WILL MURRAY is a tennis parent who does not crave public attention. While his ex-wife Judy is a frontline player in the phenomenon that is Murraymania, Will prefers to play a far more low-key role. Yet his philosophical nature helped his sons, Andy and Jamie, to come to terms with the let-down of losing Wimbledon semi-finals, one after the other, on Centre Court.

The words of Boris Becker, uttered in the year Andy was born, have always struck a chord with Will. They were paramount in his thinking as he proudly applauded both his offspring in defeat on Friday — Jamie after losing in the mixed doubles alongside Liezel Huber, and younger brother Andy, whose campaign to become the first British men’s singles champion since 1936 was ended by Andy Roddick.

Becker’s words? “I lost a tennis match, that was all,” he said after his attempt to win three successive Wimbledon titles was surprisingly ended by world No 70 Peter Doohan in 1987’s second round. “It was not a war; nobody died.”

Will is not a man who adopts such quotes as a mantra; he is far too down-to-earth. Yet, like any parent whose child was inside Dunblane primary school on that horrific March morning 13 years ago, he realises the importance of triumph or disaster on a tennis court is minuscule by comparison. Like everyone else in his family and so many from his home town, Will finds it difficult to speak of that dreadful day, but is prepared to elucidate on how he has brought up his sons.

“It just bothers me sometimes, especially with Andy and all the attention that is put on him,” he reflects. “All he is doing is playing a tennis match. There are more important things in his life and he knows that. It’s something I have always told both of them; that’s the way they have been brought up.”

The break-up of the Murray marriage was traumatic for the two boys. The common perception is that Judy has remained the driving force behind their development into Britain’s most high-profile sporting siblings. Their father now feels it is time to reveal his side of the story.

Will acknowledges that the tennis genes come from their mother’s side, but he was a committed amateur footballer who still feels the need to give vent to his competitive instincts on the golf course or squash court. He works as a regional manager for a chain of newsagents and convenience stores in eastern Scotland. He still lives in Dunblane with his new partner, Sam, who is mother to three daughters.

“Most people would get the impression that maybe I was an absent father, but that certainly was not, or is not, the case,” he says firmly. “I’m happy to stand back in the shadows so long as the facts are right. Hopefully people will come to realise that.

“The worst thing I have ever had to do to my sons was when I let them know their mum was leaving home. When you get married and you have a family, you want it to be a unit forever. Unfortunately it did not work out that way for us. It was terrible because I knew how upset they got. They were aged 11 and 10 and they were both distraught. Jamie and Andy are very different personalities but they took it much the same way: very, very upset.

“I can’t say any more than it really was the worst day of my life and it ripped me apart to have to hurt them by telling them what I did.”

Throughout all the accounts of Andy’s childhood, it has appeared that Judy was the dominant parent after the break-up but Will insists that was not the case. “I kept the family home and looked after them for the next four or five years,” he says. “A lot of people don’t realise that, because the story does not go out and it isn’t portrayed that way. That’s fine by me because the boys are the important ones and they know exactly what happened.

“Judy was still around. She stayed in Dunblane. She wasn’t drifting in and out of their lives. But I cooked the boys’ meals when they came home from school. I did the washing and ironing. When they came back from a clay-court tournament, that was the worst, because of all the muck you used to have to wash out of their clothes. Now, that was awful. I wouldn’t say I was a single parent but I was in the family home with the two boys.

“Since they have been in the public eye for the past couple of years, Judy has always been there with them. That’s just the way it has worked out but I am not the kind who runs in and demands publicity. To me, it’s just about Jamie and Andy. They are the people that count, and as long as they are happy, then that’s all that matters.”

Will remembers one story that epitomises the determination Andy has always possessed and why he will surely become the champion a nation craves. At 13 or 14, already a clear tennis talent, he was travelling to junior tournaments most weekends but yearned to keep contact with his school friends.

“Most Friday nights after school, if he was at home and didn’t have a tournament, he’d be getting telephone calls from his friends asking whether he was coming out. After one call I found him crying. He told me his friends wanted him to go out. I asked, ‘What’s wrong with that?’ because I saw it as a good thing. Then he said, ‘But dad, I know what they are doing’.

“To say no to your peer group is a big thing. He realised what they were up to: drinking and smoking. It was so strong of him to take that attitude at such an early age. He was upset because he wanted to be with his mates but he knew they were doing things he didn’t want to get involved in because it would affect what he wanted to achieve.”