Almost as soon as the tears had dried after his final, emotional professional tennis match last week, speculation began as to what Sir Andy Murray would do next.
However any thoughts Britain’s greatest ever sportsman might have had of cooling his heels and enjoying some ‘me time’ after decades of sporting dedication may be somewhat premature.
For Sir Andy’s wife Kim has definite plans for the Wimbledon and Olympics hero.
Kim, 36, revealed: ‘Obviously it will be lovely to have him at home – God knows I need the help with the children.’
During his illustrious tennis career Sir Andy would spend weeks competing away from home apart from Kim and their children Sophia, eight, Edie, five, Teddy, four and three year-old Lola.
Kim looks forward to Andy being around more to help with their four children
But now, following his final match Kim is looking forward to sharing more of the childcare with him now that he will have more time on his hands.
The family weren’t able to be in Paris to watch the final game what with Kim carrying out the lionshare of parenting duties while her husband worked away.
With an extra pair of hands at home now, Kim plans to do more work to the Cromlix hotel – the country house in Dunblane they bought in 2013 – which is her project which Sir Andy has had no involvement in, beyond wanting fast Wi-Fi and decent mattresses.
She said: ‘He was never going to be picking over fabric samples.
‘But for me, it was a really lovely way to find myself again after four years of non-stop birthing children.
‘I’d been a mum and a homemaker for so many very intense years. It feels healthy to get a bit of balance back.’
However, Kim said Sir Andy might now get involved in the new wellness lodges she has planned.
With an eye for detail and style, she recently collaborated with the gardener Sarah Raven on a tulip collection, and it turns out Andy is quite a fan of tulips.
She said: ‘He never notices anything I do in the garden but this year he kept stopping by the tulips to admire them.
‘He seems to think they appeared by magic. I didn’t dare tell him how much I had spent on the bulbs.’
Until last week Sir Andy, 37, worked tirelessly on his career, supported by his family including his mum Judy, brother Jamie and Kim. In 2013 he was given an OBE for his services to tennis and charity.
The couple met at the US Open in 2005 and married a decade later before going on to have their children.
His wife watched his last ever match at home with her children, after he announced at the start of July that the Paris games would be his swansong.
On August 1, Andy and Dan Evans crashed out of the Olympics after losing in straight sets to the Americans.
That brought to an emotional end the sensational career of Britain’s greatest living sportsman.
He was visibly upset and later jokingly commented on social media that he ‘never even liked tennis anyway’.
Kim described the loss last week as ‘a bittersweet evening’ saying ‘I know how much it would have meant to Andy to get one more win, but he’s happy with the ending he got.
Sir Andy bidding the crowd – and tennis – an emotional farewell in Paris
‘It’s the right time for him. He’s happy with the decision to retire. And it’s been really special for him to have finished at the Olympics.’
Speaking to the Telegraph Kim said: ‘And for me, nothing can beat the 2012 Olympics.’
London is where he beat Roger Federer to win gold in the men’s singles – a title he defended four years later in Rio – and also won silver in the mixed doubles in 2012.
Now that he has played his final match, Kim is vague on what plans her husband has for his retirement.
She said: ‘He’s definitely at peace with it. I could see, in that interview at Wimbledon, that he was coming around to the idea at that moment.
‘He obviously sees himself playing tennis with the kids, but at the moment they’re not interested.’
Now that tennis is over for Sir Andy, there are pressing for the whole family in the near future.
Kim said: ‘I’ve got a holiday booked for three weeks’ time and it deliberately clashes with the US Open. Just so he knows’.
