AS the world’s tennis elite prepare for the start of Wimbledon, Andy Murray and his wife Kim Sears have started the celebrations early with the news they are expecting their second child.
The couple married in 2015 and already have a one-year-old daughter, Sophia, and, according to sources close to the Murrays, have already broken the news to friends and family.
Murray is preparing for his first match at SW19 against Russia’s Alexander Bublik, as he begins his title defence.
He does so on the back of some sub-par form, not helped by a recent hip injury, which has seen odds lengthen on the world No 1 adding to last year’s Wimbledon success.
In January, Paddy Power had odds of 13/8 on Murray successfully defending his title at the Championships and this moved to 4/1 after he lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s.
Yesterday the betting company had Murray on 5/1 after the British champion pulled out of warm-up matches complaining of a sore hip.
A Paddy Power spokesman said: “Roger Federer looks like the man to beat and has shortened significantly into 9/4 after his title win at ATP Halle last week.
“The punters, who are usually so patriotic, continue to bet against Murray.”
As well as being the bookies’ favourite, Roger Federer is also popular with the fans — Paddy Power’s biggest bet placed on who will take home the men’s trophy is for the Swiss player at £25,000.
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