is somewhat defined by Christmas jumpers for the adults - "the one present we always get each other" - and an ambitious attempt to resurrect his own childhood love of post-dinner board games like Monopoly and Pictionary. It is, he admits, a work in progress. "You try playing board games with four children under the age of nine," says Andy. "It doesn't last very long before someone's tipping the board up and fighting."
Andy's 'rogue' Christmas lunch
The father-of-four wisely steers clear of the kitchen on the day itself. "I do not get involved in the cooking," he affirms. However, Andy indulges in what he admits is a "quite rogue" personal tradition. Alongside the full Christmas dinner, the star dines on sushi ordered on Christmas Eve. It is his favourite meal, eaten around midday before the main event because, he argues, you should "celebrate it in whichever way you enjoy most".
"It's quite random, but it's my favourite meal," he explains. "Christmas is a day where everyone is celebrating and you're sort of free to celebrate it in whichever way you want to enjoy most. We still have a proper Christmas meal, but sushi is one of my favourite things to eat."
© InstagramThe art of gifting (and snooping)
Andy's approach to gifting is somewhat relatable. He describes himself as an "absolutely last-minute" shopper who is "terrible at wrapping presents," often finding himself surrounded by paper on Christmas Eve.
While the three-time Grand Slam champion claims to be "good with presents for the kids," his method for Kim is tactical. "I still like to do a stocking for Kim, with smaller presents and then one big one," Andy reveals.
He also admits to snooping around her dressing table: "I check in her drawer cupboard, see which perfume she's run out of, and I always buy a new bottle because she obviously likes that one."
"I don't have any urge to go on the tennis court right now; I don't miss it. And I think that's a really positive thing."
© Caroline Briggs
© XAnd how does Kim do when it comes to gift-giving? "Yeah, she always says that I'm very hard to buy for, but I also think I'm quite easily pleased," Andy shares. "There are a few things that I like, and I'm happy if I get them. If it's golf-related, that would be a good thing for me. I always quite like some warm winter clothes. And then we always do Christmas jumpers. That's one present we always get each other every year."
The newest (and naughtiest) Murray
The only real threat to domestic peace this year comes from the family's new puppy Bonnie, whose recent theft of an entire unattended cake suggests high vigilance is required. "The kids love her. We had two border terriers before, so they've been around dogs their whole lives," explains Andy. "She's still quite young, like eight or nine months now. So she's still a little bit naughty around the house, but the kids love that.
"The kids really enjoy it when she jumps up on a counter and takes some fish fingers. She ate a whole apple cake the other day, a huge one. We were in another room and came back and it was all gone. So we'll need to be careful on Christmas Day."
A sweet slice of home
Beyond the mayhem that comes with Christmas, Andy has recently become the first-ever brand ambassador for Walker's Shortbread, a partnership born of genuine childhood nostalgia and the comfort of seeing a slice of home during his endless travels.
© Getty"I grew up eating Walkers," he says. "When I used to travel all over the world, I would see them in aeroplanes or airports and always used to get myself some as a bit of a treat." The collaboration felt like a "perfect fit" because the brand seemed to "know me really well".
It has been some time since the world witnessed a high-stakes face-off between Andy and his old rival, Roger Federer. Yet, when presented with a new battleground of festive confectionery - Roger's Swiss chocolate versus his own Scottish shortbread - Andy's loyalty remains unwavering: "It's got to be the Scottish shortbread, surely."
To mark the festive season, the tennis icon is auctioning a one-of-a-kind 'Shortbread Christmas Jumper' to raise funds for Cash for Kids, a charity dedicated to helping disadvantaged young people across the UK thrive. While he admits he didn't design the garment himself, the concept immediately resonated with the established Murray family ethos regarding festive knitwear.
"The idea was brought to me and I thought it was a brilliant idea, obviously for a great cause," he says. "I love Christmas jumpers. It's a big thing in our family - the worse the better."
Life beyond the court
Beyond his charity work, Andy is clear about his professional future. In the immediate aftermath of hanging up his racket, Andy followed advice to "try lots of new things," a directive that led to a brief, high-profile coaching stint with Novak Djokovic.
He describes it as a "unique opportunity," but the experiment reinforced his main goal of staying put. "I realised that I don't want to be on the road either," Andy says of the travel required to coach at an elite level. "I want to be at home."
© Getty ImagesThe coaching door isn't bolted shut forever, but it is firmly closed until his children are older and "maybe don't want or need me around as much as they do right now."
"I don't play tennis now for enjoyment, and I'm really happy about that," he says, offering a fascinating insight into the psychology of the retired super-athlete. He is acutely aware of the gravitational pull that drags many former competitors down once their rigid 20-year routines evaporate and they "lose a bit of purpose".
Andy, however, hasn't lost his purpose; he has simply relocated it with the same intensity he once applied to his forehand. "I feel like my purpose has changed," he reflects. "I was very focused on my tennis career, and now all of that attention goes into my family and my children. So I don't have any urge to go on the tennis court right now; I don't miss it. And I think that's a really positive thing."
© GettyFor more information on the shortbread Christmas Jumper auction, visit cashforkids.org.uk
