Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has claimed that he and girlfriend Kim Sears have kept their relationship strong due to their ability to handle long distance.

The 26-year-old, who is constantly travelling on the ATP Tour, has been dating the daughter of tennis coach Nigel Sears for almost eight years.

"One thing that, I think, really helps with her is that she really understands the sport because she has been around it from a young age," The Mirror quotes Murray as saying.

"She was used to her dad travelling on the Tour when she was a kid so she knew what it was like to have that sort of distant relationship and that's obviously helped a lot. It's been seven, coming up to eight years pretty much, bar a few months in the middle, we've been together. It's been a long time."

Murray made history by becoming the first British man since Fred Perry to win the Wimbledon men's singles title on Sunday.