Andy Murray doesn't expect fatherhood to curtail his schedule... as daughter Sophia prepares to make tour debut at Miami Open

Sophia Olivia Murray will not be making her debut on the tennis tour until the Miami Open later this month, but before that her father has the task of fronting Great Britain's defence of the Davis Cup.

The world No 2 resurfaced at Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena ahead of Friday's first round starting against Japan, three months after the 2015 final was won against Belgium.

In between Murray has become a father, and he revealed that the first time his newly expanded family will travel as a unit will be to South Florida, where they own a home.

Andy Murray is not expecting the birth of his daughter to impact his schedule on tour too much

The British No 1 is preparing to return to action in the Davis Cup after the birth of his daughter Sophia

Purely tenniswise, Murray does not expect his new parental status to curtail his schedule. Indeed he appears to have changed his mind and firmed up his commitment to the Davis Cup competition in 2016.

Having sounded very doubtful about playing in July's quarter finals if they defeat Japan – which is hardly guaranteed – he affirmed that he would be available to face the winners of Kazakhstan and Serbia, who have Novak Djokovic playing for them this weekend.

'If I'm fit I will play for sure,' said Murray of a match that would be played immediately after Wimbledon and shortly before he tries to win a second Olympic gold medal.

Murray and his wife Kim have yet to employ a nanny, and he admitted that there will be an element of trial and error when it comes to assessing their future travel plans.

Murray practices his serve at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham after taking a month-long break

Murray admits his wife Kim Sears is unlikely to want to travel as a family all of the time

'They're (babies) pretty portable at this age I think. She's going to come to Miami and see how that goes. We'll just play it by ear a little bit and see how well that works out. It's not really up to me. It's up to Kim as well, how much she would like to travel.

'Kim only really comes to maybe five tournaments during the year so maybe she'll come to two or three more, but I don't see us travelling as a family all the time because Kim doesn't love just being there to watch tennis all of the time either.'

Matters have been helped by the new baby being a good sleeper but he admitted he may have to take a step back in caring duties during competition.

'She has been sleeping very well the first few weeks. Without getting particularly graphic, there's nothing much I can do. She is waking up because she wants feeding and unfortunately my body doesn't produce any milk. I can't help too much there.

Murray greets Kei Nishikori who will provide him with the stiffest challenge in GB's Davis Cup tie with Japan

'At the beginning, I wasn't training so I could help a bit more. In competition, it's a little bit different. But when I'm not training or when I have days off and stuff you can help out for sure. When the competition is going, your sleep is important for recovery.'

Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith must decide whether to play Kyle Edmund or Dan Evans

At Thursday's lunchtime draw Captain Leon Smith must pare his five-man group down to four, which is likely to mean a choice between Kyle Edmund and Birmingham's own Dan Evans as the second singles player.

Dom Inglot offers a doubles option if Murray, who has not played since the Australian Open, decides he is not best served playing all three days, especially with the formidable Kei Nishikori leading the Japanese team.

While Edmund has the higher ranking he had a minor back niggle and there are still a few questions about his ability to go the full five sets.

Evans has greater Davis Cup experience including winning fifth and deciding rubbers, and has a career victory against Nishikori, so while Edmund would be favourite to get the nod it is not a foregone conclusion.

Murray is joined by Edmund (left) and Smith during a press conference ahead of the clash in Birmingham

Murray, who almost single-handedly won the Davis Cup for GB last year, will return to action in Birmingham

Murray, who with his brother and mother drove down to watch GB play Sweden at this same venue fourteen years ago, was himself not sure how he would feel after a relatively long lay off.

'It is a good question. I don't know – it depends a little bit as well maybe on the score on Friday, how long my match is, and also how I pull up as well because I took two full weeks off and didn't do anything at all. That is the longest I haven't picked a racket up for since I had my surgery on my back.

' I don't know how I will feel after Friday. Just have to be a bit open minded about that and not be too stubborn and say: I am going to play three days. I am not young anymore, I haven't played for a while and I did take a decent break, so it is definitely possible I will be a bit sore over the weekend