Murray may let Bjorkman step in for Mauresmo

Mauresmo announced her pregnancy on social media

Andy Murray’s recent form has seemed dependent on the presence of coach Amélie Mauresmo (Getty)

Chat about future children is natural at many weddings but Andy Murray might find himself answering more questions on the subject than he would have expected when he marries Kim Sears today.

The pregnancy of Murray’s coach, Amélie Mauresmo, is sure to be a major topic of discussion at the reception at the Scot’s Cromlix House hotel following his marriage to his long-term girlfriend in Dunblane Cathedral.

Mauresmo, who is gay, announced her pregnancy on social media alongside a photograph of a pair of baby’s shoes next to an adult’s. “Baby will be here in August!” the 35-year-old Frenchwoman wrote on Twitter and Facebook. “So happy.”

The former Wimbledon champion, who treasures her privacy, did not reveal any further details. Having originally come out in 1999, when she disclosed her then relationship with a nightclub owner, Sylvie Bourdon, Mauresmo has subsequently been much more guarded about her private life.

At this stage it remains unclear what impact the birth will have on Mauresmo’s professional life. She will be between seven and eight months pregnant during Wimbledon and it is hard to imagine her being present at the US Open, which begins on 31 August.

Mauresmo, who combines her coaching job with leading France’s Fed Cup team, has an agreement to spend around 25 weeks of the year on the road with Murray. When the Scot was looking this time last year for a replacement for Ivan Lendl – who never committed himself to as many weeks as Mauresmo has – a key requirement was that his new coach would spend more time with him.

Murray had Dani Vallverdu as an assistant coach when he was working with Lendl, but the Venezuelan left his entourage at the end of last year and now works with Tomas Berdych. Since then Mauresmo has taken on all the coaching responsibilities, but she was unable to be with Murray in February, when he suffered surprising defeats in Rotterdam and Dubai.

The Scot put that mini slump down to working without a coach. His performances improved significantly when Mauresmo rejoined him at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters tournaments. “I feel like there are some things I need to work on all the time and when I don’t have someone there it’s harder to do that,” Murray said.

Jonas Bjorkman, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist who won nine Grand Slam doubles titles, will be joining Murray’s entourage for a trial period later this month with a view to becoming a permanent part of the world No 3’s coaching team. The 43-year-old Swede, who was unable to join Murray earlier because he was taking part in his country’s equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, will work with the Scot’s team at a training camp in Barcelona.

Bjorkman was originally considered as a replacement for Vallverdu, but in light of this week’s developments he could take on a more significant role. The former world No 4 stopped playing regularly on the tour seven years ago. He set up a coaching academy with Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin, and worked as the marketing director of the Stockholm Open.

Although Murray is delaying a honeymoon until the end of the year, he will not be playing in next week’s Monte Carlo Masters, which marks the start of the European clay-court season. Rivals Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will all be there.

Murray will make his first appearance of the clay-court season at the BMW Open in Munich in two weeks’ time. That will be followed immediately by back-to-back Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome. The French Open begins on 24 May.