Beaten finalist Andy Murray said the Australian Open has been “hard” and he is quick to rejoin with his pregnant wife Kim.
The pair’s first youngster is expected in the following two weeks and the Briton went to the airplane terminal not long after his straight-set annihilation by Novak Djokovic in Melbourne.
“I’m proud that I got into this position,” said the world number two, who suffered his fifth final defeat.
“I’m just quite looking forward to getting home now.”
Murray, 28, had said before the competition that he would fly home promptly if his wife went into labor, regardless of the fact that it was on the eve of the last.
“Regardless of today’s result it’s been hard,” added Murray. “Had I lost in the third or fourth round it still would have been difficult with everything that happened, but she’s been amazing and handled everything unbelievably well.
“I have to thank her for allowing me to play and stay here with everything that was going on. It was tough.”
There was an additional impetus to return home early when his dad-in-law Nigel Sears, who mentors Ana Ivanovic, caved in while viewing the Serb at Melbourne Park.
“It was the closest I’ve been to leaving a Grand Slam,” said Murray. “It was a tough couple of days but thankfully he’s fine now.”
The Scot left Rod Laver Arena with the neighborhood time past 23:00 to complete his media obligations, before heading for the airplane terminal.
“It feels like for five days I’ve been held on almost every single flight,” he said. “The first one out of here, I’m leaving.”
Murray earned the unenviable record of turning out to be just the second player since tennis turned proficient in 1968 to complete runner-up at the same Grand Slam five times, and he paid for a moderate begin.
While the Scot made early mistakes, world number one Djokovic dashed into a 5-0 lead and would never give up control of the match. The Serb moves level with Australian Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg of Sweden on 11 Grand Slam titles.
“A lot has been going on,” said Murray. “I started the last couple of matches quite slowly, I think understandably in some respects.
“Obviously, it’s not good to begin matches like that against someone like Novak but I’m proud of the way I fought and managed to get myself back into the match and create chances for myself.”
The previous Wimbledon and US Open champion have now lost 11 of his previous 12 matches against 28-year-old Djokovic.
“I don’t know how far off I was tonight,” said Murray.
“The first set I wasn’t there but the second and third sets I do think were very close – and I do think I could have played a bit better.
“Most of the matches we’ve played in Slams I think have been competitive – whether that looks the same from the outside or not I don’t know. For a three-set match, two hours and 50 minutes, it was a tough few sets.”
