Andy Murray is one of the top sportsmen in the world, but he isn’t immune to the heart-breaking reality of being an embarrassing dad.
The top tennis star revealed on Twitter that his eldest daughter Sophia no longer wants him to give her a “kiss and cuddle” at school drop-off and instead prefers he stays in the car.
Murray wrote in a tweet on Wednesday (26 January): “School drop-off this morning. My six-year-old: ‘Daddy don’t give me a kiss and a cuddle anymore when you drop me… Just stay in the car.’”
He added a crying emoji and continued: “Tough game. Back to reality!”
The 35-year-old Scottish player is also dad to four-year-old Edie, two-year-old Teddie, and a fourth child who was born in March 2021 and has not been named publicly. He shares them with his wife, Kim Sears.
His candid tweet touched the hearts of parents on Twitter, who shared their own experiences of the moment their children decided they were too old to be cuddled at the school gate.
Scottish TV personality Gail Porter said: “Oh no! I know that one. ‘Don’t hug me in public.’ Bless our kids!”
US author Ben Yagoda added: “When I walked mine to school, I would have to stop a block away so she could walk the rest of the way alone.”
One fan wrote: “Once my seven-year-old son refused to kiss me goodbye in the playground, so I waited for him to line up with the other three year groups, I waded into the middle of the lines and gave him a huge kiss. He’s never refused to kiss me since. He’s 17 now!”
Another said: “Our six-year-old granddaughter is the same. Just tell her that you love her lots as she gets out of the car. She’ll always love you coz [sic] you’re Dad and dads are the best.”
In 2016, Murray opened up about how being a good father is more important to him than winning at tennis.
After facing suggestions that his performance had dropped following Sophia’s birth, he told The Mail on Sunday: “I’d rather be getting up in the middle of the night and helping her [Sophia] than winning every tennis match and her thinking when she grows up: ‘Actually, you know what, he was a s****y dad but he won a lot of tennis matches so, you know, well done.’”
“Becoming a parent is life-changing and if it helps my tennis, great. And if it doesn’t, that’s fine. That’s not a problem for me now. My priority is to be a good father first,” he continued.
“Obviously, I still want to do well in my job. I still work hard and train hard but my priority is to be a good parent.”
