Andy Murray has been playing more tennis matches than anyone on tour this season, but he's still been in the news more off the court than on it.
There was his wedding to longtime girlfriend Kim Sears just before the clay season. There was coach and former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo announcing she was pregnant with her first child, requiring some personnel adjustments. Jonas Bjorkman, brought in previously to assist with coaching duties, is working with Murray on the hard courts. A week ago, British newspapers broke the news that Murray and Sears are expecting their first child, which Murray confirmed this week at the Montreal Masters.
"It's very exciting news," he said. "And we feel so lucky. At the same time it's private news and some things we hope to keep to our family and friends."
There had been plenty of speculation about how becoming a husband would affect Murray professionally, with the No. 3 chiming in himself by writing "Marriageworks" on the camera as he proceeded to have the best clay-court run of his career. Now, there is the question of how fatherhood will affect him, though he relegated it by saying, " I'm not thinking what the impact will have on my career."
While all this has been happening, though, Murray has also been racking up matches and wins, coming into Montreal with a 48-8 record that includes a Grand Slam final, two Grand Slam semifinals and three titles including a Masters victory. That's as good a season as anyone not named Novak Djokovic.
And it might be a lot better if not for Djokovic, who has defeated Murray four times, three of the victories coming on hard courts. The Serb leads their career meetings 16-6, having won 11 of their 12 most recent encounters. Murray would like to turn the attention back to what he's doing on court by re-establishing himself in what was once a competitive rivalry.
Djokovic has a 48-3 record with six titles, but those defeats have been to Ivo Karlovic, Roger Federer, and Stan Wawrinka -- not Murray. "Players have competed this season with Novak," Murray said. "He's just been that little bit better. That's why he's number one in the world.
"He definitely deserves to be the best in the world, though guys have pushed him."
While following Djokovic's own personal path in getting married and now impending fatherhood, Murray is looking to resemble the fellow 28 year old as a professional these days. With Roger Federer not playing Montreal, Murray could get to No. 2 by going deep at the tournament, and has played Djokovic at all three of the big hard-court events this season -- the Australian, Indian Wells and Miami. Now back on the surface, Murray wants to pick up where they left off, and "to play some good tennis and get the opportunity to play against him."
Having fallen in his first match back at Washington, Murray fared better in his opening round at Montreal but is still working his way back from a break following Wimbledon and Davis Cup.
"It always takes some time to get used to the hard courts again," he said. "Not so much the tennis, but more in terms of how tough it is on the body, coming from clay and grass which are a little more forgiving. That's the main thing that I need to adjust to."
The amount he has played, together with a grass-court Davis Cup meeting the week following Wimbledon, is something he has had to take into account. "My schedule definitely has changed," he said. "Normally I take some time off and then go train in Miami. This time I went to Washington early and prepared there."
It has been changes all around for Murray recently, and another he would like to add is his record against Djokovic.