Andy Murray could quit Australian Open to attend birth of first child

Fresh from leading Great Britain to the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936, the British number one and world number two Murray is to become a dad for the first time in February - a few weeks after the first Grand Slam of the season at Melbourne Park - but has admitted plans are taken care of if an emergency arises.

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He says becoming a dad is far more important to him than trying to win the Australian Open for the first time having finished runner-up at the tournament four times since 2008, the last of which came in a four-set defeat to Novak Djokovic 11 months ago.

"I'd go home. For sure, yes," Murray told the Daily Mail. "It's obviously important. I want to make sure at the beginning I am there as much as I can be to try and help out, just be there for whatever is really required of me.

"It's going to be life changing when the baby comes but I am excited about that. People have asked 'Do you think it will be a distraction?' It might be but it's a good distraction. It's actually not good to be just concentrating on tennis and your training all of the time. It is important to be able to take a step back from it and, when you finish on the practice court, be able to just go away and be with your friends and family, so I am looking forward to it."

Murray has been playing some exhibition stuff in Dubai as he alters his practice schedule from his usual work-out in Miami.

"I was either going to go to Dubai or Miami but because obviously Kim is quite heavily pregnant it's a lot easier to get back from here," said Murray. "All the flights leave in the evening from Miami, whereas here you can fly at all times in the day.

"I'm not playing the whole of February and obviously with the Davis Cup it is quite a different end to this year. I will almost have my off-season in February."